What's an artist?

This was written in response to the question of whether or not using photographs when doing a painting  was alright or if, I assume, you should only work from sketches or life. While I don't approve of someone merely copying a photo, I do believe that using photos for reference material is quite useful.

"But that's what makes the difference between an artist and someone who simply makes note of what they see. Not everyone who has a camera is a photographer. Not everyone who wields a paintbrush is an artist. It's the picking and choosing and the combining of elements that makes a work of art." R.

Opening statement

It's all about communication. There's different kinds, speaking, writing, and the visual arts. The first two are very direct while the third is more elusive and ethereal. As my website deals with my visual communications I thought this would be a good place to do a bit of writing. I find I do my best writing when responding to someone else, a discussion of sorts. I belong to one art group out of the UK and an arts newsletter which encourages postings. I think I'll take those postings, edit them a bit and re-post them here. It does me good to see my thoughts down in print, when you write stuff down you have to be more clear than when you have a bunch of thought just bouncing around in your head. It's like a sketch book for artists. An artist can have all these great ideas for work but unless you get it down on paper you can't really tell if it'll work out exactly the way you think it will. It's a matter of making the insubstantial, concrete. R.