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Better Than Pretty Pictures

December 2nd, 2008

First off, I’m sorry for not posting a page. I have one in the pipeline but for some reason I keep getting sidetracked. Maybe I can get it done tonight?

I’ve always been somewhat critical of “pretty pictures”. That is to say, “pretty pictures” to me is artwork which has no purpose, no function, no reason for existing other than “to look pretty”. To me I think that is an artistic dead end. Why? Well I’ve always been a functional guy. Everything I do and everything I want is out of some sort of functional reason. Case in point, I own an 32″ HDTV, not because I want to own an HDTV, but because the only area for a television in my room is far from my bed and the old TV I had was too small for me to lay in bed and watch it with. … Now I used to draw pretty pictures myself, but I stopped doing it when I realized that it was doing nothing for me. Sure it maybe helped sharpen my artistic skills, but then again, so has Moose River, and at least I’m telling a story AND selling copies of it at cons.

My artwork likewise serves a function in my life, I’ve never liked doing art for its own sake. I have experiences and knowledge that I’ve collected in my measly twenty-six consecutive years of life that I want to share with everyone…. and so I do it through my comics and stories. Likewise, I enjoy other people’s artwork, provided it’s functional. For example, movies and comics tell a story, advertisements sell a product, music stir emotions and make long road trips bearable. On the flip side, I ultimately frown upon other artists who do art only for its own sake, do art for no functional reason at all, or have no other abilities or capabilities as an artist other than creating “pretty pictures”. I just can’t stand looking at an extremely beautiful picture that someone drew knowing that they aren’t going to do anything with it. Hell, even if they sold copies of it, that is a functional enough reason for them to do art.

Words that pop up in my head for “pretty picture” artists are words like… dead-beat, useless, lacking in any important skills… if those artists are enjoying what they do, then fine, they can do whatever they want to do. But I don’t have to enjoy their work, I don’t have to like it. I cannot tolerate the idea of them spending all their time creating pretty pictures and not doing anything else with their work… or lives. This is a harsh comparison, but pretty picture artists are no better than drug addicts who spend all their time sitting around and getting high and not doing anything else with their lives. OK yeah, I’ve got my own addictions in life, but at least I go to school, I do this comic, I work cons, I have two jobs… I’m doing shit with my life and my artwork. Pretty picture artists are straight-up bums… and the fact that they can do really beautiful or complex pieces of work will convince me that they aren’t useless.

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Moose River
by Philippe Van Lieu
—Fully Charged - June 27th, 2019—

From the bottom of my heart (and the bottom of this page): thank you very much for reading my comics.

Nick15, all related subjects, and all text are ©1996-2019 Philippe Van Lieu
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