Q: Why become an artist...? My own art history...

Q: Why become an artist?

A: The short reply is, quite simply, because there was/is no other choice. 

It's my own belief that some people are born with an 'art-related gene'...; call it a blessing/or, a curse.

-(You would not believe the amount of time/effort/money I spent on art throughout the years...it amounts to, quite literally, £1000's of pounds...; and, frequently, money, I could ill afford to part with...; because, mostly, I remained 'unemployed'...?! As to time, I would happily look at/study/do art: 24/7/366...like nothing else matters in the whole wide world...so much for being 'practical'...and, not letting your heart rule your head/or, financial pocket! Effort, I would draw absolutely ceaselessly when feeling 'inspired'...until when I felt my work just wasn't good enough; then, I would quit mainly through feeling totally 'disillusioned'/and, indeed, depressed, due to my own really poor performance...especially, when I compared my work with the 'masters'.)- 

Below,  I will try and give a much longer/far more detailed answer...

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MY OWN ART HISTORY...

Pre teen...

In the household where I grew up, I had an elder cousin called: Cedric, who used to draw/paint, occasionally; and, watching him gave me a sense of 'inspiration' to want to learn how to draw/paint, effectively, myself. Though, note, he was not a great artist...more of an 'amateur'.

I recall, once, seeing a Norwood Park Primary school teacher called, Mrs. Sheep -(had two twin daughters who used to attend the same Primary school/class as me)-; execute a drawing on the blackboard of an elephant...using no reference other than her own mind; and, it looked so, well and truly, 'great'...that I can simply never forget having had that experience.

Needless to say, all the time, there were many other influences on my mind...

- Arts sculptures in church, Bible pictures/paintings

- Illustrated fairy tale books

- Marvel Comics/as well as, many other Comics: Beano/Wizard/-etc.

- TV Cartoons: Walt Disney

- Art Films: Charles Chaplin 

-etc.

Teen...

During my initial teen years, where I attended Tulse Hill Secondary School for boys; there were only 2/or, 3 classes I really loved...and, they were: Art/Drama/English.

I especially loved doing art...; but, was never entirely pleased with what were my own end results...because, it was sort of 'hit and miss'...and, mostly, miss, in fact! Still, I enjoyed the process of just experimenting and playing around at doing art; these feelings continued into later life.

Unfortunately, due to my own volition, I went and quit school at only age 14...which was far too early to stay on to do any exams; but, then, that's also when I discovered going to the library to learn more about: Michelanglo/Picasso/Gustav Dore/Rodin/-etc.; so, I spent a lot of time visiting the Library's Art section. Even, now, today...I still make it a regular habit of going into libraries -when I'm riding my bike along the streets of London- and looking through their Art section...to discover work by artists both known/and, also, unknown to me. 

I also recall being heavily interested in learning more about classical music/and, too, ballet. Diaghilev, The Ballet Russe, Artists: Leon Bakst, Natalia Gontcharova, Pablo Picasso, Dancers: Nijinsky and Pavlova, The Royal Ballet: Nureyev and Fonteyn.

This was also a period when I discovered going to visit museums/galleries: Victoria and Albert museum/National Gallery/Tate Britain/Tate Modern/and, so on. When I went inside of a museum/gallery...it was like I had just died and gone to visit seeing sheer blue Heaven...I would stay there from morning through till evening(when they closed)! In fact, my interest in joining/visiting seeing London based museums/galleries stayed with me for all the rest of my entire lifetime to come. 

-(Whenever I go and visit galleries/museums...they usually have a book store room/or, Library...where I go in there to both read/study/learn more.)-

As well as, visiting seeing the well known galleries...I also went and visited seeing loads more...places such as Bond Street/and, the nearby Cork Street galleries/-etc. In fact, there were art galleries located in random places all over the West End; which is why I would often visit the West End, regularly...popping inside of here and there...art galleries galore, in fact.

I joined a postal art book club: BCA/Book Club Associates. They would sent out a monthly/or, biMonthly magazine...and, I would order art-related books: Poetry: Shakespeare/T. S. Elliot/Poetry compendiums..Art: L. S. Lowry/Gwen John/Abstract Artists/Picasso(I became a huge life time long fan/and, collect of his books/prints)/-etc.  

I joined something called: The Bradford Exchange. They would sell 'collector plates'...it's where I went and discovered seeing the work of the famous American artist: Norman Rockwell/-etc.

I also recall joining Christies magazine...sent out biMonthly...they would sell art prints: Henry Moore, Patrick Caulfield, Linda Le Kinff, John Tully, -etc. The small size prints were shown as individual pieces of paper on their own -not just something being printed in a magazine-; and, I used to love both seeing/and collecting these. 

For a short period of time...I also used to practice doing street based graffiti. My graffiti was not writing based; so much as it was doing actual drawings, instead.

I discovered an art gallery near Waterloo...which I used to visit, regularly: Feliks Topolski. I went there, repeatedly, to see his work...again and again...until, eventually, they closed the gallery down...due to lack of public funding(turned it into being a restaurant, instead). I never actually met Feliks Topolski, himself...; but, I did manage to meet a few members of his own family. His daughter gave me a few prints to take home; (these things I still treasure and keep beside my bed).

Adulthood...

During my 20's/or, mid-20's, I got into Origami, paper making; and, actually, became a yearly paid up member of BOS/British Origami Society(they send out through the post a bi-monthly magazine).

I recall going to various colleges...where I discovered it was possible to join for FREE...because you were still young; and, I would almost always sign up to do an art course. Many of these colleges/courses I tended to drop out of, unfortunately. But, I do recall being introduced to such things as Life Drawing(Lambeth College: Adare Centre)/and, so on. I would retain a strong interest in practicing doing  Life Drawing throughout the years...; that is, whenever I could afford it; most places were not college, and, therefore, you have to pay, usually, £10.00 per drawing session. Later on in life, I remember joining LARA-London Atelier of Representational Art...a proper art studio where they did lots of Life Drawing.  

26+, I became Agoraphobic for around 10/11 years(hardly ever leaving the home). During this time period...I would collect a lot of art books...to read/study/and, sometimes, copy from.  

37+, I joined the arts-based Morley College...joined in a class -teachers: Jackie and Perdita/topmost 4th floor- called: Art for People with Learning Disabilities...where I stayed for 5 years. 

Afterwards, at the same Morley College I applied to do a FREE -(funded)- short course: Introduction to Fine Arts Foundation...this course lasted around 4 or so weeks; and, was meant to prepare one to stay a year(but, I couldn't afford to pay the price of staying a year/so, I left). Though my time there was short, this was a very 'important' course...as it introduced me to things such as: Print-making, sculpture(clay/wire), abstract art/too, Life Drawing, -etc.    

I discovered Leake Street 'graffiti' tunnel; which is where artists would go to do 'graffiti' legally. It is located very near to Morley College.

Because, I also had an interest in doing programming/writing web pages...so, I joined many online galleries which allowed one to upload/show off/sell one's own artworks: RedBubble/ImageKind/DeviantArt/Fine Art America/Saatchi Art/-etc. I also drew daily, and, uploaded art works into Facebook picture albums: The Kiss, Self-portraits/-etc.

At some point in time...I cannot say exactly when I became an 'art collector'...buying art really 'cheaply' from off eBay...usually, relatively 'unknown' artists work costing on average: £10+.

40's+ By, now, I was already very familiar with the London based 'arts scene'; in terms of, college/courses/galleries/museums/street sculptures/-etc.; and, whenever I went out...that's exactly where I would go.

50's+ I discovered a small -but, major- picture gallery located right near me: Dulwich Picture gallery; and, I would often go over there to practice doing some drawings...a 15 minute long journey -both there/then, back home, again- riding on my bike.   

I would often go and visit Tate Britain...where they had a 'drawing room'...visitors were given a number of easels...together with FREE drawing papers/drawing materials: pens/pencils/sharpeners/rubbers...to go and practice drawing works of art, including: Sculptures/paintings.

Too, I would visit the National Portrait Gallery...for Friday evening 'late' evening group based drawing sessions...6:30-8:30 PM. (Unfortunately, when Choronavirus hit us...then, I was aged 57...these 'late' evening drawing sessions did shut down.

Occasionally, I would join art courses online; though, many times, I would pay for the course...and, just not end up completing doing anything/(or, hardly, anything at all).

57+, I would mostly stay home...and, draw from books/internet/watch art related videos/-etc.

Places I used to look to find art-related videos were: Amazon Prime/Curiosity Stream/Craftsy/Vimeo/and, of course, YouTube...I often find myself eternally stuck at YouTube...and, can never seem to come off it...?!

Right now, we are going through another Choronavirus 'lockdown' period, now: 18th  October 2020; so, I mostly tend to stay in at home. My current web related art project is building this same blog...which displays pictures of some of my own artworks.

CONCLUSION

My own feeling is...if you lived a life doing  exactly what you yourself did always want to do...no matter if you did it well/or, badly...so long as you did thoroughly 'enjoy' doing what you wanted to do...then, to me, that is a life very well lived.

On  the other hand, make no mistake about it...especially, if the person happens to be relatively 'poor'...then, taking part in arts: buying books/equipment/paying for regular memberships/collecting, and, too, preserving stuff/-etc....will often prove to be a bit of a ceaseless struggle...managing to try and keep up with all of the non-stop endless bills...?!