The Artist

The Process of Art

THE INDIVIDUAL ARTIST and COLLABORATION

Studio Practice

Inasmuch as we have seen art as a community or collaborative effort, many artists do a majority of their work alone in studios Links to an external site., dedicated to the singular idea of creating art through their own expressive means and vision. Important to remember, In the creative process itself there are many steps between an initial idea and the finished work of art. It takes a long time to develop a piece of art, much longer than it takes to actually create the physical piece. 

 

Yannima Pikarli Tommy Watson

Indigenous Australian artist, of the Pitjantjatjara people from Australia’s central western desert.

YAYOI KUSAMA, painter and installation artist in her studio in Tokyo, Japan in 2012

 

Artists will use sketches and preliminary drawings to get a more accurate image of what they want the finished work to look like. Even then they’ll create more complex trial pieces before they ultimately decide on how it will look. View and read about some of the sketches Links to an external site. for Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica Links to an external site. from 1937 to see how the process unfolds. Artists many times will make different versions Links to an external site. of an artwork, each time giving it a slightly different look. 

 

Collaboration: business

Some artists employ assistants or staff to run the everyday administration of the studio; maintaining supplies, helping with set up and lighting, managing the calendar and all the things that can keep an artist away from the creative time they need in order to work.

 

Collaboration: production

Some artists don’t actually make their own artwork from start to finish. They hire people with specialized skills to do it for them under the artist’s direction. Fabricators and technicians are needed when a work of art’s size, weight, or other limitations (such as material) make it impossible for the artist to create it alone. For example, bronze statues require a foundry Links to an external site. in order to cast them. Another example, the size of the sculpture Fulcrum (see above) by Richard Serra necessitates additional staff be employed in the creative process, to insure successful engineering and installation. Glass artist Dale Chihuly employs many assistants to create and install his glass forms Links to an external site..

Fulcrum, Richard Serra, 1987
Source: en:User:Solipsist Links to an external site. (Andrew Dunn)
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

 

Glass art by Dale Chihuly at an extensive exhibition in Kew Gardens, London, in 2005
Date: 16 July 2005, Author: Patche99z
Links to an external site.This work is in the public domain

Collaboration: creation

In addition, artists often collaborate on projects with others to develop their creative vision beyond what they could imagine or create on their own. One of my favorite collaborations was between Walt Disney and surrealist artist, Salvador Dali. They collaborated on a short animation called  Destino. Enjoy!

Destino Links to an external site.. 

Walt Disney (1901-1966) is famous for his cartoon animations, Mickey Mouse, and also was the creator of the amusement parks Disneyland and Disney World.

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) is famous for his surrealistic paintings. 

The Persistence of Memory, oil on canvas by Salvador Dalí, 1931; in the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.