Art "How to's": You don't Need 'Em!

For quite some time now, I've been guilty of looking up "how to's" on YouTube and Google. Specifically "how to do photography", "how to write a sonnet in iambic pentameter" or "how to write and publish a book" etc. So I was sitting at my computer, browsing through "how to do photography" web pages today when something finally dawned on me: why the hell am I doing this?

I realised in that moment that what I was doing was stupid. I take pictures, right? I enjoy taking my own pictures, right? I'm trying to grow as a photographer, right? Well then why turn to some other photographer to learn how they themselves take pictures and do their photography? I am not them. I don't want to learn their tips on how they do this and how they do that. Effectively, what I'm saying is, I don't want this information handed to me on a plate. I want to discover my own style and how photography, in my opinion should be done. I think if everyone copied everyone else's photography, pictures around the world would just be plain boring.

I've always said that art isn't something we can learn, it's something we must experience. No one can tell you how to paint a picture, what colours to use and how you should use them. No! You must discover these things for yourself. The same applies to my own art. I shouldn't be looking up on the internet how to do anything regarding art. Doing and experiencing anything is a trial and error process. You need to seek out what's best for you and what you're comfortable with. And that is something that no apparent professional can tell you how to do.

But sometimes I think that beginner's look for "how to's" so they can get an easy way out. They expect that the professional's advice will somehow transform them in an instant to become an exceptional photographer. Many end up learning the hard way that that's not the way the cookie crumbles and in the worst case senario, they give up. There is no easy way out to any craft. None. No spring time meadow you can run into. Like anything in life, you've got to work at. Artist's aren't born, they're made.

It's funny how little thing's like a YouTube search or Google inquiry can lead you to some pretty epic things. Well, in my opinion, this topic is epic, because, well, so many people mistake it for something else. I guess this could also relate to the whole idolism thing that goes around. Lots of amateur artists look up to the professionals. In some ways, I think that's okay, but on the other hand, I don't like it. I don't think artists should be looking up to others and following in their footsteps (although, I am guilty of doing so on many ocassions, but I shouldn't be). It's up to you to discover the ultimate style and artist within you, if you're passionate about it though. I'd say that to be an artist you need 3 things: passion, skill and great ideas. And those 3 aspects are things that you and I will have to pinpoint for ourselves.

So take your pictures, write your poems, paint on your canvas until you become an exceptional artist. But don't look up "how to's" on the internet or in books, because there's a style in us. We just got to find it.