When looking at art there can be said to be a wide variety of styles, mediums, genres, and sub-genres. To say all of this can get noisy is an understatement. It is most easily seen in a poorly laid out gallery that mashes them all together as a collage of chaotic pieces with nothing in common.
When I think of those artists who have achieved a big name or critical acclaim I try to reverse-engineer exactly what made them successful. There are business practices, lucky circumstances, persistence, and other non-art related traits, but the one thing I see most consistent with all of their work is how they all create with a sense of purpose.
This sense of purpose drives them to explore a very narrow vision broadly. This goes beyond a surface level of art to a deep understanding of themselves, art, and the voice with which they are communicating. When you can distinctly identify the artist based on the art is when you can see the bond between the two strongest.
Historical Examples:
The easiest to identify are artists like Picasso who used abstract depictions of people, but there are others like Van Gogh that used color to communicate their perspective. Van Gogh is well known to have included the color yellow in much of his work. There are many theories as to why and, like how most theories go, there is likely at least some truth to all of them. The most common is that he liked the sun and moved to a sunnier climate, it became a part of his style, and that because of his use of absinthe it caused his vision to become more yellow shifted. I also see that he enjoyed balancing the yellows with blue in portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, and other pieces. This passionate pursuit of a painting style separated both of these artists from the rest of their respective periods.
Does the medium matter?
There is certainly an argument out there to be made that we should find a medium in the art and stick to it. Diversifying your art across the painting to drawing and sculptures might confuse your prospective buyers. Anyone that says this is not truly applying the idea of exploring a narrow vision broadly.
Key to narrowing your vision is not the medium or genre, but the vision and story you are telling with it. Communicating in a beautiful, abstract, interesting, thought-provoking way is a big part of what art is about. The story you are telling doesn’t have to be limited to photography if that is what you started in, but it does have to have a theme that is identifiable across each.
A great example of this is Bruce Nauman who became a well-known artist for his work in photography, film, neon signs, sculptures, and performances. His works included dramatic abstract human shapes, dynamic shapes, and plays on words/thoughts. He managed to display a keen understanding of what made his art interesting and his own going on to lean heavily on these aspects. As examples, he made a neon sign that reads “Run From Fear – Fun From Rear”, made a photograph which takes a literal standpoint of the phrase “Bound to Fail” with the artist’s hands tied behind his back. Broadly communicating this narrow vision across multiple mediums without the worry of diluting the substance.
What is your Story/Vision?
Having an understanding of yourself is the first step. There is no way that you can create compelling art without having a grasp of what gets you out there creating it in the first place. This is where the art comes from in the first place because it is the only honest place for it to come from.
The next piece is to understand what makes good art in composition, color, and other basic ideas. This is likely the easiest part, but it still takes time and practice to appreciate the space that you are creating in. Also important is knowing the art world is those that came before you and those existing in the same space create a context that you can conform with or separate from.
Recently, there was an artist that decided to tape banana to a wall at a major art expo in Miami. This ended up driving a wide variety of spinoffs, memes, and critiques of what it means and whether it had merit. The banana on the wall ended as unceremoniously as it began with someone tearing it off and eating it. There was no artist to attribute it to, no meaning to apply, and it now survives as a comedic poke at the fine art world. In contrast to Banksy who has risen to fame because he creates an interesting commentary on the world we live in today, the banana lacks a true vision.
The last ingredient is understanding the story you are telling and the vision you are using to tell it. Using the last example of Banksy, it is easy to see how he likes to tell stories about those who don’t have much of a voice today in ways that hit close to home for those at the ‘pinnacle’ of society. Aside from the political pieces, he creates a narrative using a similar vision with impactful imagery that is dramatically combined with comforting symbolism. There is a cognitive dissonance that is present across everything and makes it easy for us to identify his work from any other street artist alive today!
Exploring Broadly
The vision you have doesn’t have to be dramatic, politically-centered, or anything else. The vision you create with and from must come from you, and that is all that matters. Whether this results in complex or simple compositions, muted or bright colors, or any other identifiable features it should remain consistent in those identifiable features throughout your career. It takes a while to develop this style, and I found many of the photographers I follow have slowly developed theirs over the last decade 2010-2020.
One of those was Rachael Talibart, who started in photography documenting vacations and then went on to do macro, wildlife, and insect photography before landing on a consistent vision that she has been able to explore broadly. She photographs the sea in all of its states and beauty. Whether the sea is frozen still in an image or she is capturing a sweeping beach scene it is apparent that it is her work. It takes a mastery of the medium and deep understanding of the subject matter to do this, but the result is a very narrow piece of landscape photography told with storytelling that is unique to the artist.
Landscape Photographer Examples
That is what makes great art! There are plenty of great artists out there, but being true to myself now and my passion for landscape photography I would like to list some photographers that I believe strongly represent what I am speaking about throughout this blog post. Simon Baxter is a master of creating woodland images that have characters and lives of their own through mood and the subjects taking on fairytale-like traits. Neil Burnell is another woodland photographer that has become well-known for his incredible pre-dawn woodland images taking the viewer to another world. Tyler Layton is a photographer that I have been following for a couple of years now as he creates images of waves close to sunrise/sunset while in the water taking advantage of their shapes in his art. Jennifer Renwick is a great example of a photographer creating images out of what most would just walk past or over because her imagery of mud, foliage, sand, and ice are truly unique and fascinating to view.