The Artist’s Manifesto
Today is the launch of The Artist’s Manifesto. A short book calling on artists and creatives everywhere to return to making purely for the…
Download The Artist’s Manifesto Free
Today is the launch of The Artist’s Manifesto. A short book calling on artists and creatives everywhere to return to making purely for the sake of it.
I’m a creative person, I always have been. But for a long time I didn’t allow it free expression.
I mixed it up in the surface world of stuff, trying to make my mark in world with rules that didn’t fit.
For a while it worked, until it didn’t.
That changed everything, and almost by default I was drawn back to art. It wasn’t even a conscious decision.
I just went out one day and spent my last €80 on charcoal and drawing paper. I hadn’t drawn since I was a boy, over 30 years.
Then I went to work. Here’s what I made…
Conor McGregor Charcoal Photorealistic A2 size (590mm x 420mm)
It took me way too long to draw this, but it was my very first attempt at portrait and I’m proud of it nonetheless.
I chose to draw Conor McGregor because of his passion, his obsession, his aggression. He is an example to artists everywhere.
Some love him, some hate him, and so be it. He is uncompromising in his art regardless of what others think. This is what we all should be.
I believe everyone is an artist inherently at birth, only it’s the system that conditions us out of it.
After all, they need cogs for the machine, pawns for the game, productivity for the economy.
And you know what…. it stinks.
It’s not a world I want to be a part of any longer. I want to make stuff for the sake of it without any ulterior motive.
Sure I want money and I want comfort, but I want those things on my terms, by my rules and I believe you should too.
The world wants people to be the same, to be good citizens, to be obedient, to obey the laws, to vote, to go to school, to get a job.
I call bullshit, and I ask you to join me.
What Is The Artist’s Manifesto?
The Artist’s Manifesto is a call to arms for creative people like you to ignore the opinions of others, to leave behind the need to be accepted, and finally create the beautiful things you were meant to.
It is a request for you to find the silence, to finally listen to the small voice that’s been calling you all your life. It’s call for you to bring a true representation of yourself into the world without fear of rejection.
The Artist’s Manifesto asks you to create with love, integrity, passion and complete obsession.
Too many of us try to use the existing model for life even though we know it doesn’t fit. For too long we hammer away at ourselves like a square peg in a round hole.
Who Is An Artist?
Everyone is an artist and everyone has the ability to create art. We were born with it, it is inherent in our being.
It wills to be expressed and will express if left to do so unhindered. Everyone feels the need to create in their own way. No one has the right to encroach on other people’s creative integrity, method or means of creation.
Art is unique, it is never the same despite the insistence of the world to place art in boxes with labels.
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. — Pablo Picasso
The Artist’s Challenge
The momentum and draw of the world is our greatest challenge.
It has been building for a very long time and has a lot of momentum. People’s opinions can be strong and very convincing so we must find a way to stay centered.
If we try unwittingly to be a part of it then try to create from there, our art will be spoiled.
Our society is constantly in the making and is becoming more and better than is was before. However, we creatives must step outside of that to create.
We must enter our own world and make things from there.
Creative Integrity
We must be selfish and uncompromising in our art.
We must maintain creative integrity no matter what, but we have an alay. It is the small voice that directs us. It sounds like a whisper and stays with us always.
It’s loud when we are quiet, and quiet when the world is loud, but it never leaves us. It calls us to keep our creativity intact and true, to never compromise despite the temptation from the world to do so.
If you don’t like what you’re doing, then don’t do it. — Ray Bradbury
Download & Share The Artist’s Manifesto
I hope you share my enthusiasm for creative integrity. If so, please consider downloading and sharing this message.
This idea is something I believe completely in.
Artists like you and me are needed, we are more than necessary. We bring balance to a crazy messed up world, and so it is our duty to create outside the rules.
We are the Storymakers, and we create stories in our art. If it were not for us the world would be a very dark place.
This article originally appeared on larrygmaguire.com 14th May 2017 and has been edited for Medium
Howdy, I’m Larry, Writer & Artist. Thanks for taking the time to read my stuff. I write short stories about the ordinary lives of people and the challenges they face. My stuff can be edgy, hard hitting, and sometimes controversial, but never contrived. If that’s your bag you can Sign-up To Sunday Letters Here.
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