Speak Softly

There's a certain prejudice among many artists which is not often discussed, but is occasionally addressed in books written by and for artists. It manifests as something of a snobbery in regards to one's chosen medium, as well as one's choice of subject matter. The hierarchy of the major mediums goes something like this: oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels/charcoals. Artists and a great many non-artists alike tend to think of oils as the pinnacle of all mediums and if you can successfully master them, then you are a true artist. I guess one can assume that the more fussy or difficult your medium, the more hoodsies you deserve as an artist. I'm not entirely sure how choosing to work predominantly in oils over, say, acrylics, makes you a superior artist to one who would choose the latter medium, but it does happen. Likewise, if you're a portraitist, and especially a portraitist in oils, then you are in theory Lord and Master, and all other artists must bow low before you. While I haven't experienced much of this prejudice first hand, I have been witness to those who consider collage and assemblage artists to be lesser artists than traditional painters, and are quite frequently looked down upon with undisguised disdain.

Personally, I find it all pretty disgusting. An artist is an artist is an artist. Everyone has different skills, choices, techniques and preferences and as such cannot be compared with those of other artists. An artist's work must stand on its own merit and need not adhere to the biases of some close-minded, shallow and preconceived ideas put forth by artists-cum-art-snobs. An artist must be beholden to no one's standards save their own. As a group artists tend to be undervalued and often misunderstood and to pick apart and demean many within our group simply because we think we're better than them in some way is absurd.

After pouring your very soul into a work, nobody wants to hear from another artist that their work is shit and is merely masquerading as something called "art," while the critic's work is the true masterpiece by dint of its medium and subject.