Your Artistry (renewed)

They say that some people make art, whilst other individuals are, as themselves, works of art. That "Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." [Cesar Cruz/Banksy]. "To restrict the artist is a crime. It is to murder germinating life." [Egon Schiele].  "The idea is not to live forever, it is to create something that will." [Andy Warhol]

My boyfriend, categorically, is an artist. The inability to see the world just as it is, comes alongside the passion and appreciation he has for everything art. To pick up a pen and see the universe differently to everybody else is his gift. More often than not, he creates unique and individually stunning pieces on a day to day basis without the need of force from others. The line in which he carries across every page makes no sense to those who can't see what he is seeing at the given time, but is visually appealing with every aspect of the phrase. The acknowledgement for the way a medium can create such different lines depending on the speed of the hand or the mind-set of a person is undeniably extraordinary. What saddens him most is for others, who can't seem to grasp the beauty of the topic, to shun a piece that has been delicately crafted throughout a number of days without a second thought. Whether it's a simple cinematographic composition, an undemanding illustration that requires minimum effort but a great understanding or a life drawing that has been composed using every visual shape exposed or a sculpture which gleams elegance from a single, certain angle, his passion never fluctuates but stands alone with a somewhat proud stance and screams picturesqueness without too much boastfulness to be off putting. He is an artist- without a shadow of a doubt- and his heart is his greatest masterpiece. They say that "A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art."[Paul Cezanne] Here's an illustrator that makes drawing feel as easy as appreciating a good view.

 His favourite sketchbook is a navy-blue Royal Langnickel. With its textured covering and lightly waxed, off white paper and its hardback, ink-stained shell it's hard not to fall for such an item-even if you know you'll never use it. One charming book in particular was given to me as a 17th birthday gift from him, with its battered corners from its adventures and pages full with ideas and pictures, it will forever sit as one of my most cherished items on my shelf. These sketchbooks line his walls in his 20x10 bedroom. Open one up and suddenly you're looking into his whole life. Portraiture, landscapes, typeface, patterns, doodles and people picked out from a crowd. These are his fast and deliberate sketches executed in humble Biro and pencil. A simple toolbox, not known by many who try their hand at art. For as long as I've known him, elaborate has never been his forte.

Or so he says.

Burning passions never usually come without elaborate-ness.

If there's one thing that I've learnt from him is that patience is a virtue. But also that some things don't require plans or charts or mappings out step by step. You are able to create and learn as the day passes and that is not something to be afraid of. Ideas come and go and in the words of one of his favourite artists: "There is nothing (...) then there is something for a brief moment, then there is nothing again." (David Shrigley) There is something about art. In passionate hands, crafted and manipulated deftly, the piece can and will take you prisoner. It will catch your eye and wind itself around your sockets like spider silk and when you're so enthralled that you cannot move, it'll pierce your skin. Something will click and numb any other thoughts. For many people, art will never be an important part of everyday life and for some it'll be the very soul of theirs but I believe that the universal agreement on what is gorgeously and undoubtedly artistic, although tainted, is still true to its form. And it's art created by such individuals as Romare Bearden, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Frida Kahlo, J.M.W Turner, Donatello and other 'right brained' souls who's timeless pieces prove this theory and most likely always will.