jordan hamilton

This is a complicated question, because I think that the definition of success is idiosyncratic. But in my opinion, the best artists out there are the ones who completely throw themselves into what they are doing…living and breathing their creations so that they are completely engaged. I kind of think of it like method acting. I think that giving yourself away to a practice to a point of total immersion is really hard to do, but that is where the most genuine works can come from. So I guess that is really my answer to this question–a successful artist is genuine, and really feels what they are doing.

Side note: A successful artist is a happy artist. Not necessarily always in a good mood, but I think being successful can simply be an artist who is doing what they love.

I’m really excited to finally be taking life drawing this semester. I find the human body fascinating and beautiful. I drew this in class last week, I had one of those really good “in the zone” drawing days on Tuesday, and was rather proud of how this particular drawing turned out.

Our model this semester is an older blind woman. I think that giving attention to her wrinkles makes for much more interesting drawings.

The way this artist utilizes black and white and lets her figures become a part of the patterns that surround them is absolutely stunning.

I think that a person with “talent” is nothing more than an ambitious and dedicated individual who, as a result of their time and effort, has a knack for achieving a desired result. This person tends to immerse themselves in anything and everything related to what they want, thinking about it more often than not. Someone with talent genuinely cares about their pursuits, and they don’t give up when they fail. Instead, they relentlessly keep digging themselves deeper into the rabbit hole. You aren’t born with talent, as it is merely an illusion that blurs out hours of hard work and obsession over a subject. If a person really loves what they are doing, they have the ability to persist and eventually accomplish anything they set their mind to.