The Great Fear, The Great Tragedy

Coming up on this new year, I'd been thinking a lot about what was to come. On the topic of this post, I'd been thinking about my art. As is the case, one thought tumbles into the next until it snowballs into what I hope is an interesting blog post. :P

I've always thought the greatest tragedy in all the worlds in all the universes is the death of an artist. Not because of the loss of life exactly. That's natural; the way of the world. It's more about the work, the art.

In my personal pantheon Joseph Campbell is the king. Whenever I get lost in this line of thinking I always find him. He died having never been able to complete his great work: The Historical Atlas of World Mythology. I always wonder what could have been. Sure, The Joseph Campbell Foundation plans to complete the project based on his notes... but it won't be the same. It can't be the same. And when it comes to great projects never coming to fruition I also think of J.R.R Tolkien. He died with much to be done as well. All work the world will never lay witness to.

I'd been thinking about what this year would hold. Work on my Books Of The Art has been pretty stagnant. My hope is that they'll be completed this year. That's a tall order, believe me. But I want to get them done if only because there's so much more brewing inside of me. I have tons of projects in the works... but they exist only in the ether; in my mind. I have my Twin Heroes tale. I have my Sonic Homage. I have my Animation Experimentation. I have several one-off portraits I want to get to. There's so much I want to do and I fear I'll never get to it all. And the greatest tragedy is that there's been so much time that's been wasted in realizing much of it. I've been spinning my wheels. It's my great shame.

I think living for any artist is nothing more than dodging death until you feel you're done, until your work is complete. I haven't even gotten started. I call most of my work sketches for a reason. And I feel terrible about it. Especially when I hear from people what supposed talent I have. I don't think I'm particularly talented. When it comes to technical ability there's a world full of people far more competent. Given some focus, anyone could do the things I do. But I suppose that's beside the point. It's all about perspective. No one has nor ever will come along who can render the world in the way in which I can, because they're not me. All that's come before is informing what's to come. It's here; the fire is here. I should be using it. It wants to be free. I promise to let it burn.


DS333, invoking.