Isn’t one of the rules of art that anything that’s supposedly an art rule is there to be broken? So why was I being so emphatic yesterday, asked the in-house art critic, about the no-kissing rule, using “should” rather than phrasing it as an option?
Well, it’s because some rules are more suggestions for pleasing results and others exist to prevent disruption. It’s like the difference between wearing odd socks and mismatched shoes.
What do you think? What rule would you always break and what never?
Rules are for the blind obedience of fools and the guidance of wise (wo)men. There is one rule (I can?t remember where I read it) which should never be broken. It is Never leave your palette on a seat.
With a subrule about pastels! 🙂
First, drawing and painting in a representational way is not a crime. Secondly, many abstract and nonrepresentational artists first learned how to represent things in a representational way (“realistically”). Two examples: Picasso was a better “realist” by the age of 16 than those who preceded him; Mondrian painted in a representational way before gradually moving toward his “mature style.” Those who do not study and experience learning how to draw and paint representationally, but jump straight into slopping paint on a surface are not artists – regardless of how much money they con people out of for their work. Selling your work does not have anything to do with being a successful “artist.” And before you criticize this, check out my Pinterest Art boards of 112 artists to see that I do appreciate many different ways of creating art.
Mondrian’s developement of his geometric abstract style is one of my favourites bits of art history, especially his trees which serve as the link or bridge between realism and abstract. That intangible something that makes abstract exceptional is often the artist’s training in realism.
Representational style is but one of the options open to us, and only dates back to the Rennaissance in Europe, relatively recently really and geographically specific. Like all styles of art, I have an issue only when someone declares it’s the only valid way.
Certain ones are somewhat less so, but…Rules are contextual. Usually when you break a rule, you?re obligated to do the work to provide a new context, or your rule breaking will not be aesthetically successful.
Indeed, otherwise it all becomes visually confused. One has to know what the rules are to successfully break them! 🙂