🎨 The Dilemma of the Artists ➞ Is it good to praise them? (Anecdote)
Hi, Steemit Constellations! Today I came renewed and I wanted to leave a bit of my comfort area (the drawing) bringing this anecdote. I must emphasize that this is my opinion and not the final word
😎 The Professor P.P. 😎
egocentric
In the School of Arts, everything was not mediocrity, I had some teachers well prepared. One of them, "P.P", dominated the hyperrealism both in graphite and colors, as in oil and watercolors. What he liked to do most were self-portraits. These were so detailed that with difficulty you could distinguish the drawing from the original image. But whenever someone is very talented, they usually have a little bit of this:
-Why do you always draw yourself? Do not you draw other things, for a change?
-What thing is more beautiful than myself?- He answered raising his eyebrows with a gesture of greatness-.
-You go over the line, P.P. ...
When you receive this type of answers it is very funny but when you realize that they respond with the same egocentrism to every question, the thing changes, or at least in my case, it was!
I did not like to ask him anything when he had a doubt, because he felt that he lowered the students to be no more than his "pupils" and he did not want to be called a pupil by someone with so little or no humility... besides, I always thought that it was better to be self-taught than to be a "pupil" and to live under someone's shadow, so I began to develop my own techniques and obviously, I pass more work because I'm a very proud person.
In the small group of twelve students, we highlighted two: E.L. and me
With my partner (E.L.) the conversations were more or less like this:
-E.L., that portrait you're doing is...
-I already know it. -Interrupted me with a smug grin that resembles when someone smells something wrong-.
-Horrible... -I lied to download it from the cloud of glory I was in, because I regretted the good comment I was going to make.- Your drawing is of the poop and I wanted to offer you a new sheet so you can try it again...
He turned to me surprised, smiled on his side and said:
-Yeah right.
With E.L. I learned not to praise my colleagues xD
E.L. looked himself above all of us, even superior to P.P. and he expressed it openly, although the reality was that he was far from reaching his level. Let's talk about levels:
- P.P. was a 10.
- HE. was a 4.
- I was a 7.
For that time it was that I began to have a social life and my self-esteem had just begun to rise, so I never brag about anything. P.P. never praised anyone although everyone praised him, nor were he interested in the approvals of admirers. He only sought with much dissimulation the approval of those to whom he had not dazzled:
-I'm not doing this drawing well, I will not follow it.
"How is it not going well? It's identical, it's your best."
"Are you being serious, P.P? But if you are extraoridary"
"Nooo, follow it do it"
-And what do you think? Is it right or wrong?
-The one who knows is you because you are the one who is doing it. -I answered knowing what I wanted to hear-.
-If you tell me that you think it's okay and that I can finish it, I'll finish it.
-What you want is that I praise you and I'm not going to raise your self-esteem.
The drawing was going very well and he knew it but saying something positive was going to make me look inferior to him and I did not want to be the same as the others, who were spinning like satellites around the sun.
What I have learned is that the less praise there is among artists, the more respect and admiration there is among them.
Why?
Because nobody gets any satisfaction when receiving something for which they have not had to fight... That is, They want it hard to make you say "wow" because that will be more satisfying for their egoAnd that is the only reality! for me the artist who denies it, LYING.
🎨 From Artist to Artist 🎨
One day, the frequent negative comments about my career and how little valued it is in the country I am in, made me doubt my ability to succeed and nothing my family told me encouraged me. One day in class, when I thought about how my future and dreams of glory would go to waste, I mentalized to retire that afternoon. Suddenly Professor P.P. He began to pass by each student on his easel giving advice and corrections, until he came to my place:
-Hey, you're very good at what you do.
His words fell like a glove. I gave him an almost imperceptible smile and continued with my work, but when my eyes got wet, I left the classroom before the snot started to leave me hehehehe For me it was like: Did he say it? Apparently I earned his respect and at the same time saved my security. How can I explain that the comment of a professor with whom I did not get along well, would have had more power than the comments of the people I love? Simple: The thing is different between artists (especially if it is not the custom of either of them to compliment). P.P. was Venezuelan just like me, he was surrounded by pessimism just like me and still he did what he wanted to do, if he could and did very well. Why not me?
When P.P. was only weeks away from the country, he said repeatedly that I was his best student and this made me feel embarrassed because he said it in front of my classmates and I did not think it was very fair with them, that unlike me, they even tagged it in states of admiration on Facebook that he always took a long time to answer.
It is NOT that the other comments do not matter, of course they have their significant/motivating load... but it is not the same when someone on the street tells you that you are beautiful, when the person you like says "you are beautiful"? True? Well, in art it's more surprising when your competition tells you.
Everyone to portray me ✍
When everyone's skills had improved, P.P took the opportunity to get a free portrait:
-Ok, guys, today we're not going to use the mannequin. We're going to have a live model that will be me.
-He already started...
-Will be me, I said.
-Everyone lives making you portraits.
-What is better than drawing me?
-I prefer to draw Mario... Come Mario.
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Result Final:
And that's how P.P. went from being just "the STUPID cocky teacher and troll who liked to ruin the photos apropos" to be "the cocky teacher and troll who liked to ruin the photos apropos" What did you expect? There are things that never change! 😆
The fact is that when P.P. he left, his replacement (Juanito), turned out to be much more humble: he did not magnify himself or magnify anyone, he maintained a balance and dictated the class without going around the bush... But see the dilemma: When P.P. (selfish and egocentric) was in the classroom, many students from other classrooms came in just to talk to him or just to watch him draw, but when Juanito was in the classroom, despite being nice and equaling his level, he did not attract people as much like the previous one... What things, right?
End!
I'm sorry for the translation errors I tried to make it as understandable as possible!
Hello @rizada, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!
Gracias, @creativecrypto! :D :) :D