My sister is an artist in my book. She paint's very well.

well uhmmm...who is your sister? XD

She's not on here. She has paintings of a lot of hippie stuff. I'll post them tomorrow maybe.

Alright you can do that =D

My criteria is having some skill. I will consider anyone with either the training and or experience an artist.
It' 's like any skill, someone who takes a cake mix and makes a cake is not a chief
,someone who assembles a shelf from a pre-made kit is not a carpenter.
See where I'm coming from?.
Do you think you could tell the difference between someone who is a baker or carpenter from someone who doesn't have these skills?.
I suppose it's somewhat subjective since at point does one consider someone good enough to be considered skilled enough.

I don't consider training or experience to be necessary to be called an artist of any kind, but skill is fundamental. Some of the people that I see on here that can themselves artists or pixelists when what they produce looks like a 6 year old did it...who are they trying to kid? Being able to doodle on a scrap of paper does not make you an artist, if it did we'd all be budding Picasso's. A lot of people are pretty dilussional :lol:

Rating art is rating what is beautiful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

For example, some countries see thin models as beautiful but in other countries thicker woman are more beautiful.

For example, half of the world thinks Leonardo's work is good but my dad does not think Leonardo's work is good.

Also the word "artist" is similar to the word "dancer" and "singer". You do not need to be professional, famous or even good to be considered a singer or a dancer. For example, a random woman who sings at church or a bar is a singer. "Artist", "Dancer", "Pianist" or "Singer" are words to describe what someone does and not what someone is good at.

I hope this helps! :)

Really?...So someone who pounds random piano keys without knowing how to read music is a pianist or someone who starts yelling lallalalalalala is a singer?. One doesn't have to be a professional to have skills and or experience and or formal training.

It always confuses me too but that is what the dictionary says. :)

Why do we have to have like 5 threads on what is art?

Anyway, I personally paint in the style of the masters and sell fine art, illustration, comics and whatever the heck else I can come with so I can eat and I personally don't care what any of the loling posters here say.

Pixie Wings, you do need to be good to be considered as one of those things, by people that matter anyway. The only ones who can get away with mediocre talent are manufactured popstars who have producers using electronic wizardry to make them sound better. But someone who has no real skill at dancing is never going to be called a "dancer", other than by themselves and their deluded friends and family who are convinced they have talent.

And whilst "bad art" is very much down to personal taste, someone who can barely produce more than childish-looking cute, minimal skill level stuff should never have the cheek to call themselves an artist, not in my book. There's an enormous gulf between being able to draw and being an artist, but most people fail to see that.

It's like someone who can make a mean grilled cheese sandwich calling themself a chef, do you see what I'm trying to say? It's all about the level of skill.

Originally Posted by Claudia

Really?...So someone who pounds random piano keys without knowing how to read music is a pianist or someone who starts yelling lallalalalalala is a singer?. One doesn't have to be a professional to have skills and or experience and or formal training.

I'm a professional artist and I didn't have formal training, I get paid for what I do and I get paid well. Many of what are considered the masters were self taught. Many professional singers are also self taught.
Alot of people who teach art classes do so because they aren't good enough to go be a professional artist, hence the saying "Those who can't, teach."
Don't get me wrong, there are many good teachers too, but all they can teach you is the basics and how to mimic the work of others, a true artist has a style and a voice of their own. Lessons give you the bones, you make the flesh.
And yes, you can draw and be an artist. In learning to paint, (unless you are a landscape or abstract artist) you must learn to draw first. It's like learning to crawl before you can learn to walk.
I hate people who think they can decide what's art and what is not. No single person has that right. I 've heard so many times people say that manga/comic books aren't art. That's bull, dynamic drawing takes alot of skill and visualization to bring a writers thoughts to life.
I've heard people also say that abstract art isn't art. I don't really like it, but it is art. An artist is so because they can invoke an emotion in the viewer, what ever that emotion may be.
Don't get me wrong, there is a difference between art and good art. But remember, one man's trash is another one's treasure.

define "really good" is the problem. there are some clear distictions between good and bad, but the lines become more blurred the farther up the tallent and skill.

for example, my photography is very good. the people i watch on deviant art, are better. and yet, the people they watch, are better than them. I've taken a particular likeing to bloddrop. i've been learning things from her. what seperates her photos from mine are her resources. mine aren't up to par with hers, simply because she owns a 10.2 mega pixle camera, she has models to work with, and she lives in a country which has a lot of old castle ruins and gothic buildings as well as huge forests and mountains.

my camera is a 7.2, and the 10.2s i'm looking at are over $1000, which i can't afford for a hobby. neither do i have an abundance of beautiful women, and scenary to work with.

i believe the true definition of an artist is something you do, as PixieWings said. one thing i do is better than all the rest and that's writing. but i'm still an artist. just because i'm mediocure at some things, doesn't mean i'm not an artist. i learn, i practice, i progress, i get better.

" Personally, don't think the meaning should matter. Perspective matters. If your personae becomes blissful within the views of this world, whether the audience ish your mother as a child or an audience as a young maiden singing amongst a crowd, you are what you are entitled by the surrounding masses. Like anything you are what you are known for, non what you call yourself. ~ Eitherway, the matter of titles shouldn't be an issue more to the means of action. You keep to that which is important to yourself et let others judge what is right, but you are the ultimate in the long run. "

Honestly, being on a site like this clouds the issue because it's full of kids. So naturally they doddle some scrawl using Paint and call themselves an artist, but that's just natural teenage BS.

" Indeed, Agreed jellysundae "

i was under the impression the op was speaking in general.

i personally get very irritated with OMG LOOK AT MY SONIC FANART!! <333 because no matter who's drawing it it all looks the same...

but as i said before, there's a difference between bad and good. the way she started out was sounding like she's one of the one in a million people who are akin to the masters. you don't have to be akin to the masters to be an artist.

pandamonium, That was my point you can be an artist with or without formal training.

Trin isn't someone I'd class as an artist, she can do quite cute avie art and so on, but with no huge skill level.
This is something she did for me two years ago, her style/look is the same now but improved.

I don't consider myself an artist. I don't feel that I'm that great at art. I used to enjoy it but I kind of stopped bothering because I didn't really feel I was that great at it compared to others. That and I just don't get around to that sort of thing now either. Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm at a huge disadvantage on sites like these though, art seems to have become a major source of income for most people, and I don't have that. Especially avatar art, and drawing people is one of the things I'm worst at.

It's hard to say what is art and what is not (or who is an artist and who is not) since aesthetics vary from person to person. But you do need at least some technical skill, since "you need to know the rules before you can break them."

I tentatively call myself an artist since I can't think of any other way to describe what I do. I do draw better than an average person and I have very basic technical skills, but I'm nowhere near a level where I'd call myself a satisfactory and decent artist. Perhaps I'm a dabbler in art?

I think that everyone can draw in their own kind of way, so if you expand on that, getting into more painting and other things, you could be an artist.
Dictionary for artist:
1. a person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria.
2. a person who practices one of the fine arts, esp. a painter or sculptor.

See? Artists are people who practice on one thing and kind of art.
... I think. xD

Originally Posted by Vickicat

I don't consider myself an artist. I don't feel that I'm that great at art. I used to enjoy it but I kind of stopped bothering because I didn't really feel I was that great at it compared to others. That and I just don't get around to that sort of thing now either. Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm at a huge disadvantage on sites like these though, art seems to have become a major source of income for most people, and I don't have that. Especially avatar art, and drawing people is one of the things I'm worst at.

I think you have to want to be one to be a good one, there are lots of artists I feel inferior to but I'll always keep trying to improve. I try not to compare myself to others, often you can't really compare yourself because another artist has a different style than you even though you feel like they are more skilled. But I get that you either want to strive to be better or you don't. It takes constant drive and you have to like your art and be confident because everyones a critic. I've met alot of people who don't like my art, but I do so it's okay, I don't take it to heart.

Well, I think there are, "Different types of art."

Like me, I usually draw in a manga/anime sort of style. I'm hoping to become a manga artist, or make a WebComic. Usually, I use a pencil or black pen.

But personally, I think Art is far too easy a skill for people to call "Talent"
So I think everybody's an artist, the fact they can draw something is a bit too easy to learn.

Anyone who knows how to draw (not stick figures or scribbles) I consider an artist.
Some of them may not be the best, but they're still artistic, they're just still in the process of learning and finding something that fits them.
It's all based on opinion, so there really is no right or wrong answer to the question.