Writers who are also visual artists

I am both a writer and a visual artist. (I could have made a living from 'visual' art, but chose not to.) I did not study either. I hold only 1 degree... in life.

As an artist I did portraits, landscapes, abstracts, still life... whatever. I didn't hold myself to one style or medium. As a writer, I am pretty much the same. I don't believe in formal training for anything. I am of the belief that one DOES, one does not study.

I think what you are saying about juxtaposing someone's art against their writing sounds fabulous. I would actually be willing to do it... had I not retired from all forms of visual arts.

artistic folk are typically talented in multiple disciplines, but rarely in equal measure.

william blake immediately leaps to mind as an exception.

I've been a potter for about 17 years (yes I have a degree, it's tough to figure out how to throw and mix glazes without some formal training) and I write (nope, no degree in that one, but I can spell a bit). Writing started out as a way to get the stories I used to tell myself in the studio out of my head and became a need.

I don't think the two overlap at all for me. I write mostly horror or dark fantasy and I mainly make coffee mugs for Jeep/Adventurers (I carve custom stamps). My "artsy" work tends to be flowing teapots and large jars. They don't sell as much as the custom coffee mugs, but they feed a different need.

Ehh...I'm a compleat renaissance salad

I'm a writer and a musician (guitar player and songwriter) and I see countless parallels between my writing and my playing, although I don't think it's apparent to others.

I think I have more talent as a writer, though if I'd had a choice, I would have opted for more talent as a musician.

But a funny thing -- in real life I'm rather cynical (though not approaching Haskins territory) and have never been noted for openness or a sense of whimsy. But both my writing and my music are mostly cheerful, positive, and light of foot. (hopefully)

Check out a typical song of mine.

As an artist, I tend to focus on realism rather than abstract. If you check my blog, you see the pastoral quality of my watercolours. As a writer, I also lean toward real life, trying to depict my scenes with clarity and detail (sometimes too much).

So, I think the two mediums are tied together with regards to style.

I am a writer and a painter. I write mostly short mysteries, but paint syneasthesic conceptual pieces. I'm not sure how I link the two pursuits, only that when I am painting well I am usually writing a lot at the same tiime (not exactly the same time, of course - just in the same day or week or whatever. The bursts hit me in both places.)

Use Her Name said:

So, any visual artists have this sort of overlap into the other arts? Is being a painter, sculptor, even computer graphic artist very common among writers? Do you share the same skill levels at both? Does your art look like or echo your writing? Example, if you write dark goth, do you paint dark goth?

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I'm a writer, digital artist and a web designer.

I write mostly fantasy steampunk and sci fi/horror. I paint fantasy...though I haven't done much lately and landscapes. Webdesign is pretty much whatever the client wants...so I do all kinds.

Use Her Name said:

Do you share the same skill levels at both? Does your art look like or echo your writing? Example, if you write dark goth, do you paint dark goth?

Its an interesting question. It would be interesting to see a chapter of someones work and a painting/drawing/sculpture to compare it to. (I'm not saying do this-- it would just be a neat thing to do)

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When I did the concentration section for AP art in high school, I illustrated my poetry in oil pastels.

I college, I felt obligated to choose between writing and art. I chose writing. I'm definitely a better writer than I am an artist, but I still like to paint, draw and do other creative projects, including home improvements.

My brother is a writer, artist and musician.

Moved to Roundtable - not really TIO material

I'm an artist (photographer, really), writer and musician in equal measure. I've even got a perfectly useless painting degree, which puts art slightly ahead on the scale, as far as actual training. For me, there really isn't much of an overlap, though I'm sure each informs the others. Which medium I'll use at a given moment is always a question of how best to get what's in my head out. If it's a phrase, I write it. If it's an image, I photograph it. If it's a sound, I play it.

It's made it very difficult to make a career out of any of them, though. For a while, I was doing advertising copywriting and I really enjoyed that. There was a sense of mission, a task to be accomplished there. But I have a very hard time forcing myself to focus on one thing long enough to get any momentum behind it (as evidenced by the myriad unfinished bits and pieces of things I have lying around).

I was learning to be an illustrator, before I switch to writing, the switched back. In hindsight, I was using words to make up for the images I couldnt draw from a pencil. NOW I'm trying to develop the same depth in my illustrations as I have in my writing.

"round and round I go"

I was torn between art and writing in college -- writing won out for the degree track. I still do occasional illustrations -- almost all my drawings and paintings are illustrations of books I love or of my own work. The storytelling urge rules both forms for me.

I studied piano for years, but I'm not a natural musician -- for some reason, I never did learn to read music well enough to play at sight. My dancing is pretty rudimentary. I'm told I'd make a good actor -- I'm loud and histrionic enough.

I'm an artist, mostly acrylic-based mixed media, and currently my art is more productive and lucrative than my writing. One of my goals is to get the whole artist/writer thing to a more even footing.

My writing is rather similar to my painting, stylistically. Both are kind of darkly whimsical, and my novel-in-progress shares more than a few qualities with my tarot deck-in-progress.

I've not had training beyond secondary school level in any art.

I do a mixture of visual arts and photography. My traditional art skills are my worst. I don't think I'll ever improve to a professional level. I'm not bad at photography. My shots tend to focus on realistic profiles. I'm unsure where I fall with writing.

The genres overlap. Both my art and writing is fantasy/sci fi, often with a whimsical or abstract flavour. My photographs are of nature, which is a theme that often appears in my art and writing too. The main difference is the writing has more depth and tends to have darker undertones.

I used to be good at drawing (at least, people in school thought I was...I wasn't innovative or experimental or anything, I was just good at drawing), but the ability seems to have waned over time, probably because I don't do it much anymore. I try a piece of art (again, I use the term very loosely) now and then, and people like it, but it's nothing fantastic. I could probably be better at it if I took the time, but the way I see it, I'll never be good enough at any other sort of art to justify taking the time, so *shrug.* I also have quite poor patience when it comes to not getting something right the first time and so artwork leaves me heavily discouraged.

When I try more detailed things they're usually landscape or fantasy related, and fantasy is what I write, so, again...

Hm, I just realized I take lots of photos, which, while not being anything earthshattering, people seem to think are pretty. Again, mostly nature and landscape related.

I find that I can visualize certain things very well, but as for getting them down in art form, it's always a dreadful disappointment.

I'm horrid at anything having to do with three dimensions (sculpting, e. g.). Other art forms, such as digital or jewelry work or anything, I either haven't the materials necessary or haven't anywhere near the patience required to learn it.

I'm an artist (mostly portraits in charcoal or pencil) and a writer, but not formally trained in either. I almost always draw my MC in my WIP. It gives me a better sense of who he is and lets me 'see' him'. I also play the guitar but would never call myself a muscian-

I'd say my talent is pretty evenly distributed between drawing/painting, writing, and music, but well, I had to prioritize and over the last few years because high school gives you...not as much free time as middle school does. So I've still had good training in drawing and painting, but I've devoted hundreds more hours to writing and studying violin. I'm studying writing in college for a degree starting next fall, and doing whatever I can to continue improving at violin--lessons, quartets, local orchestras, whatever.

Although visual cues in my scenes help a lot with tone, because I see them as finished movie scenes, complete with fancy digital editing and everything, my details tend to be more aural than visual, just since I spend so much time thinking about sounds.

pconsidine said:

I'm an artist (photographer, really), writer and musician in equal measure.

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I liked your photos, from the link in your signature. I don't have much dynamic to say, but it might encourage others to look.

I almost went to art school, but decided against it. Honestly, I probably should have gone.

I also play the bass guitar. I've been playing for years, and I always found that whatever style of music I played, would influence my style of writing based on the mood of the song.

So when I need help writing an angry part of a story, sometimes I'll play fast and angry songs, to get me into the right emotion.

I have been painting (and selling) for 27 years. I work in abstract reality and abstract. I live in reality (my wife says I don't) but paint out of my mind (abstract). Abstract is a challenge as is abstract reality. But they say to write about what you know. I am writing a non-fiction about life and being a caregiver to my mother who was a home hospice patient... ergo reality. So, that's my story of writing and painting. Oh yeah, I also write short stories (true ones) and poetry (illusion)... so go figure...

I was really into photography in college, but I didn't get a degree in it. I consider it a hobby that I wish I could make some money off of, but I'm not really interested in becoming a professional. I also draw comics for fun. I'm not sure how they overlap with my writing. My photography is mostly landscapes and natural portraits while my writing is fantasy/sci-fi and my comics are about work or living in Japan. I'm sure they kind of feed off of each other though.

Hmmm...Interesting. I paint controlled and write controlled, but the subject matter is usually whimsical and absurd. I take my silliness very seriously.

Nicole