Thursday, July 24, 2025

Greys Guidelines for Art


The following are my ideas and rules I created to guide me when creating art. They are compiled over 25+ years, many of them simple rules of thumb, others complex and subtle. Its my hope to write a book based on these. I'll be revising and adding to this list, so check back soon.

1) When you fuck up, find a way to make the viewer look elsewhere. 

2) Art is an idea come to life

3) Social media does not make the artist. Ideas and emotions do

4) Everything is art if we are just creative enough to make it so

5) There is no such thing as "finished". Its merely a subjective line in the sand

6) Never forget the difference between criticism and judgement.

7) Educate other artists in the Trophic Cascade

8) Stay within the "artists mind" at all times

9) A good artist paints what we want to see. A great artist paints what we often do not wish to see

10) Never destroy the art you  don't like. Wait until your skills catch up and then finish it

11) A piece of art breaks down to just two things. The Concept and the Creation.

12) When all else fails, use the Pterodactyl effect

13) Surrealism is subtle. It is meant to transport you one step out of your own reality not one hundred miles

14) Color is the gas that fuels illusion. A color change shifting away from reality changes the world

15) Unique doesn't equal over the top. A unique piece of art is one that most often explores subtlety

16) The line between surrealism and fantasy is thin

17) Tell a story that the viewer interprets

18) Surrealism should vaguely disturb the viewer but not necessarily frighten

19) If there is no emotion in the piece then there is no depth

20) If the dog is brown, its realism. If the dog is blue its fantasy. If the dog has four brown paws and one blue paw its surrealism

21) Distort, don't destroy

22) If we rely too much on the past then we never create anything new.

23) Don't reinvent the wheel. Reinvent the whole universe. If you sweat the little things then you will never be able to focus on the big things

24) I've learned as much from art I've destroyed as I have from art I've created

25) The more complex the game, the more opportunities for winning or cheating. The less complex, the more direct the path to winning or losing

26) There is a certain amount of truth to be found in the ravings of every madman. Sanity makes art. Insanity makes extraordinary art

27) Don't fall into the artists trap that what you think you want to create is going to be the way it actually turns out

28) The act of creation is addicting. The more you create, the more you desire to immerse yourself in the act

29) I am only alive when I am creating art

30) My days are measured by what I create. A good day is filled with inspiration. A bad day is empty of it

31) Art is an extension of who I am into a future where my physical self cannot go

32) For an artist, the journey from idea to finished composition is an amazing trip

33) Never associate your artistic name with one of the great masters. "I'm the next Picasso" should be stricken from your vocabulary

34) There will never be enough room in your studio

35) ANYTHING can be used for art if the artist is creative enough to find a use

36) If you feel you have nothing to say in your art. Invent a new language

37) Art speaks. We don't always listen

38) Distraction can lead to innovation. Don't be afraid to get sidetracked occasionally

39) The surest way to piss off an artist is to say the words "You should paint this!

40) Bright colors don't always mean lightheartedness. Dark colors don't always mean angst. See past the color

41) You eventually get to the point where the planning ends and you just have to stop being anal and create

42) Every piece of art has a spirit. Some spirits are small and quiet, others are loud and obnoxious

43) The angry artist and the happy artist create two different pieces of art. But they both reflect humanity

44) There is nothing that i as a poor starving artist cannot create that I as a rich sated artist could

45) Art is our way of trying to interpret a world we often do not understand

46) If your truly not feeling it, don't force it

47) Mental illness can be the worst demon, or the greatest asset of an artist

48) You DO NOT need gimmicks to be an accomplished artist

49) An artist must focus on the past, the present and the future for every given work they produce

50) The goal of an artist should be to create a conversation piece, not just a pretty picture

51) Worst words an artist can utter "Wait till you see the NEXT piece". Subjectivity says that no matter how stellar you think it is others wont

52) That ecstasy and agony that an artist feels upon the completion of a hard won creation even when no one else sees it

53) Artists should never play it too safe. Take a risk with your work. Experimenting is good for the creative soul

54) If you keep all your art secrets to yourself, how will the next great artists learn? Don't be afraid to share your skills

55) People bury their heads in the sand about death. Artists confront it head on unafraid to challenge it

56) It is better to be adored than hated, but stay your course, keep creating, stay focused on the art not the adoration

57) Sometimes the best art comes from the worst mistakes

58) The message in any given piece of art is only meant for certain people

59) It is possible to mentally & physically exhaust yourself in the act of creating art

60) I'm not hip. I'm not with it. I don't trend. I'm an artist. Retro, futuristic, nerdy, quirky. My work does not conform

61) Don't get so caught up in the selling of art, that you forget about the creating of art

62) Sometimes the best art ideas come at 4am in the morning

63) Creatives who we are meant to work with will inevitably cross our paths

64) Sometimes the difference between a successful piece of art and a failure is nothing more than a slight change of color

65) What are the criteria one should use to judge the success of an artists life? Is it in sales? In volume of work? In uniqueness of style. Or is it in what artist has given to the world after they left it that is truly important?

66) Encourage an artist each day. It could mean the difference between them giving up and succeeding with their work

67) The greatest fear an artist can have is that their work will remain lost and in the shadows for eternity

68) Only when we face that we are mortal artists can we create immortal works

69) One of the lessons to learn about making art is understanding that there are steps to create something. Do this before you do that. Learn the steps and you become an artist

70) Interest in your own legacy as an artist should concern one thing. What you are creating at that moment. The rest is up to the historians

71) A measure of a true artist is their support of other artists. There is always strength in community

72) Use your art for change

73) A right of passage for an artist is when you totally exhaust yourself over a single piece of work to the point of making yourself sick

74) I've walked on thin ice my whole life. I don't think I'd be happy with security. It would ruin my artists edge

75) You say "Art is my life" but do you live it? Do you make it not only your purpose by how your live, breath and function each day?

76) Trial by fire. If an artist can survive the lean years & the lack of notice. They are stronger and better prepared to deal with success later

77) Think in terms of a lifetime, not a year

78) You are an artist. Extend it to your marketing also. The more creative your ability to market yourself, the more successful the artist

79)  Artists are gods in miniature, creating what we must for our own reasons. 

80) There is no such thing as bad art. There is only an artist not creative enough to turn it into something great

81) We talk about art like its separate from us. Its not. It is us

82) Hidden behind the eyes of every creative human is a universe in which only they reside

83) "Why do we dream? Where does our mind go when it envisions things we've never seen? Are we really here at all?

84) Art changes man. Man changes art


~JUST LET GO~

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