Art Forms All

So how are drawing, painting, sculpting, composing music, and writing novels different? They are all art forms, of course. Each is a unique endeavor unto itself. Even the different forms of Fine Art are unique. With drawing you draw. With painting, you begin with a drawing, but you take it further with the application of paint. Sculpting is not even in the same ballpark. You may start with a drawing of something you want to sculpt, but not necessarily. And unless it's ceramics, you have to construct a sculpture with an interior skeleton or frame. Well, sometimes even with ceramics. Then you add to it, with clay, or whatever. And the three--dimensional aspect of sculpting, to me, makes it a more complex endeavor.

Then again, with drawing and painting, you need the skill to make a two-dimensional work look three-dimensional, but there’s a science to that. A science you may ask? Well, yes. A science. You learn it in college if you are lucky enough to have had the right instructor. The method was invented by a great artist from the past. The one and only Leonardo Da Vinci.

There is a great feeling you have when you complete a great drawing, painting, or sculpture. And it’s just as great when you write a great song. I’ve had original tunes buzzing in my head since I was a kid. Often I would play them on the piano, but since we had no recorders, they would be forgotten and lost.

But when the electronic keyboards came out with those floppy disc drives attached, it made writing music easy, since you could record so many tracks and layer them over each other. It would sound like a band playing. You could go back and change something if you decided to.

Which is like writing a book. But to me, writing a novel length book is the most complex art form yet. The characters, the plot, the storyline, the buildup, the complications, the climax, the denouement, it’s all so very important for it all to meld. Not unlike a great song. More like a symphony, really. Yeah, that would be the right comparison. Writing a great book is like writing a great symphony.

But forget the symphony. I’ll stick to writing books.