Thoughts On the Joel Trussell Interview

Music Videos

I really enjoyed several of the videos that we watched on the first day of class. I liked that there was variety in the types of videos that we watched. I think that I would have to say my favorite one that we watched was The Shins "The Rifle's Spiral". I thought that it was unique because it was stop motion, and the story line was beautiful as well. I liked how the artist's chose for the rabbit to be white to represent innocence, and how they chose the dark colors to contrast the rabbit and the little girl's world. I thought it was interesting that somebody mentioned in class about the rabbit and girl sort of being one in the same. I had never thought of that, but it definitely brought some clarity to my thoughts. I kind of thought of it as the girl was saving the rabbit, and the three "bad" guys were intimidated by her power, so they did what they could to get rid of her, but obviously her power was more than they could handle. At the part where they send the girl away and take the rabbit away from her, it was kind of like they didn't want her around because she had too much power, but they wanted her childlike innocence, because it is precious. I don't know, just some thoughts.

Joel Trussell Interview

In regards to the reading, I think that Joel Trussell definitely spoke some truths about the fears of being an artist He talked about his fear of his art not being good enough, and I think that is something that all artists can relate to. I think that it is a true statement, that we are our own worst critic. As an artist, you put your heart into each piece of your work,but you also can see every flaw in your art, even if your viewer's don't necessarily see it. Then you face the fear of people seeing those flaws in your work, and not accepting it. I think we have this struggle of wanting to create and share that with others, but there is so much fear in putting down your walls and being vulnerable to people's interpretations of your artwork, as well as how people will react to your style of artwork.

Also Joel Trussell talked about how he always wants to be able to do personal work, because if he isn't creating for himself, then it's no longer fun anymore. I think that is a good reminder for artists, if you aren't enjoying what you are doing, then why are you doing it? Your best work is going to be work that is personal to you, because it has meaning to it. I know that you aren't always going to get to draw for yourself, especially if you work for a big company or something like that. But don't forget to take time to draw things that you care about, after all that's why we got into this in the first place right? Because we loved what we were doing, and it is something we should continue to enjoy.