Are you aspiring to become an artist? But don’t really know what it means to be an artist. In this blog I will tell you who an artist is. An artist is a person who produces art. But what are the characteristics that makes an artist. Below are the 8 characteristics that are found in the works of genuine artists:

1. Creativity
2. Novelty
3. Subjectivity
4. Absolute autonomy
5. Appreciation
6. Difference
7. Contingency
8. Spontaneity

1. Creativity

An artist is someone who creates, he creates something out of his imagination. An art work is then a creation of an artist, but an artist is not answerable to anyone for the artwork that he creates as there is no right or wrong in the world of art.

2. Novelty

A genuine artist produces an artwork which is novel. It is always something new. Without novelty a work can’t be called art. For example, if someone replicate the painting of Mona Lisa, it will not be called an art, it will remain the work of mimicry. So for any work to be an art, novelty is an essential ingredient.

3. Subjectivity

An artwork is highly subjective. An artwork is produced by a subject and does not follow objective laws. Therefore, objectivity should not be sought in the work of art.

4. Absolute autonomy

We often hear that art has no boundaries, it is true as long as an artist has the full liberty to produce whatever he wishes. If we put constraints on the practice of art then it will no longer be an art. Art is supposed to be unbounded and unconstrained.

5. Appreciation

Art can be appreciated and criticized on the basis of aesthetic value but it can’t be intellectualized or ridiculed. This is what makes art different from science.

6. Difference

The work of a genuine artist is always different from previous works of other artists.

7. Contingency

The elements of contingency are found in the works of art. Our everyday life is bounded by necessities but in art anything is possible. There are always innumerable possibilities in the work of art. Artists use contingencies in their work to produce mesmerizing effects.

8. Spontaneity

Finally, there are no footsteps in arts. You can’t produce a great work of art by following fixed rules. Art is spontaneous, it comes by itself. This is the reason why artists are so unpredictable. You can’t guess what they will produce and even they themselves are not sure what they will produce next.

Many of the qualities that I described are also found in mentally challenged people. A mad man is also subjective, spontaneous, and unpredictable. The only difference between an artist and a mad man is that an artist produces artwork. In this way, artist lies on the boundaries of human madness.