chapter 7- the six steps

As far as what McCloud says, I can agree with what he has to say about how "any artist creating any work in any medium will always follow these six steps whether they realize it or not". The six steps being
1-idea/purpose
2-form
3- idiom
4-structure
5-craft
6- surface
As an artist myself, I never thought about these six steps being relevant to my work before. It never really occurred to me that there were even steps in creating art! I thought about it and applied these steps to my regular working plans, and I can see how they would apply perfectly. I’ve realized that whenever I sit down to draw, I need a vague idea on my head...or a purpose as to why I'm drawing this something. The way I compose my pictures purely depend on all of the above--what I’m drawing, what genre and so on. Form, structure, idea…they are all rushing through my head as I create me piece. It never occurred to me however that I have been unconsciously following these 6 steps. Even just thinking about it, I can see how it applies to me greatly as I believe it may apply to any other artist. I've realized that with all the art pieces that I have completed and have been a success, I've unconsciously followed the steps, knowing exactly what I wanted as a final image. Where as, looking at my unfinished pieces...I can now see how I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to portray and how I managed to miss some critical steps along the way. In that situation, I often loose interest in what I’m drawing because perhaps I don't have an idea, or a structure.

So as McCloud uses the metaphor of the shinny apple compared to the old wrinkly one, I can see what he is trying to explain through my personal experiences. There is no point working towards a polished surface, using short cuts along the way--where you’ve missed out some essential planning stages. If you ever finish it, the final product will always be lacking something, whether it is form or shape or perspectives etc. How I see life altogether is that we shouldn't be taking shortcuts unless we've been through the long way. Taking shortcuts to begin with, strips us of our ability to learn for ourselves the hard way, and even though it maybe easier and less time consuming, it may always backfire and come back to you in the future. This is how I kind of see the difference of university and Tafe as being. In Tafe, students are taught how to use the programs, what to do in certain situations…students are spoon fed throughout the years, where as in university, it is more based around the students figuring things out themselves. A lot more independency is required, as lecturers don’t teach students as much, and expect them to figure things out themselves. Personally I see this as a good thing, as we as students are learning from our own mistakes first hand, and solving them. You learn best from your mistakes and that’s how knowledge sticks. Tafe may be a lot easier in terms of being taught everything, but the students aren’t necessarily learning from their mistakes.

What I don't agree however is what McCloud says about the whole "life revolves around survival and sex", and relating that to comics and art. The statement I agree with, but not if it is being put in context with art. I believe that everyone has a different definition to ART in general, and the metaphor McCloud uses is not the best metaphor to use in terms of art. It is true however that everyone is artistic in their own way...musically, visually, creatively etc. But how does that relate to 'sex and survival' in the first place. I personally didn’t understand fully where McCloud was going with the metaphor, but I guess it’s not right to judge peoples perceptions and ideas as everyone’s theories are different!