An artist is not necessarily someone who picks up a brush and paints on a canvas. To think like an artist is to be creative in the broadest sense of the word. In any activity, there are creative people and there are copyists, there are innovators and there are repeaters.

An artist can be your profession, but if you don’t draw anything at all, the ability to think out of the box will take you to a new level of mastery.

As an artist and “female YouTube innovator” (according to Google), I decided to share how the world’s greatest artists – from Van Gogh to Banksy – think about creativity and understand the essence of the phrase “being an artist”. What an artist does, why, where they get their ideas from, how they arrive at their vision of the world. Is creativity an inborn phenomenon or can anyone learn to think like an artist?

I was inspired by a book-collection of interviews with artists which I found in a bookshop in our village in Israel. And a couple of other books and videos with personal diaries and interviews – Wang Gogh, Warhol, Pollock, Hockney, Rothko, Malevich, etc. I’ll spice up the thoughts of the classics with my own vision and make a summary:

• creative – means “of oneself”, that is, literally “developing” oneself as a photographic film
• developing creativity is about developing the courage to show the world what is hidden in your thoughts and imagination
• the artist’s sole aim through creativity is self-realisation
• an artist’s training is a way of acquiring the tools needed for self-realisation
• the work of other artists, people and the world around them are sources of inspiration
• solitude is a necessity for an artist to be able to hear and understand themselves
• the product of their work is like a child for the artist, and when they are negatively judged or criticised, it makes them angry
• artists do not draw / make / show literally what the viewer can see in their work
• there are three modes – artist (author), craftsman (copyist) and viewer (consumer) and each person can move from one mode to the other

To be able to realize yourself creatively, you have to master the tools – to understand how to get the right colour and what brush to use. You don’t learn how to copy someone else’s style or approach, but how to technically “manifest” what you have inside. Copying is the best way to learn, but as long as you are copying masters, you are an artisan.

So how does one become an artist in the broadest sense of the word?

My creativity is helped by ideas like this:

1. Learning from other artists’ tools
2. When you want to copy, ask yourself – is it mine or not?
3. Raise your self-esteem so you are not afraid to fulfil yourself
4. Ditch the husk of the familiar as often as possible
5. Have a hole – a place to retreat to
6. Remove uninvited criticism and negative assessments from your life
7. Realize your creative impulses and publish online (and at first, you might not even bother to look at your feedback).

Why spend years drawing and writing on a desk? Why make videos that you’re embarrassed to post and delete? I have something inside me that is worthy of coming out. If I don’t do it, no one else can. I need to write this post. And it’s one of a kind. I wonder if ChatGPT were a human being, an artist and wanted to self-actualise, what would he write?

Let’s ask the latest (smartest) version of ChatGPT:

Imagine that you are a human being – an artist who wants to be self-actualised. What would you write?

ChatGPT:

If I were a human artist striving for self-realisation, I would write the following:

Hello, dear friends and like-minded people!

My name is [your name] and I am an artist who is always looking for new ways of self-actualisation and self-expression. Creating art is my passion and my way of understanding the world around me, as well as expressing my feelings, thoughts and ideas.

I would like to share with you my dreams and goals that I aspire to achieve in my artistic journey. First, I want to create a series of artworks that reflect my philosophy, outlook on life and my experiences. These works can be painted in different styles and techniques to show my versatility and creative flexibility.

Secondly, I want to participate in various exhibitions and events where I can show my work to a wider audience, exchange experiences with other artists and find my admirers. This will help me shape my artistic image and expand the boundaries of my art.

Thirdly, I’m looking to collaborate with different artists, musicians, designers and other creative people to create collaborative projects that bring together different art forms. Together we can realize more ambitious ideas and inspire each other to achieve new things.

I would also like to teach art and share my experience and knowledge with younger generations of artists. This would not only help them to develop, but also give me the opportunity to constantly learn and improve.

For me self-fulfillment in art is a constant development, communication with like-minded people, sharing experiences and an incessant desire to create something new and unique. I believe that each of us has a unique talent and can achieve success in our field if we work hard on ourselves and our creativity.