Introverts and Art
I speak to a lot of artists everyday online and something became apparent to me. A lot of us share something else in common besides an inclination for art. We’re introverts. I’ve learned from reading articles online that introversion is pretty common among creatives.
I’m personally a very introverted person and at times I can be bit socially awkward. I think that’s one of the reasons why being an artist suits me so well. I’ve always been this way, but I think I became more so as I got older. I remember as a child I preferred to be in my room drawing or painting rather than hanging out with a large groups of friends. Truth be told I really only had two or three close friends.
I recently conducted a small poll on Instagram, where many of my followers are also artists. I asked how many of them were introverts. An overwhelming majority, around 98% said they were. I’m curious why this is. Maybe it has something to do with how we internalize experiences or how we have difficulty putting an experience into words when it comes to conversations. Maybe it’s simply because we prefer to show and not tell?
Don’t get me wrong, I am able to turn on the extrovert and be a semi-social butterfly if the situation requires it, but frankly it’s exhausting. When it’s all said and done I’ m emotionally and mentally drained. I just want to crawl back into my hole and not be bothered. Now that I’m a full time artist, I rarely leave my house, except to go exercise and I’m perfectly fine with it.
“In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone.”
I think what makes introverts so unique and maybe a little quirky, is how we’re able to carry on full meaningful conversations online, but in public we tend to be shy and quiet. It makes absolutely no sense to me. I will say though, I’m so thankful for social media, because it gives me an outlet to interact with the world and market my art, but still be locked away all alone in the studio.
Until next time,
