Artistic vs. Mechanical

[azrider]

So I was having a discussion with my wife, and made an interesting observation. Am kind of curious as to what other people think. As far as leather working goes, I don’t see myself as artistic. To me the process is very mechanical. In order to get this result, you do these three things in this order. That is actually part of what got me interested in leatherwork. I don’t have to be real artistic. Just like working on a car or a bike, you use tool x to do job x. When I want to a new project, I will start with what I want, and go backwards to figure out what steps I need to take. Occasionally, I will experiment with different uses of tools, and different steps, but its all still a very mechanical process.

Now I know there are some artists on this site, and the things they put together are a lot more than just following certain steps. So I am curious, do you consider yourself artistic or mechanical?

[Wyvern]

Definately artistic!

[electrathon]

My leatherwork is totally and completely mechanical. I am great at copying patterns, can't draw for anything. Same in life, I am one of the best fix-it guys there is, but I am horible at designing things.

Aaron

[azrider]

At least I know I am not the only one!

I guess my follow up question would be what makes you either artistic or mechanical?

[esantoro]

I would say that Hermes approaches the artistic through the mechanical. Selection and arrangement of materials also has an artistic component.

ed

At least I know I am not the only one!

I guess my follow up question would be what makes you either artistic or mechanical?

[hidepounder]

This is a great topic and I had to think about it for a while. I decided that my answer is that you have to be both. What probably sets the Masters apart from the rest of us is that they have a whole lot of both!

Bob

[wildrose]

Artistic. I have alot more trouble with the mechanical end of the "craft".

[esantoro]

How about this for art?

[Suze]

I like this one better

[azrider]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Esantoro- There is something absoulutly artistic about an all alumimum v8 block being CNC machined. Its fun to watch.

I think for me, part of why I like leatherwork so much is that I can't draw, I can't paint, and I am tone deaf. So for me, I can do somthing I see as completely mechanical. The results are getting nicer to look at though. I have always been a big fan of "form follows funtion" design. When I build things with wood, they might not look like fine furnature, but I have a 100 gallon fish tank (about 1000 pounds) sitting on a table right now with no fear that it won't hold. With leatherwork, the tools have been less expencive than metal or wood working tools. (They are certainly catching up though.) The practice and learning curve seems to be shorter too. The amazing part is, I have had people look at my leather work and call me artistic. Thats why I was curious about how other people viewed what they do.