People say that I am creative, yet I never saw that aspect in me. It is true that I involve myself much in the fine arts, especially music, yet I never felt like I created worthwhile works. As such, anything that did not reach my high standards did not see the light of day. That all changed when I stumbled upon a biography of Vincent van Gogh. Despite being somewhat familiar with his pieces, I had never given them much attention. So, in order to better acquaint myself with his life and works, I decided to sit down and plow through it. Van Gogh’s life is so fascinating yet so tragic. In spite of illness, both physical and mental, he pushed onwards through life, whether that meant working as a missionary in Belgium or being a mental patient in France. He did so until he physically could no longer go on and committed suicide at the age of 37.
Reading the biography made me gain a greater appreciation for his works. I admired his ability to create rich and vibrant pieces of art even when suffering the darkest moments of his life. One only needs to glance at The Starry Night to notice the dreamlike scene enhanced by the vibrant, swirly palette with multiple shades of blue, yellow, and green. In fact, many of his paintings have this imaginative, pastel quality to them. If one were to see him …show more content…
Like me, van Gogh was never able to see the value in his work in the same way other people do in modern times, which was a contributing factor in what eventually led to his suicide. What I took from this is that creators tend to focus too much on what their work’s perceived inadequacies, while others tend to focus on the work’s merits. While that is not inherently incorrect– self-critique is necessary for growing one’s craft – it is easy to forget sometimes as a creator that many so-called flaws are invisible to one disjoint from the