Muttkip wrote:Well I'm sorry most of you guys see me using the APBT to express my feelings and what not, those pictures RARELY see the public, at all and most people don't see the breed but the emotion behind the pictures. But those bloodly pictures are actually atleast 3 or 4 years old as well, I don't draw like that anymore....
iluvk9- no more negative emotions here anymore, I got the help I needed years ago, alot of that had to do with the passing of my heart-dog Brandi.
Hello.......
It can be really hard/scary to post pictures of your art; it's kinda like setting out your "insides" for everybody to look at, and feeling scared to death people will just walk on them.
It was brave of you to share your Art. I understand that completely; and maybe you felt a bit 'stung' by some of the reactions you received.
If I may::::::::: **not to stick my nose in or try and play 'mediator' when it wasn't asked for*, I think a bit of perspective may help you feel a little less misunderstood**...
The folks on here deal with the stigma, the unrelenting Bad Press, the Full-to-the-brim Shelters with Dumped Dogs, the Angry Anti-Pit-Forums and Discussions, and the heartbreak of trying to rescue and Love the dogs that have been so brutally mishandled by abuse and fighting.
It may have been difficult for some of us to see the Art of Your own Internal Expression, because to Many of Us, it was just
--one more depiction-- of our beloved breed being shown as 'bloodthirsty', destructive and maligned.
Like"""""""""""""oh NO........NOT ANOTHER Pit Bull With BLOOD all over it's mouth....No no no ...
I don't know about your own 'story', and I would never assume enough to comment on it. To You, the blood, the sad dogs, the Anger, may have had nothing at all to do with a DOG. It could all have been symbolic, representational of how you were feeling about something separate. But on a Pit Bull Forum, it will be hard for people to 'get that', because so many of our members have spent decades trying to educate, rescue and overcome their own troubling issues over losing their own pets who may or may not have been tortured and used for fighting.
Ya know what,,,,,,,,I can surely bet this;:: If you pictures would have shown ANYTHING OTHER THAN A PIT BULL, we would have been less apt to 'click our tongues' and give you a bit of critiquing.....
I KNOW you own your own pit bull,,,,,,and from what you mentioned, I know you have suffered a loss.
Please don't take it personally. As an Artist, you have to be prepared for some critiquing of your work. It may often by misunderstood, harshly judged, or plain ole JUST NOT LIKED by all people.
Here?? It was your audience, sweetie......
As a pit bull owner, you also have to be a whole lot more DILIGENT about how your portray the breed you love. There are SO MANY PEOPLE out there, who woudn't even TRY to see the 'artists' statement, but rather the fact these animals are blood thirsty killers.
I'm not trying to imply you censor your art,,,,,,,,,,and you said these were older works. But as one artist to another, I'm just helping you understand (hopefully), why you may have been 'nipped' a bit by our members.
Over all, I think most had something positive to say, but wanted to share how some of the images affected them.
And in a way, this is a compliment, of sorts. Your art affected someone. But .........is this the effect you want? If so, then no one will expect you to stop doing what you love.
Let me give you another analogy::::::::
I belong to some other groups............one of them is for parents who have had children murdered.
If someone came on, expressing their art, and showed pictures of bloody knives and slain children, (because it captured how they felt inside)< there WOULD be some members (me included), who might say something like"""" Okay, your use of contrast is 'good', but the images are really difficult for me.
Does that help??
You have some talent..........keep doing all the work you can do, expressing in ALL THE WAYS that help you process. Just be mindful that not all art is to be shared with EVERYOne, EVERYPLACE.
I hope I've helped............
“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are Anger and Courage.
Anger that things are the way they are.
Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”----Augustine