The Day the Muse Died
24 comments
·March 3, 2025jtwoodhouse
NickC25
Nor does passion have to be monetized. Too often in life are hobbies and passions forced into the monetization route, which in a lot of people kills the joy, creativity, focus, and spontaneity required to create.
bigstrat2003
Indeed. You see it even with us in the tech business. A lot of people used to love tinkering with computers as a kid, got into it for a living, and then want nothing to do with computers in their free time after work. It's just how it goes when you do something all day long for work, you don't necessarily want to do it for fun too.
progmetaldev
For myself, even just going from doing art for myself, to helping out a friend with a label for his brewery made me see the other side of things. He had a specific idea in mind, which was different from mine. I figured out quickly that creating art, and then doing it for business, are far different things. Luckily in the end, he saw another piece of art I had been working on for myself in between his label art, and he chose that. I got to show my art and get a small amount of publicity, and decided that I will never create art for anything other than myself again! This was also with a friend, so I didn't have to hear all the brutal truth that would come with working with a client.
slyall
It's also a reason to have multiple hobbies and interests. If you lose interest in one (or have to stop doing it) then you have others already going to fill the gap.
Also avoid burnout of doing the same activity all the time
MailleQuiMaille
An interesting read !
I feel the call of the Muse, and always try to negotiate because, well, I need money to live. To me, creativity feels like a laser I can point in any chosen direction.
Want to make a SAAS ? Sure ! Here are a dozen ideas ! Want to write a Sci-fi short story ? There you go, have your pick between those ! Want to make a video game ? Oh boy, have I got the concepts for you !
Then, it's the execution part. The one I never really got right...How could I focus on just one thing ? One thing to make, when the excitement is long gone ?Until I noticed that if I choose a good project, good in the sense that it feeds my soul, helps my fellow human beings and sadly, not necessarily that it will make me money...It's easier to stick to it.
In the end, the Muse wins. So I just stick with them, and who knows ! Maybe I can buy a beer or two with their fruits :)
mariushop
Agnes Varda [1] taught me about the cycle of inspiration-creational effort-showing your work. Nowdays I book an expositional space every year in November and somehow all the work needed is done until then.
amelius
I thought this was about AI tools taking over all the fun jobs, like painting and writing.
ChrisMarshallNY
> Most importantly, don’t do it for money
Them's fightin' words, around here...
I used to be a musician (a fairly good bass player[0] -Don't laugh. That hair was the height of fashion, at the time).
I used to be an artist (a fairly good one[1]).
I ended up sidelining both of them for writing software. I don't really regret that, but writing software for other people really sucked. Sucked like a galaxy-core, supermassive black hole. I worked for a company that took Quality seriously, so I didn't have to deal with the internal shame of deliberately releasing crap software. I probably would have gone nuts, if that had been the case, and no amount of money would have fixed it.
I now write the software that I want to write, on my terms. It's a joy. I have to keep the scope pretty humble, but I have been having the time of my life.
bollu
How'd you recommend I learnt to paint? I've not really done much painting in my life at all, and I'd love a breakdown.
ChrisMarshallNY
Well, sketching (constantly practicing, by drawing) is extremely important.
It helps to coordinate the eye and the hand.
It starts with being able to accurately and dispassionately render what I see, on paper.
From there, I am able to modify the process, so the visual source, is in my head, as opposed to in front of my eyes.
Artists like Picasso and Pollock were actually very good realist artists, but their expression came from their interpretation of their own vision.
In my experience, there’s no shortcuts. I have to be able crawl, then walk, before I can run.
Just like software development.
In my case, hiring a teacher, who, right off the bat, told me I was screwing up, was also necessary.
froh
> there’s no shortcuts. I have to be able crawl, then walk, before I can run.
yes, so much this!
my.fad, also a passionate artist, hated how they thinned out technical crafts foundations from arts college. "no more stupid copying and banale Line and color practice! freedum!" the college went.
my dad just said (translation follows)
@> Kunst kommt von können. Wenn es von wollen käme hieße es Wunst und wir wären Wünstler.
art comes from artistry. if it was based on "wanting" we'd call it "want" and we (artists) were "wantists"
or "wished" and "wishedits"
along these lines
he'd learned sketching from herding small livestock, goats, geese, chicken and sketching them, as a kid...
progmetaldev
ChrisMarshallNY gave you the true answer, as far as creating the type of art that he's made (which I find amazing) and mastering painting. Another way to go about it (which I did at the start of the pandemic) is to just buy some canvases and acrylic paint (more forgiving than oil since you haven't painted), and some cheap brushes. Experiment and try to create something. It can be completely abstract and only for you. Learn how the paint dries, and how adding a bit of water to your paint affects it. Look up some YouTube tutorials on beginning painting. Best thing to do is to just keep painting. You can even take a canvas and just keep painting white or black over it to start over, just so you aren't spending much on canvas. I am totally unable to paint 3D objects, but I do a lot of abstract and symbolic/occult type art, and I personally love it as a means of meditation and getting away from technology.
progmetaldev
Just wanted to say that I see you post a fair bit in HN, but have never heard about your music and art. The hair is great, and with the art, I picture some kind of doom metal. I completely agree with you on needing to do things your way, for the things that you have passion for. If you can make money off it, that's great, but if it's only for money you'll probably burn-out and despise it.
ChrisMarshallNY
Thanks!
Yeah, when I was forced to retire, I was really pissed, but it ended up being one of the best things to have happened to me.
progmetaldev
I am in the same boat right now. My boss has come to me and said he can't afford to pay me any longer, while I am very underpaid, but I chose that because I get a ton of freedom to choose technology and can take time off whenever I need it. I have extreme impostor syndrome, and have always been the lead software engineer, so have only had online resources for mentorship. I have written quite a bit of business software, and I've been maintaining software that evaluates banks and credit unions for risk, and have been working on it since 2009.
I read HN, and think that I am probably in a good spot for myself, once I walk away and find something else. Probably almost anything. I crave knowledge and haven't compromised much on the software I've built in the last decade or so, and feel like I can confidently explain my reasoning and techniques for large projects. Most of what I do is under NDA, and I (maybe not-so-smart) have done a TON of work outside of normal hours, but I've always put them back into the company's software. I do feel like you are living the type of life when it comes to being happy and satisfied, so I just wanted you to know I appreciate your comments/posts and outlook on things.
readthenotes1
"The painting muse in me died. "
The things we do to escape the burdens of our current day job change when we change our day job.
Turning the escape into the day job is risky.
6stringmerc
This is some really self congratulatory horse shit written by a guy coasting on a taxpayer funded retirement pension (Chief of Police) patting himself on the back for ruining his passion for painting then somehow becoming a mediocre writer with an audience…who has the nerve to tell people in the creative pursuit not to do it for money. Yeah, no, you public funded Boomer, some of us want a living wage and have justified angst toward post-career hagiography like this Dear Diary entry.
honkycat
Pensions are robbing the younger generation of the opportunity to flourish. It is INSANITY.
In a lot of cities the pension liability for retired police and teachers is higher than the actual CURRENT budget of WORKING professionals. It is an issue EVERYWHERE.
farts_mckensy
It might have something to do with the fact that "fine art" is simply the attempt to create verisimilitude. I guess you get a bit of leeway as an impressionist, but painting landscapes over and over again just seems so boring to me. I would get sick of that too after a while. The "slice of life" type humor he employs in his cartoons is bound to get boring after a while too. It’s interesting that he doesn’t seem to even consider more avant-garde or challenging directions in either medium. Maybe broaden your horizons and get more abstract...or possibly even, dare I say, subversive? I haven't read his prose, but I have to say I'm not surprised a former law enforcement officer finds himself creatively limited. My guess would be he's going to run up against the same problem with writing. I'm sure he's seen some shit at some point in his career. Maybe channel that?
fsdkfdsf
[dead]
gunian
they shall be resurrected by our lord and savior jesus christ
Passion doesn’t have to be fixed. It can and should evolve over time as you grow as a person. And it’s okay if it’s a rabbit hole that leads to other rabbit holes.