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Confidence and Creativity: What the Drumeo Sessions Reveal

April 1, 2024

art, artist, confidence, creativity, music, writing

I recently had an interesting, eye-opening experience regarding the connection between confidence and creativity. I was watching a video of a drummer trying to play along to a song she hadn’t heard before. It was clear she was way outside her comfort zone. There was neither confidence not creativity in her playing.

Eventually she managed to get into the song and (judging by her expressions) have fun with it. After all, she is a professional drummer who, as I read, has played with some known artists in Quebec, Canada, and has appeared in several big shows.

Yet there is a difference between having played for “known artists in Quebec” (I can’t name anyone, but that’s just me) and, say, having played drums professionally for decades, touring with bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Megadeth. Respect to her and Quebec, but it’s simply not the same thing.

The drummer outside her comfort zone was Domino Santantonio who faced the challenge of the unknown on Drumeo, that has offered the same challenge to (among others) Chad Smith and Dirk Verbeuren, drummers for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Megadeth respectively. I will share the videos below, but as you might guess, their confidence was supremely evident. When you’ve played in huge stadiums next to musicians like Flea or Mustaine (with all their quirks), a little studio session for a YouTube channel can’t scare you.

The difference was so pronounced that it inspired me to write this post about the inseparable connection between confidence and creativity. Only someone truly comfortable with themselves can be creative.

The topic is more complex than what it might appear – not the least so because both confidence and creativity are peculiar concepts – so let’s try to unpack it.

confidence and creativity. painting of chair and window — I have some very rudimentary painting skills, but not artistic confidence. I can create something like this, which displays very low technical skill and even lower artistic one. Unsurprisingly, I would be far, far more confident creating an **artistic instantiation** of the same scene with words

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Dealing with Lack of Skills in Writing: a Misleading Premise

January 22, 2024

Writing

art, artist, book, creativity, fiction, literature, writing

Writing, drawing, composing music, and basically every form of art consists of two components: the artistic one and the technical one. That is, to express ourselves artistically we must first and foremost have something to say, but it’s not quite enough. We must also have the skills to do that. So, what happens when we lack the skills?

We’ll talk about all this in more detail – and we’ll have to start with understanding that the term “lack of skills” is somewhat misleading – but first a couple of examples, just to make sure we’re all on the same page.

As a sculptor, I have a great artistic side. I can visualize forms, shapes, flows, colors and textures, and I can see my artistic ideas in material form. Piece of cake.

The thing is, I have precisely zero technical skills when it comes to sculpture.

I don’t even know how to hold a chisel (is that what it’s called?) let alone use it. So, practically, I am not really a sculptor.

On the other hand, though I lack the skills to play guitar like Slash, I’m “good enough” to be able to compose the music I want to compose – the art I want to express. I suppose you can call me a musician.

Writing, however, is a bit different. And this leads to certain misunderstandings and issues, as I’ll show you.

painting of a man; lack of skills — I only started painting very recently, since I always considered myself unable to hold a brush. Maybe I still am, but thank goodness for digital tools…

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The True Nature of Art

June 27, 2022

Experiencing

art, artist, creativity, experience, imagination, society

Some months ago, I went to Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The purpose of the trip was to visit as many museums and art exhibitions as I could fit in the span of six hours – I managed to visit a couple of museums, four exhibitions, and the Helsinki Observatory. It was great fun, but I wouldn’t bother writing about it if it weren’t for one serendipitous realization, one related to the true nature of art, that can be summed up this way:

Art hides in the most unexpected places.
You need to be able to see art.

All this might sound a bit cryptic. Moreover, referring to “the true nature of art” makes me feel uncomfortable – who am I to define something so undefinable? For all purposes, this text is somewhat stream-of-consciousness, drawing on the way I experienced some things. It’s subjective; there’s nothing but subjectivity.

Still, whether you’re a creator of art (a writer, a painter, a musician, or even – why not? – a coder) or “just” a reader/viewer, this might reveal new horizons to the ways you understand the “true” nature of art.

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