Music vs. the visual arts

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Is anyone else frightfully gifted at music, and also frighteningly horrible at all the visual arts? This is me. And while I enjoy the one talent, I don't understand my having a complete and total lack of ability to produce even not-that-good visual art. I mean, I'm HORRIBLE. I think I actually have negative talent in that area! I see everything as architecture -- even roses. So, I draw everything part by part, or function by function, as if its a building or a machine. I can't seem to process visuals in an organic way. But I definitely can do that with music.

It seems to me that a certain amount of artistic talent should bleed at least a bit between the two areas of audio and visual. So why doesn't that happen with me? I mean, you literally can't imagine how poorly I draw, sculpt, paint, carve, etc. And I'm very, very careful and thoughtful during the attempts. My personality and way of thinking is very artistic, and I totally get subtlty and beauty -- I just don't have the raw talent necessary to produce visual art. I very much appreciate visual art when I see it, and have even made long trips to art museums by myself to gawk for hours at the paintings. But that doesn't translate into skill.

On the music side, I play piano to the adulation of my audiences, and I've written two full-scale operas over an intensive period of 8 years, so I know art rather well -- but only audio art. When I hear someone talk, I notice which notes their voice happens to hit. I can replay and manipulate their voice, or any sound for that matter, in any way I wish in my head...slow it way down, speed it way up, add a beat and make it into a rap, etc. But my visual memory is often like a fuzzy picture, or more like a badly-tuned analog TV, where the image shakes all around eratically. That's literally what it looks like when I try to visually imagine something -- a shaking, blurry image!

I just thought of something: Why didn't the "Reinnesance men" Michelangelo and Leonardo Davinci -- who seemed to specialize in every art and skill -- write music? Or if they did, why wasn't it noteworthy (heh) enough to be well-known today, as with Bach's and Mozart's? Is there a bit of a natural wall between those who sculpt and paint and carve, and those who compose?

Last edited by Ragtime on 23 Feb 2009, 10:39 am, edited 2 times in total.

maybe there is a wall. I'm far from the best vocalist in my school, but I'm not bad. on the other hand, I'm terrible at most of the visual arts (splatter-paint art, however.... ).

My only problem with the performing arts is that the vocal director at my school is very prejuduced against anyone who can't read music. I have played 3 instruments in the past(piano, flute and guitar) as well as singing for my whole life and never really learned how to translate written music to sound. I can't tell a note played on an instrument or sung just by hearing it either. Because of her prejudice, my director hasn't given me any real chances to learn.......it doesn't help that she picks favorites and is (unknowingly) supported by NYSSMA regulations for solos in the annual solofest.....

<<< musical genius....horrific at drawing, although i can do photomanipulation/digital art pretty well...

i'm very left brained ^.^

I suppose that, music being called "the most mathematical art", which I heard somewhere, it makes sense for a person to be able to do music and not visual art. And, conversely, for non-mathematical visual artists to be less able to do music than drawing and painting. Music is all about patterns, visual art is not.

Kind of confusing, then, that all of the above is termed "Art", since they're really quite different in their natures.

(BTW, I've now corrected a few crucial typos in my original post.)

i tend to define art as "creative form"...this way music, painting, sculpture, photography, design, even something like coding a computer program out of nothing, could be considered art...

but i agree, music and visual art are very different in some ways...although they do have correlations...the idea of "concept"...the various layers we use, tone colours, stuff like that.

as for what makes "good art", well that would need me several pages to explain XD

As a musician and composer, music is my second language... some would probably say it is my first, given the challenges I have in communication both in person and over long durations. When it comes to art, I can only work in abstracts (digital, non-physical mediums... my degree is in digital animation and production) and collages. Strangely, after the years in antiques as well, I enjoy doing displays and aesthetics... but don't ask me to paint, draw, or sculpt unless you want to make your three year olds feel good about themselves.


M.