5 Non-Artists Who Do Art (and It’s Awesome) | Why Do Art, Part 2

Last I told you that if you think you can’t do art, you’re wrong.

This time I’ll present you with real-life examples of “non-artists” who do art.

Plenty of people enjoy doing “non-artistic” art for their businesses or for enjoyment. And guess what? A lot of people enjoy viewing this “non-professional” art.

Disclaimer-type note: I do consider all of these people artists since, well, they’re making art. #2 and #3 are probably just straight up artists. Just not in the traditional fine arts sense. So they still count.

Here are 5 individuals who aren’t professional artists but are still making art, and making it work!

1. Liz Ryan

Career Coach and Founder of the Human Workplace

Take a look at her site. Click through a few blog posts. Don’t worry about reading for now, just look.

Isn’t it fun to look at?

Liz Ryan’s cute, quirky art is one of the highlights of her website. It differentiates her brand from the pack. Obviously she provides solid career advice too, but look at the atmosphere she’s created, all by adding hand-drawn images.

People love her drawings.

Could a child have drawn these images?

Maybe.

Does it matter?

2. Hyperbole and a Half

Adorable and Amusing Slice of Life Blog by Allie Brosh

With some hesitation jealousy, I now refer you to Hyperbole and a Half.

If you haven’t heard of Hyperbole, maybe you’ve been into living “off the grid” for years, and are just now coming back to society. Welcome back.

THIS BLOG IS GREAT.

It’s beautiful.

Okay maybe not by all artistic standards.

Brosh uses a style of illustration that you might experimented with using the very first Microsoft Paint program. The difference is she kept honing her skill, while you dismissed this entire art form.

Shame on you.

Even Andy Warhol saw its value.

Meanwhile Brosh has swept the nation with classics like The Alot, Spiders Are Scary, and How a Fish Almost Destroyed My Childhood.

She has a book now and seems to be working on a second.

3. tiny snek comics

A Tiny Comic with a Big Following

Not for people of every political slant, tiny snek is all about exposing the evils of capitalism and making puns.

What can I really say about tiny snek? Only that it has a certain silly charm that keeps me scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling through tiny snek comics.

You can support tiny snek comics’ creator Alex Cohen on Patreon.

In my Valentine’s post on Becoming JiHye, I added some Hyperbole/Tiny Snek inspired doodles to my post. Did it add value? I dunno, but it was fun. Besides, that isn’t my art website, so no pressure, right?

4. Drawings for my Grandchildren

A Cool Grandfather on Instagram

This is a viral story. If you’ve heard it, then congrats, you’re successfully in the know.

Ji Lee, this unnamed grandfather’s son, has a video explaining the origins of Drawings for My Grandchildren that tells the story far better than I could. You really should watch it.

But this is the gist of it:

A Korean grandfather creates daily drawings and posts them on Instagram as a way to connect with and leave a something tangible for his grandchildren.

Their family is spread out around the world. The grandfather lives in Brazil, while his grandchildren live in South Korea and America. But his drawings (and Instagram) brings their family together.

Awww.

5. George W. Bush

Yes, Bush.

Even a former president is doing art, now that he has so much time on his hands.

Bush recently published a book of his paintings entitled “Portraits of Courage.” His paintings, and their accompanying stories, honor veterans who have served the US. The stories highlight moments of bravery and journeys to recovery.

You might look at his paintings and say, hey, he’s pretty good! He must have had some latent artistic talent!

Hold on now.

Sure, maybe Bush really did like art as a child. Maybe he got so caught up in becoming the leader of the free world that he abandoned his passion and is finally getting a chance to rediscover it.

But I kind of doubt that.

Let’s do the same reality check we did in the last post.

Remember, the lovely and patriotic paintings that Bush has published in a book are meant for the whole world to see. They are not the whole picture.

Far in the back of his studio, lying in a dusty corner, there are probably paintings that tell the whole story. The story that learning to paint is a journey, and getting results requires making mistakes.

I’m certain that George Bush has some really sad-looking still life paintings, some wonky-faced portraits, and several unfinished canvases that have been thrown away over the years.

But he’s human, so why would he show you any of those?

If George Bush can do art, why can’t you?

True, he probably has a well-paid personal art instructor and oodles of time on his hands now. But is your goal to shock the world and publish a surprise book of paintings?

No.

(At least I hope not, for the sake of my argument.)

So what are you waiting for?

Other Posts in This Series:

Part 1: Why People Who “Can’t Draw” Are Wrong

Part 3: Why People Who “Can’t Draw” Should Do Art

Bonus: 7 Easy Art Tutorials to help Anyone Get Into Art