Artists are always studying with other artists, it seems. Beginners study under more advanced instructors, of course, but good artists find even better artists to work with. Often this isn’t a formal teacher-pupil relationship but rather an association of friends, or associates who become friends.
For example, Mary Cassatt worked with Edgar Degas, even though the curmudgeonly Degas had a low opinion of woman painters. Degas believed the artist should live and work alone, but he nevertheless studied etching with his friend Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic, one of the original Impressionists noted for his skill with etchings Lepic’s etching of his dog Chaos). Lepic was also a skilled marine painter (The Wrecked Boat) who worked with Eugene Boudin, (The Beach at Villerville), who in turn was a mentor to young Claude Monet and let his name and prestige to the first Impressionist counter-salon even though he himself didn’t exhibit in it.
Writers have mentors, too, of course — people we turn to for feedback and advice. But too often I hear writers talking as if the only thing a mentor could do for them is introduce them to their agent. It seems like writers aren’t prone to work together the way artists are. You don’t very often hear a writer say, “I’m not very good at dialogue, so I’m going to spend the summer working with Joe Blow. His dialogue is just the bomb.”
I suspect the reasons are partly economic. It’s expensive being an artist — studio space, model fees, and all the rest add up, and it’s not surprising artists learn to work together in order to spread out the cost. Even introverted artists learn to work in groups.
And part of it seems to stem from the structured nature of education in the US. Joe Blow won’t have a bunch of young writers following him around day to day, but he might well be teaching summer seminars in how to write dialogue, or evening classes about fiction writing. Beginning writers will take classes, or buy books. We almost never work one on one.
I don’t know that one way is better than the other. But every time I sit down to write the morning after art class, I feel the difference rather sharply.
I’ve been told I suffer from mentor problems, but I disagree! I’m not crazy, just a bad listener!
Anyway, nice post and nice blog. Just passing through on my A to Z Tour…
Dave the Goof
PS Diet Coke and Mentors… ah, what fun!
Crazy people make some of the best mentors 🙂 And clearly you’re crazy in a good way 😀
One of the reasons I love blogging is because it’s introduced me to a massive community of writers. I’ve learned so much in the past year just from reading blogs, and found new people to share my writing with.
Yes, blotting is a great way to meet people who share your interests and perspective — a case where technology gives us a wonderful new tool for a kind of interaction that didn’t exist before.
There are a few writers out there who offer formal mentoring opportunities, but I think a lot of us learn in diverse ways — from reading books on dialogue to following blogs that talk of writing to just reading people who do something well and trying to let it soak in. Oh, and there are workshops and conventions and other methods of sharing our knowledge, too.
Frankly, I’m glad. I hate one-on-one teaching. I always feel like someone’s hovering over my shoulder, waiting to pounce when I make a mistake. This attitude does not lead to my best work, oddly enough.
One on one teaching is certainly not for everyone, and I suspect a bad mentor is worse than no mentor at all.
And yes, all those things are available in the art world, too. I just find the different attitudes interesting.