Rant: Trying not to turn too much inward...

One of the things I struggle with is the temptation to look inward, at yourself, and confuse that with something artists should represent. There is a killer combo of personal life's experience and solid observation. But when you fall into the trap of thinking it's all about you, your drawings become weak, and you enter that depressing era of modern art, where it takes a cadre of art historians and critics to tell you how important the work is. This comic strip by John Campbell sums that up, check out his other work as well, good stuff. As artists, our first responsibility is to represent the natural world we live in, or those we live with, and to express that in emotional terms that others can relate to. Getting lost in self indulgence is something that happens way too often in fine art.