Elson, Great question and thank you for posting it in the forum. I've been working as a teacher for quite some time now (middle school) and my wife is a nurse in an intensive care unit. We say to our friends frequently that as a couple, what I do makes life worth living and what she does keeps people alive. I think it's similar with art. People care deeply about having a life that is enriched with meaning and purpose. In my experience, in order to find that, whatever it is that you do has to be very personal in some way, and art is very personal. Its easy to get lost in the objectivity of it, like how clear your lines are, how good your gesture is, your anatomy, etc..., but ultimately, those are just the tools that you are developing to produce work that is deeply personal and honest. I think that is what resonates with people. I remember being a kid and reading Todd McFarlane's Spider Man books. There was so much drama contained in the images that it was one of the only things that could hold my attention. I was a slow student, and an even slower reader, and I honestly credit the comic medium with helping me learn how to read. The images leapt off the page to the point that I didn't want to miss anything happening in the story, so I forced myself to learn how to read the words as well. Eventually, I was able to lose myself in books without pictures as well. No one could have taught me that, but the imagery awoke in me the desire to do it. Now, at 41 years old, I have a love for comic books like no other, because so long ago I had that formative experience. It helps me as a teacher. I helps to bring that emotional drive to teaching that kids crave so deeply. The mind makes an intimacy with the places in which it wakes up. For so many people, art is that place.

This is only one of the many reasons why art is important to humanity and useful to society: it can help us feel less alone. Marshall shares a story on the Draftsmen Podcast about a student he had who grew up homeless. Whenever his mother had extra money, she would buy Sonic Hedgehog comics for him. I don't know the comics, but apparently, through thick and thin, Sonic always came through. The student as a young boy would tell himself, "If Sonic can do it, so can I." If you hear Marshall tell this story on the podcast, it's much more inspiring, and I'm feeling emotional just thinking about it. Books have kept me going throughout my life. Graphic novels have meant much to marginalized teens in all walks of life. If your art reaches one person and helps them, it's a reason to keep making art.

Art makes life more interesting, and that in turn could help you do things that are good for you that otherwise you wouldn`t do. For example, a lazy person might not like going to walk around the city even though it might be good for his/her health, but if the city is full of art and beautiful things, that person might be more interested in going out for a walk thus increasing his/her health. this is just one of many examples (i personally like murals a lot, and this is sort of my personal Ikigai ;)

Wow, @Elson sheesh, this is a big one! I heard about the Japanese word Ikigai when practicing meditation. I was told it means “a reason to get up in the morning” - a purpose, something to pursue and live for. From what I learned, it doesn’t necessarily need to be related to a job - it can be a hobby, a passion, an interest, or simply something we do that gives meaning to life, such as raising children, aiding homeless people or fighting for a cause. Now I’m not japanese (I’m from Brazil actually), but there’s certainly an universal truth in the philosophy of Ikigai that resonated with me, and I’m sure it also resonates with pretty much every human being: we want to find purpose in what we do. In meditation, I was told some people have always known what their Ikigai is, while other people go through a process to discover theirs, and sometimes even struggle to find out. But since having an Ikigai brings so much joy and meaning to our daily lives, searching for it and pursuing it is always worth the effort. (By the way, this reminds me SO MUCH of the Disney-Pixar movie “Soul” - maybe you’d like to look it up in case you haven’t watched it). But I understand the discussion you wanted to raise was not so much about Ikigai per se, but about how art and entertainment fits into all of this, right? I think this is something we could discuss for hours - but, for now, I’ll try to be concise as I share some of the thoughts I have on it! Why is art important in the world? I think, for the natural world, art is not important at all; but for the human world, it is everything. What I mean is: if humans were to live like regular animals, in the wild, by instinct, making art would not be important; it probably wouldn’t even make sense or be necessary. But at some point in our evolutionary history as a species, we developed an ability to think rationally, to wonder, to question, to philosophize, to invent, to design, to transform the world around us and to “make our dreams happen” - and this can only be done through art. And not just painting or theater, but Art as a whole, in its broadest definition possible: “technique”, “artifice”, “inventiveness”. Author Scott McCloud sees art as “anything humans do which does not have survival or reproduction as its main objective” - in that sense, we could say Art is what shifts us from our natural animal condition into something else - it’s what makes us humans. This can sound kind of deep and philosophical… and I suppose it is! But one thing to keep in mind is that, since human life has changed so much over the past few centuries (we certainly don’t live now like our ancestors from Ancient civilizations or Middle Ages did then), the boundaries of art and its role in society has kind of changed over time as well. Especially since the end of the 19th century, we’ve been having to deal with the growing complexity of industrial production, mass media and information technology - and this has all deeply transformed the concept of art and our relationships with it. To cut the story short, I’d answer your second and third questions by saying that, for good and bad, the entertainment industry is now a crucial part of how society works - it’s become an important part of our contemporary lifestyle as consumers, and it’s a vital piece to keep the wheels of the economic system moving. Along with that, the creative minds behind that industry (draftsmen, of course, but also writers, producers, designers, directors, performers, TV hosts - all the roles that kind of “branched out” from the broad concept of “artist”) are also vital - it’s their (our) work that feeds, grows and renews this scenario. Returning to Ikigai and the simpler concept of art, I honestly think making art nowadays doesn’t NEED to be necessarily tied to the entertainment industry. Of course the industry and the media is where artistic creations can gain potentially most highlight and “success” (at least in the traditional meaning of it) because there lies the power to reach a lot of people, be acknowledged and cause impact in the “bigger picture” (pun unintended) of society. But, as far as I’m aware, Ikigai is about a fulfillment of the soul - it’s more about having fruitful meaning in a person’s daily life than “making it big and changing the world”. Unless “making it big and changing the world” is what that person has as their Ikigai 🙂 Other than that, art-making as Ikigai can happen in a variety of shapes, colors and flavors, as long as it keeps lit the fire for what we do. Hope this all makes sense! Just in time, I think it makes sense to also share this vlog Stan recorded at San Diego Comic Con a bit before the pandemic - in this one, he asks several artists how they cope with motivational aspects in their creative work. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s pretty cool to see so many different points of view on this same subject: https://www.proko.com/s/aSm6?af=765000 Hope this helps! Feel free to share any other thoughts if you’d like! Nice talking! 🙌🏻

Hi @Elson sheesh, Interesting questions! For me personally 'art' is something that keeps me entertained, makes me happy, surprised, sad, leaves me in awe or makes me angry or annoyed. It can make me laugh. Sometimes art tells me (intriguing) stories or raises questions. Sometimes it's meaningful, sometimes it isn't, just shalllow, but than can be ok as well. It can introduce me to other cultures or different point of views, learn me something. It makes me feel and think about all kind of stuff. I love art, in many of it's forms. I think that I am not the only one who likes to see art in such ways. For me all of these reasons give me a meaning for art, and I like to believe for many others as well :) Hopefully my answer helps a bit. -Leon