If you ever attended art school like I have, you probably know a lot of people who take pride in their weirdness, their tattoos, the way they color their hair, the random things they say, or just how different they are. They're the types of people who when are asked to behave normally, they say something dumb like there is no such thing as normal, and then go about being weird as if the joke is on the rest of the world.
If you happen to know a person who considers himself or herself an artist, then you probably know this person. More often than not such a person strives to be different, or at least to present art which could be described as different. But to them I would offer a bit of a paradox. It's currently 2010 CE, and there have been countless generations of artists since the beginning of art itself. It would be a generalization to assume that every artist that has lived has had the current attitude of wanting to be different or unique, but I would argue that quality has always existed to some degree in artists for quite some time. In this way I would say that even the attitude of wanting to be different, at this point in history, has been done before. So really, there is no escape from doing what has been done when the very idea of being different has been done before.
So tell your artist friend, that their hopes are futile and that they are ripping off someone more talented than they even before they get started. Today I am ripping off Hans Baldung Grien (b. 1480), and there's not much he can do about it cause he's dead.
This is "Death and the Maiden" from 1518-1520. It must suck to be her, because in Grien's painting it seems the ghoul has much more sinister intentions for the lady. But despite how much cuter my skeleton is, who's name is Bones by the way, they both represent the same message (or at least I think). That message being the fleeting nature of life, not life specifically, but the fleeting nature of youth. I'm sure that maiden had a cuter grill before our man death started sucking the life out of her. Bones has a softer approach, whispering things like, "Have you seen those crows feet?" "Fast food again? For the kids huh, sure...".
I've always liked making vanitas like these. I figure if I'm gonna make a still life, there should be something to connect the viewer to my scene. And as much as people like fruit and flowers, they just seem more compelled to look at a skeleton or a mannequin for longer periods of time. Not to mention Bones is just full of personality, who couldn't love a face like that?
Another "Death and the Maiden" year 15??. Again similar themes are seen in this image of a young woman spending her time in a mirror, checking her appearance, her youthful status. All the while she is unaware of age and death itself hiding right behind her shoulder. I wonder if that mirror gets Facebook!