‘Loving paintings doesn’t mean loving to paint’. The myth that everybody could benefit from drawing

Ever since I was a kid, I hated drawing. People recommend it to me, even to this day, as if it were a magical tool for stress, or as if everyone reacted the same way to it. It has been very hard for me to get my message across. Drawing and painting don’t relax me; on the contrary, they stress me out.

Why do we keep prescribing hobbies to one another? I think this is where humanity goes ridiculous. Everybody seems to accept that people might have different preferences, except when it comes to hobbies. If you dare say you hate painting, people will treat it as a very complex psychological resistance or defense mechanism.

Some hobbies are apparently sacred; it’s frowned upon not to like them. The reaction is the same for people who don’t like dogs or children. I mean, you’re allowed not to like cats or snakes, but if you don’t like dogs, you might as well be a criminal.

There is a subtle leap between ‘this helps me’ and ‘this is going to help you’; isn’t it obvious? Drawing, to me, is one of those things that is presented as innocent and accessible, when for some people it requires contact with things they despise.

Part of why I hate painting is that you have to get your hands dirty. I use gloves to wash dishes; I wash my hands three times a minute when I’m cooking; it’s just not for me. But I would never even think of recommending singing (which I personally love)) to everyone. Some hobbies just have way better PR than others.

Also, we tend to think of artistic appreciation as something that naturally leads to artistic production. I love paintings, art history, museums, films, and sculpture. That doesn’t mean I have to become a painter or a filmmaker, guys; lol, I feel like I’m stating the obvious, because I am, but people seem to forget this the moment they want to recommend taking up a hobby.

Some art I just want to appreciate from afar. It’s not that I’m lazy; I like playing music, for example. I just don’t like painting, people! It feels like I’m coming out of the closet; I’m relieved. I’m going to leave drawing and painting to the geniuses out there.

And when they’re done painting, I will use their paintings as really good templates for memes. I don’t want you to think I like trivializing art; at the same time, I take it very seriously, and I like to know the historical circumstances of every painting. Memefying it is only a way to further integrate it.

Hasn’t somebody said that humour is a vehicle for knowledge? With it, we encode extensive information, and we retain it better. So my theory is that classical art memes help us understand art history. Making them isn’t about disrespecting art; it’s just another way of producing knowledge.