Marijuana and Art

[badass]

I find that marijuana can really stimulate my creativity and make drawing/painting a whole new experience (at times) but like everything in life, its better in moderation than when over used.

Or at least thats my take on the plants usage.

What do you think? Do you find it a positive or negative influence on your artwork?

(If this topic is out of line or violates the rules please let me know how to delete it asap)

Thanks :)

[Pawkfox]

I've always wanted to try smoking pot while drawing..
But alas.. I'm a starving artist who can't even afford food.
And pot isn't cheap.

I do know that drinking while drawing only makes things worse. At least in my case.
Drinking in general makes my head all fuzzy and "thick" and I can't look at one place for longer than a second.

I have trouble concentrating as it is.

[chriskot]

Personally, I've never taken marijuana or tried drawing while under the influence of anything else, so I can't really say much about this from personal experience.

However, I know we had a thread about this a little while ago. I wish I could find it. I think that the general conclusion was that a person thinks differently and comes up different ideas while under the influence, but it's no substitute for creativity and not really something to try and replace it with. Also, it messes with your motor skills, so it's harder to draw well. That's what I remember from it anyway. I'm pretty sure someone will come up with a link eventually.

[Phil Moss]

Can normally do with a guzzle of sloe gin before work, clears the mind and improves determination to paint sometimes! There's no point getting blind drunk before work though :D.

My tutor used to drink neat gin with his work, and once took a gulp of turps by mistake... is their a difference I wonder??

Unfortunately, like has been said, you can't come to rely on something to work - there was no crop of sloe berries this year, so here I am in the cold of Autumn with no sloe gin, I can't stop working though...

[MiniGoth]

Just like anything else, it can be an excuse and a crutch. I had a buddy (incredibly talented) who swore up and down his creativity went up when he was stoned.

The only thing that actually happened is he didn't finish some commission work, and was never hired in the area again. Pity, because he's amazing.

[badass]

MiniGoth: I kind of agree; I have seen friends of mine waste their talent and just get lazy about their artwork from smoking pot.

I used to smoke more than I do now and I noticed I was falling into that trap a while ago.

But still, there are days when its fun to smoke and draw in the park. Usually i'll just practice on days like these, but I have created some pretty cool and unique artwork on occasion.

(as I mentioned) it is only worthwhile, for myself, on occasion and in moderation.

[rebelionature]

I find that too much and your to hazy to focus much, but in moderation it serves as a good get up and go. It has no effect on the creativeness for me just makes it a lot easy to sit down and start.
PS. magic mushrooms can lead to some strange and flowing artwork! don't ask how i know:anime:

[dark eagle]

Doesn't marijuana help your "minds eye" (might be cannabis) but if it does it means you can bring up images infront of you like an hallucination so it would defiantly help you. Like tracing over your imagination.

But you can get drugs that do that with-out the side effects. And possibly cheaper, because they aren't illegal.

[badass]

Kiera: Im kind of jealous. Where do you live? Here in Denver, its almost legal (its a 17$ fine if you have less than an ounce on you).


I think I miswrote when I said that it stimulates creativity. But I do think it can make drawing/art fun and a new experience at times. Thats more or less what I was thinking, but as many artists know, words are not always the best way to elucidate ideas.

[DeadlyFreeze]

Kiera: Im kind of jealous. Where do you live? Here in Denver, its almost legal (its a 17$ fine if you have less than an ounce on you).

$17 fine where did you pull that out of?

http://norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4526

[VulgarDragon]

Caffeine is the best thing if you want to stimulate your creativity. Drink a cup or two of your favorite java and you will be buzzing with energy, and your neurons in your brain will be firing on and off like a Christmas tree. Also, get adequate sleep and rest.

You don't need pot or drugs...you are better off sniffing the fumes from your paint. Drugs damage your brain over time. I have known too many people who used drugs for so long that they can barely function.

[badass]

DeadlyFreeze: Thats weird- I live here in Denver and friends of mine have been caught smoking joints and they received tickets for 17$ (actually, most of the time people are let go with a warning, unless your smoking out of a bong or some massive piece)... so I'm not sure what to tell you. The legal system is all screwy anyway: its technically legal in Denver (if your over 21) to have less than an once on you, but in the US its still illegal.

You should come to Denver and see for yourself, I assure you I am entirely serious.


(EDIT: it seems that the NORML site does not take into account that the laws in Denver and Colorado are different. (Its less legal outside of Denver) ...Haha its so bizarre how these things are.

Mad Cross: Marijuana is a plant. Caffeine is a drug too, just worse for you.

[Flake]

Caffeine is the best thing if you want to stimulate your creativity. Drink a cup or two of your favorite java and you will be buzzing with energy, and your neurons in your brain will be firing on and off like a Christmas tree. Also, get adequate sleep and rest.

You don't need pot or drugs...you are better off sniffing the fumes from your paint. Drugs damage your brain over time. I have known too many people who used drugs for so long that they can barely function.

Might want to read that back.

Think about it a bit.

[VulgarDragon]

Mad Cross: Marijuana is a plant.

Yup. So is hemlock.

Caffeine is the best thing if you want to stimulate your creativity. Drink a cup or two of your favorite java and you will be buzzing with energy, and your neurons in your brain will be firing on and off like a Christmas tree. Also, get adequate sleep and rest.

You don't need pot or drugs...you are better off sniffing the fumes from your paint. Drugs damage your brain over time. I have known too many people who used drugs for so long that they can barely function.

Caffeine is a drug too

Uh...

(does a face palm)

[Oden]

Yup. So is hemlock.

Uh...

(does a face palm)

There are a lot of coffee addicts out there who have developed a tolerance for caffeine. However, I don't drink coffee very much at all, so when I do drink it, it hits me hard...

Nothing makes you realise that caffeine is a drug, and a shitty one at that, when you're trembling like mad, sick to your stomach, and have a massive headache afterwards. :)

It's not good for your nervous system, or your heart. It's addicting. It's a drug, and not a particularly helpful one.

[Flake]

Waste of time.

[VulgarDragon]

Nope. It's your body, do whatever you like. Peace.:grandpa:

[badass]

Mad Cross: (Im not trying to be a jerk, but) You should work on your communication skills. Somehow you managed to get into an argument without having any opponents.

[AUG]

.....

[TZA]

i do quite alot of drawing when im high, it doesn't make you better, but i find i approach things abit differently, i'm always much looser and more confident. you also come to some conclusions that you never thought about before, guess it's just the change in thought.

[Max Challie]

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=134331
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=140388

[Wadu]

The only time I "unconciously" grab a pen or pencil to draw is when I'm stoooned. And I actually have fun drawing lol. Where as sober I get distracted really easy from drawing, or just get bored. Getting high actually makes me really focused on what I'm doing - I get really into. When I'm sober I feel completely scatterbrained with too many thoughts to maintain emersion on what ever it is I'm doin... But multitasking is completely out of the question hah!:)

[Kman.]

The only time I "unconciously" grab a pen or pencil to draw is when I'm stoooned. And I actually have fun drawing lol. Where as sober I get distracted really easy from drawing, or just get bored. Getting high actually makes me really focused on what I'm doing - I get really into. When I'm sober I feel completely scatterbrained with too many thoughts to maintain emersion on what ever it is I'm doin... But multitasking is completely out of the question hah!

Good luck finding a concept art job where they let you toke it up in the office

[TheComicFilmBoy]

eh heh.....this thread is kinda' awkward.
clearly, ya'll haven't seen this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jivU-4xv7aw)

[badass]

KrazyKasey: That is the most hilarious cartoon I have seen in a while. Thanks for posting it!

Kman: Do professional concept artists work in offices? I am not entirely sure, but from what I understand they would be creating the artwork alone (or at least not required to stay in any particular area) besides certain sessions where they are working with their employers.

[Wadu]

Good luck finding a concept art job where they let you toke it up in the office

Heh - I only draw as a hobby though and I don't smoke much really.

[sketchy Joel]

I find smoking makes drawing more fun and interesting but I question if I am really any better. If I get too high I just can't be bothered with drawing and would rather listen to music or watch hulu. I think just a few puffs and maybe a drink is enough to make me feel good and still enable me to work. I think too when I am sober I am more comfortable drawing something ambitious. If I am high I like to do easier drawings but I am more patient with them.

I believe it is probably good to smoke and draw occasionally because it helps me see things from a different perspective but I make it the exception instead of the norm.

They say also if you study drunk or stoned to test in the same state. I wouldn't want my drawing to be continually tied up with being fucked up.

It would be interesting to compare the drug habits of famous artists. I think Van Gogh drank Absinthe.

[Jacob Kobryn]

Yay for asthmatic artists like myself! I can barely breath clean air let alone some strange atomized substance! ;)

[Jacob Kobryn]

Oh maybe this is a good place to put this. Has anyone tried using Binaural Beats for recreational purposes? This place I-Doser (http://www.i-doser.com/) sells them to use (though you can download them for free on the web) and swears they mimic the effects of drugs. I've tried a bunch of them (including ones that they put warnings on because they say they're too strong) and I haven't once felt high nor tripped from them. It's pretty cool music though. It makes me sleepy and I've had a weird feeling that I'm like falling backwards when listening to them. I found out about it when researching techniques for lucid dreaming BTW. Many people use Binaural Beats to induce lucid dreaming.

[Fraz]

To Jake^
I tried it and it is pretty silly. It just makes me really relaxed, sort of like meditating. You need to have headphones on, and have good patience. The smallest one did the most to me, as I couldn't be assed with the half hour ones as I got too incredibly bored.
Placebo effect, definitely.
And I tried a lucid dreaming one, but I fell asleep a few minutes in. haha
And as for it being cool music, I personally don't love listening to weird white noise lol.
So yeah, I tried a few of them, but it is pointless. I would much rather have a few whiskys to be honest.

[Farvus]

I prefer trance music in headphones + intense abstract doodling session in openCanvas.

[nonie]

Actually I dunno if this is just San Francisco but it seems like once you're not in retail or food service no one gives a fuck if you smoke up as long as you're not like, obviously out of your mind high or disrupting others. If you do great work it doesn't matter. But here it's not illegal, I don't know about other cities.

I don't smoke at work but I know people who do, not to get high but to relax a little or manage ADD. They don't flaunt it or anything, it's not something you mention in an interview, but if you do your job well no one cares. Alcohol's even more embraced, many drink at lunch, we have kegs at all functions, always stocked in the cabinet for after-hours, etc, and that has a much greater detrimental effect on getting work done :P

Pot has different effects on different people, I find I get so overwhelmed by sensory input that it's extremely hard to concentrate on anything. For others it's exactly the opposite. It's good for coming up with wild ideas or helping one fall asleep though :P

Anyway I agree with Farvus, some good high-energy music (NOT trance though) is much better to get shit done to :)

[CaNiBaLe]

Well, I have tried to draw/paint high a couple of times but I wouldn't recommend it at all if you have to do anything serious with your art, like having a deadline or something. It's fun, yeah, (it can get old too) but you approach things so differently and are so isolated in your own little high mind world that is impossible to make observational drawing accurately, or listen to instructions, or any kind of communication with the non-high world.

It also can be tricky, drawing high makes you think that the doodle you're doing is THE BEST ARTWORK YOU'VE EVER DONE IN YOUR FREAKIN LIFE and you feel you're a genius and that every line you draw is beauty itself blah blah, but once the effect wears off you see that is not such a masterwork, you just enjoyed it more because your brain was filled with chemicals and stuff...

Just be careful, don't use it for anything serious, and this might sound silly, but think that you brain originally works well with no substances in it for a reason :yayca: (unless you've got a disease or something, of course)

[Miskatonika]

Never drawn while on pot, and my husband isn't allowed to smoke it because he's in the military. Alcohol on the other hand has helped me loosen up a bit. Mostly just wine. Anything else makes me loopy and distracted, so no liquors or beer.

It puts me in a more impulsive and passionate move. Not all the time though :/

[Pezz3D]

Well, I hate to incriminate myself in this thread but I live in Cali and for the most part the majority of my drawing time is done while high. I was surprised at the lack of people who do so on this forum, but no matter. Anyway, the more you use it I suppose the less it effects you. I could be considered a regular user, I smoke once a day for sure, and other than offering me patience it doesn't give me any more odd and wild ideas. For the most part I would say I'm more critical of ideas and less likely to follow through when I'm high. Though I enjoy creating and do so much more when high. I'm more spontaneous when I'm say doodling in class sober. For the most part I tend to enjoy the process of say inking even more then I do drawing when I'm high, it really makes me focus on tedious and particular details more so then when I'm sober. To put it a different way, I'm much more concerned with the overall presentation when I'm high. I tend to be more carefree and silly when I'm actually sober. But then again everyone is different, I really enjoy marijuana. (It's legal It's legal.)

EDIT: Just to emphasize my last point, I'm am completely opposite of CaNiBalE, I tend to think everything I do while high is shit and for the most part expect more of myself in that state.

[Brat]

I admit I've done it before while drawing. I have to be in the right mood and mindset before I take a toke, though. If I'm focused beforehand, then I smoke, I can sit down for hours and draw. It's usually very abstract or surreal art. But I use it "just for fun." It's too easy for me to become distracted while soaring high so I don't use it when I'm doing a project or commission. But when I just want to relax and draw, the results are pretty entertaining.

I've come up with some very weird ideas on it. Do it in moderation or else you'll get burned out.

[Elisabet Y.A.]

Coffee is my drug of choice.

I have a very negative and strong opinion of any drugs (cannabis and marijuana included!) so I don't think I should voice my opinion here. But people I have met/know that smoke/smoked this thing usually never got up off their ass to do anything. I can understand that it stimulates creativity, but it also stimulates people to DO NOTHING.

One of my teachers said to us: "If you feel such a terrible need to do drugs, and still want to be an artist, DON'T SMOKE MARIJUANA/CANNABIS. It will make you creative and it will make you sit on your ass thinking about it, but doing nothing." She wasn't promoting drug abuse, more just...telling those who already do them to choose carefully xD

I hate drugs, and I think people are pathetic if they need them to stimulate their creativity. You shouldn't be an artist if you need something other than your normal brain activity to create.

[armando]

All drawing is is describing our experiences, ideas, and feelings with pictures. Weed's sort of like getting your foot tickled with a feather, not much material there. It will not make you know about all the other experiences there are in life, it will not make you know about any profound ideas, only by having those experiences and learning those ideas will you have any material to draw with.

[Grief]

hugs not drugs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/ninjau1/Grief.gif

[Viridis]

Ugh. >_> Little disappointed in you guys, here.

I don't smoke even normal cigarettes, let alone pot. Sorry, but I like my lungs in actual working order. I drink a little soda or tea sometimes while working, but it's still pretty low on the caffeine count. I don't touch coffee (nasty) or those gross energy drinks.

And you know what? I work just fine. My stuff gets done well, on time, and without too much distraction.

If you need drugs of any kind to get results... it's just a crutch. Try to do something productive instead of depending on chemicals all the time. There's no reason you have to be on drugs to concentrate, you just might have to train yourself to attention. :/ wtf.

[Jovian M]

Protip, guys, smoking pot is for 7th grade kids.

[s.ketch]

I feel really excited about art and I just want to grab a paintbrush and go crazy. It happens when I have a beer. Then I realize that its not so much what I am smoking and drinking as it is that I am hanging out with friends, just enjoying life. I am relaxing, cutting up, laughing, talking about old times, listening to great music. These are the things that really fuel my creativity and get me motivated.

[Wooly ESS]

I don't smoke tobacco, drink alcohol or do any other drugs. I have watched too many people over their lifetimes slowly destroy their bodies and their brains by abusing drugs. By the time they reach the end of the road, they are neither productive nor creative. They are mostly just pathetic.

In the long haul, I don't believe artificial stimulants (or depressants depending on your fancy) help creativity or anything else worthwhile. That's just my personal opinion based on a lifetime of observing my fellow life travellers, and I offer it non-judgementally. If anyone begs to differ, they are entitled to.

Mind you, I do enjoy my morning coffee!

[B u r l]

on a rare occasion i do if the social event is fitting, but not to help me make art. i'm more productive when i'm just hydrated. and sorry, Meissner, but that's a 7th grade mentality.

[Cthogua]

Coffee is my drug of choice.

I have a very negative and strong opinion of any drugs (cannabis and marijuana included!) so I don't think I should voice my opinion here. But people I have met/know that smoke/smoked this thing usually never got up off their ass to do anything. I can understand that it stimulates creativity, but it also stimulates people to DO NOTHING.

One of my teachers said to us: "If you feel such a terrible need to do drugs, and still want to be an artist, DON'T SMOKE MARIJUANA/CANNABIS. It will make you creative and it will make you sit on your ass thinking about it, but doing nothing." She wasn't promoting drug abuse, more just...telling those who already do them to choose carefully xD

I hate drugs, and I think people are pathetic if they need them to stimulate their creativity. You shouldn't be an artist if you need something other than your normal brain activity to create.

Hmm....So you start by saying that coffee is your drug of choice and then launch into how horrible drugs are and how you hate them and people are pathetic because you think they need them. I'll tell you what I've heard more people than I can count say "I can't do (fill in whatever) until I drink my coffee" and actually use their lack of coffee as an excuse to drag around a shitty attitude. I'm not gonna disagree that I have friends who smoke pot and do nothing...but I also know people who sit around sober and do nothing as well. Lots of people are lazy, I can be pretty lazy...lazier than I'm comfortable with sometimes. However I'd argue that the laziness comes first, and pot merely makes that laziness more enjoyable. So yeah if you're already lazy, it probably isn't going to help on that front, but don't confuse it for the cause. I had friends in college that would smoke and go work out or play basketball or soccer, and other friends who neither drank nor smoked and, who would sit alone in their dorm room and play 8 hours of Heros of Might and Magic. Lets remember that while stereotypes carry a grain of truth, it's just that, only a grain.

Also you make an awfully large leap in assuming that just because someone occasionally uses and enjoys drugs you've been told are bad that they NEED it to be creative. Just because someone drinks a caffeinated beverage from time to time to get a some energy I wouldn't assume they have to have caffeine to do everything (not that it isn't sometimes the case) How ridiculous does it sound to say "I think people who use caffeine are pathetic, you shouldn't move if you need anything more than their own calories to power your muscles."

...but then again the world makes so much more sense when you have someone to hate eh?

[mobile-513]

Personally, when I'm high, I can't stop drawing. Normally, I'm too ADD to sit down and concentrate on drawing for too long, but when I get a little smoke in me it really chills me out and I get a lot of pleasure from it. Some times they come out a little "off", but usually it's either kinda' cool, or something I can just fix up the next morning when I'm sober.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any in awhile, and not only are the laws really harsh here, an arrest would totally screw up any chance of me getting a job in education. That, and I'm broke, a big fine would devastating.

...but then again the world makes so much more sense when you have someone to hate eh?

Ooooooh, burn.

[AeonPhoenix]

Whatever works for you I guess. All I know is I do the best when I got a clear head and a loose arm. I usually use music to keep me focused.

[Clodioz]

I have a very negative and strong opinion of any drugs (cannabis and marijuana included!)
what's the difference between cannabis and marijuana? I thought they were the same.
Marihuana- Scientific name - Cannabis satiba

[Pezz]

I like to draw with a clear head as well. Why? I'm afraid of developing a crutch to any substance.

For some reason I LIKE to draw really crazy people snorting cocaine, but I've never done it. Must have something to do with being close to the culture, but shielded from it by my friends who've been there... and rightfully so.

[Nam]

More weed threads... they're proliferating... like, well, weeds? Some of you folks must not know how to use marijuana if you're panning it. Some really hilarious and ignorant things have been uttered in this thread and others like it from people who had perhaps one too many DARE (scare) lectures in school and who have never actually tried it. Or perhaps you've bought into the inane, sophomoric pop culture which has manifested itself around marijuana like a sickly green yolk, but like with any loosely fabricated and upheld stereotype, there's a rift between it and reality. Stereotypes are just a shortcut for the ignorant to get their heads around an idea, in easy to take pill form!

It's simple; weed relaxes you and opens you up. It enhances your appreciation (or at least my appreciation, I have been told it does different things for different people) of even the smallest things. This translates, if you care to be mindful of it and fashion it, to an appreciation that is kept without it. And appreciation of life is pretty fucking keen in my book, it's the bee's knees. I use it for my own cognitive therapy and it has helped push this ongoing process to beneficial new heights, it's also assisted me in getting out of my depression. An eight year depression. The kind of depression that guts you like a fish. I also always use it alone. I don't use it so I can loaf around on a plush sofa and pop cheese doodles into my fucking mouth, one after another while I giggle like a little bitch watching Half Baked. This is where you have to again orient your mind to the idea that you can use it effectively or you cannot. Just like with many things.

As for 'crutches'? Yea, oh really? If I listen to classical music (or any music) to relax and draw, is that then a crutch? Perhaps this site is a crutch, perhaps if the internet itself crashed and some of you were without this site for a long time, you might lose some of your drive or productivity? Perhaps photoshop is a crutch? Your tablet? The electricity to power said tablet and photoshop? Perhaps we're all on precarious ground as it is and we should use whatever we can that helps us. It also helps if you remember there's nothing you can do on weed you can't do without it.

I hate drugs, and I think people are pathetic if they need them to stimulate their creativity. You shouldn't be an artist if you need something other than your normal brain activity to create.

Yaya dood totally. I hate people who like... go out to experience nature, or go for a walk, or go see a movie when they're feeling a little tapped out or frazzled. What the fuck is up with that? Pathetic. You should be fine to draw all day without any external stimulation! wtf right?

You don't even know what hate is.

[Pezz3D]

Amen Nam.

[chopinlover]

Marijuana is definitely more harmful than caffeine.

[HunterKiller_]

I'll tell you what I've heard more people than I can count say "I can't do (fill in whatever) until I drink my coffee"

I want to punch people who say this.

[armando]

...It's simple; weed relaxes you and opens you up. It enhances your appreciation (or at least my appreciation, I have been told it does different things for different people) of even the smallest things...



It also causes some people to have anxiety attacks. It can cause people to become introverted. Also can speed up the heart and cause bodily twitching, which can be distracting.



Yaya dood totally. I hate people who like... go out to experience nature, or go for a walk, or go see a movie when they're feeling a little tapped out or frazzled. What the fuck is up with that? Pathetic. You should be fine to draw all day without any external stimulation! wtf right?



Not the same. "Experience" is the key word. Weed just alters the experience, can enhance it, or can just get in the way.
People can choose to smoke it or not, I don't care as long as they don't expect me to buy it for them. Personally I think it's way over rated.

[alesoun]

I'm not going to smoke weed, not gonna take heroin or crack, not gonna snort cocaine. Might have wine at weekends occasionally.

I can do a lot before my first cup of coffee. My speciallity is ripping people's heads off, but nobody's perfect......

What's the big deal?