I get so irked when people who do not draw or paint in a realistic fashion say this to me! It is disingenuous.
First of all, what they are really doing is intentionally denigrating those who DO wish to take on the challenging task of learning to draw and paint WELL in a realistic fashion. They are doing this because they themselves do not have the desire, interest, mental fortitude, patience, perseverance and a multitude of other generally considered desirable qualities, to be able to do this themselves. It is a very different thing if someone who IS capable of drawing well realistically chooses to go a more "abstract" path, but this from the mouth of someone who hasn't got a clue what they are talking about is really just sour grapes. NO ONE would every confuse a Rembrandt or even a Bouguereau with a photograph. They are so much more than a photograph. Even hours spent applying Photoshop effects to a photo, which is a kind of artistry, could NOT yield works such as those masters.
This kind of work takes great technical skill as a starting point only and that technical skill takes huge effort and years to achieve. But that is just the basic skill. Artistry in painting and drawing is not about copying a photographic image perfectly. Those of you who are labouring to achieve "artistry" in drawing and painting understand this. The lazy bones who either haven't tried or have given up, don't get it and are just giving themselves an excuse for being lazy.
A much more honest comment would be something like
" I wish I had the chops to draw and paint professionally, but I don't. I love to make marks on paper and canvas and play with colour and that's about all I will ever be able to do because I don't have the attention span to do it differently. This is safe for me because there are no real standards for "doing your own thing" and I can have fun without really being judged. Of course there are millions more like me out there so the market is glutted with this stuff and I can't really expect to sell much or for much money because no one can say that mine is better than the next guy's because, well, there are no standards. Of course if I had attended the "right" art school at a young age and had orchestrated an outrageous appearance and demeanor, then I might have been recruited by the "AVANT-GARDE ART BUSINESS MACHINE" and marketed to a very susceptible affluent art-collecting public. Then I could have been the flavour-of-the-month for a few years and cleaned up and laughed all the way to the bank."
