Drawing vs. Composing

Can you find clear direct parallels between different forms of art?

A drawing is an autobiographical record of one’s discovery of an event – either seen, remembered or imagined.

John Berger

John Berger was an writer and artist, among other professions. (I admit to discovering this quote in a recent word puzzle).

I think this is a clear description for the ways an image can come into being for a visual artist. You can freely imagine an image, draw what’s in front of you, or draw something from your memory.

I don’t think this maps clearly onto composing. Compositions must come from imagination. There can be traces of memory – think of Ives incorporating old tunes into his scores, or any composition that evokes a feeling of nostalgia or reminiscence. But that feeling of nostalgia is constructed, in a different way than a drawing is constructed from a memory. And there is no direct parallel for drawing what you’re seeing. Perhaps the closest might be film composers translating the film’s images into their underscoring, but that is a fundamentally different process, translating from visual to auditory sensation, whereas drawing is translating visual to visual.

I love reading and hearing creators talk about their process, particularly when they’re not musical creators. There is often much that can map onto different creative pursuits. But there is a limit, and it’s just as worthwhile to recognize how different art forms are clearly separate as to recognize how they are fundamentally similar.