Art vs Craft Debate

The cluster revolves around debates distinguishing art, which involves original imagination and expression, from craft, which emphasizes technical skill, practice, and replication, often using analogies like painting and referencing fields like music or software.

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Comments
20
Years Active
5
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#2237
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Keywords

RAID OP art artist craft skill artistic style artists skilled talent creative

Sample Comments

therandomguy Sep 21, 2012 View on HN

If you can replicate art I will respect your talent to replicate. Not everyone can.

rnjesus May 19, 2022 View on HN

his point is that the skill does not lie in the manual process of making the art, but in the process of _creating_ the art. copying something (even with a high degree of precision) is less difficult than imagining the thing in the first place.

scrrr Oct 26, 2016 View on HN

Because it's an art. It's like painting a picture. Good art takes time.

ceejayoz May 29, 2011 View on HN

Yes, and yes.That said, this is more like arguing that you can't be a great artist if you don't know how to make the canvas yourself.

marquis Jan 21, 2012 View on HN

Art is not putting 2 objects together. It's a conscious effort to understand and express the world around you. While Mozart's 6 year old compositions may have been entertaining, it was 20 years of musical development that allowed him to write his late piano sonatas (which may have taken him only 20 minutes to compose). That is not just craftmanship: composers who do not 'make it' often become the craftsmen by working as transposers and editors.

grannyg00se Aug 5, 2011 View on HN

Regarding your pet peeve, don't you think that the individual's style, interpretation, and individual application of taught material make it a form of art? You similarly teach painting technique and skill, and repetitively practice a certain technique, even on the same image over and over again. Once the person learns what you are attempting to teach, and they start to implement it in their own way, in new scenarios, then it starts to become artful.

bredren Oct 31, 2020 View on HN

There is art to it. I wonder if it can be taught.

the_cat_kittles Sep 19, 2017 View on HN

interesting. craft is central to the style sure, but its not the only thing! but in any case, im curious how you are drawing the line... surely youd call django an artist? what about antoine boyer now? he sound so new! isnt that newness an artistic vision, not just an expression of mastery of craft? maybe you think the ratio is too heavy towards craft, or that requiring such a high degree of craft to be heard in the first place is whats keeping us from hearing artists? who are the artists you kn

tubularhells Dec 29, 2020 View on HN

Yeah but that's a fine art skill, not something technical.

bcrosby95 Aug 19, 2025 View on HN

Everyone is an artist. We're just not all equally skilled.