That's the point of using imagination, though. No one thinks of the world the way you do until you find a way to show it to them.

Everyone has seen "attention to detail" art. That's the only art I can make because I don't have an imagination like that. I can make pictures that most people like, but I can't make things that people actually enjoy like they enjoy art with imagination.

I think they are both importent, but imagination trumps attention to detail, unless you Michelangelo.

Well, if you go into any high end art gallery and ask the owner which artist is the best seller and which one is second best, you'll find that there's one major factor that makes an artist a "good artist".....that one thing is "prolificness" which means that the artist in question has enough talent that he or she not only brings paitnings in regularly but the gallery also sells that work really often. This is a result of the subject matter having appeal to the general public. An example?....in Texas, almost every home has a painting of a Texas bluebonnet scene. Bluebonnets are the state flower and the grow each year in huge blankets which bloom in the south and that blooming continues north all spring and people just have to have a "Texas bluebonnet scene" and you can assume correctly that almost every artist attempts that subject matter at least once in his life,........on the other hand, there are artists who paint nothing but "Texas bluebonnet scenes" and make their livings off just this one subject......that is being "prolific".....Another factor is as follows:........An artist stays in one place, paints everyday and does just a few subjects really well and maybe just one subject. This allows the viewing public to assume that this artist will always display the same thing over and over and is eventually or already popular and thus "has a name".....People love the idea of an artist being famous and they will buy a painting that has his or her name on it because they think they have a great investment,.....and they do. Suppose the artist that a person collects does nothing but paint one thing for 40 years in a row,......you can easily find that this artist sells each painting almost before it goes up on a wall,........and sometimes this is the case..........this is prolificness in action. The only other thing that has any meaning at all is the artist's signature,....if you work in a gallery for any length of time, you'll find that a signature by any artist of any caliber is unlike a signature of another artist and you can almost tell which painting came from which artists at a distance,.....too, any artist who sells really often has his own style and that style is easily recognizable exactly like the signature is recognizable. I'd suggest going to a really high end gallery or go to a high end art auction semi-locally as those art auctions tend to sell the best art and especially the best local art. I'm telling you this because all I do is paint, mostly one subject and have done so for the past 33 years and my market is mainly to one place or one state or one area but I have paintings in almost every country on the face of the planet with exception to lybia or the state of tasmania.........I didnt do this intentionally, it just happened but it happened because I was selling in a high traffic gallery across the street from the Texas state capitol. You might imagine that I have paintings in the capitol,.......you'd be right,.....in fact, over the past 25 years I've sold enough paintings to politicians at just the capitol to say,.......I've had at least 300 paintings in the state capitol, in the offices of senators, congressmen,......even in the governor's mansion. But not only have I sold to those people but also to the lobbyists, lawyers and political group leaders as well as in the offices of doctors who know those guys, etc,etc....it ends up being that word of mouth sells my paintings more than anything else....as a result, I can proudly say that every state in America has someone and plural to over all those years that still have my old paintings enough to where the some of the original owners have passed away and the paintings they bought have gone in estate sales and end up in high end auctions or are passed down through families who end up contacting me later on from time to time to get me to do more work for them..........This aint because I'm a really good artist, It's because I was in the right place at the right time.........So the term "good artist" is kinda subjective. I still do this for a living........look up "R.Morris Patterson" on the web and then go to the links and you may fiond some of my work. Also, from time to time you'll see some of my older pieces on e-bay......there's no such thing as bad advertising. Good luck to you.

If you're asking these questions, you have a real appreciation for the arts.

Unfortunately, this also means you are NOT an artist.

Become a wonderful collector of emerging artists!
Become interested in curation, and preservation!
Support the arts in your community, by helping local art organizations. Take some classes with a friend! There's lots to do!

Don't start "becoming" an artist. If you were one, you'd already know.

A little bit of both and judging from some of the stuff i've seen none at all. The bottom line is you have to find what makes you tick and in the process develope your own style.