That means commissioned artwork would count as design and not art. Just disagreeing for the sake of comment :) An interesting question which has bugged artists & designers for centuries, and sometimes wanders into my head as a musician.

Dan F. That's exactly what I'm saying, yes. Design is something you're requested to create. Art is something you're compelled to create. Yes, it could be the exact same tools, the same skillset, the same education necessary - but it comes from a different place. Do not think I'm insulting design. I respect design highly. I simply delineating the two.

I'll quote that. Master.

Like the question itself, its purely subjective and personal. And ultimately it really doesn't matter at all what other people think of the work you do or the categories in which they try to put you.

Jay FC - I found it wasn't for others that I needed the definition, it was for myself. Some people might not need it. I did in order to sustain putting out the design work without exhausting my creativity.

hi,Mark,what a short blog! I recall some words your said awhile ago,it is a test,maybe:P if it is,cute:D

There was an interview I watched once (many years ago so I don't have references, it was back when I was working occasinally still as a pianist)... The guy who back then was regarded as the best players of Bach's music was asked if any performance ever stood out for him and he said there was one time in his life where he played a song he'd played many times before, but he felt such a deep connection with it this one night that he was sure he had played it exactly as Bach would have played it. I would argue the difference is that he internalized it. He was tapping into the emotions which created the piece - the internal aspects. He was no longer playing the piece for the audience to generate tickets, but in his own paraphtased words... he was playing it from within... just as the author would have played it. Life isn't black and white... There can be oscillations... he probably played other pieces that night that were very well played but didn't reach the level of that one piece. And... I guarnatee you the audience felt the difference - though I can't prove it.

Well... how about not to debat, but to clarify.... An actor's skill set is voice, body, presence and so forth... and all actors know that they could "walk through" a part... meaning "just perform it" - or they could "internalize" (the actual word often used) and by doing so bring out something much more deep - evenif it comedy - even if it is a simple silly sit com... you can still make it your art.... it depends on... your intention. To personalize this... there have been jobs I've been hired to do... that I made my own... but mostly I loan my skill set. Initally I was making all of them my own and it was exhausting me because the project was not mine to be had. It was someone else's. In order to sustain, I needed to limit the work I internalized.... (personalized)... it doesn't mean I wasn't going to do a good job, it was just that I was doing it with a different intention.

gilgamesh - I think you see what I'm saying.