Artists and Intoxication

Beneficial or Not?

Artists and intoxication. Before we even get started on this topic, this is absolutely not a post advocating or encouraging substance abuse. But the fact of the matter is, throughout history, there have always been stereotypes of artists who were often under the influence and many times died under the influence. Jackson Pollock for example, tragically died in a car accident due to his alcoholism and driving under the influence. There are countless stories of tortured artists who would drown their sorrows, not ever making any money until after they died. But is all of that really true? Who knows why artists (or anyone for that matter) do what they do. Many people use drugs and alcohol to dull emotional pain. Many artists use it to fuel their creativity. But does it really help?

(Photo Credit: By Taken from Art Market Watch.com., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7846487)

I can only speak for myself. To be honest, I never really considered getting intoxicated in order to be creative. But over the years I’ve been told time and again that my work would probably be insanely creative if I created while either drunk or after smoking pot. Surprisingly, one of those people was a therapist!

So, I considered it. Alcohol was out. I could no longer drink due to acid-reflux and that pain was not worth any amount of creativity. But I do have a medical marijuana prescription for pain management and to help me sleep through the night. In fact, I only ever smoke at night right before bed because the effect it has on me is pretty profound. With this in mind, I tried half of my usual dose and gathered my sketchbook and pencils.

I was working on a daily sketch when the effects started to kick in and a brilliant idea for a project popped into my head. It would be a rather ambitious project and I needed to jot the idea down. I wrote furiously in my sketchbook and included notes on possible materials I could use, perspective, and basically as much detail as I could about the image I had in my mind. I even sketched out a thumbnail of the layout. After writing and drawing for about five or ten minutes…or maybe it was twenty, I went to sleep.

In the morning, I went back to check my notes and review my brilliant idea and I was absolutely dumbfounded. My brilliant idea? I couldn’t understand a word of what I had written. It was gibberish and much of it looked like some kind of alien language. Frantically, I tried to remember what it was, but just like a dream, it was gone.  Oh well…so much for that idea!

(Photo Credit: 123RF.com Copyright: Pavle Marjanovic)

I’ve tried even smaller doses since then, but the fact of the matter is, no matter how small the dose…I just want to sleep! It does exactly what I got the prescription for…help me sleep through pain. It’s wonderful. Just not so much for my creativity. It’s hard to be creative if you’re knocked out.

I wish I could remember what my brilliant idea was! The only thing I can remember was the feeling of excitement I had during those moments when I was trying to jot everything down. But the conclusion to my experiment was that this artist and intoxication don’t mix.

Are you an artist whose creativity is enhanced by a substance like alcohol or marijuana? Is there a profound difference between the times you use and the times you don’t in either the brilliance of your creativity and/or the quality of your work?