A little while ago, there was a discussion here about being original and whether it's important or not. I've always been suspicious of the motivation toward originality. I've often understood the idea of originality to be opposed to the idea of tradition. I really like the idea of tradition. But I now concede the importance of originality. It's what I look for in work and it inspires me. I also don't think it's at all difficult to reconcile originality and tradition. The other day I read this quote by Maurice Sendak " Originality of vision is paramount. Someone says something commonplace in a very original way..." I like this idea of originality and Sendak most certainly comes from a tradition of illustrators. So I feel a bit of freedom now to persue an original vision, to see things in a new and fresh way but also feel connected to the past.
