Envy in the Arts

I love every facet of the arts. Music, painting, drawing, literary arts, sculpting, drama, poetry, dance, photography; I love it all. I can't do it all but that does not stop my appreciation for it. I mostly stay in the realm of painting and drawing (though I have dabbled in some of the other areas). The other day I got to thinking about each individual area, the pros and cons. The one thing that I thought about was how little of an effect drawing and painting have on emotions. When someone sings a song or a musician plays a instrument they can get you to feel things. They can make you feel sad, excited, happy, mad. In a movie, the background music manipulates how you feel about or accept the scene. A drama can move you to tears or cause you to laugh. A well written piece of poetry can give you cause to think. The creators of each of these things can share their emotion with you through their art. But I ask you, how many times has a painting moved you to tears? or caused you to laugh? How often does a portrait overwhelm you with emotion? The answer to all of these is seldom if ever. I envy this.... a lot. I want people to feel what I'm feeling. I want people to understand the meaning behind a picture. On the flipside, however, a picture gives an exact depiction of what I'm thinking. Music might fail in this area, as it gives guidelines for a picture, but the exact image is left up to the individual to build. With painting or drawing I can make you see exactally what I'm seeing. It's a trade off, for sure, I do envy the emotional aspect of things, but I guess that's what gives these things their individualty.