Professional oil painter; semi-professional brush cleaner. I mostly talk about making art. Sometimes also video games.
Good thread on a guy who is very much on my own mind at this present moment
Been reading John Dower's "Embracing Defeat" lately, which is a rather good history of Japan during the occupation. Bleak stuff, though.
I really enjoyed the book. Iirc, it's accessible but not dumb, and really did make me completely reevaluate my read of the latter part of Michelangelo's career/life
If you want a popularized & accessible, but quite good, account of one of these premodern projects, and the intersection of artistry, political maneuvering, practical creativity, and--yes--application & adaptation of cultural patterns, i recommend:
"A Taste of Armageddon" from ToS, two planets are locked in eternal simulated war. Pretty good episode!
Article is short but interesting, actually, with some thoughts from Beck
This book on Hiroshige, who's a little older, less western in manner, is also fantastic
I might suggest The King Must Die, her Theseus book, but man, she produced three top tier and three+ very solid books