This is a question I’ve been curious about for awhile.

To be a good artist, do you need to be extroverted? Not necessarily extroverted “socially”, but in the sense of being outwardly focused?

I ask this because many of the most successful artists that I’ve met/known are introspective in their thoughts, but still manage to engage very actively with the world around them. Through sketching, people watching, observation of life around them, etc, they are able to further their artistic goals. 

They are not, for example, sitting around in a darkened room cut off from all visual input, dreaming up while ideas in complete isolation. In order to grow, my experience is that you’ve gotta put some information in. It’s that synthesis of visual information from our observations that allows us to create something new.

What do you all think? Is a little ‘extroversion’ necessary for production of art?