Its hard for me to sit down and just talk about the whole life on an artist I love because I get too passionate and intense, I'll try to keep it short
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. His art is deeply inspirational to me, there's a dream-like essence on all of his art. Everything is done with so much care. His work was influenced by his very own visions he started experimenting at a young age, he believed he received guidance and encouragement from archangels, he even claimed the archangels read and enjoyed his art.
from what I've read and seen from his art, I can only think he was a very passionate and religious person, but on his own terms, he didn't seem to be troubled by demons at all, he found peace on the idea that his deceased loved ones talked to him as spirits. His visions were mostly beautiful.
''I know that our deceased friends are more really with us than when they were apparent to our mortal part. Thirteen years ago I lost a brother, and with his spirit I converse daily and hourly in the spirit, and see him in my remembrance, in the region of my imagination. I hear his advice, and even now write from his dictate.''
there's so many other artists who get me really invested on his work but William gets more of my attention since I learned more about his personal life and how set-in-stone his ideals were. I have yet to read more of his poems and writtings but it was very clear William Blake was a slavery abolitionist, and saw all humans as equal
''The Little Black Boy'' is one of my favorite poems of his. "shade him [the English boy] from the heat", this implies that the English boy's pale skin is not used to the heat (derived from God's love) – some critics assert that the paleness of the English boy in this poem is symbolic of the fact that the English were distanced from God as a result of their treatment of the black people.
I'm sure I will come back to talk more about him...I just felt like sharing more about him with others.