Quote - > Quote - Sam - We do need a word for people who have an idea and try to visually represent it, and the word is 'Artist'.

Wrong, wrong and yet again wrong.

Anyone, yes Anyone who defines themself as an "Artist" with a capital A deserves rotten tomatoes, cabbages and other splashy and/or smelly fruit and veg throwing at them at high velocity.   Art is a nebulous concept at best; those who define it or themselves by it end up vanishing up their own fundamental orifices.

Better to be a paint monkey, a pixel hack, a colour junkie than an "Artist".  Just make pictures however you make them and fuck the rest.

I've thrown paint around for probably longer than most people on this forum have been alive - and I'm damn good at it, too - yet I'm no artist.  Nor is anyone else here.   As I said before, pretension overload.

That's not to say we can't produce works of art.  Note the lower case.  Honest, it's really important.  I believe some of my 3D stuff has artistic merit and I know for sure there are several others here who tick all the boxes but to call any of us "Artists" is just taking the piss.

 

Don't sell yourself short.  There are things that you can do that some people only dream about doing.  Don't ever minimize your talents. Give your talents the credit they deserve FROM YOU. 
Why do you dislike the term "Artist" so much?