For many people art is a form of emotional expression therefore there can be emotion represented in the piece. However, I don’t think you need to burn your soul over every piece of artwork. Of course genuine emotion is rad but encouraging people to suffer for their work is not. Of course with art being an outlet it makes perfect sense that art and emotions go hand in hand.
@Artists what do you guys think?
I think it’s a building stone, I think it’s always there but it’s not always an active addition to the art. it’s like most creative forms.
I often say that 'what you write is the state of mind at the time that it’s written.
With art I think it’s the same, what you draw, the colours you use, the type of lighting will all be affected by your mood. not to mention that you can also have a harder time making the art when you’re in a certain mood.
Yeah that does super make sense! Your emotions can effect what you’re doing. Unfortunately when I’ve found people talking about real emotion in art I just see them think that artists need to be depressed alcoholics which I don’t condone even though many of them sadly are 
That’s probably because most comedians struggle with mental health. And a lot of music artists deal with drugs or alcohol as well as they need something to calm nerves as they go on stage and stuff like that. 
Yeah that is absolutely true! It’s a sad situation I just don’t expect other artists to do that some people do, I used to know somebody who would only listen to music of people who were dr*g addicts.
tbf, during my classes we learned that humor is a form of cooping and that it’s a reason comedians and depression is often linked.
and dealing with stress is often cooped with by numbing it. artists have a very unstable life and job where they have a lot of pressure on their performance, so they have a higher risk to turn to substances to get relief.
Yeah and I fully understand that! I just believe there is an issue in glamourising it. Saying people need to be that way to be an artist is damaging and holds a very toxic expectation over them.
But like I say it is very understandable that these kinds of emotions are very prominent in artists.
yeah, I think it goes two ways, because it’s also a form to deal with emotions, to let go of them and express them
To be a powerful and emotive piece, sure it does.
Depends, often I make art out of boredom and not to express emotion. Still art however in my opinion.
However, if you want your art to have a real message I think real emotion is needed
Art doesn’t need real emotion, but it’s nice if it’s there. Art can be just as great if it’s “just” a very realistic drawing of a city. There’s just more for people to talk about if the artist put lots of emotion into their work.
@Artists Any other opinions?
Emotion can be put into landscapes and cities. Thomas Kinkade gave a feeling of warmth in his landscape paintings by always leaving the light on. I also know an artist who conveys emotion and feeling with just a color or two amidst silhouettes (cough @rainbowcat cough). However, there are architects and engineers who draw more exact, measured projects and to me, even those blueprints are art. Any effort placed into a project, whether it was a mental excursion or an emotional one is art to me.