read pretty much every post on http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/ ...mark kennedy's posts are golden. he is a really swell guy and you should make some time to read what he has to say about design in drawings. i saved every single post that i thought would help me... like 4 years of posts i read in the drowsy fantasy of this morning!!
im gonna go ahead and ramble for a bit maybe
you see, i've only started to get better at drawing sometime last november. i really sucked. i had no idea how to draw a cube, didnt know what gesture was, or proportion, or composition, or any of that. i just really liked to draw but had no idea what the foundations were. i've never taken real art classes and have never even thought seriously about going to art school until just recently. at one point i decided "i'm going to get better." it was frustrating. and grueling. and it still is, but i'm more mentally prepared to learn now.
i went to my library to draw people and HATED how much i struggled. i had a friend at the time who worked in the animation field who i really look up to. i asked her, basically, "How the hell do I draw?!" she gave me a few animation books to read. from there i found walt stanchfield handouts. cue holy light from the sky. suddenly drawing had a whole new life to it. i really am rambling a lot, i forgot what my original intent of this was.
anyway, everything i've learned in the past 6 months or so has been completely from books, and peoples blogs. i've filled up about 10 full sketchbooks of some of the crappiest drawings you'll ever see. if you want to get better at drawing, there is so so so much info out there. you can get better. it's not talent, it's not how much time you have in the day, it's WORK and DEDICATION. and it's easing up on yourself a little. youre not as bad as you think you are.
this january i'm going to apply to calarts and perhaps sheridan. even if i dont get in, i know theres a lot of info out there where i can become even better in time for the next application season to come around. calarts really is my dream. i want to make stories with the characters i love and the better i get at art, the better i can tell my stories. as you can see i really love to talk. so i want the drawings to match that talk. :p
SO! not sure where i was going with this. if you want to get better at art, you can. the info is so accessible. it's all about your attitude. if you want to learn, you'll learn.
Wonderful advice.
ReplyDeleteA lot of art is just that, dedication, I can't express how often I see artist become "Ex-artist" with things such as "I'm not good enough" "this is taking to long" "There are people who are better than me" before they even get the point where things begin to mold and form into their art. They completely miss the point, the value, and the signifcance of art and it's beautiful forms.
You are have a such a expressive artistic vision and there is no doubts in my mind you can truely go to where you desire to.
yes... it's something i see so often and it's really heartbreaking/frustrating, i just wanna shake those people and be like NO! KEEP AT IT! HAVE PATIENCE! the more i see this sort of thing, the more i realize the vision of art that you and me and others like us have is very precious
ReplyDeleteand thank you : )
Oh there's a fine line drawn in the sand for artist that's for sure. It may very well go beyond something of just being precious, but what makes the perfection and persuit of art so...well artistic, the person themsevles striving for that instant where they're tools hit the canvas and create true beauty. Most artist may continue to go on and create wonderful work, but have that sense of doubt.
ReplyDeleteAbandon the doubt, abandon the need to be appreciated, and simply create beauty. I think that's what you, I, and others like us have that make us artist.
But I think Commander Shepard said it best when he said "Make yourselves proud."