“I actually don’t really think there are too many mistakes a younger digital artist can make, since that is really the time to be going out there and drawing what you enjoy most without worrying about how it fits into a professional context. It’s a time to be prolific and have fun, during which you come up with a lot of source material that you can later re-work into a ‘professional image.’ One thing I would always recommend to young artists is to start promoting your work as much as possible before you begin professionally, so that your work is already out there and you might even have a fanbase by the time you start to present yourself as a professional. It definitely helped for me to already have a website and an established style by the time I graduated college.”
I’d just like to say, please don’t be negative about your art.
You can like the art you’re making now,
Even if you like your art, that you envision down the line, more.
Artists make the art they can, not the art they want.
Most of us are always seeking to improve.
So if you’re not happy with what you’re making now, you probably never will be.
Don’t be scared that, if you’re happy with what you can do, you’ll stop improving.
Simply like the art, that you’ve imagined yourself creating, more.
Let’s do it! Come on illustrators! Grab your pencils and macs and stuff, let’s go start a new industry! It’ll be like Detroit in the 1950s, where industry is king, we’re talking Boomtown here! It’s going to be ace, and we’re all going to be professional illustrators on professional wages. Are you with me? We’ll have to leave some people behind though, they won’t be allowed into the new industry. Here’s a little history lesson about what happened and why we need to do this…
Back in the olden days illustrators always used to do their work and then really predictably their client would pay them for it, it used to work like when a plumber comes round, fixes your tap then you pay him for his service, or if you want a haircut, and a professional spends some time cutting your hair, then you just pay them the agreed amount in full. But more recently, a bunch of companies have started up and they’ve been using voodoo to persuade illustrators that our profession is not a real job and that our time isn’t actually worth very much. Some of these companies hypnotised us or, in some cases, bullied us into creating artwork for their magazines, for free, and some of them said that they would really love to take our artwork and put it on a t-shirt, for free. This era of FreeBusiness™ was supposed to give us so many more opportunities, because outside of our boring old paid work these new companies were far more groundbreaking. They all had this idea that even though you ‘worked’ on an illustration for a day or two, they weren’t going to pay anyone a day’s wage, because that would be an old-fashioned professional approach, instead of money, they somehow thought they’d pay us in ‘exposure’. In the minds of the FreeBusiness™ staff ‘exposure’ is worth as much as real money. In their minds and in their worlds your local electric company will allow you to pay your bills using some of the ‘exposure’ commodity you’ve built up; and every Friday, food at all supermarkets will be free to anyone with plenty of ‘exposure’ in their wallet. History lesson over, now, does this approach to business sound a little unrealistic to you?
* If, at this point, you are thinking “Yes Ben, yes! It is unrealistic” then you will be welcomed into the new illustration industry with open arms. FreeBusiness™ and ‘exposure’ being a valuable commodity are hugely unrealistic and irresponsible ideas, in fact a shorter word for it all would be ‘sh*t’.
So, back to the present and I think it really is time we started a new illustration industry, we’ll take most of the old industry with us; all the brilliant magazines and newspapers that have commissioned and paid good money for illustration for decades, all the advertising agencies and publishers who understand the value of our time and skills and make our job such a pleasure, all the agents who work tirelessly to keep their artists earning a fair amount and keeping their careers credible. However, we’ve got to leave some people behind; the magazines who promise that an 8pt credit below your illustration is worth 3 days work, the tshirt companies who’s payment for a design (that they will profit from) could be counted up in coins by my 1 year old son (he can count to 10), the digital companies who want you to design their new game artwork, for free, right now, but they’ll see how well it sells and then think about payments, perhaps, next year.
Shall we do it then? All the hard-working illustrators and responsible clients join hands and we’ll march onwards to a new industry based on respect and professionalism. We won’t fall for the voodoo trickery of people taking our time and skills without a worthy payment, we’ll only do favours for actual friends, because friends are the only ones to return favours, not greedy businesses, and ‘exposure’ will always be recognised as a commodity which is no longer accepted, only cash and cheque. We’ll leave the naive, selfish, irresponsible, greedy profiteers on their own to feed off each other until extinction, outside of the illustration industry, alongside sweatshops and old fashioned slavery markets. Let’s do it, let’s bring some respect back to our trade, let’s earn a healthy wage from our time and talent. Let’s do it.
I’ve noticed that in my generation, art has been rushed. This applies both to how we view / access art, as well as how we make it. If you hit “refresh” on any art blog, you’ll find yourself continually seeing newly posted art every minute-if not sooner. I am both fascinated and apprehensive by this. What fascinates me is that I can see art from literally anywhere in the world, and from all different kinds of people. These are people with ideas that I could never in my lifetime think of, and with styles that I never knew existed (I can also show said people what I have created). I am a bit apprehensive because now there is (roughly) a million times more pressure for an artist to produce their next work. They must work at breakneck speed just to be constantly showing up on people’s browsers. The sheer number of art pieces online is enough to make you want to click away to TMZ for a breather. So many authors have come face-to-face with this problem: “Oh, you wrote _____. That was amazing; when can we read your next book?” The public always wants your latest and greatest; it’s how we decipher whether you’re relevant or not (Guilty as charged. So, Tom Rachman, where’s your follow-up to The Imperfectionists?). I realize that, as an artist, your work is just that: work. And many times you can’t sit around and wait for inspiration; you have to do your job. Being an artist doesn’t give you the right to be lazy. However, I would love to see more young artists take time with their work. Not necessarily because it takes them a long time to produce, but because it is well thought out and revised, still possesses heart. I could go on, but my time is up. Maybe I’ll write a book on it…
(This post was inspired by the latest episode of Proxart Radio, regarding art blogs and real-life galleries. Check it out: proxart.org).
I’ve gotten some asks on this, so…prepare yourself for tl;dr.
One advice that I’ve seen over and over is to find artists you like and emulate them, to try to broaden your circle of influence, and to try to be inspired by variously things, ideally, everything.
This is all very good advice, but one I haven’t seen anyone mention is:
Know yourself, and what you like, rather than just expanding your likes.
For example, (and gosh, this is going to be so personal, but that’s the point), I really love boho/boho-chic, cottage, Mediterranean, and Spaniard styles homes. And for more ornamental, Moroccan and some Arabic styles. Also, I really like white accents.
I lean towards bright, bold colors and airy rooms. I still like some earthy colors, though, like: terracotta red, brown, and orange, and cobalt blue; warm but in a subtle way?
I think the words that describes what I like in all of these is “crisp”, “natural”, “hospitable”. Like rainy days with knitted sweaters and tea, or warm days with cool floor tiles, watered plants, and waving curtains. Calm serenity; crisply comforting, instead of warmly comforting. (Which is why some Japanese style rooms appeal to me, since they do love their zen.)
Ahaha, what does this say about my personality? That I’m a warm person in a distant way, and not really the type to openly display my affection. My likes reveal so much of my personality. Everyone’s does.
In art, I love thin, expressive lines, very delicate but also controlled, that allow me to put in a lot of detail without it looking busy, because I like details, just not clutter. Probably from my love of simplicity and my like of being in control.
In the other direction, I wish my lines were more dynamic and had more movement. Going back to my personality of where I know I’m a control freak and wish I was more open and loose.
You can see that my likes carry over. The style of homes I like are also open and light. And I’ll leave it at that, because, ahaha, I rather not completely expose myself.
Which is what I’m getting at. If you know what you like, you can drive yourself to a style that is more you.
What things do you like across various things? (Even for cars. I like curves and clean lines, so I find Volkswagen Beetles rather cute!)
What do you wish your personality or self were more like?
What do you hate? Why do you hate it?
What are your interests, and what do you think they say about you? (I like gardening, so perhaps solitude, earthy, crisp, comforting…sound familiar?), etc.
This is why no one can tell you how to improve or change your style, because they don’t know you. You know you. Styles are highly personal things.
This is also why I think copying/stealing styles is so highly frowned upon. It’s trying to be someone else, it feels like a piece of themselves was stolen.
However, if you want to copy them, that simply means you see something in them, or in their art, that appeals to you.
Try finding out what it is. Look at their art and ask yourself, “What do I like about it? What do I wish I could do that they can? What does it remind me of that I also like?”
Good luck!
Anon:
Any help/advice/exercises for artists suffering from carpal tunnel? I’ve recently begun sketching more daily, and my wrists are taking a beating from it, it’s making drawing for me really painful. :(
The best thing for carpal tunnel is proper hand positioning, a loose grip, and rest.
Positioning:
Have your drawing table (or whatever else you use) at the height recommended for typing at a computer, playing the piano, etc. Basically, elbow height or lower.
I’m lucky that I learned proper positioning from viola and piano lessons, so the “at rest” positions for both is something you might want to look at. The thing is to not bend it, either up or down, but keep it straight. (You might also be bending your wrist while you sleep, so that’s another thing to keep an eye out for.)
Honestly, overall proper posture is ideal.
I strongly suggest that you start learning how to draw from your elbow, using your whole arm, rather than from your wrist. This is great for smoother, longer lines, anyway.
As for details, this is where grip comes in.
Loose Grip:
We often tend to use more force then necessary, either holding the pencil too tight, or pressing down too hard. I’d recommend getting a soft gel grip, or using larger tools, or whatever else that will open your hand more so you don’t clinch down so hard.
Rest:
If it’s already severe enough, you’ll probably need to lay off drawing for a few days and wearing a wrist splint.
Also while drawing, be sure to take a break at least one every 30 minutes or so to gently shake/rotate/flex your wrist. And while you’re at it, rotate your neck. (This helps for when your limbs fall asleep, too!)
Extra:
You should warm up before you draw. Here’s some exercises you can do. If you’re really that worried, then I suggest looking into wrist strengthening exercises as well.
Also, you should try to keep your wrist warm, so it doesn’t clamp up. I’d recommend buying one of those artist’s glove that clovers the outer two fingers, so it’ll serve the duel purpose of keeping your wrist warm, and keep you from smudging your work if you work with trad mediums.
Fingerless gloves and sweat bands are good for this, too.
Lastly, careful of your salt intake if you’re prone to water retention.
I hope this helps! Feel better! <3
This is pretty awesome, definitely worth a look if you’re interested in this particular issue of women’s armor. I especially appreciate the consideration that values context and internal consistency.
and not denounce it.
I think in our generation, pre-professional/aspiring artists tend to hate the word ‘talent’. Some people go as far as to get offended when they are given compliments like “Oh, you’re so talented!” The biggest issue I’ve seen with this word in the preprofessional world is that artists are beginning to believe ‘talent’ means that they are just ‘given’ the ability to draw well and did not work hard for their artistic abilities. I think rather than denouncing this term as a back handed compliment, we should take a moment to define (or redefine, depending on your stance) the word.
The word ‘talent’ doesn’t actually describe how well you draw. It’s the natural aptitude, rather than the finished practice. For example, even if you are ‘born with the natural talent in art’ (as some people are), it does not mean you are able to draw something worth while the moment you grab a pen. If you do not work hard to hone the talent, nothing happens. However, you are given an aptitude in understanding how it works. Someone with talent may be able to understand color theory better, or understand how perspective works a little better. It may be as simple as ‘talented’ people understanding/knowing innately how to apply artistic theories we study or just innately know how to observe. You are able to understand what you study/observe and how to do so in order to apply it to your art more efficiently. This doesn’t mean that this can only be done by people who are ‘born with it’. On the contrary, anyone can have these ‘enhancing’ abilities with hard work.
Art is not a one step process. You need to visualize, observe, form and then create. No one is born knowing how to paint already or how facial/body structure is. “Naturally talented” and “Skilled” artists both (not to say that the two groups are mutually exclusive!) both work very very hard at their craft, and this should be recognized. Generally ‘talented’ artists are able to observe in depth from much younger, thus creating an interest in art (or whatever other field) without even really knowing what ‘art’ is. When you learn to observe and think, art becomes a mechanic representation of what is created in your head already. It’s human nature to want to recreate observations and imagination in any forms and visual art or drawings are no exception. While ‘talent’ doesn’t create the art for you, it allows you to be receptive to observations and creative thinking may come a little more naturally to you. It may require a little less trial-and-error in your learning process and composition/perspective/whatever else may come a little more intuitive. It’s an important (but not necessary!) enhancement to learn how to create art. When others see your ‘skill’ and call it ‘talent’, what they really see is the result of the hardwork you put into enhancing your talent. So take pride in the fact that you were able to work so very hard to mold the building stone into something substantial that people enjoy!
“Naturally talented artists” and “not talented artists” alike work very hard to become “skilled” artists. Art lovers, understand that ‘talent’ is not a free pass to creating works, so don’t be dejected by thoughts of “I am not talented as ____”! Artists, do not be offended when someone tells you that you must be ‘naturally talented’! It’s not a comment to say that you don’t work hard.
Embrace it, enjoy it!
This will be one of the times where I write about something I care about. As all of you who follow me should know, art is a huge part of my life, so I think about it a lot and it is easy for me to over-think things that people say…especially…
Although I sympathize with OP, I gotta say “anime” and “fine art” are not even styles.
If you ask me the word “style” is misused and underutilized to be of much use to people discussing something as vast and varied as art. Currently the way “style” works, is people will group a bunch of artists based on trivial common ground and then slap a “style” label to it with whatever word that happens nearby. Now when you hear that word, you think of one image in your brain to summarize a bunch of people. Most people think for instance
Indy style = Black and white autobiographical comics with chicken scratch linework.When it should actually mean
- Indy = Independent = Self made
OR
Anime style = Big eyes, tiny noses, high saturation, cute shitWhen it actually means
- Anime = Animation in Japanese = Animation from Japan
An actual USEFUL way to define “art style” would be by motivation for instance:
- Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.[1][2] Expressionist artists sought to express meaning[3] or emotional experience rather than physical reality.
- Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects “in accordance with secular, empirical rules”,[1] as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation.
( By the way the most people who use the word “Realism” use it like “oh hey I was trying to make this look realistic” and most of the time they aren’t even close. The only reason I see them using it is to flee from being labeled “anime artist”. Therefore acknowledging a error as truth and then using an other error to make sure their feelings don’t get hurt. )
- Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form—instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context.
- Caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person, animal or object to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.[1]
See a pattern here? There’s motivation, reason, to explain why it looks like the it does. Now what’s the motivation that dictates how the art will look behind “anime” “western” “comic” “webcomic” ? These are either nationalities or formats, they aren’t ideas, or motivations themselves, therefore I won’t acknowledge them as “styles”.
I see plenty of artists I can ascribe no “label” to, and really how necessary are these labels??
^ this is very much relevant. The one thing that always bothered me about being called an “anime artist” is that I don’t make anime and it never made sense to me (people who knows me irl have probably heard me rant about it once or twice even haha). I decided to leave it alone when first reblogging the post because I couldn’t really put together words to explain it.
^Amen. This is why instead of saying “I was aiming for realism” One should say “I was aiming for naturalism” instead since realism and naturalism are entirely different movements.
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Ahaha, oh goodness. Going by some of the reblog comments on that 10,000 hours chart post, let me clear up some things.
Yes, some of us have clocked in 10k hours already, but don’t feel bad if you have and feel like you should be way more skilled! (And for those that despair they couldn’t possibly do that, you totally can. It might just take some longer than others.)
However, you don’t have to put in those hours. The chart, the whole theory, is just a rough guideline! Don’t feel too pressured, okay?
That being said, the hours that are being talked about here are hours with intent. Like Sam’s post mentioned, it’s not just mindless drawing floating heads. It’s not listless doing this or that with no clean goal in mind.
You should find out what your weak points are and work on them. You should take a moment to truly observe something, not just bashing your head on the concept of getting it perfect.
That’s what will really help you improve! When people say ‘practice, practice practice!’ that doesn’t translate simply to, ‘draw, draw, draw!’ (or write, or whatever else). That’s not practicing. That’s just repetition.
But how will you get better if you don’t shake things up and experiment? Get out of your comfort zone!
Really, the whole 10k hours thing is there simply to have a goal, and to give you a sort of frame. “Today I’ll do 3 hours!”, with 10k being your ultimate goal. That sort of thing.
Don’t let it discourage you, okay?
