18 Month Goal

[Patrick Gaumond]

In the last few months I've been watching a lot of Tai Lopez on youtube. He runs a book of the day club where he discusses the key points from a book he read that day, and everytime I watch them I find them extremely insightful. Alongside that he also does mini academy things in which he mentors you on business and the likes, and occasionally he offers free webinars where he gives a little taste of the full programs. One thing he brings up again and again is to set realistic goals; rather than set a goal to be X in 25 years, set something that's still long term but not so long that its super daunting to achieve, and not so short that its impossible to achieve given your current skill level. The magic number in question as you might have guessed is...

EIGHTEEN MONTHS!

As soon as I heard him say this in that webinar I immediately found a website that calculated the date given a certain time period, and when I did it last december it worked out to JUNE 7th 2016 for me. I used to think 18 months wasn't enough time for a goal, but for some reason, hearing 18 months versus actually seeing the date makes a big difference, and I suddenly realized how long that actually is and how reasonable it is to set that as a goal.

I feel like I'm at a point in my life where setting a goal like that IS totally reasonable. Over the last few months I've worked out just about the perfect rhythm to my life to get the most out of my time drawing while not neglecting other aspects of my life and honestly I've never been more productive and especially not this consistently. My goals used to fall into the long term and were quite nebulous, not to say theres anything wrong with a grand strategy or an end game plan, but they can't be the thing you're working towards daily, otherwise, in my experience, you'll get shrouded in doubt and overwhelmed with all the things you need to do to get there.

SO I thought it would be a good idea to make this post, gain some public accountability, and perhaps extend the invitation to anyone else for any of YOUR goals.

My goal to be achieved by JUNE 7TH 2016: Start working for magic! I know, I know, magic isn't the answer to all lifes problems and it's not enough to live off of on it's own, but ever since I took up the pencil again its been high up on the things I want to do. Even if its only a few cards, I want to have that experience and be a part of the wizards family. For me also, choosing a specific company whose artwork I'm 100% certain I love (theres a lot of companies I'm very ambivalent about) makes the goal more concrete in my mind and therefore more achievable!

Theres a LOT I need to work on before I get there, but the last few months have been a huge step up in terms of work for me as I said before and I'm confident if I can keep this up that I will be able to get there. I'm working on a portfolio at the moment (any feedback on my work so far is greatly appreciated by the way!) and I think soon I will be able to get some freelance here and there, while I work towards my 18 month goal

What I Know my biggest flaws are at the moment:
-Design
-Thumbnailing (experimenting with various compositions and such, not so much the actual process of creating the thumb though that needs work as well)
- Rendering (not necessarily photo realism, but a certain degree of cleanliness at least)
- Efficiency in posing characters, and gesture
- Complex scenes with lots of action
- Painting objects (books, cups, architecture etc (in other words hard surface objects)
-Using reference to fill in the gaps my imagination cant do on its own
- Varied colour palettes (default to warm palettes a lot)
-Storytelling (I think I'm ok at this... when I actually fucking try do it. MUST DO IT MORE!)


So, I would like to extend this to anyone else here. Your deadline will be further away than mine since I started this in december, but please by all means join me and set a realistic goal to achieve something important to you in 18 months. Preferably something thats actually achievable (take into account how you've improved in the previous 18 months to gauge yourself), but if you're a crazy bastard, by all means set yourself some crazy goals if that's your bag. On the other hand, if you've set crazy goals in the past and haven't benefited from them, change it up. Change your workflow and study habits. Something else tai talks a lot about is to constantly be running experiments, try EVERYTHING and then double down on the things that work for you as an individual. Don't be a sheep!

Lastly, if you do join, be sure to write down the flaws that are preventing you from achieving it today so that you know what to work on so you can achieve it in 18 months!

Thanks for reading and hope to hear some of your goals too! Or create your own thread if you prefer 8)

[Gliger]

OH MAN, this is so cool, I've been thinking about this all day since I read it yesterday, I want to join you but I don't really have any real goal like working for a company or doing something specific, but expect me to do this the moment I find one :D

[Patrick Gaumond]

Wow lol I wasnt expecting this to resonate so much with someone! Maybe your 18 month goal can be to find an 18 month goal lol jk!

If I may suggest something, try thinking about companies or products that you respect a lot and have never cringed seeing their work, ever. That's pretty much how I got magic. There are literally hundreds of companies to choose from, but just about every single one I can think of, the way I like drawing doesnt match up with their established style (blizzard, runic games, Riot just to name a few) or I just have trouble appreciating their art direction in general (cough applibot cough).

Or it's possible your goal might not have anything to do with working at a specific place, maybe its just reaching a certain bar of quality (like your favourite artist) or getting into a specific work habit, or being able to live off freelance. It could be anything!

[Gliger]

18 MONTH GOAL, FLESHING OUT MY OWN FANTASY WORLD, LET'S FUCKING DO IT

[KurtJeremy]

This is very interesting. im gonna do this. i just need time to think about the goal.
one thing though , about one of your flaws , having ref for filling stuff up from imagination isnt much of a flaw i think. almost always all of the great artists that i know off use them to some extent. most people need inspiration in order to make things out of imagination so for me i dont take it as a flaw , but a requirement. if that make sense.

[Patrick Gaumond]

Oh ya I agree! Its probably not worded properly, but what I meant was that I don't do that enough

Post up your goal when you think of something btw!

[Zearthus]

Still thinking about this, since I do not have an idea whether or not I want to work for any company. But I'm curious to see how are things coming along Patrick. You mentioned you started this since December.

So how's the progression now that's almost the end of June 2015? And what about you Kurt, did you decide to start this goal yet or still thinking about it.

And gligger, what about you as well?