07-28-2013, 05:23 PM
Hello Squidbat,
Adding my opinion in with the other artists here (gonna TRY to make it short). You're certainly working hard and improving bit by bit. If I could make a few suggestions based on my learning:
1) Don't write negative notes on your art. It's hard to get better when you're denouncing all of your work. and hard for us to take it serious.
2) Practice with more traditional media (pens, pencils, charcoal). The tablet adds a lot of disconnect, which can contribute to those "hairy lines". Lines are the boundaries of different forms, so if you have too many lines, it's harder to define a shape, which means it's harder to tell the viewer what you were trying to do.
3) Practice Cones, Spheres, Cubes (Fundamental volumes). In class, lunch, waiting for friends, I'd just draw boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes. Then spheres and spheres and spheres. Then cylinders and cylinders and cylinders. All in different perspectives. They have simple rules and don't take a lot of hard thinking, so it's easy to squeeze out a hundred or so per day.
4) Look at good art. I love studying good paintings and good drawings at my local museum. If you have a museum close by, I'd go there as often as possible and look at as many things as possible for as long as possible. It can be hard to know what you're looking for, but as your fundamentals increase, you'll understand every piece more and more in terms of it's technical execution. And looking at all the art increases in your visual library.
5) Draw your figures from life. This is the trickiest thing to teach, as it's easy to mindlessly copy the figure. But if you've been reading the Vilppu literature, you should be cognizant of his procedure. Also, books by Loomis, Hogarth, and Hampton I know are all good. Draw at zoos, cafe's, taking a class or two at a community college, friends, whoever (people are in high supply now-a-days).
Most importantly is to never stop. Sometimes I make work that isn't good. Sometimes I make work I really like. But the most important thing is to beat down the discouragement and keep making work. If you really ever get stuck, you gotta look at your work and ask, "what am I doing wrong?" and finding the answer to that question is top priority. Figuring out why our pictures aren't working is what makes us artists instead of lumberjacks with pencils.
I'll never have all the answers, but I hope you found something worth adding to your collection of information.
cheers,
R. Buber
PS- Failed on making this short, didn't I? :P
Adding my opinion in with the other artists here (gonna TRY to make it short). You're certainly working hard and improving bit by bit. If I could make a few suggestions based on my learning:
1) Don't write negative notes on your art. It's hard to get better when you're denouncing all of your work. and hard for us to take it serious.
2) Practice with more traditional media (pens, pencils, charcoal). The tablet adds a lot of disconnect, which can contribute to those "hairy lines". Lines are the boundaries of different forms, so if you have too many lines, it's harder to define a shape, which means it's harder to tell the viewer what you were trying to do.
3) Practice Cones, Spheres, Cubes (Fundamental volumes). In class, lunch, waiting for friends, I'd just draw boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes. Then spheres and spheres and spheres. Then cylinders and cylinders and cylinders. All in different perspectives. They have simple rules and don't take a lot of hard thinking, so it's easy to squeeze out a hundred or so per day.
4) Look at good art. I love studying good paintings and good drawings at my local museum. If you have a museum close by, I'd go there as often as possible and look at as many things as possible for as long as possible. It can be hard to know what you're looking for, but as your fundamentals increase, you'll understand every piece more and more in terms of it's technical execution. And looking at all the art increases in your visual library.
5) Draw your figures from life. This is the trickiest thing to teach, as it's easy to mindlessly copy the figure. But if you've been reading the Vilppu literature, you should be cognizant of his procedure. Also, books by Loomis, Hogarth, and Hampton I know are all good. Draw at zoos, cafe's, taking a class or two at a community college, friends, whoever (people are in high supply now-a-days).
Most importantly is to never stop. Sometimes I make work that isn't good. Sometimes I make work I really like. But the most important thing is to beat down the discouragement and keep making work. If you really ever get stuck, you gotta look at your work and ask, "what am I doing wrong?" and finding the answer to that question is top priority. Figuring out why our pictures aren't working is what makes us artists instead of lumberjacks with pencils.
I'll never have all the answers, but I hope you found something worth adding to your collection of information.
cheers,
R. Buber
PS- Failed on making this short, didn't I? :P