07-21-2014, 07:52 AM
Great dedication to study in your sketchbook Clarisse, you're on a good path, so keep it up!
For figures I tend to start with gesture and proportion first, then build up volume using cross sections of the forms as I go. It's the Vilippu method that I thought has been the most informative for me personally. I think your gesture studies have a nice construction going on, so maybe just keep that going. Also hands and feet; don't procrastinate. :) We all have done that because they are hard and easy to want to ignor, but if you focus on them brutally for a bit, you'll get over that hump.
For your landscapes, as Beardley mentioned, definitely think about where your hard edges should be and where you can use softer effects. I tend to use hard brushes to generate the major silhouettes and shapes, even if I know they will be softer at the end, then once it is all in place, add the atmosphere and lighting in with the softer brushes and gradients. You can work the other way too soft atmosphere and light, then attack with hard edged shapes, depends on the painting. And yeah...Shaddy shaddy shaddy.
*EDIT: Also the feeling of frustration is so common. Often times I find that the intense feeling of frustration tends to come before a breakthrough of some sort. I believe the way to get through it is to remember that as learning artists the outcome is the focus so much of the time, because the gap between what we want to do and what we can do is so great. We tend to hurtle ourselves towards the end of the piece, the next piece, the next level-up, the next milestone, and finally the moment we have "made it" and all that thought and desire serves to do is distract us from the truth. Do it because you enjoy it. Don't focus on the next milestone, this is where the frustration gets born. Sure, remember and have your goals, but when you are in the process, try and be completely present in the process. I tend to find absorption in the process helps dissuade your brain from straying to dumb thoughts of progress and measurement!
So this applies to your portfolio too. If you make "building the portfolio" a job or project, as in, something that you must do in order to get hired eventually, then while that focus is good, if you are not careful it basically becomes a job like any other. I would maybe think about doing exciting pieces that you are passionate about for no other reason than that, whether it makes the "cut" or not. What happens if you keep that up quite consistently, is that you will eventually have folio worthy stuff. Building a portfolio is like a star being born: there is a disk of dust matter that is being pulled in by gravity, and through this constant process, of matter being added to the core, the core gets hotter and hotter. Once the matter reaches a critical mass, the star ignites by fusion in a brilliant outpouring of light. This is your work. All you need to do is keep adding more and more work and your folio will eventually ignite. :)
Also while it is useful to know where your weaknesses lie and apply study to them, never tell yourself you can't do something even in the slightest way. Instead say to yourself it is only a matter of time and application before you will be able to do.
Good luck and keep it up!
For figures I tend to start with gesture and proportion first, then build up volume using cross sections of the forms as I go. It's the Vilippu method that I thought has been the most informative for me personally. I think your gesture studies have a nice construction going on, so maybe just keep that going. Also hands and feet; don't procrastinate. :) We all have done that because they are hard and easy to want to ignor, but if you focus on them brutally for a bit, you'll get over that hump.
For your landscapes, as Beardley mentioned, definitely think about where your hard edges should be and where you can use softer effects. I tend to use hard brushes to generate the major silhouettes and shapes, even if I know they will be softer at the end, then once it is all in place, add the atmosphere and lighting in with the softer brushes and gradients. You can work the other way too soft atmosphere and light, then attack with hard edged shapes, depends on the painting. And yeah...Shaddy shaddy shaddy.
*EDIT: Also the feeling of frustration is so common. Often times I find that the intense feeling of frustration tends to come before a breakthrough of some sort. I believe the way to get through it is to remember that as learning artists the outcome is the focus so much of the time, because the gap between what we want to do and what we can do is so great. We tend to hurtle ourselves towards the end of the piece, the next piece, the next level-up, the next milestone, and finally the moment we have "made it" and all that thought and desire serves to do is distract us from the truth. Do it because you enjoy it. Don't focus on the next milestone, this is where the frustration gets born. Sure, remember and have your goals, but when you are in the process, try and be completely present in the process. I tend to find absorption in the process helps dissuade your brain from straying to dumb thoughts of progress and measurement!
So this applies to your portfolio too. If you make "building the portfolio" a job or project, as in, something that you must do in order to get hired eventually, then while that focus is good, if you are not careful it basically becomes a job like any other. I would maybe think about doing exciting pieces that you are passionate about for no other reason than that, whether it makes the "cut" or not. What happens if you keep that up quite consistently, is that you will eventually have folio worthy stuff. Building a portfolio is like a star being born: there is a disk of dust matter that is being pulled in by gravity, and through this constant process, of matter being added to the core, the core gets hotter and hotter. Once the matter reaches a critical mass, the star ignites by fusion in a brilliant outpouring of light. This is your work. All you need to do is keep adding more and more work and your folio will eventually ignite. :)
Also while it is useful to know where your weaknesses lie and apply study to them, never tell yourself you can't do something even in the slightest way. Instead say to yourself it is only a matter of time and application before you will be able to do.
Good luck and keep it up!