05-09-2015, 12:49 PM
Hey Brian! Looks like you're off to a good start and it's great you have some artists in mind who influence you the most; it's always good to have an idea of a style or direction you want to take. These guys gave some awesome advice, so I would just want to add a couple things which I think would have been very helpful for me in terms of my mental approach. I hope this isn't stuff that you've heard a million times before but I'll just go ahead with it.
One comes from a quote that Dave Rapoza had in his forum signature which is: "'If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake." As you keep doing studies you will eventually begin to feel comfortable with them, and that's when it's good to keep that in mind as you go along. Not necessarily that you have to do something left field that you'll never use, but I think we all know the things we should be doing that will help improve our work but are afraid to do because we think we'll fail or look bad. That's something I try to keep in mind but it's tough :)
Another thing would be an awareness of the ups and downs of doing this. You seem grounded with the meditation and such, which is good because (at least for me) it can be a rollercoaster of doing ok, to doing well, to complete despair, back to doing ok. At least when you are aware that you will reach some dark times, you can channel that energy into getting back to the positive and persist even though you may feel like all of this isn't worth it.
And lastly I'd say to figure out what you enjoy drawing and painting, then pursue that. It isn't easy not to, but don't worry about what people may think and just go with what you like because it'll not only be your biggest motivator but probably get you the most work in the end. So try and put down some of your own ideas as you do these studies and develop your personal imagination (stories, characters, things you think are cool, etc); that will be an important asset as you go along.
Hope that's helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions and best of luck!
One comes from a quote that Dave Rapoza had in his forum signature which is: "'If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake." As you keep doing studies you will eventually begin to feel comfortable with them, and that's when it's good to keep that in mind as you go along. Not necessarily that you have to do something left field that you'll never use, but I think we all know the things we should be doing that will help improve our work but are afraid to do because we think we'll fail or look bad. That's something I try to keep in mind but it's tough :)
Another thing would be an awareness of the ups and downs of doing this. You seem grounded with the meditation and such, which is good because (at least for me) it can be a rollercoaster of doing ok, to doing well, to complete despair, back to doing ok. At least when you are aware that you will reach some dark times, you can channel that energy into getting back to the positive and persist even though you may feel like all of this isn't worth it.
And lastly I'd say to figure out what you enjoy drawing and painting, then pursue that. It isn't easy not to, but don't worry about what people may think and just go with what you like because it'll not only be your biggest motivator but probably get you the most work in the end. So try and put down some of your own ideas as you do these studies and develop your personal imagination (stories, characters, things you think are cool, etc); that will be an important asset as you go along.
Hope that's helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions and best of luck!
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