Help me become a Professional Artist

[Bearlaser]

hey kurt; saw your comment in the shoutbox and though i'd drop a line.

i think sometimes artists become jaded regarding their abilities and creations. for example suppose you were proficient in a musical instrument 150 years ago. you'd probably be asked to play at family gatherings and whatnot; your music would be a product of your life, location and influences and would be appreciated as such. today if you whip out an instrument(say a guitar) more often than not people will ask you to play a song by some band they like.

with the globalization of information provided by the internet(music and art being included types of information) it can be easy to devalue one's own creations given the saturation of art available to anyone with an internet connection but it doesn't diminish the value or profundity the skill set you're building. I'm reasonably proficient in the guitar but I'm not the best in the world. That doesn't matter
though. I can pick up a conglomeration of wood with some strings attached to it and create pleasing frequency ratios as I more or less imagine them. That's pretty fucking cool ability to have. Before I started drawing it was my ambition to be the "best guitarist in the world"(a nebulous and un-quantifiable goal in retrospect). On a few occasions I played until my fingers were
literally sliced open by the strings. But music is a reflection of one's life. If a person's entire life consists of nothing but playing [inset x instrument](or even doing [insert x activity]) the results, while technically impressive, are boring.

The relevance was in being able to play the music I heard in my head. The instrument was just that; an instrument, a tool for externalizing the internal. As an aside, the same ratios that are found pleasant in music are found pleasant in composition(google "armature of the rectangle" and "root rectangles" for more on this).

When learning the craft of drawing I think it's important to keep in mind that it is just that; a craft. It's a language: a means of expression to help convey ideas. And while there are tools to help you be more eloquent in conveying these ideas(perspective, anatomy, all the basic fundamentals) the significance is not in the articulation itself but in the content of these ideas(at least this is my
opinion).


“It beats all the things that wealth can give and everything else in the world to say the things one believes, to put them into form, to pass them on to anyone who may care to take them up.”― Robert Henri

The good news is that you cannot help but make these ideas valuable. You may not regard everything as a gem but your life, your thoughts, your specific background are all unique to you. A writer who grew up in ,say, a small town may be able to create a very authentic setting for a work of art based on her own background but might overlook the possibility out of boredom with her upbringing. It is often the things familiar to us that we can convey with the most insight and authority; yet it is often these things that we overlook.

I would try to find some ideas you're excited about(designs, concepts, political/philosophical ideas, kung fu moves, cheesy 80s horror movies w/e; it doesn't really matter as long as you're pumped about it) and convey them visually. If nothing excites you I would continue to explore your interests, expose yourself to new ideas and try to recall the ideas that excited you to take up this course in the first place.

"Well it's nice to see that so many people are interested in anatomy. We have to remember that it's very much the scientific side of art; and that art is much more important than just techniques. But I talk largely about techniques, as you know."
-Robert Beverly Hale

“A common defect of modern art study is that too many students do not know why they draw.”
― Robert Henri

“A tree growing out of the ground is as wonderful today as it ever was. It does not need to adopt new and startling methods.”
― Robert Henri


Keep watering your tree. Others will see its growth before you do similarly to how one may visit a relative after a long period of time and be told they've grown taller without having been aware of it themselves. Good luck.

It's nice to see someone else studying Scott Eaton(I'm assuming his course is where you got those pictures of the mr. natural universe dude); I feel like he's one of the most undeservedly overlooked anatomists
Seeing your sketchbook has motivated me to work harder. So thanks :)

edit: wow this is a lot longer than I thought it'd be :/ haha