Ubem's Deliberate Practice

[ubem]

Fedodika: Thanks for the honest crits, I agree. I think most of those issues stem from a lack of deliberate design and not applying the anatomy or the knowledge I've gained. That's because I haven't really focused or practiced those areas enough. It may take me years at least to get it at an acceptable level.  

Darktiste: Haha well I only judge my own work by high standards and only seek what I can learn from others works, no matter the 'quality'. What I like about your designs is the clarity, readability, and simplicity. That's something I struggle with often.  

Roanna: Thank you! My aim was to make the clients happy given their descriptions, both said they were perfectly satisfied. You're right, underplayed their uniqueness because I didn't know how to push their character or design.

Baldgate: Thanks man, glad there's some improvement. I haven't spent more than a few days on a finished piece in years, so it felt like I'm stagnating, thanks for the encouragement.

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It's almost been half a year since I posted anything. I thought taking a break from social media and art sites/forums would be great to find my own voice, uninfluenced. It might be too early to say it's working, but I'm happy with the direction my sketches are going.

After a lot of contemplating, I've decided to aim to design entire worlds one day, from the people to the plants, animals, environments, technology, etc. Aiming to master a vast variety of subject matter and genres, mostly so that I don't get bored over the next century of creating art.

I think I started working too soon. Even though some of my skills are considered at a professional level, my work felt too premature for my standards. I still want to get a better grip on design, values, storytelling, concepts, and most of the other fundamentals before building portfolio pieces.

Lastly, the biggest struggles I've had are still balancing between burning out and the feeling of not working hard enough. Perhaps the key to staying in the joyful center between the two where art is fun is a vigilant awareness of one's inner wellbeing.

Anyway, lots of sketches, drawings, and unfinished paintings. I still have a long long way to go, but I'm quite happy with the rate of improvement. I can't help but look at all of this with a hyper critical eye, but it's probably better off shown than deleted.

Thanks everyone for your criticisms and comments, you are such great teachers!