01-18-2015, 09:48 AM
Stardust, I can see noticeable improvement in your pieces since I critiqued you. I think the exercises are really helping a lot, and if you keep doing them you'll get even better. You're doing a great job balancing between studies and your own personal work, which is a guaranteed way to improvement.
A note on vine charcoal: it's generally looked down upon as a serious rendering material. Most of the time it's used only as a preliminary sketch for paintings and nothing else. I suggest you go buy some compressed charcoal or something (it looks very rectangular, as opposed to vine which literally looks like a burnt stick). Charcoal sticks have small amounts of glue in them which help bind to the paper and therefore allow you to achieve deeper blacks and a larger range of values, as well as stick to the paper easier. There is also conté de paris charcoal (it's a brand i believe, rather than a "type" of charcoal) which has a higher proportion of glue in it. It's much less malleable than regular charcoal, but it has the deepest blacks possible. You don't need to have that as well, regular charcoal is fine, but I just wanted you to be aware of it. With that said you've done an excellent job handling the vine charcoal, despite it's limitations, and from what i see here I think you have a more intuitive understanding of charcoal and paint than you do of cross hatching. I'm not saying don't do pencil shading, but you have to work within your natural strengths, at least while you are still learning, if you want to avoid the fluctuations and frustrations so prevalent among artists.
Here's a good quote, that I think sums that up and, also, might help you in your art slump:
"Many people are obstinate about the path once it is taken, few people about the destination." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
I have to commend you if you've been drawing for six years, not seen as much improvement as you'd have liked, yet have continued regardless. Most people would have given up in 6 days. That said, the above quote, I think, might be good to keep in mind in the future. Essentially, the way I understand it is, don't give up on your dreams, but if the road you've chosen isn't getting you there at a reasonable rate, find a new one. I've seen far too many people give up on their passion because the road they chose didn't meet their expectations. Be obstinate about your passion, not how you get there. I was not satisfied with my experience in art school, and so chose to quit and pursue self-education. I'm lucky enough to be in a situation where it's relatively easy to do so, and i realize not everyone has this luxury, but look for ways in your own life that might yield similar results. If you're completely self-educating right now, and you're not seeing what you want, maybe it's time to concede and go to school or take up night course of some sort or find a mentor. I don't know your life situation at the moment, so I cant give super concrete advice, but think about it.
Something that has helped me immensely in all facets of life is to look outside your comfort zone/sphere of influence/ whatever you want to call it for advice. Have you ever done a martial art or looked into the principles guiding martial arts? The major ones in judo are particularly interesting, and I think are especially useful for artists; namely:
1) Maximum efficiency, minimum effort;
2) Mutual welfare and benefit
In judo, you're not allowed to strike. It's assumed that your assailant is acting irrationaly, and so hurting him will aggravate the situation rather than pacify him. His irrationality also generates significant energy in the form of an assault, which is the perfect opportunity for you, as a calm, well meaning individual, to redirect it and pacify him. Neither of you are hurt significantly, you have conserved maximum energy while succesfully diverting his attack, and, hopefully, calmed him in the process.
How does this help you? Think of the feelings you have as an assailant. They are the ideal catalyst to make you want to work harder. Rather than let them dominate you and force you into submission, redirect their energy for both of your benefits; your mind will no longer be clouded with negative emotions and you will also be able to put out work knowing that things aren't really as bad as they seem. Even if someone outwardly hates you or your work, regardless of how justified or not it is, use it to your advantage, rather than your hindrance.
The idea of mutual welfare and benefit also applies to people you show your work to. Here's a quote from a book I read a while ago:
"Because artists are anxious […] they tend to mythologize marketplace players and turn agents into ogres or gods, small-press editors into villains or saviors, patrons into idiots or royalty.They forget[…] that the other person is simply a person."
The people you show your work to are just as interested in wanting to see your work be good as you are in receiving their praise. Don't ever forget that people, even on the internet, have their own wants and desires. So rather than demonize these websites or people that you're showing work to, look at them as people that want to be able to hire you, or want to be able to like your work (cause they really do), and use that knowledge to your benefit, so that some day you might be able to benefit them as well.
The author also argues that artists have an inherent desire to thrill, seduce and impress their audience. They want to have their ideas heard, and for that reason often carelessly run into the marketplace and show their work:
"It’s highly unusual for an artist to think carefully about what showing might mean. For that reason artists often fall into the trap of showing their work at the wrong time for the wrong reasons".
A bad experience showing your work leads to two scenarios, in my opinion/experience: one is that you rush to re enter the scene thinking you've made substantial improvement to impress your audience, the other is to avoid the market altogether. Both lead to missed opportunities. It's a bit weird to say, but I do agree with manny in that it's not necessary to show your work everywhere, especially if you're not at a level that would warrant a job or a high level of praise. If you've found a solid support group somewhere (which I gather is here), then maybe you should stop posting elsewhere for a while, or limit yourself to 2 or 3 places. Focus on improving yourself and fostering a good relationship in your chosen community, and if you notice a few months down the line you've made a breakthrough then you can share it elsewhere.
Going back to what i said earlier about your comfort zone, notice how very little of what I just said is actually according to my own experience or from my own ideas. Believe it or not, all the answers to your problems have already been solved. And guess what? They're in books. They're in interviews with successful people. They're all over the place. Pick up a book by a philosopher every once in a while. Or a biography of someone famous. Or a book on some cutting edge science on social psychology or on history or on any number of subjects. Or a podcast or video on any of these subjects. It's amazing how there's little nuggets of wisdom hiding around every corner, you just need to look and be willing to extrapolate information into your own life.
For instance, if you're worried about the time its taking you to achieve your goals, did you know it took bill gates 10 years to finish microsoft? Or that he wasn't the richest man a live for another few years after that? Did you know he started being interested in coding from a very young age (something like 10 years old? I can't remember off the top of my head). Think about that. 30 years, give or take, from the time he was interested til the time he became one of the richest men in history. Did you know it took warren buffet almost 5 decades to become a billionnaire?
It's amazing when I think that I used to believe all these rich people have it easy. They literally spent their entire lives working to get what they want, and we artists like to think it's supposed to take 1 year to achieve pro-level. A fundamental principle in biology and evolution is that nature always takes the path of least resistance, true as much in day to day occurences as it is on the molecular level. Maybe that's why we're not all billionaires.
Anyways, I apologize if this was a lot to read. Concision is not my forte, but I hope this helps you.
A note on vine charcoal: it's generally looked down upon as a serious rendering material. Most of the time it's used only as a preliminary sketch for paintings and nothing else. I suggest you go buy some compressed charcoal or something (it looks very rectangular, as opposed to vine which literally looks like a burnt stick). Charcoal sticks have small amounts of glue in them which help bind to the paper and therefore allow you to achieve deeper blacks and a larger range of values, as well as stick to the paper easier. There is also conté de paris charcoal (it's a brand i believe, rather than a "type" of charcoal) which has a higher proportion of glue in it. It's much less malleable than regular charcoal, but it has the deepest blacks possible. You don't need to have that as well, regular charcoal is fine, but I just wanted you to be aware of it. With that said you've done an excellent job handling the vine charcoal, despite it's limitations, and from what i see here I think you have a more intuitive understanding of charcoal and paint than you do of cross hatching. I'm not saying don't do pencil shading, but you have to work within your natural strengths, at least while you are still learning, if you want to avoid the fluctuations and frustrations so prevalent among artists.
Here's a good quote, that I think sums that up and, also, might help you in your art slump:
"Many people are obstinate about the path once it is taken, few people about the destination." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
I have to commend you if you've been drawing for six years, not seen as much improvement as you'd have liked, yet have continued regardless. Most people would have given up in 6 days. That said, the above quote, I think, might be good to keep in mind in the future. Essentially, the way I understand it is, don't give up on your dreams, but if the road you've chosen isn't getting you there at a reasonable rate, find a new one. I've seen far too many people give up on their passion because the road they chose didn't meet their expectations. Be obstinate about your passion, not how you get there. I was not satisfied with my experience in art school, and so chose to quit and pursue self-education. I'm lucky enough to be in a situation where it's relatively easy to do so, and i realize not everyone has this luxury, but look for ways in your own life that might yield similar results. If you're completely self-educating right now, and you're not seeing what you want, maybe it's time to concede and go to school or take up night course of some sort or find a mentor. I don't know your life situation at the moment, so I cant give super concrete advice, but think about it.
Something that has helped me immensely in all facets of life is to look outside your comfort zone/sphere of influence/ whatever you want to call it for advice. Have you ever done a martial art or looked into the principles guiding martial arts? The major ones in judo are particularly interesting, and I think are especially useful for artists; namely:
1) Maximum efficiency, minimum effort;
2) Mutual welfare and benefit
In judo, you're not allowed to strike. It's assumed that your assailant is acting irrationaly, and so hurting him will aggravate the situation rather than pacify him. His irrationality also generates significant energy in the form of an assault, which is the perfect opportunity for you, as a calm, well meaning individual, to redirect it and pacify him. Neither of you are hurt significantly, you have conserved maximum energy while succesfully diverting his attack, and, hopefully, calmed him in the process.
How does this help you? Think of the feelings you have as an assailant. They are the ideal catalyst to make you want to work harder. Rather than let them dominate you and force you into submission, redirect their energy for both of your benefits; your mind will no longer be clouded with negative emotions and you will also be able to put out work knowing that things aren't really as bad as they seem. Even if someone outwardly hates you or your work, regardless of how justified or not it is, use it to your advantage, rather than your hindrance.
The idea of mutual welfare and benefit also applies to people you show your work to. Here's a quote from a book I read a while ago:
"Because artists are anxious […] they tend to mythologize marketplace players and turn agents into ogres or gods, small-press editors into villains or saviors, patrons into idiots or royalty.They forget[…] that the other person is simply a person."
The people you show your work to are just as interested in wanting to see your work be good as you are in receiving their praise. Don't ever forget that people, even on the internet, have their own wants and desires. So rather than demonize these websites or people that you're showing work to, look at them as people that want to be able to hire you, or want to be able to like your work (cause they really do), and use that knowledge to your benefit, so that some day you might be able to benefit them as well.
The author also argues that artists have an inherent desire to thrill, seduce and impress their audience. They want to have their ideas heard, and for that reason often carelessly run into the marketplace and show their work:
"It’s highly unusual for an artist to think carefully about what showing might mean. For that reason artists often fall into the trap of showing their work at the wrong time for the wrong reasons".
A bad experience showing your work leads to two scenarios, in my opinion/experience: one is that you rush to re enter the scene thinking you've made substantial improvement to impress your audience, the other is to avoid the market altogether. Both lead to missed opportunities. It's a bit weird to say, but I do agree with manny in that it's not necessary to show your work everywhere, especially if you're not at a level that would warrant a job or a high level of praise. If you've found a solid support group somewhere (which I gather is here), then maybe you should stop posting elsewhere for a while, or limit yourself to 2 or 3 places. Focus on improving yourself and fostering a good relationship in your chosen community, and if you notice a few months down the line you've made a breakthrough then you can share it elsewhere.
Going back to what i said earlier about your comfort zone, notice how very little of what I just said is actually according to my own experience or from my own ideas. Believe it or not, all the answers to your problems have already been solved. And guess what? They're in books. They're in interviews with successful people. They're all over the place. Pick up a book by a philosopher every once in a while. Or a biography of someone famous. Or a book on some cutting edge science on social psychology or on history or on any number of subjects. Or a podcast or video on any of these subjects. It's amazing how there's little nuggets of wisdom hiding around every corner, you just need to look and be willing to extrapolate information into your own life.
For instance, if you're worried about the time its taking you to achieve your goals, did you know it took bill gates 10 years to finish microsoft? Or that he wasn't the richest man a live for another few years after that? Did you know he started being interested in coding from a very young age (something like 10 years old? I can't remember off the top of my head). Think about that. 30 years, give or take, from the time he was interested til the time he became one of the richest men in history. Did you know it took warren buffet almost 5 decades to become a billionnaire?
It's amazing when I think that I used to believe all these rich people have it easy. They literally spent their entire lives working to get what they want, and we artists like to think it's supposed to take 1 year to achieve pro-level. A fundamental principle in biology and evolution is that nature always takes the path of least resistance, true as much in day to day occurences as it is on the molecular level. Maybe that's why we're not all billionaires.
Anyways, I apologize if this was a lot to read. Concision is not my forte, but I hope this helps you.