05-09-2015, 10:12 PM
Looks like you've already got this sorted out and got some good advice but you requested my opinion so I'll share
Like others have said, there's no such thing as practicing wrong, nor is there anything wrong with learning multiple things at the same time. However, as Jones said you will end up taking more time to develop all of them and consequently that can hold you back from getting somewhere you want to be. My suggestion would be to *study* everything you are interested in (you seem to be doing that already) but then apply all those studies in the one area you like most. I like characters the most, so most of my personal work and most of my best work is related to that. However if you look through my sb, I tend to bounce around between study topics. They all feed off of each other. The fundamentals of art are universal and transferable, it's a question of how much does each piece require of each facet of the fundamentals. For instance you can get away with a basic understanding of perspective in character art. It's still important but the percentage of it's importance is lower in order to achieve a good result compared to hard surface objects
If you're still in your first year or so of serious studying of art, then bounce around a lot. Whatever you find you have a natural aptitude in or have a natural desire to pursue can take priority first so that, as jones said, you can learn how to learn. I agree that that's the most important part of this whole process, is to learn to love learning and to find ways of making it work for you as an individual. I liked portraits a lot so I did a lot of those at first. I had no idea what i was doing though but it was the only thing i felt comfortable doing. I never really liked environments that much or perspective or hard surface objects, and that persists to this day, however it's important to dabble in them regardless because they make my figures better in a round about kind of way, and you inevitably expose yourself to different ways of thinking and of working which is SUPER important. I hated environments/landscapes when i started painting and avoided them because I didn't understand them. But I researched them and how to do them anyways and I wound up discovering techniques to do landscapes that gave me immense confidence in all my studying and personal work.
So to summarize: Start off with your natural strengths/interests, over time branch out to things you are afraid of for a while and experiment with those, bring what you learned back to where you want to be and repeat. My personal opinion is that it's a good idea to spend at least half your time on the field you think you will pursue as a job, and then have the other 50% split between the other facets of art in whatever proportion you choose. If you find you like something else more, so be it! Focus on that and see where it goes!
Like others have said, there's no such thing as practicing wrong, nor is there anything wrong with learning multiple things at the same time. However, as Jones said you will end up taking more time to develop all of them and consequently that can hold you back from getting somewhere you want to be. My suggestion would be to *study* everything you are interested in (you seem to be doing that already) but then apply all those studies in the one area you like most. I like characters the most, so most of my personal work and most of my best work is related to that. However if you look through my sb, I tend to bounce around between study topics. They all feed off of each other. The fundamentals of art are universal and transferable, it's a question of how much does each piece require of each facet of the fundamentals. For instance you can get away with a basic understanding of perspective in character art. It's still important but the percentage of it's importance is lower in order to achieve a good result compared to hard surface objects
If you're still in your first year or so of serious studying of art, then bounce around a lot. Whatever you find you have a natural aptitude in or have a natural desire to pursue can take priority first so that, as jones said, you can learn how to learn. I agree that that's the most important part of this whole process, is to learn to love learning and to find ways of making it work for you as an individual. I liked portraits a lot so I did a lot of those at first. I had no idea what i was doing though but it was the only thing i felt comfortable doing. I never really liked environments that much or perspective or hard surface objects, and that persists to this day, however it's important to dabble in them regardless because they make my figures better in a round about kind of way, and you inevitably expose yourself to different ways of thinking and of working which is SUPER important. I hated environments/landscapes when i started painting and avoided them because I didn't understand them. But I researched them and how to do them anyways and I wound up discovering techniques to do landscapes that gave me immense confidence in all my studying and personal work.
So to summarize: Start off with your natural strengths/interests, over time branch out to things you are afraid of for a while and experiment with those, bring what you learned back to where you want to be and repeat. My personal opinion is that it's a good idea to spend at least half your time on the field you think you will pursue as a job, and then have the other 50% split between the other facets of art in whatever proportion you choose. If you find you like something else more, so be it! Focus on that and see where it goes!