05-29-2017, 09:32 PM
Hey there, AfricanVoodoo!
I'm sorry that things aren't so great at the moment. I think the majority of us here understand what you're going through when you speak about industry professional thoughts vs. thoughts of family and friends. It's a hard thing to deal with, mainly also because people not in the art industry don't understand, a) what good actually looks like, and b) how hard and long it takes to actually land a job in the industry. It's difficult not to feel anything but anxiety for art as a career. The only way I can ground myself is looking back on 'famous' industry artist's sketchbooks and seeing that it's taken them many many many years to get where they are today.
I wish you all the best with your summer of art! Art is truly the thing that you get what you give - the more hours you put in, the better you will become.
For some resource recommendations, I highly suggest these things to do over the summer. You've probably heard of all of them before, but lately I've found going back to basics has helped me gain more confidence and ease that ever present feeling of incompetence.
- Proko's figure drawing and anatomy courses - always good to be learning anatomy and forms, no matter how much you think you already know
- Dorian Iten (his lighting course is amazing and he has a few good videos about drawing)
- Keep up with the 'sculpture reference' face studies. If you really want to nail down faces, try looking into Scott Eaton. He explains every part of the face and actually debunks why methods like the Loomis technique isn't ideal for helping us understand the face and it's construction.
- Ctrl Paint - practically anything from there is awesome, especially the lighting and perspective tutes.
- Start a Pinterest board for references... it's seriously the best place to find all kinds of refs and poses for your art.
I hope all this is helpful in some way. I mainly just wanted to say keep up everything and don't get discouraged too much. Things always have a way of working out in the end :)
P.S. The pigs are also my favorite ones.
I'm sorry that things aren't so great at the moment. I think the majority of us here understand what you're going through when you speak about industry professional thoughts vs. thoughts of family and friends. It's a hard thing to deal with, mainly also because people not in the art industry don't understand, a) what good actually looks like, and b) how hard and long it takes to actually land a job in the industry. It's difficult not to feel anything but anxiety for art as a career. The only way I can ground myself is looking back on 'famous' industry artist's sketchbooks and seeing that it's taken them many many many years to get where they are today.
I wish you all the best with your summer of art! Art is truly the thing that you get what you give - the more hours you put in, the better you will become.
For some resource recommendations, I highly suggest these things to do over the summer. You've probably heard of all of them before, but lately I've found going back to basics has helped me gain more confidence and ease that ever present feeling of incompetence.
- Proko's figure drawing and anatomy courses - always good to be learning anatomy and forms, no matter how much you think you already know
- Dorian Iten (his lighting course is amazing and he has a few good videos about drawing)
- Keep up with the 'sculpture reference' face studies. If you really want to nail down faces, try looking into Scott Eaton. He explains every part of the face and actually debunks why methods like the Loomis technique isn't ideal for helping us understand the face and it's construction.
- Ctrl Paint - practically anything from there is awesome, especially the lighting and perspective tutes.
- Start a Pinterest board for references... it's seriously the best place to find all kinds of refs and poses for your art.
I hope all this is helpful in some way. I mainly just wanted to say keep up everything and don't get discouraged too much. Things always have a way of working out in the end :)
P.S. The pigs are also my favorite ones.