01-17-2015, 09:31 PM
Well, first of all, welcome <3, I hope you have a fun time here. Now let's get to the thing:
NO, IT'S NEVER TOO LATE, let me say that again for anyone else reading this, FUCKING NEVER, as long as you have at least 1-2 years of life ahead of you, an internet connection and materials (pencils, tablet etc.) it's never too late. I don't know where this idea comes from but the time you have to put in to become a pro are the same no matter if you start painting when you are 5 or when you are 65 (diseases and life experiences aside of course).
First study yeah, depending on how hard you work you'll most likely do nothing but study for at least a year. If your style comes naturally while you study then great, but don't obsess over it, at least until you feel like you really need one to stand out. First thing I'd recommend is, listen to every stream with talks that Dave, Dan, Anthony Jones (mainly the ones in his livestream account) and old bobby chiu(they are in his youtube account), that should give you a basic idea of how to study, what the industry is like etc, as well as guides on how and when to make a portfolio, how to show it and how to start getting work and your other questions; listen to them while you are drawing, Scott Robertson and Sycra have good videos too.
I don't want to get too deep into this because you'd rather listen to the pros that I've mentioned; and pretty much all the information you need is there, of course you can ask other professionals if you catch them treaming and here in daggers and other forums.
Also check out the old conceptart.org sketchbooks that show the full development of great artists such as, dave rapoza, sam carr, algenpfleger, mindcandyman, miles johnston etc, seriously, do it ;).
This that I'd say you need to remember during your journey.
-Stay motivated, discipline is 100% necessary but try to stay motivated as much as possible, write down the games or artists that inspired to you start drawing right now, write them down so you don't forget.
-Nobody can tell you how to study best, they can make suggestions that might be right and might help you a lot, but don't 100% follow what others tell you without thinking about it.
-Don't study for studying sake, study specific things because you are trying to understand them, and make sure you are actively absorbing information while you study.
And lastly
-Hard work, that's pretty much the biggest one, this is hard, I'm not saying you'll be depressed or you'll feel like you'll never make it (I've heard it happens to some people), but the skill gap will sometimes feel too large, don't worry about it, persevere, just keep working constantly, you'll get there. Keep the things that motivate you close and find new ones too.
And about style, it basically comes from implementing things that you like into your art that you may have found in other artists' work, shows, movies, real life etc. Just stay inspired, try new things all the time in your sketches and it should come naturally
Just wanna add 1 more thing, it's true that if your goal is clear you'll get there faster, for example, if you want to do humanoid medieval fantasy characters for console jrpgs, that's pretty specific, and easier to get to, BUT, don't close doors, the thing that you thought you wanted to do might not be what you realy enjoy the most, try everything that seems fun, storyboards, animation, creatures, characters, environments...
NO, IT'S NEVER TOO LATE, let me say that again for anyone else reading this, FUCKING NEVER, as long as you have at least 1-2 years of life ahead of you, an internet connection and materials (pencils, tablet etc.) it's never too late. I don't know where this idea comes from but the time you have to put in to become a pro are the same no matter if you start painting when you are 5 or when you are 65 (diseases and life experiences aside of course).
First study yeah, depending on how hard you work you'll most likely do nothing but study for at least a year. If your style comes naturally while you study then great, but don't obsess over it, at least until you feel like you really need one to stand out. First thing I'd recommend is, listen to every stream with talks that Dave, Dan, Anthony Jones (mainly the ones in his livestream account) and old bobby chiu(they are in his youtube account), that should give you a basic idea of how to study, what the industry is like etc, as well as guides on how and when to make a portfolio, how to show it and how to start getting work and your other questions; listen to them while you are drawing, Scott Robertson and Sycra have good videos too.
I don't want to get too deep into this because you'd rather listen to the pros that I've mentioned; and pretty much all the information you need is there, of course you can ask other professionals if you catch them treaming and here in daggers and other forums.
Also check out the old conceptart.org sketchbooks that show the full development of great artists such as, dave rapoza, sam carr, algenpfleger, mindcandyman, miles johnston etc, seriously, do it ;).
This that I'd say you need to remember during your journey.
-Stay motivated, discipline is 100% necessary but try to stay motivated as much as possible, write down the games or artists that inspired to you start drawing right now, write them down so you don't forget.
-Nobody can tell you how to study best, they can make suggestions that might be right and might help you a lot, but don't 100% follow what others tell you without thinking about it.
-Don't study for studying sake, study specific things because you are trying to understand them, and make sure you are actively absorbing information while you study.
And lastly
-Hard work, that's pretty much the biggest one, this is hard, I'm not saying you'll be depressed or you'll feel like you'll never make it (I've heard it happens to some people), but the skill gap will sometimes feel too large, don't worry about it, persevere, just keep working constantly, you'll get there. Keep the things that motivate you close and find new ones too.
And about style, it basically comes from implementing things that you like into your art that you may have found in other artists' work, shows, movies, real life etc. Just stay inspired, try new things all the time in your sketches and it should come naturally
Just wanna add 1 more thing, it's true that if your goal is clear you'll get there faster, for example, if you want to do humanoid medieval fantasy characters for console jrpgs, that's pretty specific, and easier to get to, BUT, don't close doors, the thing that you thought you wanted to do might not be what you realy enjoy the most, try everything that seems fun, storyboards, animation, creatures, characters, environments...