Doolio's doodles

[Doolio]

Hi guise, it's me lol:)

Well, the situation is, like, the same, which does overwhelm me from time to time, but I am a lot better with coping with it. That said, I decided that I have to do SOMETHING and if I can't exactly draw, I can do something related. And, I thought about something like what I talked about in this old post:

it is kind of interesting to see someone come from studying realism and anatomy etc trying to master anime.. while I myself was struggling really hard to eliminate anime influence in my drawings (because that was unfortunately where I started.) Your approach of starting with realism is a lot better though.

Yeah, I have to say I was a bit lucky to go to a certain studio which was quite good in brainwashing the students with constant fundamental talk and application. I was extremely lazy back then, so yeah, not much improvement and practice until this sketchbook really:)
And, while, because of laziness, I haven't acquired much practical skill, I did acquire some knowledge - to look at things the painter's way, to criticize, to recognize the quality, I have learned to filter information etc. A lot of artists which I considered godlike, I discovered they weren't that good etc.
Which I think helped me a lot in choosing sources, approach to studying etc.

And, the reason I am writing this is because you have mentioned a really interesting subject and that is the problem of knowing how to approach to studying art and the ability to filter information when you are at the absolute start. And it's something I constantly see abused in anime tutorials and, let's call it, beginner anime scene. There are like more anime tutorial books than books in general:) And one in 50 is actually decent.

People saw that anime is extremely popular and yet very simple looking style and they decided to cash on it, even though they really don't know what they're doing, because the untrained eye can't really see the difference in quality when there's much stylization involved.
And then, when you are the absolute beginner, you can't really tell good from bad, especially when it comes to anime sources. I mean, why should you, you are only starting. And thus, you are like a perfect target for taking advantage of.

I really think that all of us that are into anime and are on this site (for example) are extremely lucky that we got our facts straight and are now in a "safe place" when it comes to recognizing good sources or approach to practice or schedule etc. Regardless of whether one started with anime and other with realism and the third one did plain air landscapes:) For example, my biggest handicap is that I haven't drawn from imagination and my visual library is like non-existant BECAUSE I went to the studio:) And now I'm like "an apple? I can draw an apple, give me a photo of it. No photo? Omg what should I do!". So I think everything has it's merits as long as the "main path is secured":)

And the whole topic kinda interests me, I mean, when browsing the internetz, I am always like screaming inside my head "no, don't listen to this guy" or "no, your approach is bad, you won't progress" or "no, anime isn't easy just because it looks simple" or "no, that book is bad":) I mean, I remember watching some anime sped up process and some guy asked in the comments about whether practicing figure drawing and anatomy would make him better in anime. And this other guy responded like "no, don't do that, it would actually be bad for you because anime people are stylized, so studying real anatomy would hurt you. Go and trace over illustrations that you like". I mean, yeah, it's a youtube comment, but you know what I mean, it's about the same with some of the major anime learning resources on the web.

I have actually been thinking of creating a youtube channel (when I get to some decent level, of course) where I would address these things constantly and hopefully sway beginners on the right side:) It's a trend that's very painfully visible when observed and yet, people who know what they're doing probably don't have time for crusades and the others aren't noticing it. But I really think, although the phenomenon is somewhat related to art on a general level (you can't really bs people into buying your book on physics if it's not good), it's extremely common when it comes to anime specifically.

Basically, right now I am able to draw for 30-ish minutes a day. Which won't going to cut it even for the basic low level freelance (even if I tell clients that I am working on like ten projects at the same time or something:) ) and it also won't do much on the progress area, though I think the progress can be achieved through slow deliberate usage of that little time frame I have.

That said, with the hope of getting back my arm to a bearable level of function some time in the future, I thought I could work on something related, but not money-based - and yet something that could help me "go out there" once I hopefully get well. But the main purpose would be actually helping others and having fun in the process, because otherwise I am limited to enjoy things passively, so to speak. So, I would like to make tutorial videos.

So, the basic idea is something like I've described in the quoted post. I believe I have a good ability to analyze works that are vastly above my output level. At the same time, I have the ability to analyze things and put them into words in general. And also I am good at psychology, sociology and those kinds of things. And I think that my personal level, while mediocre, is good enough for me to use my own output, works and processes in explaining stuff.

So, I was thinking about starting a youtube channel:) A fairly specific one, as I've explained in the quoted post, but I'll elaborate a bit more, as I would need some advice from you guys (regardless of your experience, I would like you to offer me something of a brainstormed opinions, not a scientific research).
As I've pointed out in the post, there is a "hole" in art tutorial world and I am talking about anime tutorials. There are BUNCH of anime tutorials out there, but 99.99% of them are bad and/or they aren't addressing right things (ie, they are supplements for someone already decent or they are not explaining things that are more fundamental/basic before moving on, even when they are intended for beginners - "draw a fucking owl" kinda thing).

But the single common denominator to those, even the good ones, is the lack of two things:

1-dismissing fundamentals. This is a big one, as everyone on this forum knows. Anime, for a bystander or a beginner seems like something very simple and easy, while opposite is the truth. You have to walk in order to run, so you have to, for example, know anatomy and apply it well, before you start to twist said anatomy in a meaningful way. Same goes for any other fundamental skill. The distilled product might seem simple, but behind it lies knowledge and application.
So, some people tend to abuse that fact and misguide people and sell or try to popularize their educational projects which are not only sub-par, but also damaging, because if you go by them, you will get worse and you will never know why, nor will you develop any power of analysis. I am not going to name sites, channels etc. but you all know what I am talking about. People who lure teenagers with "learn manga" and "let's draw xxx from yyy" stuff while providing zero information about how to actually learn stuff. And it works because, well, learning stuff is hard. So, it's basically a snake oil kinda story.

2-not crossing the bridge between westerners and anime style/iconography in a meaningful way. This is somewhat connected to the point 1, but the difference is in the fact that the author might be very well skilled (while people from point 1 aren't) but is simply not good at teaching, or - more often - don't feel the need to teach some things (which are VERY important for a westerner delving into that style) as they probably aren't even aware of those things - I am talking about a lot of guides and tutorials made by, for example, japanese. They are soaked in the whole iconography and culture and they "sponged" through it, so they don't see what might be a hurdle to a westerner, they are simply not aware of it.


So, me, being interested in learning how to draw anime as in anime:) decided to go very analytical and go into culture, iconography, comparison, analysis of specific styles etc.

So, I believe I can really potentially help and sway some people from "manga for dummies" stuff and provide genuine, interesting and helpful material about specifics of anime style (why is something done the way it's done, not only show it, but explain it) and not only that, but the cultural, well, tropes if you want, from where they stem. And also, I would try and weave some fundamentals through it and send a clear message that without gestures, anatomy and other stuff, there is no progress.


As we all know about fundamentals on this forum, I could give an example of trying to explain iconographic kind of things.
For example, we know that anime gurlz have X legs (inward feet). We might have picked it up from watching anime, watching character concept art from japanese/korean/chinese artists etc. But why do they do that? I could make a video about that specifically.
ALSO, which I think is important, I could break it down in fundamentals and relations on a purely drawing level - for example, beside analyzing the trend of inward feet, why it's deemed as appealing, why are shins long etc. I can go and show what happens anatomically when someone walks/stands like that - for example, your silhouette changes - your calves are more pronounced on the outside, as well as your thighs, while your knees go in more, so the whole "S" thing is more pronounced then with your standard posture.
And so on, and so forth (I would be able to do like two-hours videos about this subject alone, complemented with my own tutorial drawings and points and examples from renowned artists).



That said, I would like to fill that gap by providing such content. As I am limited to ~30 mins a day of drawing, I am not limited to ~30 mins of recording voice, putting a video together etc (because, you don't need arms for voice recording and also, you can work in a non-drawing program with mouse in your non-dominant hand). So, with ~30 mins a day of pure drawing, I think I would be able to make a quality video every week or so (depending on the content, I would say about 10 days for a feng zhu-ish kind of video, or about two days for a "speedpaint with music track" kinda video or a short trivia video).
So, basically, I can provide as much content as someone who already does a full time job and does youtube as a hobby - which is like majority of people who do that:)

So, finally, what I would like to ask you?


So, what's my broad plan (and this is the cue for you to shit on it and tell me your thoughts:D)

How would you try and get people to watch it? I started to befriend people on facebook (I don't like the whole "yay social networkz" thing, but well, I can do it to some extent - I couldn't put statuses of how bored I am or what I ate, but I could maintain some activity, upload work, comment on others' work etc). Right now, I have ~500 friends, I had 200 last week:) So, that is looking good.

Yesterday I actually made an album, named it "doodles" and put one illustration from the time I still managed to practice (it's here as well). It's decent enough, I think, for some people to like it. I plan on uploading some of the more decent stuff periodically. With time, doing that, I hope that people would start to notice and maybe like that stuff and so on and so forth. Of course, I am aiming mainly on people who aren't pros, though I wouldn't mind if someone "famous" liked some of my stuff.
I don't know if that method works or if it does, how much it would take for me to "accumulate' enough of interested people so I could say "hey, I'll start making youtube videos, come check the channel out". Again, I am not aiming at pros or even at guys like me, I am aiming to sway enthousiast beginners from a damaging path, so to speak:) Although, again, I believe I would be able to provide some intermediate content as well - inward feet for example:D
Now, I know I am not the most skilled dude in the world, but all things considered:
1-I am mainly going to dig into the human figure and stylization, so no all-round approach.
2-My analytical blabbering mind (both a blessing and a curse) is very good in noticing stuff and analyzing them, so I actually think I could offer some top level analysis (from which even the quite profficient people might benefit or find it interesting), beside the mediocre artwork output.

That said... Does that, well, passive approach (uploading drawings with maybe a simple description) could yield results in that regard? I am not too sure in how the fb algorhythms are working, but what I am asking basically is, if I update regularly and put some interesting stuff (I thought fan art or otherwise appealing stuff) is that enough to "push" my posts to people on my friends list? Or do I absolutely have to comment on everybody else's dinner experiences and such?

Also, would you recommend that I "expand" - to post on deviant art, for example.

Of course, I don't have questions about actual youtube part, because I am counting it's months and months away. Months of slowly being consistent with my fb posts (and whatever else you might come up with).

Note that this isn't about "getting through", as I don't intend to "get myself out there" (although it might be a side product of it all, but that's not as important for this whole venture), so it's more about getting people to watch my "free stuff" rather than developing an intricate networking situation or something like that.
When I finally get well (whenever that might be lol), I could use my "legacy" to further the "agenda" of getting work etc, but right now, what matters to me is how to go about the things I've described in this post.

So, squashed in a single question would be - how would you guys approach it?




Thanks in advance and I am sorry if my subsequent replies aren't as elaborate, as this took many tries and sacrificing the next several days of being bed-ridden probably due to the strain...
I will try and reply to every post, as it's the least I can do in exchange for you giving me your advice/thoughts on the matter and because it's faster to get to the "solution" that way.


So, again, thanks in advance and I hope you'll see this post and give me some feedback.







-in other news, hand is the same, I will try some pseudo stuff, maybe they will help (at which point I'll stop calling them pseudo). I kinda started to do some "fight fire with fire" stuff, as in, trying some stretches stubbornly and drawing for those 30 mins although it's very hard for me to maintain that amount of time daily. I don't know what else to try and do and I am practicaly insane due to inactivity, so I am trying to push through it - not the smartest thing to do maybe, but after this long and after this many confusing diagnosises, maybe actually it's the only rational thing to try.
-also, I'll try and update this thread with sketches, I am starting Hampton again, so I won't upload that, but I'll upload any "meaningful" stuff that I do. The volume will be very poor, but, I have a strong desire to be "normal", if you know what I mean, even if it's those damn 30 mins.



So, that's it, I'll go here regularly and I'll also try and visit other threads and write my feedback on others' threads in the spirit of my fight fire with fire approach. I hope this post gets noticed and you guys start giving me some advice.


Cya:D


Oh, and this is my fb
https://www.facebook.com/jbmdoolio

I know there's a thread for it, it's there also, and I am friend with some of you, but in case anybody else wants to "friend me", feel free:)