Help me become a Professional Artist

[KurtJeremy]

more updates. Really frustrated that I wasn't able to finish my CC2 work so here I post some of my studies and designs for it.

[KurtJeremy]

Newer stuff: I'm starting to feel I'm stagnating in my progress as an artist. as I observe my works Its really over the place and without any real goal. I know that I want to work as a Concept artist. but even that is still too vague for me to be able to reference as a clear goal  to adhere to.
I will need to know/get some artists in the Industry and try to match a work from their portfolio. this would be my personalize challenge within this coming months. that and the upcoming CC3 which I won't back down to this time.

[JyonnyNovice]

Hey dude, your CC2 ideas look great! you can always finish it for yourself some other time.

About your feeling stagnated and without a goal - maybe you could decide what area of concept art you want to go into, characters, environments, vehicles, creatures etc. and throw yourself 100% into working towards that. It doesn't matter if you change your mind later and switch to another one but it'll give you focus right now. What do you find most fun drawing, or what do you really really want to get good at drawing - like what frustrates you the most when you can't draw it - those can possibly be the things that'll get you buzzed up to pursue.

[Amit Dutta]

Great to see your stuff on CC2, had some promise! Feelings of stagnation, mean you have a desire to push yourself to better things, and that's exactly where you should be since you are still in the earlyish stages of learning and skills development.

Jyonny has a good point. If you want to design stuff, you have to practice designing stuff. That's what concept designers do. I actually don't even like using the word art when referring to concept work. It's not art really, it's design. Anyway, whatever you do, I think it is important to finish work, and get used to finishing work as well as doing studies. Force yourself to do it. I have seen most people participating in CC having issues because they have been mostly study hounds, and haven't cottoned on to the idea that finishing pieces is actually a really really important and separate skill to practice :)

[Rhasdra]

We're on the same boat, mate.

I'm not the best person to give anyone advices... but I'll share with you something I've noticed in some really talented people I had the pleasure to meet.

I've always felt like my work had no soul, had no focus, no meaning... felt like all my work is getting me nowhere (I still feel that). That got me down through a road of demotivation and pessimism that is being pretty hard to leave.

Luckily I know some really talented artists, and man, they are so passionate. They never stop a single second! That at first demotivated me even more HAHA. I thought I didn't had what it takes to be an artist... but then I noticed something!

Of course making studies is important and all... But it gets really lifeless and boring really fast. And I see that you, like me, are pretty hardcore into it. I know it's cliché but... first of all, learn how to have fun with it, learn how to love what you're doing.

Let yourself get inspired by things! (that's the important part)
These artists I know are always being inspired by something (to the point they don't even notice it). Their work is often trying to achieve some feeling they had listening to a music, express some experience they're having (vacation happiness, being overwhelmed by work, even art block for example)... or making an tribute to something they're into at the moment. They litterally can find inspiration anywhere, aint that awesome?

And I truly believe that's the key to stop these feelings of stagnation and lack of objective.

It seems like a simple concept, but it's actually hard work finding what inspires you. But once you find it, make a little project on top of that!

Like @JyonnyNovice said, find an are of concept art you want to go into. That may help you even further. I'll use myself as an example:

I'm pretty hooked in Monster Hunter right now, so I decided it would be my subject of inspiration! I love the creature designs of that game, how fighting those gigantic monsters feel and how lively everything is. Sooo... naturally it got me on the track of creature design. And man, it's being FUN.

I'm learning a ton of animal anatomy, and when I'm trying to design my monsters I don't have the simple "Ok, let's try to draw a dragon that looks really cool"... I actually call back to the gameplay, and I start imagining how the fight with my design would feel... in what areas of the game it'll live in, what status element's it'll have, what are it's weak spots, and so on... It makes the working experience so much more lively, and you will always be achieving something.


I don't know... I'm sorry for the wall of text, but I know how bad it feels when you think you're stagnated and out of goals. And I truly hope this silly post helps you in any way to overcome this.

Have fun bro, and make good art! \o/

[neopatogen]

Hey Kurt, I like your CC2 sketches! Especially the color ones, the lighting is really good, much better than in my CC2 :) I beleive you can do awesome finished pieces, looking forward to see what you come up with concerning CC3! And I totally agree with Amit about developing a skill to finish pieces. That's what I'm currently learning to do, too!

[KurtJeremy]

I need update , having a go at CC 3 at the moment

[Triggerpigking]

Nice figure studies dude, making me want to get back into studying figures again. Watch your proportions on them though, some of them are looking wonky.
Keep it up, looking forward to seeing your CC3 Submission.

[KurtJeremy]

Crimson Crucible 3 Notes:
Im still figuring things out along the way, but there were a lot of revelations that I encountered after I was able to settle on my final.

here's some of the most notable things I find out that helped me alot in my workflow:
- Perspective grids 
to tell you the truth I never used perspective grids on my personal works, Its because I always painted organic things and I am not that really sure how Im going to set up my perspective, and I always prioritize composition over it. 
I could not recommend it any better learning perspective and on how applying it to your work, Its one of the most fundamental aspect of drawing that shouldn't be skipped.

-Mood boards and references 
Collect a lot of them! and by a lot I mean lots!
while I don't advise to take too much time into collecting references (but It does help if you do)
Even when you're working on halfway through your piece, when you don't know how to paint something in your piece.
open your reference and look at it whilst painting. It helps just to get the feel of the thing you are painting. try not to copy though.

-Story
Well this one I don't have really a process on, because the Idea of a "fountain of youth" thing just sort of evolved as I went through my piece. looking at my references actually helps a lot when looking for a story. as specific things you add to your piece  could change the narrative of it, I try to piece together what I have in my reference and make a story of it.

-Thumbnails
very useful, fast and convenient way of putting out Ideas. never skip this step!

------things to work on-------
-architecture
One thing to get good at being able to make up worlds that still translates to something understandable, Is by knowing how architecture works. this one is a biggie, and it goes straight to how the history of design evolved throughout the years way back when hoomans used sticks and leaves for homes.
I shall get my hand's on architecture books and learn more about it from there.

-Color
I still need to tame this beast that is color, while I know that values are still the most Important , I must start experimenting with how I use color.

-rendering
Yep rendering something to a finish takes a lot of time. It also requires a lot of understanding of what you are painting. this thing only comes through a lot of study about the subject matter.

[KurtJeremy]

2 months out in action!
was really busy last month (june) because I've done my first ever freelance job as an Illustrator.
Coincidentally its about comics which I know was last month's CC challenge.
Here are some of the panels from the comic.

As for this month's CC Ill try to come up with something within the time left for the challenge. hopefully it doesn't get too sucky.

[KurtJeremy]

Sorry for double post forgot to post some stuff I was able to work on...

[JyonnyNovice]

looks interesting your comic! will it be online somewhere so we can read the whole thing?