three's sketchbook

[three]

So, I've been meaning to make a thread here for quite a while now. I kind of put it off and now, after emerging from one of my far-too-regular art breaks (read: not drawing for like 6+ months), that now is as good a time as any.

I'm not really sure what to say other than I really badly want to be good at what I do. I'm not entirely sure what I do however, and also feel I need as much philosophical guidance as I do artistic guidance. I jump from comics to portraiture to impressionist approaches and kind of can't make my mind up about anything. 

I started taking art seriously around 2011 and while I feel there was a period of great improvement somewhere between then and now, I feel whatever I'm doing now has gotten very stale and I'm not sure where to go from here.

With that said, despite struggling to balance academic commitments, work (I sell coffee, AMA), and art, I intend to stop letting my artistic goals fall behind henceforth.

Thanks for reading

[lurch]

you've got some really strong stuff here, I struggle with the same thing as you, everything I see seems to take me in different directions and I find I'm moving between more tradition stuff, comic stuff, cartoons etc, never sure where I'm going.

I have nothing to offer on that front other than to say you're not the only one!

I sometimes try and think, like what would I create if it noone else was ever going to see it? Maybe that will take you somewhere.

Other than that, if you're enjoying what you're doing, and improving, it's all good - maybe you'll settle in to it, and I guess to be good, you need it all.

I'm sure the more experience people on here will have more to offer but that's just my thoughts on it.

Loving your stuff tho, and acutally digging the variety. great start to your sketchbook.

[Bookend]

Wow, really great start to your sketchbook man! Loving your strong use of line, figures, and expression! I will definitely stay subscribed and keep an eye out, so make sure to update regularly, haha. You are definitely going somewhere, even if you're not sure where yet. It'll come!

[three]

Thanks greatly for the welcoming words guys. I'm really enjoying the consistency of effort in your sketchbooks too.
just got a busy weekend of work out of the way and am looking forward to getting some drawing done.

[three]

first serious attempt at painting in pretty much a year. one of the most frustrating experiences of my life... feel like I've forgotten everything and although I'm not happy with how it came out, I figure atleast I'm doing /something/. With any luck, I really hope I can only begin to improve again from here.

was originally inspired by some chunky gouache paintings in my inspiration folder and kind of tried to go for something similar. Though I got to a point where I felt like I was just painting-by-numbers and had a lot of harsh fields of colour without any blending or cohesion. I was impressed with my colour picking accuracy, especially after such a long break, but then I started looking at some schirmer step-by-steps, which inspired me to push the rendering, but I really didn't even know where to begin. Got frustrated, gave up.

[Brian Hermelijn]

I feel like I have seen your work somewhere, but not too sure where. None of the less, been rusty will always get ye, especially when you neglect something for quite sometime. But after 1 week passes, oh boy, its like magic is happening again. Look forward to see more of your posts, buddy :)!

[three]

I get around a bit, chances are you've seen me in other art development communities. Tumblr is pleasedontsleep.tumblr.com, maybe there even.

But yeah, you're right. One thing I've noticed after the several large breaks from art I've had over the last few years, is once I'm back into the swing of things I feel quite refreshed. Hopefully I'll be back in that good place soon.

[Bookend]

Just keep working and pushing at it-- Try not to let yourself get frustrated. That's the first step towards not-trying, and that's not the place you wanna be at.

I think it's a decent portrait painting, actually. Just don't give up when you're so close!