OK- so my art has room for improvement...

This is a thread in responce to a poll I did on Deviantart about how good of an artist I was. It seems my art has gotten to has gotten to a point where I've developed my art style to something solid, so the more I practise now, the more ACCURATE I get, but becoming more accurate isn't really making me a better artist.

So, what I'm asking, is where do I go from here? I know I have alot of weak areas with art that I wish were better, but see, there's other things that I'm plain not interested in. My friend Murk has suggested monsters and cars... I'm not terribly interested in drawing that myself- it's not really me ^^; I've attempted drawing cars before and really, I don't have an eye for car aesthetics to begin with, so it kinda bores me... Thoughts of things I could try for?:-

• Colour- This is one thing I NEVER win with. Mostly cause I can't think in colour. I could fight my brain into getting colour... it'd be a greuling process, but if I manage to nut my colours out, I'm SURE my CG will improve to a level that I don't hate it anymore. See- a LOVE some artists for their beautiful CG work, and I realise now that its not cause their techniques are exotic- no. I can do their techniques if I wanted to. I can't pick the colours. It breaks my heart sometimes that my CG is so crap. Should that be my next focus?
• Landscape/backgrounds- This includes perspective. I got alot of comments from friends about the lovely backgrounds in Final Sunset in the last part, cause the other 2 parts are reasonably mundane on the background account. I know that nathie does some GORGEOUS scenery in his art and sometimes I drool just as much at that as I do the foreground. Why shouldn't I work towards something like that? My idol artist (Greg Land) never got awards for his people- his LANDSCAPES that left the world in a pool of drool is what he was actually famous for (His humans as OMFG gorgeous though!!) It's something I understand the aesthetics for, but have never really tapped into. Should that be my next focus?
• Animals- To be honest, given time, I could probably draw an animal.... a common one... I'm not that great at it. I've always compared my horses to dragons, and my dragons to dogs. In other words, I can't do non human creatures. Drawing Luck in my comic was kinda fun (In an insanely TORTUROUS way), and I'd love to draw some creatures from my world given the right motive. Should that be my next focus?
• Some other media? You know, Murk has got me into hunting down books on Flash because of his cool movies. They're really fun to watch, and I'd like to give it a go. Obviously this takes alot of time to learn though. And talent for movie making. That's the tough part XD Should I try focusing on a new media?
• Writing- I REALLY don't post much writing here. Whys that? 1- No favs 2- no comments 3- takes alot of concentration. In the end, if no one is interested, then it REALLY doesn't inspire me to make an effort unless I have a concept in hand. I've actually been writing ALOT longer than I've been drawing, and most of my art is from my writing. It's a huge passion of mine to write a novel, but who here actually would read it? Should I focus on making awesome written works?

Please reply to this thred with as many words as you feel you need to convey your thoughts with. It's something I care about a great deal, and I feel asking for everyone to critique me is not only too huge of a task to ask for, but people don't have the same visions as me for art. I can't ask you all to do that. Thank you for your time all

I dunno, personally, I think improvements are not so much on what other topic/medium we should go into (that can be done leisurely just for the fun of experimentation), but more on how to bring the current stuffs into a new level. I've visited your gallery and, well, here's a few things I PERSONALLY think (my judgements are by no means correct):

1) Try using cross-hatching instead, and see where that gets you. I find that shading gives you a smooth soothing feel, but can be TOO smooth over a large picture. A bit of cross-hatching with thin mechanical pencil brings about a lot of crispness in the picture, making it very fresh-looking.

2) Try pulling more contrast in shading (but not too much though).

Hope that helps.

When I reach a plateu (sp?) I often push myself to try something I haven't done before.  For me it's CG color.  I'm good at painting with watercolor or guache but it doesn't scan well and I don't have the space/equipment to take quality pictures of my work.  My solution was to learn how to color my work on the computer.

A few years ago when I felt  I'd reached another wall I forced myself to try new art styles.  At the time it was a really stylized manga style.  I was pleasantly startled by the results and instantly pulled as much from my experiment as I could. From that I found something I like from it and came to the style I use now.

About your writing predicament.  If you're really passionate about your work you'll keep on going.  I get very few comments on my writing (naturally I cherish the few I get) - but I chalk that up to my audience.  People like fan fics-  it's the rage - and my original work may not appeal to them.  I've been hunting down other art/writing communities where my original work may be in demand.  That's my personal experience.

Focus on what feels right - and it helps to turn the little critic off in your head. I battle with mine all the time.  I know that's why I worship any feedback - outside advice often derails my nagging inner critic.

What I do is just try different techniques. Mostly I'll see a painting style I really like and I'll try to do it myself... 9 times out of 9 I fail miserably at the first several attempts. But eventually I work it out in trial and error.

Sometimes it's little things I change, I'll see the way someone draws ... let's say ... an EYE. I really like how they drew that eye. (Hand, nose, etc...) and I'll study it and then develop what I like best and incorporate that into my art so it is always evolving and growing.

^_^

Oh, I don't work like that. When I want to improve, I have to focus on something. I can't just *try out* a techinique. Art for me isn't a taste test. I actually have to do a ground up and understand it before I can apply it properly. Besides, you don't get your own style if you don't.

On Apr 25, 2008 6:12 pm, arkillian said:

I think I have my own style and it's little things I've developed over the years. It's like getting a new car and then tweakng the engine, upgrading the radio, changing the oil occasionally... it's still the same basic car, but wth a new muffler on it. ^_^

But that is my style, I change gradually, tweaking aspects I want to draw better.

On Apr 25, 2008 6:12 pm, arkillian said:

I've always found that I have to 'try out' something in order to understand it. I can read lots of comics by an artist I like, I can analyse and pick apart the way they do things to figure out why it works, but I don't feel like I'll truly understand it until I've tried it myself.

If you're feeling stuck, try looking at artists whose styles are completely different from what you're used to, figure out what they do that's really effective, and then draw something that uses that technique. For example, the way a Japanese comic artist renders 'fast movement' or 'surprise' or 'gloominess' isn't going to be the same as the way one of the classic American illustrators does it, although they both successfully convey the same concept to the viewer.

Your style looks fairly 'realist' to me, but keep in mind that unless you're aiming for photographic perfection from references, it's impossible to hit perfect realism. Every artist uses tricks and artistic expressions that communicate impressionistically. Figure out which ones you're using and which ones other artists use.

On Apr 25, 2008 6:12 pm, arkillian said:

That's a pretty bold statement. 

My question is; Are you saying you can't try out new styles or are you saying that you just won't...

And who defines what is 'proper'?  In the end that's the artists call and no one elses. 

There's absolutley nothing wrong with starting from the ground up.  However, there is a definite thrill in just trying it out.  Put pencil to paper and go for it! (Or put mouse to screen, etc.)

And I speak for myself when I say - My art style [hell my writing too] is a direct reflection of my willingness to trying new styles unabashedly.

Alas I am outside looking in.  I know only so much about what motivates you as an artist.  So I apologize ahead of time if I am making any assumptions.

On Apr 26, 2008 10:11 pm, Sliverbane said:

Everyone is miss reading what I mean here ^^; What I mean is that I'm not going to copy a style straight off. Part of learning a new technique is researching current ones and trying them out, but that's not enough for me ^^ The way I learn is by understading WHY- if I don't get that, all I'm doing is copying and not developing. My current art style was adapted after a long period of drawing like Akira Toriyama (Artist/writer of DBZ). My inspiration for my current style is Greg Land- But when I started adapting a realism style like his, I realised it didn't fully suit my style, and it ended up being something alot different even though it has hints of Land in it. To get my own version of his art, I did alot of practise and realised I needed to strengthen my face expressions, my relism in general, and have grace and beauty in my art.

That's what I'd do with any of the above points. I'm not going to copy a style. I'll research alot and be inspired but that's it.

...I wouldn't have a clue if that made any sense T.T Oh well... All I'm wanting to know is which of the options I should persue. I'll decide how its best for me to persue them myself. Thank you all for your help, but that's all I really need I'm sorry if I come across as harsh or whatever...

Well if you feel you're not moving forward I'd say try anything and everything. Different mediums, different subjects, different styles, landscapes, animals anything. And then step back and look at what you need to work on most and have at it until you feel confident in that area and move on to the next subject that you're not so great at. Even doing something totally out of the norm can benefit you. Like Murk suggested monsters and cars or something, why not try it out? Even if it doesn't appeal to you try it out anyway. Still don't want to do that ok how about robots or totally outlandish things. Still not appealing to you? Than try sculpting or photography or working in oil paint or strengthen your writing for a while. Still not pressing your buttons? Than just do realism for a while do gestures attend some life drawing classes draw life like animals and still lives. Heck try out video related things. I never knew how much fun video was until I had some video and audio classes and found that I really enjoyed that medium. Seriously the sky is the limit when it comes to art. “There are no rules just tools.” To quote Mr. Vilppu.

Don't feel you have to master something just to find out if it's for you or not you'll never get anywhere by doing that. Do a ton of different things It's not so much just only doing what you want to do but doing things that'll benefit your knowledge of how to do them. People will acknowledge that your doing something different and have respect for that. Don't focus on one thing, do and try out everything that'll get you moving forward again. Feeling comfortable and art is a danger zone. So the short answer to this novel I'd say do all of the things you listed and more.

edit: Oh...must've missed that last post you did while writing this...but oh well you still get what I'm saying right?

I know what you mean hon, but this is how I do it ^^; Its how I learn. I be flexible by the end of it- I promise.

Every time I do a piece I try to incorporate something that I have not tried before.   It could be a new blending technique or trying a new brush or color combination, but I do try to keep it fresh in small ways.  You are well aware of your weaknesses as you stated in the opening statement, so try to work on them in fun ways so that you are not dragged down by the process.   When I wanted to practice light and reflections, I did a piece with a martini glass which was a great deal of fun for me as I used a real glass and then got to drink what was in it afterwards.  

Improvement is always something I think we should all strive for, but there is no reason that you can't keep it fun at the same time.  Good luck, I know you will continue to grow as an artist.

Hi Long time since we really chatted. You know I love your work so much I had to color one. Thou you have much improved since we last talked abouth this I still think you could try and develope it more. Your "Composition".  I looked over your pages On most its dead on and on a few My eye gets lost on where to go. I think its one of those things we all need to work on from time to time. We get caught up on the focal point we forget the rest and how the eye should circle back around to the focal point.

Here is a tip an art instructor gave me once. "You can not draw what you do not know." This is advice in drawing cars, flower, people and just about anything. Study about it , before you draw it. And you will see you will improve. I'm not talking about knowing every signle part, but the basics. Anatomy for example. once you learn the basics you can draw the human for much better, since you know where things belong.

Ok thats my two cents worth :-)

your gonna need to tell us a way to get signed copies of your books.

O

Wildekarde gets me- You can't just pick up an art styl, you need to do a ground up research on it. I fully agree. if you don't understand WHY a smile looks happy, then you can't consistantly draw one. What do you do? Research what the face does when it smiles. Its the same for everything ^^

Composition- its somethign I fight over alot, and I'm starting to get it right. I'm still researchign alot on it when I get time, and I think given practise, I'll get there. It's not a priority for me though, cause I know the basics well enough that I don't think I can actually make a badly composed pic now without actually not trying. That's why I have the above bullet points. In self critique, they are things I'm weak with and would be interested in improving. I think colour is my next hurdle thoguh. I hold off for SO long, but I notice that the posters I sell the most on I got lucky with colour combinations.

These two pics are my best sellers- I got really lucky with them, and I see why these work and other don't, but I can't consistantly replicate that. Till I can do that, I wont be happy. And I want to step up from these too. I know I can do better. I always can. That's my mission ^^

Best reasearch on can do is photography. For all aspects of art. from Composition to a smile. So on for colors as well.

Researching a smile?  Here is a great example of what knowing something and how it works can help your art. Look around. Have you ever noticed how as great as a persons smile is it somtimes looks fake or not sincire at all. We all tend to focus on the smile, but pay close attention to the eyes as well. For the most part when someone smiles naturally they squint. The smallest thing can help make a drawing better. Sometimes even if its not 100% correct.

Color is something tricky, different colors set different moods. Photographers use this trick a lot and might help you. Defussers to help set a mood. Cool blue defusser to set a cold look. A red to warm things up. Or even Purple to make a sunset more alive. How to work it in while coloring? If you are working in Photoshop, add a final layer on top of your colored work. Fill they layer with the of choice. Then in the layers window sellect defuse,dilute, burn. Try each till you get the look you want. Also you can play with Opacity.

Like all things color is trail and error. And you might find that some mistakes are worth remembering cause they come out looking pretty cool.

 PN me if you want some tips. I know I'm not the best but to be honest I have more fun coloring than drawing.

O

Question for you about colours: have you ever done colour art by hand with traditional media? I've never done CGI colouring, but I imagine some of the theory is the same. Coloured pencils are the easiest when you're just trying to play with shading and different tones.

On May 27, 2008 3:13 pm, Indefatigable42 said:

All my old art before I got a tablet was dne by coloured pencil, paint, or charcol (sometimes I mixed the media about). Alot of that was before I got onto the internet though, so not much of it was posted here. I had a HUGE collection of coloured pencils ^^ I got detered from coloured pencils though cause the colours never quite blended, and I got a comment once that my pics were cool in the distance, but the textures looked crap cause they didn't suit what I was trying to do. The stff I did was like this-

(Done all in metalic and irridescent paint. Its cool in real life) Angel Vegeta has alot of metalic pens and stuff too

So yeah- I tampered with traditional. It takes too long for my time frame now days though

Feh. Don't let one critic discourage you before you get second and third and fourth opinions. Adn anyways, critique is for learning, not discouraging.

I'm looking at "May I have this dance?" and I am in awe of the colouring, especially on the boots and skirt and hair. The only thing that's off is the skin and his black costume -- I think you just coloured too lightly on paper that was too toothy. Coloured pencils work better on a smooth paper, and the hardest part technique-wise is learning to cover an area evenly.

OK, well, then you need to look at it this way, The reproduction value of how I use coloured pencils is crap, not to meantion that traditional mediums inherently CAN'T scan to digital. That's a constant. As I see it, I'm crap at colour anyways, so even though I hate digital, it 's actually quicker to pull the same effect off with it. Not many people appreciate my art in real life anyways. If I did traditional art again, I'd use lots of different mediums. Pencils by themselves don't cut it for me anymore.

Actually, I've been dying to try out my shellac finally- I should find a use for it ^^ It's awesome stuff

Personally I love how my pencil and ink and charcoal stuff scans, but if you're not happy with the way colour comes through, it's your call.