Foundations: Part 3

in #art6 years ago

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Of all of this old art that I've shared recently, this is the only one that I've always had hanging up somewhere. Not because it's particularly good or anything, but it has some sentimental value.

I started drawing when I was around 22 years old. Before that I had zero drawing experience and along with other people who don't have drawing experience, my skill was at the bad stick figure level. I had a high appreciation for art, but a part of me thought it might be too late for me to learn to draw at a professional level. I had no doubt I could get better at it with practice, but I didn't think I'd be able to do it for a living. If I can find any that I didn't destroy, maybe the last post in this series will be my first semester art school drawings for you guys to see what I'm saying.

Anyway, when I started art school, my major was 3D modeling. I figured this way I could get decent at drawing and work in an artistic field, but deep down I really did just want to draw. This drawing above was my final project at the end of my first semester of art school. It was a bit of a breakthrough moment, because at that point I started to believe it was possible for me to get to a professional level of a 2D artist in 4 years. The next semester I changed my major to Illustration and the rest is history :)

There's no touching story to go with the rest of this stuff, but here it is anyway.

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So I think that when it comes to approaching learning anything that is generally difficult a lot of people look at time, as the main determining factor as a metric to...I guess quantify their ability, like I've been drawing for x years. But I think what really matters is a little different. It's more mileage than time, but it's also not just mileage. I think it's mileage + how critical you are of yourself x how honest you are with yourself. Disregard the arbitrary math symbols in there, lol.

But yea, you can do something for a long time, but if you're satisfied with your current level, you won't improve much, or if you can't be honest about your deficiencies, then you won't ever address them and that can also stop your progress. There's actually a ton of these artistic pitfalls, and it's a constant battle trying not to fall victim to them. Since for the last few years I've been teaching, I see them a lot more often and can recognize them better.

Alright, I'm off my soapbox for today. Hope you guys enjoyed the art and the little life snippet in there. Any artistic or creative pitfalls you guys wanna share I'd love to hear about it in the comments. Fill me in on your journey. You've undoubtedly avoided some traps I probably have yet to encounter.

As always, thanks for looking peeps!

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Is the lady with her hand under her chin the same model that you used for your full size oil painting that you gave away? I remember how much I wanted you to keep it, but you said that you had promised it to her.

No, that was a different friend who was nice enough to pose for me :)

aaaaaaaaaaah

these are all so lovely

every piccar makes me wanna go to art school and really work on my foundations * ___ *

aaaaaaaah

Thanks @veryspider! A big part of it is just the structure it offers. There wasn't a TON of instruction, mostly just forcing you to draw from life a lot, paint from life a lot and being able to watch someone good do it. If there are local life drawing groups in your area, it can be a fun community to be a part of.

Worst case scenario, there are life drawing channels on youtube, here's one guy I like:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7nqKTkW-PUmcTk_vp2yvtQ

I always tell everyone who can't draw that they can if they want to, just some people take more work than others (and some like me just find hacky workarounds ;D). These are all great anyway, and when I told my youngest who was exclaiming about how amazing and pro they all were that you struggled to draw at one stage he didn't believe me XD

Haha, that's how it usually goes. I typically hear how lucky I am to have been born with these gifts etc. I eventually stopped telling people the whole background story and just say thanks as I know they're generally just trying to pay me a compliment anyway.

Haha yeh probably, but I think it's good for them to hear the background story so they realise that if you're determined and work you can be good at whatever and it isn't necessary to be born with some special talent (we're not My Little Ponies after all XD).

There's actually a ton of these artistic pitfalls, and it's a constant battle trying not to fall victim to them. Since for the last few years I've been teaching, I see them a lot more often and can recognize them better.

I've heard so many people, in different fields, made remarks similar to that. I guess in teaching, we also learn or gain better understanding of what we know to be true.

One thing I like about Steemit is seeing artists like you displaying your work.

Thanks @enforcer48, glad you enjoy it. Yea that subject alone, I could write an entire post about for sure.

those paints are just amazing and beautiful, and i'm with you with that.
It's not about time, bu about how open and determined you are to learn more and more.
I can feel relate to the cause, you really made a amazing progress and a great example that every skills can be learnt and time should never be a factor to stop us; since if it is important for us, it will become a priority not a luxury.

Also, do you have any books or course you would recommend me? ^^
i would like to get more knowledge like this :)

Thanks @edanya! I think for this sort of art as I mentioned above with @veryspider, the main way to learn is just mileage(doing it a lot) and also seeing someone who's good at it doing it. I'll share some youtube channels for you to check out :)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7nqKTkW-PUmcTk_vp2yvtQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliUF1c8m7MUspaCykJljSg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB9berO64_friwLRsKQ9fag

thank you so much i appreciate the help :D


This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.

Dear Artzonian, thanks for using the #ArtzOne hashtag. Your work is valuable to the @ArtzOne community. Quote of the week: Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics. -Victor Pinchuk

Very good pencil drawing, @midlet, but the paintings seem​ to me rather weak

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