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ARTSTUFF: Two Pieces of Art Advice
13 years ago
So, within this week, within the space of three days, three different people contacted me to ask for advice to improve as an artist. Not only does this not usually happen, it doesn't happen nearly that frequently. I teach, and even my students - who pay to sit in a classroom with me for hours and listen to my bullshit - don't want, nor ask me for, that kind of advice. But three, strung together like that, means maybe it would be useful to repeat some things here. I have learned the hard way that people who don't ask for your advice resent it being given and will not take it, so if you aren't interested, then feel free to move along; but if you were ever inclined to ask, here it goes, two rules:
RULE 0: The only thing that matters is that you complete your work, turn the page, and start again. That's it. No caveats, no exceptions. There are no exceptions. This is the only necessary thing you need to concern yourself with. Anything else is optional. Everything else is optional. Anybody who tells you differently is trying to sell you something you do not need. BUT CHRIS WHAT ABOUT ANATOMY AND TECHNIQU- No; fuck all that. BUT CHRIS I CAN'T DO IT AND I GET FRUSTRATED BECAUSE I WANT TO DRAW LIKE MY ART HERO- No; fuck that too. If you want to set up the most arbitrary of standards for criticism and comparison, and then attach some completely artificial importance to them so that you willingly invite disappointment, discouragement, and petulance into your creative life, then you are free to be deluded - and this advice is not for you. The only thing that matters is that you fearlessly, heedlessly, and heroically make - and then without hesitation, proceed to make again. This is the only thing that will possibly improve you as an artist.
That is because the alternative is to Not Make. And though it should be obvious: this will get you nowhere. Doubt. Laziness. Habit. Insecurity. Stubborness. Envy. Despair. Distraction. Materialism. Perfectionism. Mannerism. Reactionary flailing. Isolationism. Negativity. and Fear. These things are poisons and will undermine your will to make. Do not yield to them one inch into your creative life. They have no necessary basis in your artistic development. If you invite them into your life and find yourself Not Making Art, then stamp that shit out. People who passively cause you to Not Make Art should be avoided. People who actively seek to stop you from Making Art should be additionally distrusted - their opinions are meaningless and will only harm your ability to adhere to RULE 0. This includes people like you, and your own opinion on the subject. If you find yourself discrediting your own work, you need to set that inner voice aside and proceed with vigor. I cannot stress this enough: It is the only way to improve. Not one of many ways. Not the best way. The only way. You have to make art, and you have to do it urgently.
The good news is that: of course you can.
And as you do, you will improve. If you don't see it, and find yourself getting frustrated, then okay, feel blind and frustrated - welcome to the human condition. Now set that aside and start again. There is no short cut. Even things masquerading as short cuts or sensible instruction are simply variations of this same mandate: Make Something. Whatever form they take is clutter and optional baggage you willingly choose to swallow. If you want to listen to Chris's Advice, okay fine. If you want to pay attention to Bob Ross, awesome. If you aspire to photorealism, or random scribblings, it's all the same. Just like whatever is preventing you from Making Art has no necessary importance and should be ignored - whatever is encouraging you to create is effective precisely because you are Making Art, not because of anything else. Art is wholly subjective, so how you go about making it is of no actual consequence. None.
Don't get caught up in the particulars of how to go about it, that shit is vanity and/or distraction; you won't get better because I said so, or because you're imitating Bugs Bunny cartoons, or because you're using a high brow Renaissance technique or because Adventure Time fanart means avoiding drawing elbows which are hard: that stuff isn't helping you improve, and it doesn't make you an improved artist just because you've mastered it. It's just there to help you feel better about swallowing the hard and only real lesson you need: go make stuff.
This is meaningful because you can give an importance to these additional caveats that does not fundamentally exist. And that can lead to disappointment and distraction and difficulty adhering to RULE 0. Your education/exposure/marketing/audience/expectations/tools/attitude/talent/desire/anger will not improve your abilities: using your abilities will improve your abilities: this is how we work - this is the only way we work. Not using your abilities allows them to decay, undermining your progress.
If you must start tacking on additional rules and arbitrary notions (and to some degree we all do) then do so knowingly and be ready to set aside these needless particulars if you find them not serving the main goal of improving by Making the Art.
* * *
Okay, with all that said. Here's the only other thing I can suggest, and it is as ephemeral as the breeze - given what I just wrote, you should only allow this into your creative life if it makes sense to you and gets you to Make Art. You certainly don't need it, and you simply may not like it. This is the one thing certain to get the most glazed eyes and scowls of dislike in the classroom when I say it:
RULE 1: Draw what you see. BUT CHRIS I DON'T WANT TO DO REALIS- No, fuck that. It's not about what you want to draw; because you can still draw your Pokemon fan art, you can still ape Alphonse Mucha and Mary Blair, and God knows I love Paul Klee whose work is completely perpendicular to observed reality. It's not like you have to commit to one way of markmaking. Who does that? How is that an attractive proposition? That's like embracing a creative death on all fronts aside from the narrow rut you choose to plow. You can draw anything. Do you see how freeing that is? You can vomit ink onto the sidewalk in the shape of notable politicians. You can spend hours softly shading imaginary cartoon otters. And you can practice drawing what your eye sees. Concurrently. At the same time. You don't have to only draw one way.
And here's why drawing what you see is good: it will help inform your choices when you then draw from imagination. It's not magic. It's common sense. If you don't do this, you will almost certainly be relying on solutions that you have seen somewhere else. This is how our monkey brains work. Watch enough Lion King and all your eyes will be Simba's. Knowingly master Aubrey Beardsley's exquisite penwork and you'll be stuck with his mistakes and his conclusions - and since he's dead and not making more art, you will run into problems when trying to draw stuff he never did. I like Mike Mignola as much as the next geek, but if all your shadows go immediately to angular black shapes, then you will be powerless to show the shifting and subtle plays of light, hour to hour, across the face of Notre Dame, as shadows pass through reds and purples and surprising yellows. Yet if you worship Monet, you will have none of the noir sensibility and edge to Hellboy. And so on. The only way to find your own conclusions and expand your toolbox is to discover them yourself. Use your damn eyes.
BUT CHRIS I DON'T EVEN LIKE THAT STUFF, IT'S BORING AND I WANT TO DRAW ADOLESCENT POWER FANTASIES AND HOT HERMTAUR PORN AND NOT DUMB STILL LIFES OF BOWLS AND GRAPES AN- No, you know what? You don't like it because you're not practiced at it, and it's hard, and doing stuff that's new and difficult is often distasteful. But the minute you start to get anywhere doing it, you will love it. When you are in the middle of making a picture and it's working out and coming together and you can see it, it feels good. The reason you don't like drawing a still life of flowers, or better yet - painting a still life of flowers, is because you're confronted with unpracticed technique, struggling with being self-aware and focusing your perception, and can't get over those things to then experience the high of realizing what you are seeing.
Anybody who has successfully navigated a painting will tell you it is fun. It is the complete opposite of boring. When you can really, truly, and actually allow yourself to see, then anything in front of you becomes terrifyingly beautiful. All those shades of red in that one square inch of apple sitting in front of you will be more satisfying to render than all the stamped out Gadget the Mouse pin-ups and wry slice of life comics in the world. It doesn't matter what it is; if you really look at it, it will be a joy to describe. Trash on the street, bales of hay, your shoe, your own face.
And here's what's more: when you then go to draw that space marine, or tentacled rape beast, you will be able to more convincingly suggest and stylize materials and information, because you will have observed with your own eyes and found your own conclusions for showing what shiny things look like, or what fabric looks like, or beaded water. Your work from imagination will improve. It's just like going to the gym and working out. It's not about self-expression, or storytelling, some other sexier motive for making art - and that's okay: you can still totally engage in those other ways of mark making.
Drawing from observation is the best exercise and the only way to find something new and unique; this is because nobody else on this planet has your eyes to see, your brain to interpret your vision and your hands to covey this; so do it (see RULE 0).
Keep an object with you, or be willing to use anything around you, something small and manageable, and draw it. Draw it as you see it. Do you see any outlines? Do real objects have those? Do you see changes in shadow across any surface? Can you account for what is near and far in the object? How do they look the same? How do they look different? What is the brightest actual spot you see? What is the darkest? What is the next darkest? And so on. Really, look at things. You will improve <3
* * *
Okay, that's it. That's all I got. Anything more is too much of a slippery slope into Teaching You To Draw Like Chris. Which is not at all the same thing as teaching you to Improve As An Artist.
TL;DR:
RULE 0 is "make art at all costs"
RULE 1 is "figure it out for yourself, in the most basic, bodily way".
RULE 0: The only thing that matters is that you complete your work, turn the page, and start again. That's it. No caveats, no exceptions. There are no exceptions. This is the only necessary thing you need to concern yourself with. Anything else is optional. Everything else is optional. Anybody who tells you differently is trying to sell you something you do not need. BUT CHRIS WHAT ABOUT ANATOMY AND TECHNIQU- No; fuck all that. BUT CHRIS I CAN'T DO IT AND I GET FRUSTRATED BECAUSE I WANT TO DRAW LIKE MY ART HERO- No; fuck that too. If you want to set up the most arbitrary of standards for criticism and comparison, and then attach some completely artificial importance to them so that you willingly invite disappointment, discouragement, and petulance into your creative life, then you are free to be deluded - and this advice is not for you. The only thing that matters is that you fearlessly, heedlessly, and heroically make - and then without hesitation, proceed to make again. This is the only thing that will possibly improve you as an artist.
That is because the alternative is to Not Make. And though it should be obvious: this will get you nowhere. Doubt. Laziness. Habit. Insecurity. Stubborness. Envy. Despair. Distraction. Materialism. Perfectionism. Mannerism. Reactionary flailing. Isolationism. Negativity. and Fear. These things are poisons and will undermine your will to make. Do not yield to them one inch into your creative life. They have no necessary basis in your artistic development. If you invite them into your life and find yourself Not Making Art, then stamp that shit out. People who passively cause you to Not Make Art should be avoided. People who actively seek to stop you from Making Art should be additionally distrusted - their opinions are meaningless and will only harm your ability to adhere to RULE 0. This includes people like you, and your own opinion on the subject. If you find yourself discrediting your own work, you need to set that inner voice aside and proceed with vigor. I cannot stress this enough: It is the only way to improve. Not one of many ways. Not the best way. The only way. You have to make art, and you have to do it urgently.
The good news is that: of course you can.
And as you do, you will improve. If you don't see it, and find yourself getting frustrated, then okay, feel blind and frustrated - welcome to the human condition. Now set that aside and start again. There is no short cut. Even things masquerading as short cuts or sensible instruction are simply variations of this same mandate: Make Something. Whatever form they take is clutter and optional baggage you willingly choose to swallow. If you want to listen to Chris's Advice, okay fine. If you want to pay attention to Bob Ross, awesome. If you aspire to photorealism, or random scribblings, it's all the same. Just like whatever is preventing you from Making Art has no necessary importance and should be ignored - whatever is encouraging you to create is effective precisely because you are Making Art, not because of anything else. Art is wholly subjective, so how you go about making it is of no actual consequence. None.
Don't get caught up in the particulars of how to go about it, that shit is vanity and/or distraction; you won't get better because I said so, or because you're imitating Bugs Bunny cartoons, or because you're using a high brow Renaissance technique or because Adventure Time fanart means avoiding drawing elbows which are hard: that stuff isn't helping you improve, and it doesn't make you an improved artist just because you've mastered it. It's just there to help you feel better about swallowing the hard and only real lesson you need: go make stuff.
This is meaningful because you can give an importance to these additional caveats that does not fundamentally exist. And that can lead to disappointment and distraction and difficulty adhering to RULE 0. Your education/exposure/marketing/audience/expectations/tools/attitude/talent/desire/anger will not improve your abilities: using your abilities will improve your abilities: this is how we work - this is the only way we work. Not using your abilities allows them to decay, undermining your progress.
If you must start tacking on additional rules and arbitrary notions (and to some degree we all do) then do so knowingly and be ready to set aside these needless particulars if you find them not serving the main goal of improving by Making the Art.
* * *
Okay, with all that said. Here's the only other thing I can suggest, and it is as ephemeral as the breeze - given what I just wrote, you should only allow this into your creative life if it makes sense to you and gets you to Make Art. You certainly don't need it, and you simply may not like it. This is the one thing certain to get the most glazed eyes and scowls of dislike in the classroom when I say it:
RULE 1: Draw what you see. BUT CHRIS I DON'T WANT TO DO REALIS- No, fuck that. It's not about what you want to draw; because you can still draw your Pokemon fan art, you can still ape Alphonse Mucha and Mary Blair, and God knows I love Paul Klee whose work is completely perpendicular to observed reality. It's not like you have to commit to one way of markmaking. Who does that? How is that an attractive proposition? That's like embracing a creative death on all fronts aside from the narrow rut you choose to plow. You can draw anything. Do you see how freeing that is? You can vomit ink onto the sidewalk in the shape of notable politicians. You can spend hours softly shading imaginary cartoon otters. And you can practice drawing what your eye sees. Concurrently. At the same time. You don't have to only draw one way.
And here's why drawing what you see is good: it will help inform your choices when you then draw from imagination. It's not magic. It's common sense. If you don't do this, you will almost certainly be relying on solutions that you have seen somewhere else. This is how our monkey brains work. Watch enough Lion King and all your eyes will be Simba's. Knowingly master Aubrey Beardsley's exquisite penwork and you'll be stuck with his mistakes and his conclusions - and since he's dead and not making more art, you will run into problems when trying to draw stuff he never did. I like Mike Mignola as much as the next geek, but if all your shadows go immediately to angular black shapes, then you will be powerless to show the shifting and subtle plays of light, hour to hour, across the face of Notre Dame, as shadows pass through reds and purples and surprising yellows. Yet if you worship Monet, you will have none of the noir sensibility and edge to Hellboy. And so on. The only way to find your own conclusions and expand your toolbox is to discover them yourself. Use your damn eyes.
BUT CHRIS I DON'T EVEN LIKE THAT STUFF, IT'S BORING AND I WANT TO DRAW ADOLESCENT POWER FANTASIES AND HOT HERMTAUR PORN AND NOT DUMB STILL LIFES OF BOWLS AND GRAPES AN- No, you know what? You don't like it because you're not practiced at it, and it's hard, and doing stuff that's new and difficult is often distasteful. But the minute you start to get anywhere doing it, you will love it. When you are in the middle of making a picture and it's working out and coming together and you can see it, it feels good. The reason you don't like drawing a still life of flowers, or better yet - painting a still life of flowers, is because you're confronted with unpracticed technique, struggling with being self-aware and focusing your perception, and can't get over those things to then experience the high of realizing what you are seeing.
Anybody who has successfully navigated a painting will tell you it is fun. It is the complete opposite of boring. When you can really, truly, and actually allow yourself to see, then anything in front of you becomes terrifyingly beautiful. All those shades of red in that one square inch of apple sitting in front of you will be more satisfying to render than all the stamped out Gadget the Mouse pin-ups and wry slice of life comics in the world. It doesn't matter what it is; if you really look at it, it will be a joy to describe. Trash on the street, bales of hay, your shoe, your own face.
And here's what's more: when you then go to draw that space marine, or tentacled rape beast, you will be able to more convincingly suggest and stylize materials and information, because you will have observed with your own eyes and found your own conclusions for showing what shiny things look like, or what fabric looks like, or beaded water. Your work from imagination will improve. It's just like going to the gym and working out. It's not about self-expression, or storytelling, some other sexier motive for making art - and that's okay: you can still totally engage in those other ways of mark making.
Drawing from observation is the best exercise and the only way to find something new and unique; this is because nobody else on this planet has your eyes to see, your brain to interpret your vision and your hands to covey this; so do it (see RULE 0).
Keep an object with you, or be willing to use anything around you, something small and manageable, and draw it. Draw it as you see it. Do you see any outlines? Do real objects have those? Do you see changes in shadow across any surface? Can you account for what is near and far in the object? How do they look the same? How do they look different? What is the brightest actual spot you see? What is the darkest? What is the next darkest? And so on. Really, look at things. You will improve <3
* * *
Okay, that's it. That's all I got. Anything more is too much of a slippery slope into Teaching You To Draw Like Chris. Which is not at all the same thing as teaching you to Improve As An Artist.
TL;DR:
RULE 0 is "make art at all costs"
RULE 1 is "figure it out for yourself, in the most basic, bodily way".
Terrifying because at this point in my life, I'm on the edge of change that possibly mean quitting my somewhat stable job(which leaves me so worn out I'm loosing more and more time for art) and taking a plunge into trying to make art my job and this makes it seem like it's one more sign in a line of many saying 'Do it!'....and that's very, very scary for me.
Holy cow! That's blinding in its clarity. And there are even some concepts that I, as a "writer," can take with me (especially Rule 0).
Thank you, Chris. Thank you very kindly!
I can honestly say this will help a lot of people.
;_;
I'm going to save this. X >
I cannot explain to you how much I'm hyped by these words.
I wish I understood it when I had an emotional vampire that took years away from time I could have been doing what I really wanted.
For more people interested in this kind of writing, I would highly suggest The Artist's Way. Don't be afraid of the spiritual themes (the author suggests you ignore them if you wish and shies away from the word "god"). It helps bring your personal self-restrictions about as an artist to the surface.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Very enlightening.
Plainly put, thank you.
More people need to see this >:I !
"You don't like it because you're not practiced at it, and it's hard, and doing stuff that's new and difficult is often distasteful. The minute you start to get anywhere doing it, you will love it. " <- Same experience with wood working. I guess, to make a crude paralell, I used to think that I'd have to spend more, and more, and more on more accurate, fancier powertools.
Then I tried a few quality hand tools. I quickly learned that it wasn't my tool box that was the problem, it was me. Now when I screw up, I know exactly how, and why :D, thusly, learned something. And it's cool.
Somewhat related; but yeah... People these days have a phobia of "new things".
Thank you for taking the time to write this out.
I am still making art.
I hate cutting fucking matboard. Oh well.
Try and try and try. If at first you don't succeed, burn the fucker and start over. One piece I have I've done 4 attempts at, will be starting the 5th soon.
I'll admit I had been wishing to asks you for advice since a fair bit(it was an aquaintance who pointed me to your gallery a long time ago saying I might like your art, and she was right) but I'll admit I always was a bit uneasy to do so.
So seeing this journal is very much welcome, even if the writing style comes off a bit as the written equivalent of "applying cluebat to the head vigorously"(though can said cluebat-to-the-head can be needed at times!).
I'm actually trying to follow a little your advice about trying to draw from life when I have the time.
The two most important things are RIGHT here, in your journal. People tend to get tied down in a single image for too long. They think they must always produce a polished, finished, perfected piece of art. The answer is no, just look at what looks odd/wrong, and take note, and move on to something else. People are so afraid of failing that they get stopped dead in their tracks and then the doubt and discouragement starts to grow in their minds. I am forever telling people to let go and move on, because like you say, that's the hardest part... the part where just because one image didn't go well it means they stop and give up, when they need to pick themselves up and start something fresh, and not spend weeks on it because that takes the joy out of doing it and teaches us nothing.
I'm so glad you give the same advice. I wasn't sure if my way of thinking was entirely useful but I now see that I wasn't mistaken. So many people want something and they want it now, without slogging their way to their goal. They see, to ignore that for example, I started drawing when I was only 2, and ever since them I drew and painted everything... and I mean everything! Any object around the house as a kid was a target for drawing. I drew fruit, flowers, people, animals, lamps, buckets, paving stones... everything I could see. It is there that you learn how to handle lighting and shadows, along with textures and colour management.
Thanks for such a great journal, I enjoyed reading it and I will be linking it to a few people who consistently ask me why I know X and Y and they don't understand it.
Now let me shine this 'apple' for you.
Seriously, I've been putting my self in such a heavy rut with the very things you say not to do and reading this made me realize it. Bloodhound and I were talking about my problem (rule 0) and the discussion of it all totally made me feel like a bitchy little shit for being like, "I draw a head and the neck of something then give up on it and move on".. I need to finish my work, whether its for posting it on FA (which it absolutely shouldn't be) or for myself.
Thank you for writing this man, it really hit home for me and I'll use it as some major motivation! <3
PS can I post this on tumblr? I'll credit you! :D
I've met a lot of people asking for advice, and immediately everyone turns away life drawing. They dismiss it, because they don't see how it'll help their style.
I never stop doing it. I analyze fucking everything I see now and wonder how I can approach it to drawing, even when I'm not drawing. It racks my brain sometimes because I am absorbing so many little notes and observations daily. I need to apply them, yes, but life drawing has enabled me to essentially figure out whatever the hell I need to understand more.
I don't know all the answers. I never will. But I can find the answers at my disposal with life observation and common sense or intuition. Life is a primary artistic source. Photos, comic books, movies, animations, sculptures, anything visual in a 3D or 2D realm is a second hand source to real life and the artist's imagination. Life comes first. The more approaches I can take with my art, the more aware I am and the more tools I will have at my disposal.
Bob Ross is boss.
I don't know where I'm getting at. I'm just stoked.
A lot of people have trouble with this, I think, because it's just way too simple.
"How can I improve?" they ask.
"Do it." you reply.
"....really? That's it?" they retort in disbelief.
As if they're expecting something more profound and deep and some sort of giant key that will unlock this hidden thing and make them suddenly know it because surely that's what it'll take and not this simple, wimpy answer.
I digress. The point is I agree completely, and I'm so glad you took the time to write this up and share.
Not so great for making furry porn though which is what they are really asking. Trace, stick on an animal head and genitals and charge handsomely = wiinnor!
Well, I've only ever finished one thing. About 5 years ago.
I was just feeling shitty about it today, and seeing this was like, that slap in the face that knocks you out of hysterics.
Thanks so much. I bet you're one of those teachers that changes people in the most fabulous ways. Those are my favorite. :')
that is my advice
Thanks a lot for writing this. stucat linked me to this during our tuesday superspeedpainting during a sketch I was struggling with, and it really is inspiring.
i've heeded your words, they've been ingrained into my mind, time will tell what i'll make of it
Just keep swimming. <HUGS>