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Life and art
2 years ago
Hello everyone, hope you are doing well.
This is a small follow-up on my previous journal as well as a general update.
First of all, thank you very much to all those who replied and encouraged me on my search for an art mentor. This search was successful and I'm receiving the help I needed since early February.
While finding my mentor was a dream coming true, the timing was unfortunately quite bad. Although I've been off from traditional schools (high-school/college/university) for quite a few years now, this year revealed to be extremely academic, and I had to devote an almost unhealthy number of hours to studying, sadly, non-art topics.
These non-art topics are still things I love and I wouldn't make it through the pile of books I had to read if it wasn't the case, but having to disconnect myself from drawing even though I'm pursuing another passion is extremely difficult. Unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day so I had to make practical choices that I wish were not necessary.
Hence why I have been so quiet since early this year.
My academic pursuit is far from over, in fact I would dare saying it is only beginning, but I believe the hardest part at least for now is done and I'll finally have some much needed balance between life and art.
To finish this journal I want to ask. Would you like seeing art wips and studies moving forward?
Kind regards from your arty washing bear
This is a small follow-up on my previous journal as well as a general update.
First of all, thank you very much to all those who replied and encouraged me on my search for an art mentor. This search was successful and I'm receiving the help I needed since early February.
While finding my mentor was a dream coming true, the timing was unfortunately quite bad. Although I've been off from traditional schools (high-school/college/university) for quite a few years now, this year revealed to be extremely academic, and I had to devote an almost unhealthy number of hours to studying, sadly, non-art topics.
These non-art topics are still things I love and I wouldn't make it through the pile of books I had to read if it wasn't the case, but having to disconnect myself from drawing even though I'm pursuing another passion is extremely difficult. Unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day so I had to make practical choices that I wish were not necessary.
Hence why I have been so quiet since early this year.
My academic pursuit is far from over, in fact I would dare saying it is only beginning, but I believe the hardest part at least for now is done and I'll finally have some much needed balance between life and art.
To finish this journal I want to ask. Would you like seeing art wips and studies moving forward?
Kind regards from your arty washing bear
Vix
Today I'm scanning the pile of sketches so I might have something to show soon =3
Well I look forward to them.
Really glad you're able to start doing more art again. I enjoy seeing the WIP stuff, as it gives me insight into how you compose your pieces. And the art studies you do are usually phenomenal, so yes please.
I don't know why, but your pieces are the ones that make music ideas pop in my head haha.
I'm getting my studies scanned (I did everything with pen and ink), so I should have something to share very soon. Hopefully it will feed some music ideas to you =3
Hope the studies will show some improvement, I really want to get better at drawing ^^
Any additional works you may wish to share here would be welcome, regardless their stage of development.
I would also be happy to hear any of your thoughts about drawing techniques and visual storytelling, if you find the time for that. Your pictures often imply so much mysterious meaning behind them!
I'm doing my art exercises mainly on traditional media so lots of scanning happening this weekend, I found that using just a pen for studying is better than pencils or even digital. When every mark is permanent you end up being more spontaneous, which helps a lot with speed and confidence, two things I lack ^^
Lately I've been considering writing some journal entries with thoughts about art and creativity in general, so your suggestion might actually become reality, just need the time for it ^^
One thing I can say upfront however is that the way I approach telling a story is by having a clear feeling as my base, and the character, pose, expression just exist to support this feeling. I don't start a drawing thinking "I'll draw a deer in uniform", I have a feeling in mind and as I draw it ends up becoming the deer in uniform for example. If along the way I feel that a dog would show the feeling better, I'll redraw it or make adjustments. Hope that makes some sense ^^
It is remarkable that using pens for practice makes the process more spontaneous to you -- I'd imagine that the permanence would instead make an artist very deliberate and cautious!
I also feel it's a very honest and fulfilling way of drawing when you allow your inspiration guide you towards the emotive, atmospheric goal rather than a set of cold mechanical parameters. Your pictures do tend to feel very harmonious and self-consistent in tone and impression they leave on me.
Thank you for your response, you are a great artist and have a wonderful mind, as well! And I would still love to hear your musings on the philosophy of art; your sketch study pages, and your step-by-step process manuals are phenomenal.
I have only just noticed that both you and
And if you're down with sharing studies and WIPs, I'm down for checking them out. :D
I do like seeing WIPs because it helps me learn your process.
I'll try to share wips more regularly if you find them helpful, but honestly, if there is anything you would like an explanation, feel free to tell me, I can try writing a lil tutorial ^^
I wonder how you managed to find a mentor and how are your classes going?
Finding the mentor was mainly via recommendations, I asked publicly and eventually a name came up.
Lessons are being very productive although not super frequent, I was mainly looking for someone to assign me exercises, give advice and review my progress =3