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Art Direction
13 years ago
Heyas,
So.. This is going to be a journal on my thoughts of the direction I want my art to go into and some of my goals. It may be a bit rambly, sorry. I may end up deleting this journal at some point. If anyone gets through it all, I'm happy to hear opinions and thoughts.
Lately in the last couple of months (perhaps slightly longer) I have been considering which direction I want my art to go and where I want to be as an artist. I am very, very fortunate that I have an understanding fiancee, who is also willing to support my endeavors in this very competitive industry. I am also very grateful to all the commissioners I have had so far and to those who will commission me in the future. It is a tough industry to break into and I am taking baby steps towards being a freelance illustration artist and freelance 2D animator.
In my considerations, I thought about doing illustration work for book covers, in particular children's books (because yes, I can adapt to a very children friendly style, though I hardly ever post that here) and fantasy books. However, to do this, I know I have to get better and as I always try to do, I am working on bringing my skills up to scratch so that I can make more of an impression. I have always been a lover of fantasy, any fantasy (though not so much horror, not a big horror fan in general), though in particular I have always loved the world of high fantasy. Some of you may have noticed this, I'm not entirely sure. Heck, the first thing I taught myself to draw were dragons and I'm always making up worlds (this is mainly confined to my writing).
Skill wise, I want to head towards a more realistic detail type style. I have long way to go before I am going to get there, but I am willing to take the time and put in the hours and the effort into becoming a better artist, skill wise. This is something that I have been wanting to do for some time now, but I lacked both the time and the basic fundamentals to do so. However, now that I have the time (so much time O_O) and have a better grasp on the basics, I feel that I should be able to practice more into heading in this direction. I still want to keep my line style coloured images as well, just have something more... detailed?... as well.
I am quite nervous about posting this journal. It's not often that I post journals that dive into my thoughts like this. It's not an easy thing for me to do and I apologise if it doesn't make sense.
~Sunktokeca
So.. This is going to be a journal on my thoughts of the direction I want my art to go into and some of my goals. It may be a bit rambly, sorry. I may end up deleting this journal at some point. If anyone gets through it all, I'm happy to hear opinions and thoughts.
Lately in the last couple of months (perhaps slightly longer) I have been considering which direction I want my art to go and where I want to be as an artist. I am very, very fortunate that I have an understanding fiancee, who is also willing to support my endeavors in this very competitive industry. I am also very grateful to all the commissioners I have had so far and to those who will commission me in the future. It is a tough industry to break into and I am taking baby steps towards being a freelance illustration artist and freelance 2D animator.
In my considerations, I thought about doing illustration work for book covers, in particular children's books (because yes, I can adapt to a very children friendly style, though I hardly ever post that here) and fantasy books. However, to do this, I know I have to get better and as I always try to do, I am working on bringing my skills up to scratch so that I can make more of an impression. I have always been a lover of fantasy, any fantasy (though not so much horror, not a big horror fan in general), though in particular I have always loved the world of high fantasy. Some of you may have noticed this, I'm not entirely sure. Heck, the first thing I taught myself to draw were dragons and I'm always making up worlds (this is mainly confined to my writing).
Skill wise, I want to head towards a more realistic detail type style. I have long way to go before I am going to get there, but I am willing to take the time and put in the hours and the effort into becoming a better artist, skill wise. This is something that I have been wanting to do for some time now, but I lacked both the time and the basic fundamentals to do so. However, now that I have the time (so much time O_O) and have a better grasp on the basics, I feel that I should be able to practice more into heading in this direction. I still want to keep my line style coloured images as well, just have something more... detailed?... as well.
I am quite nervous about posting this journal. It's not often that I post journals that dive into my thoughts like this. It's not an easy thing for me to do and I apologise if it doesn't make sense.
~Sunktokeca
Work on what you think you need to. I have no doubt you can succeed.
RE: career: first things first, make sure NOTHING can be traced back here. Hell, even if you decide to not go with children's book covers and want to enter some other illustration field, having anything that links back to a place like this is not going to do you any favours. Secondly, like most things, it is more who you know- try to find industry contacts! Friends who have friends who have friends is a far better way of getting places than applying for positions anywhere, doubly so when it comes to art. :X
Do you have any specific plans about animation, and are you working on any fun animated projects right now?
I sorta do. I still want to run my own studio, but that's going to be one of my more long term projects, where i think illustration might be a mid- to long term project. Depends really on time and where things head. The problem is, the bank didn't approve my loan (due to 'not earning a regular salary') so I can't buy the programs I need in order to set up my animation studio and they wouldn't let us put it up against Raknar's income. It's a very frustrating and annoying thing I had to deal with. So, I'm stuck having to save the 20 grand we wanted to get me set up. But it's kinda like, have other things that need more urgent attention, like new glasses, furniture repayments (we brought a really nice bedroom suite and couch), and of course, our wedding in Feb. next year ^-^
At the moment, yes! I'm working on a 3min short for a really good friend of mine. It's set in the same kinda era as Sherlock Holmes (but a lot saucer!) and it's really fun. I'm enjoying working on it.