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"HOW DO I ART" Aka My Thoughts on Starting out With Art
11 years ago
Was considering sharing my experience as an artist for some time now. This all is just my experience, not the ultimate truth or THE WAY OF ART or whatever. Take it with a grain of salt. I also swear a lot, cause that's how I roll. I also talk about "good" art, but I really don't consider myself at such a level yet.
Instead of talking about the basics of drawing and technique, I'll just point everyone who comes to me about the general knowledge to Andrew Loomis', Glen Vilppus' and the alikes' books. Here's a big thing about "how do I draw? How do I hold a pencil? What pencils do I need?" and similar basic stuff. EVERYONE EVER HAS ANSWERED IT A MILLION TIMES BEFORE. Here's how you can learn the theory and craft behind making illustrative art. Step one: Read a book about it or Google it. That's it. You can probably learn all the "theory" behind art from books. The things artists beforehand figured out are prolly better learned from a book first, because some of them took a lifetime to figure shit out. Perspective wasn't a thing that existed until 1400.
The theory knowledge has nothing to do with the actual practice of draftsmanship. I could go on and on about the wonders of observing, understanding and trying to understand reality for what it is for hours on end, but until you try it it's just inspiring words. And this is where I get to something I don't think many how to learn art books and courses actually talk about.
How finicky your idea of self is. The last two years of art forced me to rethink my life, forced me to accept shit I blocked out of my head and forced me to counseling and drugs for anxiety and depression. And I'm fucking glad for it.
I honestly believe every person wants to be "a good person" at heart. When someone comes to me and says they want to learn to art, I have no doubts that they want to make awesome drawings. But most people kinda stutter when they hear it takes a lot of fucking time and actual heart wrenching effort to achieve, as well as being real with yourself on ways most people who jack off to a funny fetish on the internet while riddled with insecurities can admit. First of all, a lot of you prolly procrastinate. You make an excuse called "I'm lazy." I don't believe a single person here is actually lazy. You've been told by everyone (especially society) that you are because you enjoy your video games and whatever. The moment you call yourself lazy you're basically saying "Well, not much I can do, it's my personal trait that can't be changed."
Second, you call yourself unmotivated. Odds are you're confused. You're conflicted. Possibly shamed. Or maybe you just don't want it enough. It's something you have to get straight with yourself first. You obviously want to play video games for 8 hours a day, but do you want to draw for at least 2 hours a day for starters? This is a really big thing. Unlike video games, art has no instant gratification. It's a process that you need to appreciate in a different way. Compared to learning to art, Dark Souls is casual. I really don't think any game comes even similarly close to how much willpower and trying you need to exert to improve. And I FUCKING love video games. I'm still at times struggling to keep that love in check, and sometimes it gets the better of me. Which brings me to the next point...
It's ok. It's ok that you're new to it. It's ok to be "not good." It's ok to fail. Most of you, myself included up to a point, are suffering from lack of human interaction outside of high school. Most adults understand suffering. Most people understand struggle. They can sometimes judge, but most of the time they don't care. So being "bad" is ok. It's not your fault. IT REALLY FUCKING ISN'T. You couldn't have known before, and you can't change overnight either. What you can do is try. And that's all that matters. Stop blaming and guilting yourself. It's the most unhealthy thing you can do, mentally. And worst of all, it's ok if you don't want something as bad as the next thing. Being average is completely ok as well.
And don't let shitters influence what you think of yourself.
I used to believe "being honest" aka insulting someone for doing "bad" was legitimate. I still think a person should be honest, but calling someones/thinking your own art is shit is pointless. I also find pointing out flaws in a single piece to be almost useless, not cause it hurts but cause the piece is already done. Instead, if someone is struggling with anatomy, point out that they should prolly do more studies of whatever is wrong on the pic, or even better repeatedly wrong in many of their works beforehand. Nobody is at fault for being in the process of getting enough hours in to be "good", and nobody can blame them for it. You can point out that they're stagnating in certain area's of art (the manga trap and the stylistical hell people push themselves into where they pick superficial "pretty" over deep and skillful understanding of manipulating imagery) and that would prolly be a lot more helpful than naming all the anatomy inconsistencies in their pic.
I don't really think drawing in a certain style is bad, but style is just a single element of illustrative, reality based art (Various newer fine art movements are obviously exempt with good reason.) You can refine a style all you want, but you'll either be a repetitive stamp tool that'll break the moment you have to adapt to a different challenge, or even worse, never take on any challenge that isn't in the limited area of what your style allows. Art is a massive collection of various skills that when combined, give a result. Understanding one thing helps the other, be it medium, values, lines, color and light, style or whatever.
It's in your best interest to push yourself out into the uncomfortable unknown and force yourself to do all the stuff you probably wouldn't. It's ok to feel uncomfortable, it's a sign that you're learning. Let's talk time. You want to draw like a decent illustrator working in the industry, for example. You need a shit ton of time and a shitton of dedication. You aren't drawing now to make a Mona Lisa. You're drawing now so you'll be able to make a Mona Lisa in 4-5 years (optimistically.) So everything you do now isn't a failure, it's a step towards great success. It really doesn't matter that you aren't perfect from the start, nobody was, at best they started early. The more you work, the faster and better you'll become (or maybe not. Sometimes art will take you in weird directions.) You can read this for hours. You can read books for days. All of that is useless unless you draw. Unless you do.
Thought is worthless without action.
Action takes precedence.
Thoughtful action is best.
I'll write a journal on how to actually "study" and what you should do "generally." I think it's a lot more important to teach a person how to learn than how to hold a pencil. The learn part will prolly teach them more ways to hold a pencil than anyone would ever show them.
Addition: People seem to compare video games to things like learning to draw or going to the gym or whatever. They aren't. Games are a challenge and reward system. Most skills are a challenge and no reward except maybe a "good job!" from your close one's and imaginary internet points. When drawing there's no clear indication you're doing something right (killed a creep, leveled up, got loot, did damage to an enemy, whatever) and even when you make a single line that's good, the next one can ruin everything entirely. The only real indication is after you've drawn for a month or two daily, and then stacked all your drawings from newest to oldest and then saw just how much you improved. If anyone wants to learn to draw, I urge you to do it for at least a month, so you can actually get to a point where you can decide if you can "learn to draw" or are "talented enough" or whatever. After that, it's your call if you want to quit or continue.
Holy wall of text batman.
Instead of talking about the basics of drawing and technique, I'll just point everyone who comes to me about the general knowledge to Andrew Loomis', Glen Vilppus' and the alikes' books. Here's a big thing about "how do I draw? How do I hold a pencil? What pencils do I need?" and similar basic stuff. EVERYONE EVER HAS ANSWERED IT A MILLION TIMES BEFORE. Here's how you can learn the theory and craft behind making illustrative art. Step one: Read a book about it or Google it. That's it. You can probably learn all the "theory" behind art from books. The things artists beforehand figured out are prolly better learned from a book first, because some of them took a lifetime to figure shit out. Perspective wasn't a thing that existed until 1400.
The theory knowledge has nothing to do with the actual practice of draftsmanship. I could go on and on about the wonders of observing, understanding and trying to understand reality for what it is for hours on end, but until you try it it's just inspiring words. And this is where I get to something I don't think many how to learn art books and courses actually talk about.
How finicky your idea of self is. The last two years of art forced me to rethink my life, forced me to accept shit I blocked out of my head and forced me to counseling and drugs for anxiety and depression. And I'm fucking glad for it.
I honestly believe every person wants to be "a good person" at heart. When someone comes to me and says they want to learn to art, I have no doubts that they want to make awesome drawings. But most people kinda stutter when they hear it takes a lot of fucking time and actual heart wrenching effort to achieve, as well as being real with yourself on ways most people who jack off to a funny fetish on the internet while riddled with insecurities can admit. First of all, a lot of you prolly procrastinate. You make an excuse called "I'm lazy." I don't believe a single person here is actually lazy. You've been told by everyone (especially society) that you are because you enjoy your video games and whatever. The moment you call yourself lazy you're basically saying "Well, not much I can do, it's my personal trait that can't be changed."
Second, you call yourself unmotivated. Odds are you're confused. You're conflicted. Possibly shamed. Or maybe you just don't want it enough. It's something you have to get straight with yourself first. You obviously want to play video games for 8 hours a day, but do you want to draw for at least 2 hours a day for starters? This is a really big thing. Unlike video games, art has no instant gratification. It's a process that you need to appreciate in a different way. Compared to learning to art, Dark Souls is casual. I really don't think any game comes even similarly close to how much willpower and trying you need to exert to improve. And I FUCKING love video games. I'm still at times struggling to keep that love in check, and sometimes it gets the better of me. Which brings me to the next point...
It's ok. It's ok that you're new to it. It's ok to be "not good." It's ok to fail. Most of you, myself included up to a point, are suffering from lack of human interaction outside of high school. Most adults understand suffering. Most people understand struggle. They can sometimes judge, but most of the time they don't care. So being "bad" is ok. It's not your fault. IT REALLY FUCKING ISN'T. You couldn't have known before, and you can't change overnight either. What you can do is try. And that's all that matters. Stop blaming and guilting yourself. It's the most unhealthy thing you can do, mentally. And worst of all, it's ok if you don't want something as bad as the next thing. Being average is completely ok as well.
And don't let shitters influence what you think of yourself.
I used to believe "being honest" aka insulting someone for doing "bad" was legitimate. I still think a person should be honest, but calling someones/thinking your own art is shit is pointless. I also find pointing out flaws in a single piece to be almost useless, not cause it hurts but cause the piece is already done. Instead, if someone is struggling with anatomy, point out that they should prolly do more studies of whatever is wrong on the pic, or even better repeatedly wrong in many of their works beforehand. Nobody is at fault for being in the process of getting enough hours in to be "good", and nobody can blame them for it. You can point out that they're stagnating in certain area's of art (the manga trap and the stylistical hell people push themselves into where they pick superficial "pretty" over deep and skillful understanding of manipulating imagery) and that would prolly be a lot more helpful than naming all the anatomy inconsistencies in their pic.
I don't really think drawing in a certain style is bad, but style is just a single element of illustrative, reality based art (Various newer fine art movements are obviously exempt with good reason.) You can refine a style all you want, but you'll either be a repetitive stamp tool that'll break the moment you have to adapt to a different challenge, or even worse, never take on any challenge that isn't in the limited area of what your style allows. Art is a massive collection of various skills that when combined, give a result. Understanding one thing helps the other, be it medium, values, lines, color and light, style or whatever.
It's in your best interest to push yourself out into the uncomfortable unknown and force yourself to do all the stuff you probably wouldn't. It's ok to feel uncomfortable, it's a sign that you're learning. Let's talk time. You want to draw like a decent illustrator working in the industry, for example. You need a shit ton of time and a shitton of dedication. You aren't drawing now to make a Mona Lisa. You're drawing now so you'll be able to make a Mona Lisa in 4-5 years (optimistically.) So everything you do now isn't a failure, it's a step towards great success. It really doesn't matter that you aren't perfect from the start, nobody was, at best they started early. The more you work, the faster and better you'll become (or maybe not. Sometimes art will take you in weird directions.) You can read this for hours. You can read books for days. All of that is useless unless you draw. Unless you do.
Thought is worthless without action.
Action takes precedence.
Thoughtful action is best.
I'll write a journal on how to actually "study" and what you should do "generally." I think it's a lot more important to teach a person how to learn than how to hold a pencil. The learn part will prolly teach them more ways to hold a pencil than anyone would ever show them.
Addition: People seem to compare video games to things like learning to draw or going to the gym or whatever. They aren't. Games are a challenge and reward system. Most skills are a challenge and no reward except maybe a "good job!" from your close one's and imaginary internet points. When drawing there's no clear indication you're doing something right (killed a creep, leveled up, got loot, did damage to an enemy, whatever) and even when you make a single line that's good, the next one can ruin everything entirely. The only real indication is after you've drawn for a month or two daily, and then stacked all your drawings from newest to oldest and then saw just how much you improved. If anyone wants to learn to draw, I urge you to do it for at least a month, so you can actually get to a point where you can decide if you can "learn to draw" or are "talented enough" or whatever. After that, it's your call if you want to quit or continue.
Holy wall of text batman.
Second, you call yourself unmotivated. Odds are you're confused. You're conflicted. Possibly shamed. Or maybe you just don't want it enough. It's something you have to get straight with yourself first. You obviously want to play video games for 8 hours a day, but do you want to draw for at least 2 hours a day for starters? This is a really big thing. Unlike video games, art has no instant gratification. It's a process that you need to appreciate in a different way. Compared to learning to art, Dark Souls is casual. I really don't think any game comes even similarly close to how much willpower and trying you need to exert to improve. And I FUCKING love video games. I'm still at times struggling to keep that love in check."
Thank you. Thank you for basically articulating my entire life's story. I've basically been having this exact problem and I couldn't really put my finger on why. It's the instant gratification thing, really. And it's not just art. Hell, if I get dressed, that's a red letter day. And leaving the house? Alert the media. But no. I need to stop calling myself lazy, and then I need to stop acting lazy and fucking do something. Anything. And hell, maybe finally getting back into drawing like I've been telling myself I'll do for the past few years, maybe that's a good starting point.
I'll see you in a month, Kono.
On my end I must say I loved your words about feedback... saw to many people commenting... well crap
Cheers!