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Yeah, I'm still here, sort of (long)
17 years ago
General
I figure I have to write this because there are a few people waiting on stuff from me, and one or two others wondering if I'll be putting up any stuff.
The last while I've been busy with work. The next year looks like it'll only get worse, not better in that respect. That means that if I want to do this whole drawing thing I'd better buckle down and do it.
The free time I've had, I admit my tendency has been to distract myself to other things. I distract easily so that's not been hard. Now as I try to recover some of the meager skill I did have I look at everything in my watchlist and cringe at how far behind I've got, how far up I have to go, even if I want any sort of small level of respect from myself.
Spare me the "you shouldn't compare yourself to others" stuff too. Yes, there is some truth to that, but there's a fair glob of BS in there as well. If you can't convey what you want in a way that even remotely stacks up to others, well, why bother? Art is a performance-based thing, where what you produce is never fully context-free... that means, yes, there is comparison to what others do.
Many that say this compare themselves to the top talents, but that's not realistic. The problem is I'm comparing myself to what seems like the median and I'm really really lacking.
There's a lot to fix. To start with I hope to do some work on improving faces, then move to general anatomy, and then coloring. The latter ending with learning more than a smattering of Photoshop. As it turns out my work now involves some work with putting together images in that program so I can justify learning more in that it will help work as well.
I guess for now, unless I've actually sent a sketch of something I'm working on for you I'll probably have to axe any possible commissions. I just don't feel I could produce anything to significant quality to warrant money. And also, I need to really work hard on specific problems I have, and such projects don't really do that. They can help, but they don't allow for the re-drawing and re-drawing, and analysis necessary for a concerted effort to pick myself up and get better at this.
The last while I've been busy with work. The next year looks like it'll only get worse, not better in that respect. That means that if I want to do this whole drawing thing I'd better buckle down and do it.
The free time I've had, I admit my tendency has been to distract myself to other things. I distract easily so that's not been hard. Now as I try to recover some of the meager skill I did have I look at everything in my watchlist and cringe at how far behind I've got, how far up I have to go, even if I want any sort of small level of respect from myself.
Spare me the "you shouldn't compare yourself to others" stuff too. Yes, there is some truth to that, but there's a fair glob of BS in there as well. If you can't convey what you want in a way that even remotely stacks up to others, well, why bother? Art is a performance-based thing, where what you produce is never fully context-free... that means, yes, there is comparison to what others do.
Many that say this compare themselves to the top talents, but that's not realistic. The problem is I'm comparing myself to what seems like the median and I'm really really lacking.
There's a lot to fix. To start with I hope to do some work on improving faces, then move to general anatomy, and then coloring. The latter ending with learning more than a smattering of Photoshop. As it turns out my work now involves some work with putting together images in that program so I can justify learning more in that it will help work as well.
I guess for now, unless I've actually sent a sketch of something I'm working on for you I'll probably have to axe any possible commissions. I just don't feel I could produce anything to significant quality to warrant money. And also, I need to really work hard on specific problems I have, and such projects don't really do that. They can help, but they don't allow for the re-drawing and re-drawing, and analysis necessary for a concerted effort to pick myself up and get better at this.
You make a good point about not comparing yourself to the best, but also finding a reasonable level of stuff to compare with, if you have to compare at all.
Anyway, good luck in your artistic endeavors, and remember, even though any improvement is good, you also do have a bunch of people that like your stuff as it is. :}
Oh well; I hope you get things sorted out. Personally, I think you're pretty good, but more power to you for wanting to improve. Just don't forget you're already a decent artist; don't let your perceived lack of progress drag your mood down, because that won't help you improve.
That's just my 2 cents.
-BC