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The future of my Traditional Drawings
5 years ago
Hi guys, as you know, my last drawing I published yesterday, this one here:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/36650837/
It is a work that I have a lot of appreciation for, I consider it the most complex illustration I have done so far ... and also the one that I have dedicated the most time to, almost 3 weeks ... and that brings problems.
I have been thinking about it for a long time, and I have come to the conclusion that it is not profitable for me to continue like this, it takes me too long to deliver complex traditional drawings, my skills are still not very good at achieving those illustrations in a good time frame.
Traditional drawing requires time, patience and great care, I cannot make many mistakes and I have to work very slowly to avoid mistakes in the strokes, or coloring where it shouldn't, a small mistake is fatal, I can erase very rarely because the sheet wears out, I run the risk of staining the sheet constantly, and damaging the drawing means starting from scratch again.
That is why it took me a long time to draw art with that style and quality, the details, although I love to do them, take time, and although in my last commissions I have learned a lot, I have noticed that the time between illustrations is very high.
Not only does drawing in traditional require time, when I scan the drawing and clean it with Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint, I have to remove the “color” from the paper, and leave the background blank, sometimes I manage to do it in a couple of hours, but sometimes it can take me a whole day to clean the scan of impurities.
To give you an idea, I opened the commissions that I'm currently attending 3 months ago, on February 11 I opened 6 slots, and yesterday I finished with slot nº 5, I'm missing nº 6 that I will start working on today.
For the vast majority this is too much, and in fact it's ... the money I have gotten from these commissions has helped me a lot ... but when it takes me so long to do all this, it is not profitable, I'm missing a commission to deliver and I have been in need of money for a month.
I've been about to open emergency commissions, but thanks to some donations from Ko-fi, I was able to last a few weeks, and that's when I realized that if I continue like this, I won't get anywhere, I'll always be in an emergency ...
That's why I have to change, and I have to learn digital drawing faster.
I'm confident that if I practice enough I will be able to use digital drawing as a working alternative, I'm confident that I will be able to publish more illustrations in less time, since with digital drawing I don't have to worry if I make mistakes, or clean the scan, since things that make me work slower in traditional drawing don't exist in digital drawing.
However, that transition will take time, and it will not be easy, digital drawing was my goal after all, so while that happens I plan to do the following:
1- Limit complex and detailed works in Traditional Drawing:
I'm going to try to offer less traditional commission slots that are complex, and offer more slots for half bodies or busts, since I can draw those drawings more easily, I will stop offering Reference Sheets in traditional drawing, since they are works that cost me a lot of time to do in that format.
2- Set simple styles, and increase the price of detailed style drawings:
You may not know it, but I also draw less detailed styles, comic style, chibi or cartoon, here are some examples:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34930873/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34411375/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33485140/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33459007/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33327990/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33345215/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/29846781/
These drawings for me are a little easier to do, require less detail and in general I can draw them faster compared to detailed drawings.
So I was planning to offer simple style drawings as a kind of option separate from the detailed style that I usually do, I would charge these drawings cheaper compared to detailed work, and I will raise the price of detailed drawings.
I'm afraid that the new prices will drive many of my commissioners away, but I consider that my traditional drawings have more value ... and if I don't give value to the days, hours, and weeks of work that I dedicate to an illustration, If I don't value the details and care with which I work my drawings, then I'm implying that my effort is worthless.
So I will raise the price of detailed commissions, I hope you understand.
3- Treat the detailed traditional commissions as long-term projects:
Again here I'm a little scared because I'm not sure that many users like it, but from now on I will alert the commissioners who buy works of this style from me because they are orders that will take time, I have never rushed traditional drawing because I don't want to damage the quality of the work, but if the client is aware that it takes me a long time to do this type of work, I will work much more calmly.
4- Design a calendar and work schedule:
I want to take the drawing in a much more professional way, that's why I planned to design work schedules to optimize my time and work rhythm, if I want to become a professional artist, I must act and work as one.
This will allow me to allocate hours to work, hours to study digital drawing and hours to rest, and I hope this helps me to be a much faster and much more competent artist.
All these changes I will begin to apply when I finish with the drawings that I have pending, a commission, and two raffle prizes on Twitter that I still owe, and when I achieve that, I will reopen the commissions.
I hope you understand the importance of these changes that I must make, and as the title of this post says, this will change the future of my work in traditional art.
This doesn't mean that I stop drawing traditional art, I love it, I'm passionate about pencil textured designs, the vast majority of users who follow my work in FA, Deviantart, Instagram and Twitter know me only for my traditional art, and I will not stop drawing with pencil and paper.
But I have to look to the future, and digital design is something I cannot ignore, I cannot stay in traditional drawing forever, if I want to be a better artist I must be better with digital drawing and improve my traditional drawing.
I still don't feel very capable of doing many things that I have planned, a web comic, animation projects, even video games, I have a lot of ambition, and I want to explore many areas of this beautiful art, but I must also ensure a platform in which I can pay my bills and improve my quality of life with my works, and working on art can help me to that, but if I don't make these changes, if I don't take this seriously as a job, I won't be able to advance.
Without further ado, thank you very much for taking the time to read this, thank you for following my work, thank you for the comments and favorites, they help me a lot to keep going.
Greetings and have a good day, a big hug.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/36650837/
It is a work that I have a lot of appreciation for, I consider it the most complex illustration I have done so far ... and also the one that I have dedicated the most time to, almost 3 weeks ... and that brings problems.
I have been thinking about it for a long time, and I have come to the conclusion that it is not profitable for me to continue like this, it takes me too long to deliver complex traditional drawings, my skills are still not very good at achieving those illustrations in a good time frame.
Traditional drawing requires time, patience and great care, I cannot make many mistakes and I have to work very slowly to avoid mistakes in the strokes, or coloring where it shouldn't, a small mistake is fatal, I can erase very rarely because the sheet wears out, I run the risk of staining the sheet constantly, and damaging the drawing means starting from scratch again.
That is why it took me a long time to draw art with that style and quality, the details, although I love to do them, take time, and although in my last commissions I have learned a lot, I have noticed that the time between illustrations is very high.
Not only does drawing in traditional require time, when I scan the drawing and clean it with Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint, I have to remove the “color” from the paper, and leave the background blank, sometimes I manage to do it in a couple of hours, but sometimes it can take me a whole day to clean the scan of impurities.
To give you an idea, I opened the commissions that I'm currently attending 3 months ago, on February 11 I opened 6 slots, and yesterday I finished with slot nº 5, I'm missing nº 6 that I will start working on today.
For the vast majority this is too much, and in fact it's ... the money I have gotten from these commissions has helped me a lot ... but when it takes me so long to do all this, it is not profitable, I'm missing a commission to deliver and I have been in need of money for a month.
I've been about to open emergency commissions, but thanks to some donations from Ko-fi, I was able to last a few weeks, and that's when I realized that if I continue like this, I won't get anywhere, I'll always be in an emergency ...
That's why I have to change, and I have to learn digital drawing faster.
I'm confident that if I practice enough I will be able to use digital drawing as a working alternative, I'm confident that I will be able to publish more illustrations in less time, since with digital drawing I don't have to worry if I make mistakes, or clean the scan, since things that make me work slower in traditional drawing don't exist in digital drawing.
However, that transition will take time, and it will not be easy, digital drawing was my goal after all, so while that happens I plan to do the following:
1- Limit complex and detailed works in Traditional Drawing:
I'm going to try to offer less traditional commission slots that are complex, and offer more slots for half bodies or busts, since I can draw those drawings more easily, I will stop offering Reference Sheets in traditional drawing, since they are works that cost me a lot of time to do in that format.
2- Set simple styles, and increase the price of detailed style drawings:
You may not know it, but I also draw less detailed styles, comic style, chibi or cartoon, here are some examples:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34930873/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/34411375/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33485140/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33459007/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33327990/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33345215/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/29846781/
These drawings for me are a little easier to do, require less detail and in general I can draw them faster compared to detailed drawings.
So I was planning to offer simple style drawings as a kind of option separate from the detailed style that I usually do, I would charge these drawings cheaper compared to detailed work, and I will raise the price of detailed drawings.
I'm afraid that the new prices will drive many of my commissioners away, but I consider that my traditional drawings have more value ... and if I don't give value to the days, hours, and weeks of work that I dedicate to an illustration, If I don't value the details and care with which I work my drawings, then I'm implying that my effort is worthless.
So I will raise the price of detailed commissions, I hope you understand.
3- Treat the detailed traditional commissions as long-term projects:
Again here I'm a little scared because I'm not sure that many users like it, but from now on I will alert the commissioners who buy works of this style from me because they are orders that will take time, I have never rushed traditional drawing because I don't want to damage the quality of the work, but if the client is aware that it takes me a long time to do this type of work, I will work much more calmly.
4- Design a calendar and work schedule:
I want to take the drawing in a much more professional way, that's why I planned to design work schedules to optimize my time and work rhythm, if I want to become a professional artist, I must act and work as one.
This will allow me to allocate hours to work, hours to study digital drawing and hours to rest, and I hope this helps me to be a much faster and much more competent artist.
All these changes I will begin to apply when I finish with the drawings that I have pending, a commission, and two raffle prizes on Twitter that I still owe, and when I achieve that, I will reopen the commissions.
I hope you understand the importance of these changes that I must make, and as the title of this post says, this will change the future of my work in traditional art.
This doesn't mean that I stop drawing traditional art, I love it, I'm passionate about pencil textured designs, the vast majority of users who follow my work in FA, Deviantart, Instagram and Twitter know me only for my traditional art, and I will not stop drawing with pencil and paper.
But I have to look to the future, and digital design is something I cannot ignore, I cannot stay in traditional drawing forever, if I want to be a better artist I must be better with digital drawing and improve my traditional drawing.
I still don't feel very capable of doing many things that I have planned, a web comic, animation projects, even video games, I have a lot of ambition, and I want to explore many areas of this beautiful art, but I must also ensure a platform in which I can pay my bills and improve my quality of life with my works, and working on art can help me to that, but if I don't make these changes, if I don't take this seriously as a job, I won't be able to advance.
Without further ado, thank you very much for taking the time to read this, thank you for following my work, thank you for the comments and favorites, they help me a lot to keep going.
Greetings and have a good day, a big hug.
