Most creative people aren't naturally good at business, and that's ok. After all that is why we choose to do art and not wear a suit to work each day. But,, we also live in the real world. Our art is very personal , and sometimes as artists we are a little too close to our work to form a objective view.
What I am about to say might seem strange to you but it might actually help. Once you have slaved and sweated over your artwork, poured your soul into it so to speak, what happens to it ? That artwork when you show it to the world BECOMES A PRODUCT. 'My artwork isn't a product' I hear you say. Well technically it can be used to make products which are there to make money, like t shirts, books, prints, comics, games, movies, etc... With that mindset start to ask yourself, how do I sell my product, how do I find my audience. Would someone be interested in buying my product or hiring me to help make a product for them? I want to make say a beautiful painting of a snail lets say. Who would be interested in this as a product? This way of thinking isn't selling out, but thinking about your art with a little bit more of a eye on business is smart.
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If you want to shorten your art career, work flat. If you want to damage your neck permanently , work flat. You can make a cheap wooden angled workspace on your table, or buy one from your art store, and you can buy stands for your tablets.
There are a lot of fields in art, and every field might seem like there are guidelines. Don't set up imaginary limits or set rules for yourself in said field.
Example : If you think that children's books should be simply drawn and lack detail, that is putting a limit on what you can actually do. My children's books are complex and have lots of detail. Another example, 'Collage is used for children's books.' I use it in fantasy art, another rule broken. Rules belong in court , not in art. Things that are different stand out. Think about what you want to say with your art, copying a style is a way of learning, if you copy from only one artist you yourself become a copy. Add touches of yourself in your art. I love aeroplanes and you will find them scattered in my children's books, same with cats. People like art because they can relate to it, art is an invitation from the artist into their soul. ( I love dogs too btw ) Tell YOUR story. Sooner or later you will probably specialize in one area. However, it is always good to have a general knowledge. One way to learn more is take tips from people in different fields than you. A painter would learn from a photographer in capturing a moment, a illustrator would learn from a animator who's job is to simplify, a graphic designer might learn from a colorist etc...
The flip sid is to be aware that a painter might not be able to help if you want to go into animation, or a book cover artist might not be good advising you on a path in children's book illustration. If you asked Bob Ross to paint a happy little tree, great. If you asked the landscape master to help you with human anatomy, probably the wrong person for you. Find the correct teacher for your needs or the correct source material suited to what you want to learn. Be flexible in what your goals are, you might land up in a very different field than you originally had in mind. A artist in this day and age needs to be flexible, that doesn't mean you need to master every medium or every genre but don't put all your eggs in one basket. Take your time , art is not a sport or a race. Forget this whole trend to put up a post everday.Even though it feels it these days art is NOT a popularity contest. Remember , every professional artist was a amateur artist at one point. This tip is really an important one, don't feel rushed to find your style. Style is something that comes after years of experimenting. It is something that finds you rather than you finding it.
So if we forget about finding a style lets focus on what is important. The most important part of art is communicating your message to someone. Art is a visual langauge, before you can write your story, learn the language. Another way of saying this is to learn your basic fundamentals. The humble pencil is the magic wand of the artist. Drawing is the most important part of your visual toolbox, if you build a house on a bad foundation it will always show through. "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist' Pablo Picasso Put in the hours, talent only goes so far. Learn to learn and never stop learning. Ego gets in the way of learning. This is a colour study. It just shows me how I want to colour it and if the values work and if the light is interesting. I just am very curious to see how Jautja society works and there is hardly anything showing how the family structure works, just the hunting and tribal part.
Have been trying to figure out this particular painting, did some very heavy industrial robots and some very elegant ones but came back to the first sketch I made since the birth of Venus is about female beauty. Thought of hinting at metropolis as a reference point since she is such an iconic movie figure.Off to make more sketches because this week I won't be painting just figuring out the paintings I want to tackle before trying to send our children's book off to publishers. #4minigeeks
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
September 2022
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