A Plea To The Artistic Soul.

[Lee]

calling all amazing artists out there. I have decided to dedicate my life to becoming a great artist. I am right at the beginning of this endeavour and am about to start  at an atelier in Edinburgh Scotland in two weeks time which i am pumped about,My main query is about study. I want to study as much as possible at home, the more hours of deliberate practice i can put in the faster my progress to mastery will be. Even though i will be attending this arts atelier three days a week, because this is all i can commit too, having a family i cannot be away for a full week each week for the foreseeable future so my compromise is only doing three days, which is fine as long as i can practice a lot while at home. So can i get some advise off people who have made it to expert level please? Do i spend 1 hour drawing eyes then the next drawing lips, ears ect. Because i have purchased a few courses by this guy called PROKO who is pretty cool. i got the figure drawing and anatomy courses. But does that mean i have to spend all day just trying to learn gesture drawing and learning the bean and robo bean, or should i be breaking this up and doing a bit of figure drawing then draw hands eyes noses ect. It might sound obvious that the answer is just draw anything all the time and repeat, repeat practice, practice. but i need to know that what i am doing is constructive and has a logical course of action. thank you for all and any comments.

[Extreme Z7]

14 minutes ago, Lee said:

It might sound obvious that the answer is just draw anything all the time and repeat, repeat practice, practice. but i need to know that what i am doing is constructive and has a logical course of action. thank you for all and any comments.

You need emotional support more than you're going to need a logical strategy. If you feel within your being that art is something that makes you happy, then you will basically attract anything you need to make it happen. This is Law of Attraction talk though, don't take it literally.

[Lee]

@Extreme Z7 Hi extreme, i agree with you there, i feel like i am already in need of emotional support and people around me who have been through what i am trying to accomplish, this is the main reason i am going to invest thousands of pounds to travel every week and be around these people, because i have weighed the pros and cons about trying to do it all by myself at home, but i don't think i'm emotionally strong enough to fully dedicate myself, I know this sounds weak that i admit this, i'm just going of past history, thats why i need to be in a positive environment with like minded people, and you can't put a price on that i think.

[Extreme Z7]

@Lee "Yap yap yap yap yap" All that matters is that you want it and you will do anything for it. That's why you're spending lots of money to be around people that help you achieve your life purpose, I could only dream of having that kind of luxury.

I have kind of the same dream as you do. I want to be a cartoonist. But most of the time, I spend time alone and I spend hours working on college projects to complete a college major that I don't even really want but have to get in order to survive in this society.

Don't obsess over your deficiencies, cherish what you have because not everyone else pursuing that same goal has it.

If you're still having trouble dealing with your psychological issues, the advice from the video below should help.

 

[Lee]

@Piotr @Piotr hi Piotr, thanks for your thoughts. I simply have a vision to quote Steve martin " to become so good you can't be ignored". When i watch the effortless masters like Glenn Villpu drawing, it is so intuitive and natural to him, obviously when you have been doing this for 60 years or so it should probably come easy to you. But still i wonder if after 5 years how close can i get to that level. If i can get the 10000 hours of deliberate practise in, will i be able to reproduce masterpieces without breaking a sweat? Maybe not, but hopefully after 10 years i would like to think i will be well on my way if i don't become my own worst enemy and let doubt and other demons into my head. It is hard at this point to really pin down what i will be doing in 5 years 10 years, but at the very least i would hope i can make a living from my work. I have thought about opening a shop where i live offering my services for portraits ect, while also advertising online. There is a local artist where i live called Jennifer Lambert whom i have spoken to who is amazing at realist art and seems to do very well, she charges £220 for an A4  portrait and £350 for an A3, i'm not sure how long these take her in hours but shes obviously happy with what she charges. But to be honest there is no point me even thinking about what i could earn, i think my level of skill will determine that. But i would be lying if i didn't fantasise about my work hanging in galleries, i suppose that's an accolade to be earned through years of labour. Your point about planning is definitely the key i think and i like your list, this seems very logical to me thanks. I would love to think that i could become creative in a Salvador Dali kind of way, letting the imagination run wild and being able to put your thoughts onto paper must be an amazing feeling. So i guess this is where i would like to end up i think. But right now i would just settle for my drawing to be decipherable lol. It looks very interesting and creative being a patter designer, i hope you love your work. 

[Lee]

@Extreme Z7 Hi extreme, that video was very helpful thanks. And i hope you can pursue your dream of becoming a cartoonist. I do understand about having to do things that you don't want to do to survive. I have a trade as a plasterer which i am trying to get out of since in gives me no real pleasure, but it exists as a means to an end, it has helped me get in the position i am now. Over the last 3 years i have sold my house uprooted my family moved in with my parents spent 16 months working for no money doing up the house for a friend, which me and my family have now moved into and can live here rent free for the next 5 years, so that i can fully commit myself to finding a life purpose, this is why i have some money to invest in my future. But i no longer own a house and have put all my eggs in one basket in the belief that it will make for a more fulfilling future for me and my family. This might seem a drastic course of action, but just living for the sake of working, to pay the bills, mortgage ect just seemed crazy in the end and if i didn't take action, then nothing would have changed. I think this is i feel, a lot of extra pressure trying to justify these decisions, and i don't feel like i have time to waste, making mistake after mistake, But i like what you said about not obsessing over my deficiencies, for they are wide and varied lol, but cherish what i have. I think i do get so caught up in things, that i forget this simple thought. I have to ask why you are pursuing a major that you don't really want to do? Because just surviving, in the end leads to misery, believe me. Glenn Vilppu who is an amazing artist said that while learning to master drawing he would work no more than 20 hours a week to pay for food rent, but the rest of the time he spent drawing. And this was an amazingly wise choice for him, as history can testify too. I know i have know idea of your circumstances, but as they say if only i knew then what i know now, I would not have wasted countless years procrastinating my youth away. But i had no idea what i wanted to do with my life. You know you want to be a cartoonist. This is no small thing. Everything else should take a back seat to this. Good luck with whatever path you go down.

[Yukise99]

You and I are on the same boat to become master artists, realistically speaking you just gotta stick with it and have social emotional support. I would recommend you focus on your social skills because you will be working with people for the rest of your life. Be practical and take criticism from everyone, that includes your classmates and teacher. I've been to an atelier before and it's quite daunting and emotionally frustrating because you end up facing yourself over and over again. Day in and day out you face whatever is in your psyche and pour out that battle onto a canvas. Trust me, even Leo would agree that emotional labor is highly underestimated towards any endeavor nowadays. I'm always up to talk if you need to hear a voice. Just send me a pm  

[Lee]

@Yukise99 Hi Yukise, I wish you all the best in your artistic endeavour, i'm sure that you're way ahead of my current skills which are at this moment quite basic, i have not been doing as much as i would like over the last month ever since i visited the Academy of Realist Art in Edinburgh, mainly the reason is that they hold the pencil different to how i have been learning from the online watts atelier, which is i little annoying since i was getting a good feel for that technique, but if i am going to be going to Edinburgh for the next so many years i thought i should just chill a bit and wait until i get shown their exact techniques, rather than grooving habits that need changed, they really just seem to hold the pencil at the very end which i feel doesn't give you as much control, but i have seen the results from the students there which are amazing, so what do i know. Its only another week until i start going, so nearly there and rearing to go. Which atelier did you attend? and how long did you go for? I agree with you totally about the emotional labour that will be required, i have tried many things in the past and have always found a reason to quit, but thanks to Leo i feel i have a better understanding of what to expect from myself and hopefully how to deal with the mental battle i'm about to undertake. i appreciate your kind offer for a chat and look forward to letting you know how it goes in Edinburgh.

[Ayla]

@Lee ,

I really REALLY recommend you this book: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Artists-Way-Discovering-Recovering-Creative/dp/0330343580/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467986415&sr=8-1&keywords=the+artist%27s+way

 

[Yukise99]

@Lee There's a lot of different ways to do a single thing, I forgot the quote but there's at least 40 different ways to wash the dishes...so if you're going to Edinburgh try out their methods and add it to your repertoire. The funny thing about pencil holding is that I've been taught two different ways as well, but it's all about experimentation and finding what works for you (just be open-minded about it). I hold the pencil sideways now as oppose to the end of it now because my wrist doesn't cramp up as often and I can use my shoulder for gesture. It's scary but I think as long as you treat this opportunity with reverend and respect and healthy dose of fear ( if I goof off and party a lot, my art won't be as good/  I won't be as employable) thne you should be alright. 

[Lee]

@Yukise99 wise words once again, thanks yukise. I will certainly treat this opportunity with the respect it deserves and let you know how things or going. Good luck with your endevours

[Lee]

@Ayla Thanks Ayla this looks an awsome book, i shall definitely get it, just from reading the reviews i was inspired