A review of January

  

 

And just like that, the first month of this blog is done, it's kind of scary how fast it went by for me.

Ever since yesterday's post I've been thinking about my art direction, which, has primarily been focused on drawing and perspective since the start of the blog. I have no problems spending time on perspective, or the dynamic sketching course I'm taking, but I have a problem with what I said regarding my focus for drawing.

I never really stated anywhere in this blog so far what kind of artist I aimed to be. I want to become a illustrator for the game (preferably) or film industry. My dream job is to become a splash artist at Riot Games which, I know, set the bar pretty high. Polished illustrations is also my goal in general as an artist... so why am I not spending any time making polished illustrations? I know that I am spending my time on practicing and learning so I can more effectively deliver high quality paintings... but I'm not making any of them...

 

What's the point at getting generally better at skills like drawing (although, it never hurts), if that is not the primary obstacle holding back my progress in illustration? I never looked at a finished illustration of mine and said.. "hmm, my drawing could use more practice", I just heard from professionals that you needed to be good at it. And even then on top of that, how do I know what to focus on in my drawing skills, if I can't find the glaring mistakes because I never make them?

 

This has bothered me not just since this blog started, but for a long time now. If anything this blog has helped me focus and organize my thoughts, regardless if anyone gives feedback, or let alone looks at my blog. 

 

I've also discovered that my drawing energy and my studying energy are not as closely linked as I thought they were. I can study for about an hour and a half before I need a break, but I'm not exactly burnt out completely regarding art. So after I study, I can work on something else to put the knowledge to use.

So, with this understanding, I will try and study whenever my brain can take it and work on illustrations whenever I feel like I have the mental capacity, for the rest of February. These illustrations may take days or even weeks, and will be better eye candy for the blog than just sketches and practice. Just for the record, I still plan on sticking to what I said at the beginning of this blog and working on perspective and dynamic sketching to completion. But I think once I finish the dynamic sketching course I will start focusing more on illustration skills like composition. Of course, along with actually making illustrations, hopefully.