Art Help: Semi Mid-life Crisis

[animeloyalist91]

Ok hear is the problem. I draw and draw I have been drawing for about 10 years now and I am not getting any better. I can't beat my rival I can't catch up with my friends. I asm at a cross roads should I stop drawing or keep going. I will upload some of my pictures later.

[Retribution]

[size=1]Please note that we cannot help you [I]at all[/I] until you post pictures for us to critique. You might be making the same mistakes over and over again, but we just don't know.[/size]

[animeloyalist91]

sorry. hear are some of my dawing not all of them are origanals

[url]http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/7727/randomcatqd3.png[/url]

[url]http://img431.imageshack.us/img431/6604/metalheartht1.png[/url]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=RoyalBlue]I changed your pictures into links so that they don't stretch the OB layout. It's a rule, and if you didn't know that, please read them. Thanks.

[b]- Retribution[/b][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[eleanor]

[color=dimgray] Do you wish to pursue art as a career or as a hobby? [/color]

[animeloyalist91]

only hobby and kind of career. I want to make games so i'm not sure

[Charles]

You have a while to go before you have to worry about making this a career choice. It's not nearly a mid-life crisis. You're going to develop a other interests that are going to shape who you are and what you want to do. Secondly, you should primarily be drawing simply because you enjoy it--you shouldn't have to be better than your rival in order to have a passion for drawing. Instead, you should look at your rival's best techniques and learn from them.

And finally, try to expand your horizons and draw things how you normally wouldn't. If anime-esque drawings are what you're inclined to do, try drawing something realistic, or in a completely different stye. Try an ink drawing, markers, different kinds of pencils or charcoal drawing. Try normal shading, try cross-hatching, etc. There are a lot of ways you can go about this. Instead of simply sketching freehand, try developing an extremely lightly drawn "skeleton" first so that you can get a grasp on proportions.

Having said that, if you just enjoy drawing and want to do it as a hobby, I see no reason why you have to worry about improving and comparing yourself to others. Quite honestly, just keeping this as a hobby is probably what's best for you because your doodles aren't good enough to really qualify you as especially talented (unless of course you're insanely good with computer drawings).

[sikaurai]

Okay, I saw the two links that you submitted. They were pencil sketches, and from what I saw, you have potential. What media do you normally use? According to what I've seen so far on theOtaku, a majority of the young talent out there are utlizing wacom/photoshop/illustrator, and the likes. (I, myself, have been heralded back home as a prodigy of sorts, but I use only colored pencils. And compared to a lot of what I've seen, my pieces are kind of sad.) With that said, don't compare your work to others. Don't engage in rivalry as far as art goes. If you have the art bug, go with it, use it, improve it if you feel you must. Your sketches are nice. You should post more so the others can get a better feel for your work. . . good luck. I wish you well on your endeavors, and maybe I can see more of your work. I'd like that.

[eleanor]

[color=dimgray] If you're working on drawing as a hobby, then there is absolutely [i]no[/i] reason why you shouldn't keep with it.

Like Charles said, learning the basics of drawing and expanding your horizons is the best thing an artist can do. Most (if not all) of the popular anime artists you'll find on DA or in the professional field will have a working knowledge of different styles and basic techniques. I'll pretty much guarantee you that an artist who knows how to draw realistically will have a much more solid and talented hold on cartoons than one who only knows how to draw [i]just[/i] cartoons.

If your school offers them, art introduction classes are a good place to start. I've never taken one, but I'm really hoping that my senior year I'll have an open spot and be able to. >_>

I also looked at your public profile, and you were born in 1991. I can believe that you've drawn since you were five, but was there a point when you started to [i]really[/i] practice? I've drawn ever since I can remember, but I remember 6th grade as the year I would practice drawing daily.

So, that means I've been drawing anime for about six years. Have I improved? Yes, but it's been a long time. I still have leaps and bounds to cover if I want to be at the level I admire, and it'll probably take me another five years or so with continuous practice. I see talented artists post their progression all the time, and it's amazing to see how much they've improved and how long it's taken them, but hey, if you're enthusiastic enough. :)[/color]

[animeloyalist91]

[quote name='sikaurai']Okay, I saw the two links that you submitted. They were pencil sketches, and from what I saw, you have potential. What media do you normally use? According to what I've seen so far on theOtaku, a majority of the young talent out there are utlizing wacom/photoshop/illustrator, and the likes. (I, myself, have been heralded back home as a prodigy of sorts, but I use only colored pencils. And compared to a lot of what I've seen, my pieces are kind of sad.) With that said, don't compare your work to others. Don't engage in rivalry as far as art goes. If you have the art bug, go with it, use it, improve it if you feel you must. Your sketches are nice. You should post more so the others can get a better feel for your work. . . good luck. I wish you well on your endeavors, and maybe I can see more of your work. I'd like that.[/quote]

what do you mean by using photoshop. I have never used it for artwork.

[Charles]

[quote name='animeloyalist91']what do you mean by using photoshop. I have never used it for artwork.[/quote]

You can draw and/or color illustrations in Adobe Photoshop. If you've ever used the program, it's not a difficult concept to understand. If you're looking to expand your horizons, it may be a good idea to try it out. You could even color in/clean up the drawings you showed us here. If you ever do decide to go for a career in art, familiarizing yourself with Photoshop and Illustrator would be a good idea.

[emily-chan]

Indeed. something that i really love photoshop for is simply editing my work. after i finish my sketches, i outline them in pen... but, i'm not gonna lie, sometimes my hand slips, and i have a line where it shouldn't be and such. with photoshop, you can clean up any random lines that you dont need. i've been doing photoshop for a while now, and recently i've learned a few awesome toning and coloring techniques as well.
all that basically to say, photoshop is my hero.

and keep at it! i'd love to see more than sketches. how about a more complete piece?

[animeloyalist91]

I do not know if I have that on my computer. and have no idea where to get it. ps sorry for no new uploads computer on the scanner is crasy.

[Retribution]

[size=1]Here's just a suggestion, as it's something we did in my Drawing class I took last year.

Take the picture you want to draw, and put it upside down. Then draw it upside down (do NOT flip it right side up or it will mess up the exercise). While this sounds very odd, it's makes the right side of the brain (the creative part) take over the drawing process instead of the left side (the part that pre-assigns shapes, more logical).

Basically, when [i]you[/i] were drawing these figures, you came up with an idea of what an eye, a hand, a leg, etc, look like from your previous experiences with them. What you want to do is just focus on what shape the lines are, not that you're drawing an "eye," but what shape are those lines?

It sounds somewhat confusing, but if you just take it on faith, your picture will come out better. Start out with something simple... print out a picture of a simple character, then turn it upside down and draw what you see. Focus on just the shapes. When you're completely done, turn it the right way and you'll be amazed.

And for effect, draw it right side up afterwards and compare the quality.[/size]

[Random]

[COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1]I think that Retri's advice is one of the best here. I've tried that, as well, and it works. No, really, it works.

As Retri said, focus on what the shape of what your drawing is, not [i]what[/i] you're drawing and your pictures will be better every time.

Oh, and, as always, practice. That's all you can do is practice, practice, practice, take critisism and advice [i]positively[/i], practice, practice, try something new, and practice some more.

If you really love drawing, keep at it. You'll get to the point you want to eventually. You just need to be patient, persistant, and [I]PRACTICE[/I]. (those are Random's three "p"s to success...lol)

~Random[/SIZE][/COLOR]