Sketchbook Saturday
In a slight departure from normal, not only do I suck a lot at this waking-up-on-time-to-post thing, but also our guest artist has prepared less of an art submission, and more of a philosophical statement upon the subject of being an artist. Ok, so it’s less philosophy and more rant. Anyway, here it is!
I think this says it all for this week. Check the art post below — it’s a little hodgepodge of stuff of the past week that I think you all will enjoy.
TOP TEN THINGS I ***HATE*** ABOUT ART ~ ABRIDGED EDITION
(In order of least to greatest irritation: check out the full meandering edition on http://crybringer.deviantart.com)
[10: Broken lead.]
For people like me who use lead holders, there’s nothing worse than the inch & a half worth of wasted lead that either gets lost in the carpet, or (if you’re like me) is saved in the lead cases, even though you KNOW it’s worthless. Burns me up.
(Lesson learned: That’s the reason my lines are so crisp. I am a soft friggin’ touch on the page.)
[09: The “new technique hangover”.]
When you find this SWEET new technique; you’d studied and practiced and you finally GET it… Ready to deploy the newest piece of your arsenal, you pull out a new sheet of paper and… nothing. Back to square one. What a pain!
(Lesson learned: I’ve got a DS Lite. Fills in the time gap.)
[08: BAD art days.]
When you sit down and draw/color/create and for whatever reason, even though you know EXACTLY what to do, when to do it and how… you just zonk out and the art turns to garbage. There’s NO WAY to tell when it’ll happen, but when it does, it ANGERS me.
(Lesson learned: Save your progress and come back with more exp.)
[07: Error blindness.]
You’re just CERTAIN everything is in it’s place! You practiced, you sweated, and you just flew past that trouble spot you were just banking on giving you a migraine. It’s done! The picture’s done, and you move on… then a week later, you come back and EVERY SINGLE ERROR stands out like a sore thumb. What a waste.
(Lesson learned: Carry a blindfold. Then you can brag to your friends that you draw blind and call each good part a “happy accident!”)
[06: The stink of stigmatism.]
There’s just some people I CANNOT show my art to. It’s worse when you give them something you’d assume is “safe” and they treat it like dirty, dirty porn. This is mostly regarding the non-artists out there, or people unfamiliar with your work in general. Navigating that “new viewer minefield” makes me sweat bullets.
(Lesson learned: Fly over the minefield. Be really guarded about who sees the work… but then it’s on the Internet — Doh!)
[05: Understanding the ‘art’ of ‘high art’.]
The disparity is so immense… between the need to know and exercise technique, form & function… and yet look like you threw it all out the window. The need to make your work sound meaningful and hide the alarmingly simple, even accidental process of developing art… The battle against didacticism and cliches and trite work, but employing didactic, trite and cliche forms… It’s headache inducing! I just wanna draw Gradius stuff sometimes!
(Lesson learned: I like the Vic Viper.)
[04: “You draw cartoons… so you can draw ANY cartoon!”]
And really, you can replace “cartoon” with anything else that applies to you, audience. Someone who’s unfamiliar with you and your work, asks you to draw something REMOTELY related to what you do, but it’s SOOOOOOOO far outside your skills, and worse, there’s no reference provided, that you have to awkwardly explain — “yeah, I draw; I draw well… just not THAT.” Embarrassing.
(Lesson learned: Raise the commission rate. Make it worth the extra headache if I’m asked to draw the Winnie the Pooh. Again.)
[03: Perfectionism.]
I’ll never forget this. one of my best friends once said after some guests praised my work: “You know, I don’t think we see the same work that he sees.” Really, I don’t mind a critique. I ignore obvious insults and jabs, but when someone gives me a good critique, I appreciate it — because I’m REALLY hard on myself and sometimes grind to a halt if the work just DOES NOT pass inspection. It just plain sucks!
(Lesson learned: Must… relax… but leg muscle… not… right…must fix!)
[02: Explaining the obvious to the audience.]
It’s like explaining a joke. All the meaning, all the fun, all the excitement of what you’ve spent so long creating — gone. It’s particularly bad when an artist will list the EXACT FRIGGIN REFERENCE they’re using in their comments or discussion. So, read the comments. Be in on the joke! Please?
(Lesson learned: Ummmmm…)
[01: The style arguement.]
This will go with me to my grave. Read my journals. I don’t believe in anything but the natural, true “style” that EVERYONE manifests. You can ape ANY kind of technique. You can copy any sort of image with enough effort. But what makes you, you is unmistakeable. I personally look at
everything, I take the stuff I like, I incorporate it with all the hard knowledge I’ve earned, and hope like hell it holds up. That’s something to admire in an artist — their personal footprint of what they like, what drives them to create and what they’ve done to make the work their own. Their style, their individual, true vision will tell you about the artist — truly “art speaks for itself.”
(Lesson learned: I love art sometimes.)
-CB
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