[Rag]

I want to start this thread by saying that this site has completely changed my way of thinking. Before I came here, I thought I was a great artist and now I know otherwise. I want to thank all the pros here for their advice. I have learned that I'm an excellent copier, but not much otherwise.
I'm 35yo, and have been in art since I was a kid. So for about 20 years. During all those times, my method for painting was photo reference and projection. I would project my subjects onto illustration board, canvas, masonite, etc and then would use the photo to complete the painting. And even though many pro illustrators and fine artist use this technique, my advice is DON'T! Projection has hurt my skills in a such a way it's not even funny. It has taken away from my creativity and my ability to draw from memory. As a matter of fact, visiting this site, standing back and reevaluating my talents has thrown me into a minor state of depression. Please don't let this happen to you.
My advice? Freehand. Freehand everything, draw from life or even photos if you can't be at the place or have access to a live model. Don't project your photos, it is going to kill you down the road. And when you are sitting in art class and the teacher wants you to draw those bottles and boxes for the 300th time, be glad that he/she is making you do this, because believe it or not, until you get this down, your comic characters, etc, will suffer.
I know this was a long post and I apologize, but please heed this warning and learn from someone who wished he would have been told the same. I hope this helped you all and if you pros have any input, please continue.
Thanks,
Rag
And by the way, if you are going to critique some newbie work, please refrain from using "Holy Hell he actually used a gradient for the background!!!!!!!!!" It's very unprofessional and makes the new artist feel like a dirtbag and doesn't help them at all. It hasn't happened to me (my post only recieved one reply, but that's ok), but I have read it in other threads.
Just my dollar and twenty-five cents worth.

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I don't believe in born talent, only born desire. The rest is all work.

[nil900]

Thank you for your advice. I'll keep it in mind.
In my opinion just copying photos is boring anyway.

[jizmo]

I totally agree with you, I'm very glad that I learn something new every day, just visiting this site. I'm 22, a graphic designer / illustrator, and all I've learned of art, I've learned it from art books. I never thought any people could be helpful to me in understanding and making art.

You see, art classes in our school (in all grades) were always quite poor. Coming from a small city, we never had a dedicated art teachers, only teachers who supervised classes. They never knew anything about the real essence of creating, nor did they actually know how to draw. From the age of 12, I always knew I was so much better in drawing than they were. To learn, I had to do everything by myself, read and study, art classes never helped or inspired me. On the contrary, I got almost flunked out for not doing one of those projects where we were supposed to take a picture and copy it to a bigger paper. Terrible, unmotivating, wrong, wrong, wrong!!

But here on these forums I've seen many excellent artist who _actually_know_something_about_art_, _have_passion_for_it and share_their_knowledge. Now I really understand how important it is to learn the art "right way", by not having to figure _everything_ out by yourself, to have someone pointing out the good things and the flaws in your art. Giving courage, critics, and support when needed.

Now I realise how good it would've been to have a great teacher or master.

- jizmo

[Icannon]

i'm very inexperienced in the art world and this forum has helped carve my future in a great way. i really didnt think such use of photo reference would hurt as bad as you say, but i guess the key to sharpening true artistic skill is to try your knowledge of creation without reference on a constant basis. see what happens and find out what you obviously do and do not understand.
I like your sig quote, rag

[Rag]

Thanks for your feedback, I'm glad it helped someone, did it? I know I'm not that old, but I see someone like Eng at 19 (well at least when this site started) creating truly excellent work, it almost makes me wanna grab a pencil and go sit in the corner. And believe me, at my age and doing this stuff for so long, that is depressing. But hey, you can teach this old dog new tricks. One last thing, I really need some help with figures, comic not realistic, realistic I can do. The exaggerated forms are so alien to me that I just can't seem to get it right. Any good tutorials out there?
Happy painting guys,
Talk to ya soon.
Rag

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I don't believe in born talent, only born desire. The rest is all work.

[Isric]

Hey, I dig the advice. I'm a 17 year old high school graduate. The school I went to didn't recieve government funding, so the art program was headed by the only guy who didn't hate art.
I'm proud to say that I am 97% self taught. This forum however has been the art teacher I never had.
For all the help and advice I've recieved I am truley thankful.




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My temporary gallery
http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/m/a/matter/matter.html

[Solitaire]

I am glad having found my way here, a good scource for inspiration and advice.

[samdragon]

I'm not sure how comic you want your figures, but if you do A search for "manga tutorials" in here or on the web you'll find some. but it's the manga style.
If you're wondering about the american style (I guess is what your call it) Just run into a comic shop and pick up a comic book. they are full of those top heavy and un-natural muscled humans. If you can draw realistic figures, you certianly should not have a problem distorting it.
Head over to www.budplant.com and look around for comic how to books. they have plenty there.

[samdragon]

Art is a life long learning process. It's never too late to take what you've learned and us it in other ways. Dude, you're not that old. so don't feel bad. You still have plenty of time to go the direction you want. I've learned more in the last couple of months than I ever have my entire college imprisonment. I'm still learning. By being on this forum my skills and understanding have shot through the roof.

[garthmidgley]

Hi Rag, good comments. As the guys said you're never too old to learn. I'm 23 and felt much the same as you when I found the forum and I'd have to say I got very depressed when I saw Spooge's stuff (http://www.goodbrush.com if you haven't already seen it), but not just him, everyone here, there's so much talent. I've got inspired to draw heaps more now, which is great, and I'm thinking about my pictures in a whole new light.
I was thinking when you asked about drawing comic characters, and I'm not calling myself a professional, but I find that to draw a comic style well, I have to approach my pictures with a kind of reckless abandonment. I know that sounds gay, but if I approach a picture thinking I'll just have some fun with it and try to be dynamic with my lines, then it can come out looking cool. Maybe it's just me, but I think the way that you approach a picture can have a big effect on the outcome.
Maybe I'm totally off, but it works for me, and it's worth a try, you can only waste a couple of minutes of your life.

I'd like to see what you come up with


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blah blah blah ...

[Duckman2]

I've just joined the forum but I can see that everyone here is very proffesional and supportive. They give credit where credit is due and criticize when it's needed. You guys are great.