[replicant]

As the topic implies, I feel like my skills are going no where. I doodle a lot in class and every so often something good will come out of it. Well I drew a really neat pose that I want to try and bring to life. And for some stupid reason I just can't make anything come about. I just get frustrated really fast and I hate my style. I guess everyone goes through this phase at some point in his/her career.

I feel that if I just keep practicing it will get better and my frustration will go away, but the more I try and sketch out anything the worse I feel I'm getting.

Anyone else?

replicant

[Liser Studios]

there's a really simple solution. i've written a tutorial about photoshop, but i'm sure it can help you out.
http://home.domaindlx.com/liserstudios/ps1.htm

but for real though, why can't you "bring them to life"? Are the poses really stiff, is it the faces,...?
My beliefs are about to follow, but i'm only a little 18 year old kid from Picksburgh, PA; so my opinion may not be correct... it's just what i've found has helped me.
btw, i know nothing about you, what style you draw, or how much you know about anatomy. i'm just gonna say this as if i was talking to myself from awhile ago. lol.
I'm a believer that realism won't just help you learn to draw realistic, but it'll also help out stylized stuff greatly. I'd say study anatomy and bone structure a lot... i think it's helping me out a lot, even though i just started studying it lately. If you want to change your style, look at styles of people you like.
But don't copy a picture of theirs directly. See how that person did what the did and WHY they did what they did, then make an original picture and incorporate the things that they did into your own art.

[ January 22, 2002: Message edited by: Liser Studios ]

[xXxPZxXx]

ohhhh yeaaahhh. it was actually right around this time last year where I got really interested in art and started sketching a lot. I saved all my sketchbooks since then and I look at some of the things I have done and I go "why the hell can't I do that now?" it's kind of weird I actually have gotten better but it is slow =( A year ago I know I was hoping to be further than I am.

Whatever though as long as once in a while I can go "oooh I think I kinda like this" that's all that matters.

Oh and when you feel like you are getting stressed at sketching. Scribble and scribble hard, then remember this isn't work and you are actually becoming a better person. It should be more therapeutic (sp)

-PZ-

[Gimbal8]

I think I know exactly what you are going through.

New Years resolution: Put more effort into artwork. This year I'm going to finish something. This year I'm going to practice an aspect of art until I get it right. Years pass...resolutions go unresolved. Frustration and scribbles and hours of staring at blank paper. Hey, this doesn't look so bad. Come back an hour later, wow this sucks! Throw it away. Draw stickman. Swear earlier stickman drawing done as a child were better. Throw it away. Sigh heavily. Look at crappy artwork that you see posted and know you can do better. Get mad when you try to do better then the crappy artwork you've seen posted and can't. And so on...

Any of this sound familiar? If so my advice would be to study and practice. By 'study' I mean to read about art. Not art history, but about how art is made. Pick up any kind of how-to book of art and read it over. Think about how the artist approached a picture and the thought process they went though to complete it. Study the pictures themselves and deconstruct, reverse-engineer what how the artist went about drawing or painting something. Continue to practice drawing, shading, painting etc. All the while being mindful of the things you've read or deduced from pictures you've seen.

Eventually after your brain has had time to digest all the information things will start to fall in place. Simple sentences you've read that made perfect sense before will suddenly have deeper meaning or will suddenly 'fit' into the larger puzzle of understanding. And this knowledge will progressively find it's way into your artwork as you practice. And just when you thought you understood something another peice of the puzzle will fall into place and make things even more clear.

Just be sure to continue drawing, no matter how uninspired or crappy you think your artwork may be now. No matter how much someone knows about art it would be very hard for them to produce anything worthwhile if they never put pencil to paper before. Knowing how is half the battle. Being able to do what you know is the other half.

I don't know how sound this advice is since I'm no great artist myself but I seriously doubt it could do any harm.

[replicant]

All that you have said has been inspiring. I did a little bit of what each of you said. I decided to play return to castle wolfenstien and kill some ppl to make me feel better. Now I feel almost relaxed. I have new ideas, and am going to try a few new methods to approach them. Once again, thanks for all the insight and advice.

Cheers!

replicant

[MoleculeMan]

Well the first thing you should do if you want to get better is take some courses! I know what you mean. I have been drawing since i was little, but art got put on the back burner during much of my highschool years for about no reason. About a year or two ago i got reintersted and think that art is my first passion, since its the only thing to stick with me over so many years. I haven't seen as much improovement as i would like on the surface, but underneath i can see my skill developing. Its nice to see, and you will too if you keep at it (I am by far not great, but getting better!). Well my advice is that first, improvement will be slow. People rarely increase in skill with leaps and bounds on thier own, let alone with instruction. Remember art isn't something that happens over night. If you want to become great you will probably devote years to learning. As you can tell there has been a lot of joking about how every nube has taken the "SHOW ME THE TUT'S AND I SHALL BECOME THE MASTER OVER NIGHT!" route. Its going to take time basically, there is no absolute secret (well that i know of ) that will make you bloom like a butterfly other than practice.

I know that stuff above didn't make much sense, i hope you garner a few kernals of knowledge (and a bit of laughs at my poor spelling heh). Just practice drawing things and from your imagination. Take a few classes. I think i said that already. :/

Jake