[Radiater]

For the last couple of months I�ve been reading this board and finally got up the courage to post something.

Once upon a time I thought I would/could make a living with art. Then, for many reasons - mostly the fear of being a starving artist (and a wife) - I elected to go into a safe career. Now that I have my safe career established, and I can afford art supplies, I was thinking of getting back to art. However, other than one year of high school art, I have no formal training. With kids, I can�t just go to an art school. So, here are a couple of samples of what I can do. Perhaps, if you have some suggestions about a quick and dirty way to refine my skills to make me employable, you could post them. Then again, maybe you could save me a lot of trouble. If there�s nothing worth refining here � let me know and I�ll stick with my day job.

Rad.

Ps. Criticisms of the pictures are also most welcome.

[SporQ]

quick and dirty method, sorry that doesn't exist. long and dirty, you betcha. good news is that you have quite a bit of talent already. i would suggest more art from life, like the bottom pic(my fav). it will help you get confident in your strokes. also, you gotta start using color. try some different mediums, all pencil sketches won't cut it.

quit the day job? not yet, but someday. just practice, practice, practice.

SporQ

p.s. the only art supplies you need are photoshop and a wacom

[eric_morrell]

I like the bottom one the best also. There are points in all of these pictures where you really see like an artist. You see colors or tones instead of what really exitsts but there are other parts of the picture where you try to draw what you think you see. There is always a chance to begin an art career. I know a guy who quit being a doctor to pursue a art career and he now sells his prints for around 60$ for a 12X12 inch drawing. But I know nothing about getting into art as a career because I have always done all my work in my free time for the pleasure of doing so. I would encourage you to buy a set of watercolor paints a few cheap brushes and a thick pad of paper. Bring some water with you and go to the park and paint what you see. This will help you work on seeing the underlying tones and will also free your sketching skills. In any subject whether it be aliens or lanscapes you need to build your skills and your relation ship with your hands. Keep drawing! And stay loose with your pencil!
Eric Morrell

[travis travis]

quick and dirty, eh? Well it sort of depends how you want to be employed. I mean you can always turn to stylization to avoid the technicalities of realism... but you'll want as much base knowledge as you can get no matter how you end up drawing, to feel secure about it. If you're serious, it's the same answer as always, dig in. Don't think about it, explore it, read books, talk to people. Most people can learn drawing as a skill, just have to do the work.

[marc_taro]

You won't get anywhere looking for quick solutions. I suspect you know that. I'd say you have 2-5 years of practice before you'd be making a professional wage. That's an honest estimate. Keep it up - take some figure drawing, get on the color and don't ever rely on quick fixes.

[vracky]

Really impressive Radiater!

I especially love the 3.

You seem to be very skilled.
Good luck!
Vracky

[SilverSpy]

Hey man those are pretty good, I'm sure if you practice you'll become better. Just don't give up, do it on the side, practice when you have time, take up life drawing, you'll get there. Just don't give up, remember aim towards a better life if you think you can gain that from art then all the power brother!! =)

[philjaeger]

Right now i think that your work is in the category of children's book illustration. it might not be in a year.working with color would be good at some point....whenever you feel comfortable.
i assisted in teaching a life drawing class for a year. what i've found is that alot of people have the skill....they just need to find the confidence to apply the skill.

Phil

[Radiater]

Hey, thanks to everyone who responded. Usually, I only show my sketches to my wife, she�d tell me they were good even if they weren�t. So having some real feedback from people who are involved in art makes a difference. I appreciate the comments, compliments and advice.

For those who said there wasn�t a quick and dirty way into professional art: that�s what I was afraid of. Color is something else I�m afraid of (using that is). Oh well, guess it�s back to the drawing board, for a while.

Radiater

Ps. SporQ I have photoshop already � guess I just need to figure it out and then get one of those wacom�s.

[EviLToYLeT]

I like the 2nd one. the heat exhaust on the plane is great

[Myros]

I think you should continue with your art for sure. Obvious talent there. Myself I recommed getting some oils and some canvas board to experiment with color, oils are so fluid and forgiving. And of course Photoshop will become your best friend, Ive never owned a wacom so Im looking forward to getting one of those myself Keep up the good work.

Myros

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http://www.stormsword.com

[Awetopsy]

Talented? yes
quit dayjob? no.
practice practice practice? absolutely..


i love the third pic.. amazing.

-awe

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Freeze, This is a holdup!! Give me all your Talent!!!

[dr . bang]

Don't quit your day job dude, you can stil do art on your free time. It's not like you have to work on your day job forever without any arts.

By looking at your pic, you're obviously got the brain sets for drawing, i suggest you get more pratice on human potraits