[shinji69]

I am completely lost. I don't know where to start. Copying from Brigdman and Vanderpoel books doesn't seem to get me anywhere. I did a couple of self-portraits on my sketchbooks with prismacolor pencil. (I realized that prismacolor pencil works like a piece of crap with poor lighting reference.)

And visiting this site made me completely lost.

web pageweb page

Duh, how do I GET THERE? Where do I start? I did hundreds of life drawings and sketches for last 4 years, but it doesn't seem to get me anywhere. I've been doing some conceptual designs but they are very unsatisfactory.

And of course, I suck at painting.

One thing that came up to my mind is to create stories before I do something. I realized that designing something without a solid concept doesn't get me anywhere.

I've been working on several stories, but they are all stuck in 'sysnopsis' phase. I simply can't work on them because I am not a good storyteller and I am afraid of writing chessy dialogues and plots filled with cliche.

Thought about creating some conceptual works from DUNE, just to add something to my portfolio and gauge my skill level. But I am stuck with choosing what to draw with. Duh. -_-; What kind of pencil should I use? What kind of paper? Should I paint them with oil or scan the drawings and paint them on photoshop? I really don't know what to do. In my head there are vague images of many things floating around. Guild navigators, heightliners, guild representatives, stillsuits, Sardauka, Baron Harkonnen and stuff...but they all end up looking like someone else's work...

Sketching with marker on thin layout paper sounds like a joke. I want to work with something more solid.... or maybe I need some solid schedulings. I am a slob. ^_^

Anyway, these are some of the stories that I've been working on.

1. Something inspired from my own life, kinda like a trilogy. It's about a dishonored and disgraced man. For this I've been working on the most convincing joint structures for a robot. This is the toughest design I have ever faced because I really had to make the robot sit with its legs crossed and still have thick armors and no visible weakpoint. And the whole shilouette is inspired by modern concept car design, ala Art Center style.

2. A Gundam rip-off with ultra-mature themes. I was working on designs that are inspired by F-22 and JSF. It's a pain in the ass to make them transform into a component of robots. -_-; I was trying to design something humanoid and straight out of modernism figure sculpture style...

3. Dune rip-off with heavy oriental look....never took off beyond the description of main character. Must work on a lot of...A LOT OF costumes!!!!


4. Redesigning ultraman, giving him a new proportion that guy-in-a-suit effect can never work.
5. Star Trek fanfic project with a Star Destroyer size vessel full with non-humanoid aliens and designs that can simply cannot be made into TV screen. And a lot of robots.

6. Designing a Golem with 17th century European look

[Icannon]

you wont know what to use until you try. experiment with the infinite mediums the world supplies you (it's all mark making). there's no right or wrong way to go about things and it doesnt sound like you should need a helping hand. every drawing you do you will improve with, tho you may not realize it. show us your work, if you're concerned about it, so that you can get some more direct feedback.

[Jacks True Self]

How about going to school? http://www.associatesinart.com

I'd give anything to be able to move to the area u live in, there is so many awsome schools there. And i don't mean Art Center of De$ign.

[shinji69]

Well, I don't live in Cali at this point. I am in the military. I am stationed in Vegas. Well, Las Vegas is one of the worst place to learn art...

I'd be happy to get booted out from the military as long as I don't get a dishonorable discharge. -_-; Even my parents think going to school full-time is more beneficial than staying in the military, if I am willing to take a lot of risks. Military has a lot of benefits, but you won't never be able to explore your full potential unless you are from Devil's ass, AZ. ^_^;

Yeah, I really want to go back to LA and go to AIA. I plan to go to either one of two CSUs, CSU Long Beach and CSU Fullerton. Fullerton has entertainment design program. But I really want to excel in illustration first.

[nova]

You should start by drawing what you like to draw, or in your case the stories you've thought up. Picture scenes from those stories and illustrate them. Don't worry about getting it right, just give yourself time. It took me about 2 years of hard work to get somewhere where I'm not afraid to show my art to someone else. You can take a look at my progression on my site, in the gallery.. at the top there's a link to an archived artwork page that has stuff i did in 99 or so.. http://www.geocities.com/blackpixelss . Don't say you suck at painting.. of course you think so when you're just starting out. You have the right to say so when you've tried for months and seen no improvement. Art is about expressing yourself and enjoying it

Give yourself some slack and learn one thing at a time, like anatomy for a month, shading/lighting for a month, and then if you want to paint, begin by understanding the medium. Painting is difficult, that's why it's important to learn how to draw well first and learn what comes with it. Then, after you understand the basics of the technicalities of drawing, you can more or less translate those skills you learned to painting. If you'd like more help, e-mail me or something [[email protected]] and I'l love to help you out!

Hope I said something that makes sense
-- Laura

[c]

shinji this has got to be like the 20th time you've posted something like this. doesn't it ever get old for you?

stop blaming your tools or lack of, your education or lack of, your experience or lack of, or yourself.

the way you constantly judge your own art and compare yourself to others isn't the way to go. i know its a hard habit to break, and i'm working on it myself, but you need to try anyway. seperate the neurosis from your art, concentrate on just making the best work possible.

you know the twain quote, 'work like you dont need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one is watching', well substitute 'dance' with 'draw' or 'paint', ok?

paint like no one is watching, that is the best i can offer.

[ December 09, 2001: Message edited by: c ]

[Solayna]

The most important thing that I've learned over the past few years is that tools don't give you talent. If you can draw well it doesn't matter whether you use your kid sister's crayons or pencils that cost you $1000. If you have good tools you have to know how to use them as well.

All you have to do is to draw all the time and try to improve your drawing skills... You can't create wonders in one day >_<

[RenaissanceGirl]

First of all, ditto on what C said.

Now I'm definitely no professional and can't offer any advice on what tools are good or whatever, but what happened to drawing/illustrating simply for the fun of it? It sounds a bit like you're thinking way too much about it - just pick up the closest art paraphernalia near you at this moment and just create and have fun!