[Tyler Gentry]

Im proud to present my new website with new paintings, and photography galleries, peace tyler http://tylergentrydesigns.com/
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Visionary art of Tyler Gentry. Futuristic surreal lanscapes and cosmic abstractions. Acrylic on canvas

[Dekard]

No offense but your sig makes me think you maybe a tad self centered and snobbish.. heh.. it's on your site as well. Tyler Gentry is a self-taught visionary artist.. Seriously, nice work but I guess sometimes you have to toot your own horn..
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.::astrochimp.net::.

[chimx]

if by visionary he means mediocre, then i don't see any grounds for disagreement with his signature.

[Tyler Gentry]

I had many people write the biography and artist statements, not professionals for they cost many bills. My work was citiqued by many gallery owners and friends and visionary was one of the words they described my art as being. Im being highly criticized for having written my biography in third person, however 8 out of 10 professional artist do it. Im open to suggestion rather than opinions to polish my Bio. peace tyler
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Visionary art of Tyler Gentry. Futuristic surreal lanscapes and cosmic abstractions. Acrylic on canvas

[Godwin]

no offence, but the site looks ugly; mainly the header images, what's up with the cyan text with hard black shadow on that greyish blue background?

you're obviously much much more accomplished in the traditional/natural medium, so, maybe you should get someone to design your site?
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Derelict Studios|Godwin's Space

[Isric]

aw hell no. you're posting this everywhere, gentry.

you want some advice?


1- write an authentic, humble, accurate bio about yourself. don't ever include what other people think of your work, that's a cardinal sin of the biography. people don't read bios to find out what OTHER people think, they read bios to get the inside story.

2- for godsake start painting from life. it's obvious you're just painting whatever the hell you want, and while you can do this, it will always mean that real artists will scoff at your stuff. sure, old people with galleries will marvel at your 'vision', and if that's what's important to you then go with it. but right here, right now, you've walked into artist territory, where the only advice you're gonna get is 'learn to paint better'.
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matt - rhodes

[Akolyte]

Please change the color scheme (or add one) on your site. At the very least, for the children.
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-jm

[sparth]

polish your art first. and your art should speak for itself.
i mean, you were born in 81. it's not like if you had to absolutely prove how competent you are, and that early. don't try getting old too fast.

anyway this is a gallery thing. as isric said, it has nothing to do with concept art or design.

i'm sorry if i sound harsh, but this stuff at this point will never get out of the gallery circuit. and even in there, i still find it absolutely amateur and unprofessional. your digital materials are SCARY.

the only thing that has a true interest on your site are your sculptures. and i would encourage you to really explore that direction.

sparth
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sparth.com - art on Flickr

[kimchi]

I agree with Sparth. Permanently trade in your brush for some extra soapstone to work with. Sculpture is definitely your strongest suit. Digital is by far your weakest.

[Tyler Gentry]

Maybe Godwin and Akolyte can come up with a better color scheme since your the experts, and while he�s doing that Isric can write me a humble professional bio like Luke Browns and just so you know real artists like Tom Hopkins, Donna Balma, Peter Gric, and Sergei Aparin are all very successful and they really like my work and I have never had an artist scoff puff or blow his nose at my work. Soapstone has no financial value or future the end. Sparth why will my art never get out of the gallery circuit? It�s always been out, the hardest thing to do as an artist is get in, and I have no competency to prove just new paintings to paint. Not to be rude but what credentials do you critics have under these circumstances? I agree with the website needing work but its forth one and people don�t build free websites. Do you read art magazines, go to art shows, trade conventions, the professional critiques at UBC and Emily Carr didn�t say anything about hanging up my paint, it was quite the opposite. Time is the true test and where I am in the next 20 years. Peace ty
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Visionary art of Tyler Gentry. Futuristic surreal lanscapes and cosmic abstractions. Acrylic on canvas

[Akolyte]

I don't know if I could handle the pressures of developing a website for a Visionary artist.

What credentials do you have to undermine the opinions of the people who comment on your work? Perhaps you should seek out more "real artists" elsewhere for further praise and self enlightenment since noone here is capable of understanding this high art you so majestically employ.[/i]
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-jm

[sparth]

i don't know if peter cric and the other artists you mentioned wanted to be nice to you or something, but i hope you do realise they have something that you have not.
once again, this gallery industry is living on its own. with its own critics and exentric personalities. and believe me i know what i'm talking about. coming from paris, i have been surounded by galleries for years.

do me a favor, post the exact same presentation on conceptart.org with a few pieces from your collection.
but be sure first to wear a helmet and a shield.
see you'll have people on these forums that will tell you what you're really worth. yes it can hurt badly, but at least it's a courageous move that will teach you how to improve.
for now, trust me, remove your digital section, as most people that have artistic eyes will want to keep it as an exemple of "stuff to never do".

sparth
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sparth.com - art on Flickr

[Isric]

"As an artist originating from the westcoast, i've always tried to include those 'home' aesthetics in my work. That landscape has inspired me to explore the abstract relationships between the bold shapes that can be found between rocks, mountains and trees. I hope that on some level i'm able to show you this world through my eyes."

I just woke up, found your reply, and wrote this. it took like...30 seconds. it's not even that good, and while i'm sure i've also missed your true motivation for painting, it should at least give you the general idea.

basically, the reason you've been getting so much flack here is that no one on these forums really cares that much about the 'gallery' world. We're illustrators, our work won't hang on walls, it'll be in magazines, comics, books, videogames and movies. we subscribe to the uncouth art language of the people. If you continue your search and find a fine art forum you may have better luck.

also, you ask for credentials? Sparth is a master of concept art. just look at his website. If i'm not mistaken he's recently finished some extensive work for the "Prince of Persia" videgame series.
as for myself, i've been doing contract illustration work for about 5 years, paying my way through art school. I've recently been appropriated by the videogame developer Bioware as an artist. i'll be drawing all day. My point here is that I don't think this is your world. We can't recognize the value of your work because we don't read 'inbred gallery culture monthly', and you can't recognize the value of our comments because you probably don't ever want to work in the entertainment industry.
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matt - rhodes

[Tyler Gentry]

I do art for enlightenment and joy for others in a form of self preservation and entertainment but as far as doing commercial work goes I feel like my time and life is wasted for nothing. Do you ever feel that your just prostituting your skills for money and not what really makes a positive difference in the world of art? and believe me i know what i'm talking about. coming from paris, i have been surounded by galleries for years. lol
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Visionary art of Tyler Gentry. Futuristic surreal lanscapes and cosmic abstractions. Acrylic on canvas

[merlyns]

I agree with isric completly.

okay on to the website, WAY to many elements, it looks crowded and unballanced, the text with a gradient is wrong, and yeah the websafe colors are ugly.
i rest my case about your bio, i think enough valid crits are given about that.

about your art, your digital art is really not very good, you make the same mistake most noob artists make with digital, the use of the colors is to saturated, giving it a cheap look.
the paintings are not my thing.

your grafitty and sculptures however look nice, sparth is totally right about that.

however i think you should get of your high horse, there is no point in being this arrogant artist who calls himself visionary, like dude, how old are you?
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[Isric]

haha, I want you to remember this Tyler:

the argument about 'prostituting yourself blah blah', is beyond useless against someone who is a self-proclaimed illustrator.

The reason being: because if they call themselves an illustrator it means they've faced the purpose of their work head on. Fine artists are people who find joy making work for themselves. They want to see something so they make it. Illustrators find their joy in making art for others. Anything from a child looking through a richly illustrated book with wonder in their eyes, to an art director nodding his head with satisfaction. We live by these reactions. They fuel us, drive us. We'd much rather have a job making art all day, every day than have work at mcdonalds and make art we can enjoy in our basement studios. So, if you want to call us prostitutes because we love to make art SO much, it doesn't matter who it's for or what it is? then sure, we're all a buncha whores. However, some of us are expensive whores, and make so much that we can afford to sit back every now and make whatever personal art we want (with the added skill that comes from the whoring practice).
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matt - rhodes

[Tyler Gentry]

Sounds material, good luck and I want to thank everyone for their honest critiques, they weren�t exactly what I expected but it�s a good lesson. I hope you don�t convince some kid with artistic dreams to hang up their paint to carve rocks because you say they should. I�m not that stupid but I�ve seen young artists get hurt, give up and take out their anger on society, that�s why I don�t give negative critiques. Peace ty
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Visionary art of Tyler Gentry. Futuristic surreal lanscapes and cosmic abstractions. Acrylic on canvas

[Isric]

well, anyone weak minded enough to give up because of a few bad crits doesn't deserve to be kept around. we all get bad critiques, it's healthy. without negative critiques we become stagnant, irrelevant. don't avoid a negative critique if it will help an artist become stronger.

the reason you got crits as harsh as these ones is that in your bio you come off as an arrogant prig. arrogant prigs rarely get mercy.
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matt - rhodes

[bjotto]

[kengi]

nice thread :)

i have two questions for Tyler Gentry:
a) can you paint whatever you want? whenever you want? for example portrait like rembrandt? (just a silly question about workshop)
b) do you know malevitch "black square on white", and understand what this mean, what did he trying to say? (another silly question, this time about visions)

i think that all artist should have perfect workshop even when they're doing abstract art. picasso was that kind of artist (i know he wasnt abstract artist at all), first he became master of clasical paintig [yeah he was 14 years old then but who carres ;)] then he tried different new things. he could afford it.

but i've noticed that many artist are tring to skip this first level.

about youre site, i just don't understand your art. im too stupid :).

[Mikko K]

I'm not going to start bashing anyone, but just one question if I may: do you make your living doing your art?

I have nothing against fine art, or art that's not commercial and where originality is everything etc. I'm your age so I find this thread interesting.

[Sheff]

Not to hijack the thread, but what constitutes a really good bio? Personally, I've been asked to write my own and I've had others write it, never quite to my total satisfaction. To what degree do you include 'personality?' Should the bio be completely factual, or whimsical and fun? Should it be totally serious and self-agrandizing or reflect on your mood at the time you write it?

Personally, I despise writing a bio for myself. I'm on my third or fourth one, as I re-write it every time I do a facelift on the look and feel of my website. This is about a close to writing one for myself that I don't totally hate, but I know I could sum this all up better. I'm going to rewrite another one when I facelift my site again.

If you guys would, please take a look at mine. I could use some constructive criticizm, more so on he bio, less so on the art.

Thanks,
Sheff
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Sheff
www.sheff.com

[shft5]

Some of your work is interesting, but some explanation to some pieces such as "space crystals" would be nice. Just seems rather bland and boring but maybe hearing the story behind it might bring out some thought in it. I hope you're not gonna lay the line down of "Art is what it is to the viewer" or some excuse like that.

I read your biography sheff...I still love those yellow pads. Sorry I can't critique it, gl with it though =)

[Heysoos]

I agree that your sculptures are by far your best work. While I don't think you should give up painting, I think you should make your sculptures the most prominent thing on your website simply to put your best foot forward.

I think a problem with your biography is that its kind of a biography, artist statement, and business advertisement all mixed up into one. Make them three seperate things. The stuff talking about the qualities of your artwork should be put into the artist statement which should probably be in first person. When writing a statement there are certain words you want to be careful of such as Visionary which is kind of a vague bullshit word that describes pretty much any kind of art. Words like that are a given so don't use them without elaborating on what specifically is so "visionary" about it. Keep things specific and pertaining directly to your art. the same goes for words like "thoughtful" "mysterious" and "intriguing" each of these need to be more specific as to how these terms are applied to your work. hope that helps. It can be kinda tough to straddle that fine line between promoting yourself and coming off as arrogant.
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http://www.angelfire.com/art2/wfkeil

[Bandados]

56urt8586i8686

[goodrobhunting]

A few Tyler quotes...

"Do you ever feel that your just prostituting your skills for money and not what really makes a positive difference in the world of art?"

...ok, i can see how you might view the work done here as "selling out" if you can't grasp the true reason why people illustrate. I assume then that you are more interested in creating art "for enlightenment and joy for others in a form of self preservation and entertainment". a bit kooky, but ok i can go with it.

"Soapstone has no financial value or future the end"

Hmm.... wait.... now I'm confused. I thought you said before that you were more worried about what really makes a positive difference in the world of art, and not on the money aspect. You're making my head spin.

I am neither an illustrator nor artist, if there is really a difference, and only decided to even register with these forums once i read this thread. It just seems a bit inappropriate that you would come to this site and say something like "and believe me i know what i'm talking about. coming from paris, i have been surounded by galleries for years"... there are combined years and years of professional experience in this forum, and for you to attack their opinions with questions of qualifications is downright rude.

-rob

[Drunken Monkey]

[Cicinimo]

I think glody said it best on eatpoo

[faeklone]

Personally I think some of these comments are very valid. Those include the Bio/Artist statement/ Advertising comment. If you could seperate the three that would make that site make alot more sence.

Secondly, what drives you to make your work? What makes you make it? Are you exploring an Aestetic Value or are you exploring somehting else, like the visual representation of an idea. You may be able to sell your work in a gallery, but if you want to get beyond that level and actually hold exhibitions and shows, you will have to formalize your approach to these things. This is what seperates the artist from the hobbiest.

AS for the stuff on your site, The paintings I thought had their strong points that i think you should keep on exploring. The photos looked more interesting in the little previews than they did big. The scupltures were kewl too. However, the photomanips and photoshop itself don't feel as strong a point for you as the origional paintings. You seem to like pattern work, so look up the Book of Kells, or even look at Art Neuveau. Research and explore. This will help you grow as an artist. Always strive for more and better, and when you reach it strive for more. Otherwise what's the point of continuing. Most longterm professional artists have that mentality and use that to keep them going.

You've heard alot from the Design side of things (I go to the same School as Isric) Now take a turn from the fine art side of life. You do need to learn the basics, you do need to learn how things work that way. However, to keep it interesting for you, make sure you give it some of your own slant. Always remember which one you are, fine artist or Designer. Most of the theory crosses over, however to actual act of doing and the process by which that is done is totally different.

Last of all, ignore all the good comments you get from people. It may make you feel good, however, that will not be helpful to you in the end. personally I hate praise. It's nice to have people say you've done a good job, but I'm pretty sure that you can figure that out on your own. I always get caught up in pieces I'm making and that's part of the enjoyment of the process. What will really help you in the end will be honest critiques from professionals. On these boards you get a mix of people who are either in school, are professionals, or who just fool around with the stuff. When one of us in Art School or are professionals gives you a crit, look at what we say and what you can take away from it. Although do remember that crits are suggestions. At least try it digitally. If it doesnt' work, go back to the origional file, no harm done.

In all, try to put more of yourself and what you're trying to say with your work into it. I can see that you're just about there, you have your imagry nearly to the point where it's speaking volumes, however the personal part is blocking that. You are a part of your work as much as your work is a part of the world.
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"It's not the tools you use but how you use them that counts."

[math]

well dood, u seem to be pretty arrogant. i dont think your art is bad. but its also nothing i will remember. many people here on this board are 10 times better than you. better at using the media, better at giving life to a picture. you shouldnt think just cuz people like ur work ur a better person. cuz thats wrong. and you are not special or anything either. the reason i say this is for example cuz of ur self-flattering signature.
well i like ur sculptures more than ur paintings.
i guess some people dont understand that having brand clothes, having the best school grades and qualifications, having the best car and so on, doesnt mean one is a better person.such materialistic narrow-minded people can never be real artists. just my opinion.
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quit pro quo