[Nex]

Reading through posts a lot it comes to me that there seems to be one line of art almost everyone wants to follow.

Things like: Spoogedemon/ Fallen /... is my personal "god", I will do everything to draw like him.

This could be a good thing when you know where to stop. It helps you develop.

On the other hand you can very easily loose YOUR own personality in your pictures. One day when you are as far as they are now you won't be like them, because they have THEIR style and yours just looks the same.

Its the same in music too. There are hundreds of musicans devoting their life on playing Guitar LIKE Jimmy Hendrix did but there was only one real Jimi Hendrix. He had a unique style.

Look a synij for example.. He has a very recognizeable unique style. You'd say he's a good artist even though I don't think he could draw stuff that fallen does.

So all in all:
I think you should have your influences, but don't call them "gods" because they are not.

Everyone has something unique waiting to be released on that white paper (screen) infront of you.. why not try to explore and let it out?

commments?

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- Nex

http://www.geocities.com/nexxus00/

[Anthony J]

good stuff!
I'm hoping to come out with some good work soon...

looking forward to see everyone's 'own'
unique styled work.

if every artist did the same thing
worked in the same way
had the same look
art - wouldn't be - aRt




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Digital Painting Gallery
http://anthonys.8m.com

"you must feel the force in order to use it Obi-Wan..."

[Zor]

Tough subject really..antony summed it up already tho really, I mean if we didnt have our own style, there would just be a war of art going on, and nobody would be able to express there tru art feelings, Art would then be one hugh big competition and a burden on ones art career.

So many people are taking art too seriously, saying "mine is better that this and that etc" well, WRONG, there is no circumstancial evidence that One persons art is better than the other..I mean it always falls back to one thing,, "beauty is within the eye of the beholder" so I wish people would stop trying to be the best, but simply be the best they can be. this would then be able to reflect such tru art and a great flowing community of artists.

There is no god of art..weather it be Fallen or Dhabi or mullins, there art is great. but cant we just appricate the art for what it is? instead of what they are, and how good they are compared to the rest?

Quite a meaningful post this for me, as I have worked with MANY Bickering Idiots that call themselfs artists when all they do all day is try and be betetr than the next guy etc etc, and then make mistakes and loose ther job or there faith.. and everytime that this happend, I was always the person to say "I told ya so"

Sorry to babble on....

/me rants

Zor

[Nex]

Whow! Great that I am not the only one thinking like this.. good to know.

I agree with you both 100%.. After all its all about "Express yourself" no?

[Sumaleth]

I agree 100%... although I WILL do anything to draw like Craig Mullins...

Sumaleth

[SaltyDog]

I already can draw like Craig..I just choose not to..Crayon renderings and Silly Putty transfers appeal to my aesthetic nature :P

[AcidDrone]

Well think of it this way, We _ARE_ human least as far as i know, and therefore no two People can be the same, so no two Art styles will ever be the same even If you copied every miniscule detail It can never be the same there will always be an imperfection to that of the original artist. Its in the human nature.

anyway thats my 5c worth.


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Acid.
ICQ:4803800

http://www.aciddrone.dhs.org/

[Fred Flick Stone]

I think most people say they want to be like...because they haven't been properly trained. As I was coming into my own over the years, I have had my share of influences. But knowing that I have traditional skills has allowed me to look at things with a fresh eye.
Another thing important to make this leap necessary is to have an active imagination. Without that, you are borrowing other ideas blatantly. Every story has been written, all we are doing is coming up with a fresh wrapper for the package.
Finally, confidence is another major player in originality. You have no confidence in your own work,are you really going to create something original? Most people hate looking at themselves in the mirror. It's even harder for them to look in their head and believe that someone else will believe in what they are imagining, for fear that it might be too "childish"...that's my 2 cents worth...

[Affected]

I've never understoodwqhy anoyne would want to mimic someone else - that's got to be the most boring thing there is.

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Affected

Democracy is a lie

http://affected.xs.mw

[Mozeman]

My opinion is that too often style is used as an excuse for lack of skills - criticism insurance, if you will.

"The hands on your figure are out of proportion with the arms and the eyes appear disjointed..." "That's just my style - and it's just as valid as any other, blah, blah, blah."

Style comes into play when the skill level of an artist reaches beyond mastery of the basic fundamentals. You can discuss the difference in styles of Craig Mullins and Frank Frazetta, for example. These are guys who have real talent and skill, and the discerning features of their work can be defined as "style." What makes a Frazetta a Frazetta? Learn the rules before you break them.

But at the beginning level, personal style should be ignored and/or railed against. It is a crutch and part of the problem in using other forms of art to learn instead of real life.

This is not to say that you can't or shouldn't learn from guys like Mullins, to the contrary. But you have to learn how to learn. You have to know WHY they use the methods they use, not HOW they use the methods.

The bottom line, there is no short cut and no magic formula. It takes hard work and dedication and genuine instruction. If you lack any of those fundamentals, believe me, it will be readily apparent in your work, no matter how much style you put into it.

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Mozeman
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[email protected]
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[synj]

Thanks for that, Nex. It's appreciated.

I personally believe art to be an extension of one's thoughts. The majority of it anyways. If it's not, then hopefully it's at least a learning experience, or a challenge to yourself in one way or another. I won't really go into detail cuz that might just begin a giant war hehehe

-synj www.synj.net

[Funfetus]

I think that often, when someone says, for instance, "I wanna draw like Craig", they mean something more like "I want to draw at Craig's level of skill, but not necessarily just like him". You think?

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Funfetus
iCE VGA Division
http://www.funhousedigital.com

[Nex]

.) Aciddrone: And if you do this, I mean copy every single detail how can you ever come up with something original and different? Its hard then to start from the beginning with some different approach I guess.

.) F.F.Stone: I agree totally. It has to do a lot with self confidence. For instance if you draw only beautiful women for example because you get most admiration for it.. I guess its good to make up your own mind and jump over what the others want to see from you. ( I don't recommend this procedure however if your working in an art studio )

Note: Not there is anything wrong with drawing women if its your style, thats great. Drawing women is fun after all..

.) Mozeman: Yes sure, there are those who don't have much drawing skill.. but maybe they just draw the wrong thing because everyone draws it and they don't dare to swim against the stream and try something different. Sure its lame to say if a part of a picture is off that its "style" but I guess we all can draw a line between style and error.

.) Funfetus: I'm not sure.. maybe you are right.

Good technique is never wasted, whatever you want to draw and whatever your style is.. but you should have the confidence to say:

"This pic there is my style, if you like it great, if not fine by me"

It may sound harsh maybe but i think a bit "arrogance" in this matter does not hurt
.. only if you keep your eyes and ears open for critique of course, and stay true to your work - with the main goal to never stand still and always improve on what you do.

I guess thats what makes up art after all no?



[This message has been edited by Nex (edited May 11, 2000).]

[spooge demon]

Jeez, I never thought I would see the day when someone wanted to draw like me. I used to curl up with a book or two of a variety of artists and get really intimidated. How the hell do they do that? I could not even copy it, much less do it from scratch.

If you want to be an illustrator, you must learn form and drawing. Unless you want to be a fine art- illustrator, then you will be unemployed.

If you want to be an artist, be careful of submitting to too much instruction. It will affect you.

In western art, originality has become more and more important. In other places and times, it has been a curse. What do you like? If you like the usual suspects, you know what you must learn. If you like concepts, I don't know what to tell you. Go and do it.

I have said I like Synj's work. I think we will be hearing more about him in the future. He has a talent, a judgement that cannot be taught. Luckily, he is technically disciplined, so his ideas are realized. I, on the other hand, am a technician, what I do can be taught, it is a skill. That may be hard to understand, but if you give me enough time, I can tell you exactly what I do.

Maybe that is the difference between artist and illustrator. Maybe i am full of it.

So I guess my thought is if you want to be an artist, careful on the influence and hero worship. But to an illustrator, these things are a lot more useful.

[Wildkat]

The beauty of art is that all this is true, and it's the path you take that makes you who you are. Set your own goals and strive to meet them. We are all, works in progress....

[Morganic]

Too much 'gameart' out there I think. Character sketches and profiles etc etc.
I think it's much more fun and difficult to
make good artwork (background, design, etc),
then just a cool guy with a gun (or something)

But who's me, I haven't even posted stuff I made

(mostly because of a recent hd crash..awk! pirates!)

[Fred Flick Stone]

A good example of too much learned are the art center students. They go by the book, the physics are right, the mechanics are right(if they really even got that info) it really has to work, er um. Sterile. Style? Art centers, but not theirs. Then look at Shirow, or Geoff Darrow with his Matrix stuff, or Good ole Syd Mead, and Joe Johnston. Just enough training to get them by, and more creativity to fall back on, this makes them credibly original.
I once learned from a technically proficient insructor, one of the best. But he studied the rules too much, and now he is crutched by them. One bad habit is that he needs photo reference for every little greebly in his images. No invention. Call it painted photos, cause that is what they end up like. Technically proficient, but no soul.
Learn the basics, and while you do that, be thinking imaginatively, and keep a collective notebook of these thoughts, so when you get good enough, you can complete them to your satisfaction. At least this will keep that imaginiation active while you learn the basics. Most people turn it off to learn and forget to ever turn it back on...
Style is the combination of what you have been taught, with who and what you have been influenced by, and your caligraphy, or how your hand/eye work together to put down on paper what it is that you see with your eyes, or your imagination. The science of picture making is not really art until the user of this science applies creativity, and or imagination. The rest is academic study. Great art directors will pick up on this immediately, and the great masses out there will grow board of it quickly if it exudes too much acadamia. Look at Alma Tadema and Bougereau. Very academic, but really creative, some of their work, but not all of it. And the audiences of their time grew bored of them, after being tricked by their attention to details...they saw through it quickly...whew, my fingers hurt...