This week has been filled with introspection and self-evaluation. I imagine you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who
's week
hasn't been filled with introspection and self-evaluation, but I guess that's beside the point. What I'm really getting at is that although last year was a huge year for me in artistic growth and progress, I feel like I have a huge amount to learn before I can even begin to do illustration for a living.
In 2013 I completed my first-ever printed sketchbook. It was a big accomplishment for me. As a project, it was primarily a study in conceiving and executing a project from start to finish. I was thrilled to have a printed collection of my drawings in hand. It made me realize that seeing my work in print is one of the things that really makes me happy. Just the fact that my pictures are getting out into the hands of people and making them happy was a huge accomplishment to me.
That being said, there were many things about the project that felt hurried. While the drawings represented my personal voice as an artist, there were still elements about the drawings that felt forced. Areas of skill that still feel shaky. Foundation work needed where there was none. Now I'm not saying this to completely shoot down my Sketchbook. But I want to make it clear that although it was a great accomplishment for me personally, I think it was a wee bit... premature.
In recent years, I've been forcing myself to create finished pieces. Planning full-scale works has been beneficial, but all too often I've found myself working through a piece and figuring out the basics as I go, simply hoping to come through at the end with a good piece.
What I find lacking in my work is mainly due to the absence of regular practice. Meaning, every time I do a finished painting, I realize that there are things that I am inexperienced at that are contributing to the difficulty of the piece. A finished painting
is not the place to learn anatomy or color theory. Yes, I will come out of that piece knowing more about it, but I will actually be doing myself a disservice by putting pressure on myself to perform without rehearsing.
So, I feel like the last week has given me an opportunity to reflect and identify needs in my whole approach to art-making. While I still feel like I need to be creating new pieces, and building my portfolio, I definitely need to spend much more time improving my skills along the way.
Since I am primarily self-taught, it is up to me to find the best ways to practice skills like proper use of color, anatomy, image composition, and new materials and techniques. My question is:
how can I consistently maintain a habit of practice in these areas? What are specific ways I can bring my work up to a standard that I'm pleased with?
I intend to start answering some of these questions myself, but I think I'll be also reaching out to other illustrators, art directors and you for answers! What are some ways you commit to daily practice? What skills do you find essential in your own work? Feel free to voice your opinions in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook. I'm interested in hearing your ideas for goals and ideas for making 2014 the most productive year for illustration that we can!
As always, Onward and Upward, and I wish you all the best in your New Year!
-Will
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And finally: I offer these brief articles that I read today relating to this topic of New Year's goal-setting, improvement, and resolutions that I greatly enjoyed and benefited from. I hope you will too.
http://eca-la.com/blog/23/12/2013/whats-in-store-for-2014 - Mike Yamada & Victoria Ying - I recently discovered their art and their informative blog. They are committing to teaching and mentoring through podcasts, blog articles, and Q&A's this year, and their theme is helping artists maintain their New Year's Resolutions.
