Our polish painter, Jan Matejko (Mateyko) had one young student that barged depressed into his chambers saying :
"
I hate it!"
"
What do you hate?" - the Master asked.
"
Those simpletons! I've painted my painting for two days and no one wants to buy it!"
"
Well" - the Master frowned - "
maybe you should paint it for two years and then clients and admirers would be coming through doors and windows"
During that dialog Jan Matejko was painting this painting :
http://smplanet.website.pl/yct/grunwald1.jpg - The Battle of Grunwald
It took him two years to finish it.
Good comic-style artists often sit 14hours + over their work. Patience.
Envy is a child of passion and passion is apparent when something or someone is - as you wrote - "
everything" to you.
Tune it down. Do not aim at being as good as your favourites if you don't have a talent. The anwser if you have or don't lies withing your own self-esteem and common sense. Or in the eye of specialist, in the eye of master.
Aim at being better than those of your level. Steadily, steadily you'll get better.
If you're worse than your favourite, if your skill is too low do not toy with so-called emulating or you'll ride on a pissalocoaster.
Copy that shit! When I was a kid I fell in love with "
Space Jam" and copied every single picture of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck I've been able to get my hands onto (no internet). And then I was drawing them to my cousins - over and over again. Now I can draw Bugs Bunny taking a dump without looking at a reference - because
I copied the shit out of it. Copying is not a bad thing unless you're shamelesly taking someone else's style as your own. And it is a great thing for practice.
JJ has a gift of having a light style. He's not going into details too much, he focuses on expressions & body language not some shiny earrings on a busty anthro. In the case of the latter - the less, the better
. JJ also suited himself into the most important, IMO, thing when it comes to being an comic book artist - storytelling. Look how many pics in his sketchbook section are a small scenes. Compressed movie takes. Comic books are the golden middle between art and book. Lot's of people (including me) focus more on story than on the graphics. Then I, f.ex. look how the story is told - the narration. Then, at the end I rate the artwork. Comic books are like zen - everything should be in harmony - story, narration and art. From experience I know that when art is dominant and the comic doesn't have separate scripter/writer then it is weak in story. Thus, maybe, yeah, it's a nice comic art album but not a comic book.
Define yourself and what do you want to achieve on the field of art/comics.
I don't know how old are you in the US when you're in 4th grade, but I've started more serious drawing, that means oriented at more practice at the age of twelve and I had a big break after two years wich was called "
girls, guitar, alcohol, ciggarettes & other entertaining stuff that a fourteen year old kid shouldn't be interested in". You don't go that way (besides girls ofc
... and guitar
) and keep pracicing. Be more observant. And once again - if you're an observant
you have to copy.
Drop the "I wish I could be popular". I never knew anyone who was popular because he could draw well and I knew few guys that could draw you with your dog taking a dump on a lawn by looking just once. Two of them are working in advertising groups. Lots of money. But they're in their late 20's and they've gone through Academy Of Beauty Arts and worked as a freelancers during their studies. They've worked (and still do) fukken hard to be where they are.
If you want to be popular when you're sixteen be a partyboy, grab a guitar or start rappin' or sumthin', because drawing won't work on a short scale. And learning how to draw
sehr gut is a loong process.
Tell you're friends that you can draw for them, if you're confident enough and they will wait eagerly for your works
.
Miracles won't happen - maybe an archimedesian "
Eureka!" at the time when you'll let go as the great Master himself. Ideas can catch you in the bathtub and they're the fuel for progress.
I have best ideas when I'm on the toilet. When I was your age I wrote five songs for my band on it - literally with guitar and pants around my ankles on a stool. And we weren't playing some punk but a prog-metal stuff
.
From what I've read my only advice for now is to hang your pencil down for a while and use the goods that life provides.
*sigh* I have artist block... its really getting to me. If anyone out their is looking at my stuff, and has ANY suggestions...please tell me some. I seem to lose heart in my passion when I cant seem to do anything. I begin to think im not good at art. I just need some suggestions and some positive reinforcement.
