appleclock wrote:Complitely wrong forum to whine about the lack of skill. Try conceptart.org .
Or "
what grinds your gears" thread in "
General" section.
cenaris wrote:Sounds like me on most days of the week. Especially if you're a perfectionist.
If you consider yourself a perfectionist, why I only see sketches from you, eh?
As for the topic - too much whining, not enough drawing. You're saying that every time you draw something, you f**k it up. Question is - is that your own conclusion or is it an opinion of others? I've been drawing for a long time now and I know how either harsh or self-absorbed a creator can be for his own creations. It takes time for someone to tolerate their work or - if he's on the opposite side of emotional spectrum - to look critically at it. But I believe that's the daily bread of every artist.
Second thing, how can you expect to create something original if you can't grasp the basics and if you're not happy with your work(
and without listening to critique - which I hope you're doing)? The best advice is
draw stuff. I go to a bar/restaurant with my friends to chat - I have a sketchbook with me, I sketch the enviroment I'm in or just doodle around. I'm at work - I draw the bar utilities around if there aren't any clients around and the bar itself is tidy, supplies were re-stocked, etc. Being a concept artist means you have to expand your horizons, polish your skills and be good at observation. And, of course, you really want to do it - or better -
desire to do it, to become better.
Third, you don't want to believe that you're not good at creating original pieces. And before that, you complain about your problems. So, how can you believe that you're good at creating original stuff if you have problems with the basics? The anwser is -
you can't.
But you can believe that
you'll be capable of creating original pieces in near or far future - if you'll keep on drawing, practicing and expanding your skills and interests. I believe that we're all capable of doing it after enough work. But, hey, it may be that I put too much faith in our kind, right?
Finally, for your last question - in my case, I can say that I'm still learning fundamentals. Basicly, whenever I start drawing something that I intend to finish(
comic, commissioned piece or a piece of my own) I'm making sure that I have enough skills and knowledge to accomplish it. But if I stumble on challenge - I look for references and try to work out how they are drawn and how can they be drawn. Quite often I trace photos, pictures, etc., because it helps in grasping the way of how you can draw certain things, objects, etc.
But I never use traced image - that's cheap and can be qualified as plagiarism. And when I do that, afterwards I try to draw the same thing again, but, for example - from a different angle or with some modifications. And I believe that's one of the steps you need to take to be capable of creating original pieces. It's really hard to come up with something original nowdays, so don't fret yourself too much if you see that your piece resembles a piece of someone other a little. I personally have few friends who draw and one literally had an obsession about plagiarism, copyringhts and the so-called intelectual property. Y'know, anti-piracy guy, legalism lover and so on. But he was drawing things he like and quite often he was pissed off, because his inspirations were seen in his works. He believed that's a bad thing, because it's a plagiarism. Nut-job if you ask me. I think every artist has some inspirations and that, in effect, they'll be visible in their works.
To close it up, draw, draw, draw. If you want to create original stuff, don't ask for directions - be creative, because without that you can't expect to create original things. Imagination is a powerful thing and creativity is one of the few things that made us the rulers of this planet.
Although the last sentece can be a topic of discussion.
P.S. Forgot to add - please tell me honestly that you've not expected that drawing isn't an long process. Sketching, sure, can be a swift thing to do, but finishing it isn't cotton and candies.
