My motivational thread *Everyone Read Please*

So, I have had a great deal with this topic before and I would like to explain myself a little before getting to the actual subject of this post, so please read EVERYTHING before going any further.

When I was younger, probably around 11 or 12, I found myself constantly depressed and angry at my lack of progressing skills. I was always under the shadow of my Dad, who is a fantastic artist. He isnt cocky, in fact he is incredibly modest about all his artwork. However, I was always compelled to compare my work to his, and at that age, it was no comparison. I was depressed to the point of throwing all of my drawings, yes ALL of them, into the trash can and swearing of art forever.

My Dad salvaged all my work (thankfully) and still has it to this day. But that is not the point of this post. What always escaped my mind is the fact that he had been drawing 30+ years longer than I had, and for some reason, I always expected my work to compare to his. But of course that wass not the case. The same thing happened when I joined this forum in early 2004. I saw work by guys like Canay and was demoralized. Sure, by then I could hold my own fairly well in the art world, but it was still no comparison to the ungodly work that can be found here.

That being said, with the recent influx of younger people that we have coming in lately, I wanted to make a post emphasizing the fact that the experienced artists on this site did not start off drawing like we do now. We all started off with lopsided wheels and funny perspective.

I also want to emphasize that you should not compare your beginner work to the work of Canay, or anyone else, like Lemorris or myself. It does no good, and only creates frustration. We are always here to help you along the way with anything you ever need. Someone may be born with talent, but it takes years of practice to hone that talent. In my experience, the art world is very hard on the self. It can be hard on your emotion, stamina, and others around you. My art has cost me a relationship, and more good grades than I can count. But it is what I love. It involves a great deal of dedication, and practice.

Which brings me to my next point. For anyone who has ever sat down and scribbled out a car design, or anything for that matter, and compared it to a professional's artwork only to become frustrated at the lack of similarity, it is all about practice. I am sure that I sound like a broken record in this section, but I know from experience, that practice is the key to all good art. I cant emphasize that enough.

I am a very visual learner, and I figure many of you may be too. So I thought this might help as an example of what I mean by "practice", so here we go. Its not automotive, but it bears the same point...

Three months ago, I decided that the skulls I was used to drawing werent good enough anymore. So I decided to get better.

Here is what my skulls looked like at this point (yes, this as of February, 2006):

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/672/drawings0077wc.jpg

Pretty sad, isn't it. I drew this one day in my 3D-art class at CU-Denver. It made me sick to look at it. So I decided that I wanted more out of my skullwork. For the next 3 months, I gave myself intense drilling and training on skulls, plain and simple.

-I studied a replica human skull in one of the Science departments at my school. I took notes, drew sketches, and noted important distinctions.

-I googled images of real human skulls

-I googled images of cartoon skulls. From artwork, religion, logos, stickers, patches, jewelry, clothing, band logos, everything I could find. I noted patterns, emphases, and uniformity between literally hundreds of styles of skulls.

-I studied the work of numerous artists who do skullwork. In fact, my biggest influence on my work is a man by the name of Jime Litwalk. Easily my favorite artist.

-Finally, I used all of this knowledge intermitently with practice. Hundreds of sketches, I have literally filled 2 sketchbooks with sketches of skulls. I just bought my 3rd last week. I have drawn more skulls in the past 3 months than I can even count. I draw in class, at home, when I cant sleep, when I should be studying, and even on the train to school. I sketch out on one of the lawns at my school during an off period, out on my back porch when Im with friends smoking a hookah, during lectures. I can not emphasize enough how important this is.

And the moral of my rant? Hopefully I can let the pictures sum it up for you. Remember, this is after three months of study and practice. Thats it. Please refer to my pic posted above before viewing the pictures below...



Three months.



http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/729/drawings0105hc.jpg

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3323/drawings0095do.jpg

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/6343/drawings0132bo.jpg

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/2900/drawings0149kd.jpg

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/1246/drawings0173vl.jpg

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/3936/drawings0185pk.jpg

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9415/drawings0190sm.jpg

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/4369/drawings0150vf.jpg

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3122/drawings0115bw.jpg

I hope this little article can help some of you. If anyone has anything to add, please, feel free. I want this section to be a place for learning, as well as a place to show off work.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me as well.

butcan you show your dad works

butcan you show your dad works

haha. i bet you didn't read the whole thread.

anyway, i don't have the problem of comparing my drawings with others. i know my stuff is horrible, but i draw because i like to draw, not because i like to see the end result. in fact, i recently posted the only two drawings i ever finished.

Joey

haha. i bet you didn't read the whole thread.

anyway, i don't have the problem of comparing my drawings with others. i know my stuff is horrible, but i draw because i like to draw, not because i like to see the end result. in fact, i recently posted the only two drawings i ever finished.

Joey

Yeah I guess it's the same for me.
Every bad ass drawing I see is a motivation for me to sit at the desk and try it out. But I care less when the result isn't as good as the drawing i looked at before. There's one thing that I admire and there's one thing I create myself. Fortunately, in the past, both of them came closer and closer.
I'm a perfectionist but as long as I can recognize that I am improving I don't mind when I don't reach a "pro" level.

I think one main thing is that you (and with you I mean everyone, not you Kustom) don't see drawing as a competition.

Drawing is, at least for me, a way to express myself, to share my views and ideas with others, a way to deal with myself and to have a good time.

Just finding some time, sitting down and starting to draw is one of the most beautiful things you can do.
It's relaxing and challenging, it makes you free forgetting all the trouble around you and it also inspires you to get new ideas and to try out new techniques, views etc.

In the last few months, since I became more and more sure that I want to have a career in transportation design I can feel some pressure somehow.
However this pressure also makes me discovering new fields, like I have never been drawing people before, and now I do, just for practise. Exploring that and seeing ho myself develops makes my quite pleased.

I hope somebody reads this and shares his opinions aswell. Great topic Kustom.

after i rad this thread i want to draw iven more!!!
probably around 11 or 12, I found myself constantly depressed
iam actually always depressed , dont know why. and i want to show it as a drawing but i cant think of any thing.
My Dad salvaged all my work (thankfully) and still has it to this day
i wish my dad had all his art work ;( the only drawings he got is from when he was about 19 i think . i gess that i got my talent from my dad and i thank him for that talent.
any way great thread , and i love your skulls ;)
i hope i didnt writen any thing stupid lol

Nice thread KustomAce, My dad was also, well he still is, a good Artist drawing mostly cars and skulls i by now, have surpassed my dad, so thats no longer an issue for me, but like you said i am also always trying to be as good as someone else, like now for instance right now im sketching skulls everywhere...
..Also I always get pissed when im drawing a picture and it dont look as good as Alex's stuff for instance, i guess because hes close to my age, i cant see why he can draw that good and i cant..
Hope what i said kinda makes sense... again nice thread

Great thread--study your references and practice, practice, practice.

I've been drawing for over 40 years now and still try to find time to practice every day.
(And I try to learn something new about drawing/tooning each week--found lots of great hints/tips on this site,)

My dad had some crazy stuff too.

I've been drawing cars for 4 years, and looking back, it's a world of a difference.

good thread :thumbsup:

The purpose for this forum is so we can learn from each other, not compete against each other.

Alex

i've found lot's of great examples on this site. and that's just what i needed. i don't have anyone in my family who likes to draw, so i've learned quite a bit from all the threads here. but since i have no one in my family who draws, i don't have to be better than my dad :naughty: .

Joey

great threat!! worth reading whole the story!!

I love to design cars. I never really had references...allways designed them myself. My mom is an artist and all her sisters are. My uncle (from my dads side) is a luxuary yaught designer. I also learn a lot of him. Last week I went there to watch what they do overthere. He gave me the oppertunaty to trace his mall's, so Im making professional car design mall's now!! He also has some very good designers working for him!! one of them is the designer of the Citroen C2. and my uncle himself designed the Citroen Xsara coupe with a group of people. I don't compare my work with his, but if I need help I can allways ask him!!

I think it's also important to try out every material you can use!! some people prefer working with pencils, while others prefer to work with pen's or whatever. Same counts for the paper you work on. I saw at my uncle's place that they draw on 90 grams chalk paper (also known as tracing paper). I also bought a role to try it out.

I also dont mind giving out a lot of money for buying stuff I never used. Even if I just use it once!! It is allways worth trying.

And as final I want to say that this is my favourite forum!! I think the people overhere are really awesome and allways be good to each other!! If there are questions, there allways are answers.

I gotta go work thurder now. I have to make a signment for the school I want to go to. It's the 5th best design school in the world, so they have to take me haha...It's an international school in the Netherlands. http://www.designacademy.nl/

greetz Venom

and uh..

I really like the skulls!!! and I think that most people need years for that!! like you and everyone said. practice, practice, practice!!

hé venom, what type of school is it (the page doesn't load)?

http://www.designacademy.nl/intro.html

does that one work?...it's the school I want to go to

yes. well, i don't have time to study everything that i like so i guess i won't ever study design, but it sounds pretty nice.

i had that problem of camparison also because they guy that got me into sketching and drawing cars was chip foose....so i would always draw and compare mine to his only to be shot down!!! but i jus kept drawing and every once in a while ill come across an old sketch and its kool to see how far ive come!!!!!! nice thread ace
jd

i've found lot's of great examples on this site. and that's just what i needed. i don't have anyone in my family who likes to draw, so i've learned quite a bit from all the threads here. but since i have no one in my family who draws, i don't have to be better than my dad :naughty: .

Joey

i actually dont want to be batter then my dad,i just think it will be stupid to be batter then your dad , i dont know why but i just feel like that.

if ur dad is better, you can learn from him.