(originally written Nov 2017)
1 whole year. 1 sol. 365 days, whatever you want to call it. I just did it. A whole year of creating ‘concept art’ (if it must be given a label). What on earth was I thinking? Only towards the end of this endeavor, when I began to think about not doing consecutive dailies, did I realise how much this endeavor has consumed and enveloped myself and my family.
So a special shout out to Beeple and others who hit and continued past the 365 day mark. Whether you put it out there for the world to see or not, you guys rock!
I had high hopes for this last month, wanting to really push my work. I had aimed to plan and prep a few design ideas that I would execute in my every-days... it never happened. So as I result I pretty much mirrored month 1 in that I was happy to have completed a piece and within a strict time frame.
In previous months I had really lost control of my time management and powered through everything which was great but it always came at a cost, particularly on the health side, so getting these done in a sensible time frame became my focus towards the end.
It was only after 2 months I realised that I was on the ‘everyday train’ as prior to that it was just an excuse to practice my drawing. From then, as I was able to produce a better quality of work in the same time frame - the addictive behavior kicked in and it simply turned in to seeing how far I can push myself.
The stages I have been able to recognise during these last 12 months are as follows.
1: being able to represent an idea in sketch form for the only free time I had at that time (1 hour).
2: pushing the presentation of the ideas through better rendering via markers and ink.
3: using digital as a way to push my ideas. This started to take longer than the hour i had intended.
4: starting to produce work that I would put in my portfolio. (this was a big deal for me)
5: be able to produce concepts in a few hrs that would literally take me weeks and months prior to the everyday journey.
6: using more 3d thanks to being introduced to Fusion 360.
7: making better choices as a designer. Realising that better design leads to ‘cooler’ work.
8: feeling like a concept artist rather than trying to be one.
9: feeling like I should be employed as a concept artist now, rather than hoping to be employed one day.
10: looking forward to the future as opposed to being anxious about it.
11. Finally realising that I am capable of making a telling contribution to a project/ my peers and to the industry if I continue the path that I’m on.
A day before I started these I would have said I would not be capable, let alone desire, to create a piece every day. This was not a stance of arrogance but one of insecurity. You would look at what level of work Beeple was creating (WHICH WAS ON TOP OF HIS PAID WORK) and just be blown away by the quality which in turn would make me think this is the standard dailies must be. I had also just begun to immerse myself into the creative community and seeing many artists doing everydays and to a pretty sick level too was both inspiring and intimidating. - I didn’t need that in my life.
So taking that into account I felt if I ever did this I would need to be at a better level because if I’m going to put my work out THERE then it better have some value otherwise I’m just wasting my time and I could be using that time to build a portfolio worthy of being hired and therefore fulfill my mission of making a living as a creative.
During this time via the Learn squared Slack I was noticing some impressive everyday work of some artists there. I asked their opinion for an insight of what daily pieces gives them, which was insightful but I still had no intention of doing them myself. I had a portfolio to fill, some courses I needed to finish and I wanted to secure a concept art gig - doing everydays seemed impractical and a backward step.
24 hours or a a few days later, if my memory serves me correctly, I was having a conversation with a colleague who was trying to make stand-up comedy a full-time thing. I mentioned the everyday thing to him and after a bit more talking we agreed to create something for an hour max and check-in with one another.
And so it began.
Around that time I only had 2hrs approx free time on a workday to do whatever I needed (this included eating too). So an hr seemed plausible- but it would kill my ability to do my other creative tasks. I decided that sketching would be an ideal task for this. I flopped inktober that time so this was a way to make it up.
Then the dailies got more and more extravagant and I couldn’t help but try and push what I could each day.
Fast forward to today and I am doing pieces that took me so much time over a year ago.
I can put this down to my insecurities being pretty much nullified aside from the perma-insecurities that is simply a consequence of being a human.
Another thing is that I decided to post each daily. I had just started my first social media accounts as after going to Industry Workshops I realised that I was not privy to the extremely rich artist's community that I now feel a part of. Posting my work regardless of how poor I felt it to be really helped me fight my insecurities and just focus on getting better. It was like cognitive behavioral therapy - but for art.
Time is a very strange thing and it takes on different properties depending on whatever you are doing and creating daily transforms you - just look at my growth over this last year.
So I know what I am capable of with the limitations of time and skill. Providing I have something to work towards I can really push myself to achieve the minimum required. This bodes well for me professionally as my greatest concern was, ‘would I be able to keep pace with the way studios and freelancers operate?’
This no longer worries me. In fact I would say most worries and insecurities are largely eradicated. I have a clear road map of areas I need to improve and I’m nowhere near hitting my limits and capacity. It's up to me how far I want to push it. I hope I don’t fall off the pace.
Enough ramblings for now. It's over, it's done on to the next thing.
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A special shout out to all that have taken their time to view and interact with my work. It is truly humbling when anyone appreciates what you do irrespective of what scale and level it is on. I have discovered some amazing artists and their art during this run and there is soo much crazy talent, we live in a great creative age. Embrace it.
There have also been artists who I have admired immensely and have been heavily influenced by - again for you to take time out to check out what I’m doing is really powerful. Its understated how much of an impact that brings to us artists who are struggling to make their way. That lil’ pat on the back goes a long long way. Its dope yo! We need you heavyweights and experienced artists to keep sharing your genius and a lot of you already do, please don’t stop.
Finally a special shout out to a few people whom have gone out of their way to help and encourage me in my pursuit.
Mohammed aka Momo Goods.
This guy is a superstar and has nothing but encouraged me, nudged me in the right direction and been an advocate of my growth and journey. We hit it off via the Learn Squared community and its no wonder that he is now part of that awesome organisation’s ranks because he is great at what he does.
a word on Learn Squared - What an absolutely perfect environment, culture, and crowd they have over there. It's my home- if they kick me out… I’d sleep on their lawn. If they kick me off their lawn I’d sleep in the gutter. Bottom line I love L2 and it has been a game-changer for me. Without L2 I would never have gone to Industry Workshops, never started to connect with amazing people and never had done these everyday’s. So a huge shout out to any and all involved in Learn Squared.
Maciej Kuciara - The man needs no intro - and he helped me massively thanks to his Futuristic Character Design Course. I had the pleasure of being his apprentice and the knowledge and advice he bestowed really helped me change the gears in the way I worked and my work would not look like it does now without his input and even then what I create doesn’t not do justice to what he has taught me…yet! Thank you sir.
and Finally Jr Jimeno - My fellow OG everyday buddy - we struggled and succeeded together and its awesome when you develop with someone with a similar mindset even though we tackle different disciplines. As long as we keep at it, we will get to where we want to homie!
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It’s weird what just being open and putting yourself out there and giving it all you have gives you - I am the same person, my values are the same and so are my goals - but I am different, more resilient, I guess I have evolved.
Its been week of no everydays and that feels strange but I’ve taken a much-needed break. I’m hoping to produce something cool for the latest Artstation contest, working on a few cool projects and I’ll be taking part in the Kitmas Bash from the awesome Kitbash 3D crew - which will be fun. And of course still making the transition to full-time concept artist - so if you know a guy who needs a guy like me send ‘em my details :)
And that's that. Spam Complete.
Peace!
