In an effort to clean up my Artstation page I'm going to make better use of the blog. Here is Month 1 of my everyday journey towards the end of 2016. A journey that lasted a full year and one that really convinced me that I should pursue design and concept art as a career. At the end of every 30 days, I wrote down my thoughts and feelings of the month as a way to process and reflect back on the things I did for the month. They are on my facebook but they are likely better housed here now.
(written on 17th Dec 2016)
EVERYDAY'S 30 DAY REVIEW...
Verdict: MEH
The good: Got through 30 days, got used to pen and markers again, some OK ideas that can be taken further.
Caught the bug for doing everdays, even when wanted to not do it, I still did it.
Exposed myself(hehe) by showing work that I never ever would normally, so It can only be good at tackling insecurities..right?
The bad: Technique is weak, messy, not refined enough. Overworking the image and poor use of form. Scatter-gun approach to designs. Nothing to get excited over.
Things to do for the next 30: Pick four themes, and choose one for that particular day. Also, do studies to improve form and technique. Invest in a scanner as taking pics of drawing is annoying af.
The last 30 days have been very interesting. Embarking of everydays has been an eye-opening experience. Learned some good but a lot of 'bad' things about myself. I also kept a little diary of each day and how I felt things went in regards to my approach within these dailies. I felt I procrastinated a lot but it appears I 'felt' things much smoother than I imagined which was a surprise for me.
But the days when I struggled they were very energy-sapping. There were many factors such as responsibilities and work but one thing I am happy with was that everydays became part of my day and I JUST HAD TO COMPLETE THEM. Another thing that was a big step for me was posting this nonsense. As someone trying to break into the industry, I have always been apprehensive about posting my work and only doing so when I feel it is 'worthy' which means I don't at all pretty much. So posting these helped me get over the 'being precious about my work' syndrome.
Although these are always done within an hour or less these things that I have been posting are pretty crude and poor at times, in both technical and design terms. In the past, these like a million other drawing would never see the light of day but posting them regardless has calmed me down a touch. after you post your worst it can only get better right?
Also deciding to design and draw in traditional media has been rewarding too, it's unforgiving and no CTRL+Z and for the most part, as I haven't drawn this much in easily 5 years, I'm still getting used to it.
For the next 30 days, I want to be more structured and deliberate with my designs, and technique. To do this I will choose one of four set themes for the next 30. This should help blank canvas mode and go a bit crazier with some ideas. For days where I feel cooked or can't think, I will probably just do a study.
I will still focus loosely on vehicles and other mechanical type shit. I expect the next review to be much more positive and show a step forward but I want to increase my efficiency.
Let's see how it goes.