Everday's review 61-90. (originally written Feb 2017)
These last 30 days have been interesting. I feel my work has improved, particularly on the presentation side and I have moved forward in manipulating form too.
There are still some things that I have yet to shake off, so I will see how things go further down the line. As I want to see if these are elements that can be ironed out or simply a result of my 'style'.
This month was dominated by 'wheeled' vehicles, mainly because last month I stated that I was afraid of drawing cars, I still am, probably because I am not in control of my skills when doing them. I fall into traps and then they don't turn out so great and then that feeds into the insecurity.
However, doing these wheeled vehicles has helped in dusting off old cobwebs, I found my old ship curves and ellipse tools and used them more confidently (before I hated these things as it's against my gung ho approach to drawing).
But also in problem-solving and smart cuts (smartcutting?) With some of the cars, in particular, they took a lot longer than the approximate hour my usual everyday's take and this had a knock-on effect on my daily routine. Mainly due to insecurity, for some reason, I am content with doing a crappy spaceship for a daily but not a crappy car, whether it turns out crappy is irrelevant for some reason though. I guess I need to feel like I have put the time or care for me to feel ok with. I need to sort this mindset out.
As a continued practice and smart working will improve my attitude towards my work and thus my quality as opposed to just throwing time and energy at them and hoping for the best.
These last thirty days have involved more software. Photoshop for obvious reasons but also I have invested many hours in Fusion 360. At first, my aim was to build some earlier everyday's into more realised designs, that is still the case, but as I found blocking in shapes pretty easy in Fusion I decided to create bases so I could paint over them. This helped a ton on the vehicles, I didn't need to worry about the wheels in perspective or lighting and I could just think about the forms. I enjoy this approach and I think it feeds my sensibilities better too.
Then lately I booted up keyshot after a long while, and that toon shader is my new favourite tool. I have a crappy printer, and as I use marker paper its semi-translucent property is great for having underlays. And the toon shader can appear like a line drawing. So I tried a printout and it was ok. But as I have a Cintiq I discovered that I can just place the paper on and draw on the screen. And the Cintiq acts as a lightbox too so that was convenient.
As I become more efficient digitally the everyday's will be more in that medium but I do not want to let the drawing aspect slide. I love using markers, or rather I love it when I get them to do what I want, so I need to give my drawings the time they deserve. After all, drawing objects traditionally helps my design sense much better than digitally. This is down to a lack ctrl+z I feel.
One thing I am pleased with about the everyday's is how efficient it has made me. I'm nowhere near the level I want to be and more importantly where I feel I can be, but I have gotten rid of many mental blocks that I thought I never could.
And it has helped my insecurities a ton. I have come to the realisation that in order to grow and do well in this industry is to equally embrace and disregard your insecurities. I know in my head what that means but not sure how to articulate it. Also not giving a fuck about failing, embrace it and just keep thinking about improving, as a human it's impossible to do the next bing better than the last EVERY TIME. But the next best thing is consistency or at least for me it is and that is more than possible because it allows you to forecast the dips and peaks etc and plan accordingly. I am an average artist who can become decent with the right work ethic and in order for me to do that is to be consistent. Everyday's take away from many things if you are short on time but it does keep you consistent. And that for me is a good framework and foundation to build off of.
Some of the more refined pieces this last month look ok if I say so myself but what I am more happy with is how long they took me. A couple of hours. Now, in the pre-everyday-era (P.E.E) some of the more refined pieces would have taken me a week maybe longer, thanks to procrastination, insecurity and not using my tools properly. I am currently in the Midst of Jama Jurabayev's Learn Squared courses and through that, I have learned how to be efficient and use my tools correctly. I am happy for this because it means I can push further forward into trying to realise more accurately what I see in my mind. If I can do that better, I will get where I want to be.
Unintentionally I focused more on vehicles last month. I have loosely followed themes before but never over a long period until now. I will do this again. I may hold back from wheeled vehicles for the next 30 days and then go back to them to see how it gestates. Or I may not. But my aim for the next month is to be more efficient. Smarter in my workflow and to see if one of my everyday's could be considered a portfolio piece. I need that job more than ever right now so I need to ramp up my quality.
Ramblings complete. Bring forth the next 30 days.
