I had a dream last night that huge eldritch aliens attacked the city and I managed to lead a bunch of people to safety and find a gun and shoot at some of them. Later I found out that Beavotron lived in that city so I called her up under the guise of seeing if she was okay but in reality I just wanted to brag that I shot some aliens.
i would have been totally impressed.
Did you see me on the news? I was the guy with the gun!
oh man i totally saw! you're so badass, let's ride horses together into the sun.
astral horses that can fly through space.
Well yeah. But I want to own other businesses. Eventually.
I ask because I may be the owner of a business very shortly. If I can get the loan (cross your fingers for me). Everyone here says that to be successful in art you have to focus on it, give it 100%, live it.
But how do I run a business while going to art school? Unless I could hire somebody to manage it for me for a few months.
Oh yeah. Managers. That's how they do it. I remember now.
MetalbourneInside a cluster b personalityRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
Man, fuck that. Instead of owning one business, I want to be a silent partner in two businesses, that way I make all the money without having to do the work.
Well yeah. But I want to own other businesses. Eventually.
I ask because I may be the owner of a business very shortly. If I can get the loan (cross your fingers for me). Everyone here says that to be successful in art you have to focus on it, give it 100%, live it.
But how do I run a business while going to art school? Unless I could hire somebody to manage it for me for a few months.
Oh yeah. Managers. That's how they do it. I remember now.
Something about that post suddenly makes me believe with every fiber of my being that you opening a business would be a bad idea
I think it may have been the part where you arranged words into sentences to convey that you wanted to open a business and then abandon it
You just sound unsure about what you want to do with your life
Say you're creating a character for an RPG and you're setting up his stats
Except instead of "stats" it's "time for commitments"
And you only have a finite number of points to distribute among things like "art" and "running a business".
Now, you could split all of your points up evenly between the two, as a sort of jack of all trades character. But then you run the high likelihood of getting your ass beat in the first dungeon because you didn't specialize.
Running a business and training to become a self-employed artist are both full time jobs on their own. Contemplate to yourself if you think you have the drive to work 60 hours a week on your business (conservative estimate), plus 40 hours a week on your art/school, and somehow afford both of those without self-destructing from stress and jumping off a cliff.
Do you really think you can manage payroll, employee scheduling, insurance, ordering stock, liquor licensing, homework, classes, and personal study all at the same time??
I don't know if you've thought this entire thing through.
Addendum: Please note I am not trying to say you are a fuckup who has no chance at succeeding in his goals. But I know people who multitask in their sleep and they would call that plan straight-up bonkers
Do you really think you can manage payroll, employee scheduling, insurance, ordering stock, liquor licensing, homework, classes, and personal study all at the same time??
Yeah. I think I can handle that. Especially if I can hire someone to help me out with it.
The reason I say this is because all of our orders happen on two days. Employee scheduling is not really a problem (even in the event of an emergency or a sickness, as I have people on call whom I could ask to cover a shift or two). Insurance, payroll, and taxes are handled by the accountant (who works for deliciously cheap).
The maintenance of permits and licenses, and making sure everything gets paid on time is the hardest part. And, again, I'm not talking about staying at this particular place forever. I was actually thinking that I'd reinvest some of the profit in new flooring, new shelves, new signage, new product, maybe some advertising...I'd really only own the place long enough to pay off the debt, fix it up, and then either become a silent partner or sell the place entirely.
Do you really think you can manage payroll, employee scheduling, insurance, ordering stock, liquor licensing, homework, classes, and personal study all at the same time??
Yeah. I think I can handle that. Especially if I can hire someone to help me out with it.
The reason I say this is because all of our orders happen on two days. Employee scheduling is not really a problem (even in the event of an emergency or a sickness, as I have people on call whom I could ask to cover a shift or two). Insurance, payroll, and taxes are handled by the accountant (who works for deliciously cheap).
The maintenance of permits and licenses, and making sure everything gets paid on time is the hardest part. And, again, I'm not talking about staying at this particular place forever. I was actually thinking that I'd reinvest some of the profit in new flooring, new shelves, new signage, new product, maybe some advertising...I'd really only own the place long enough to pay off the debt, fix it up, and then either become a silent partner or sell the place entirely.
Well, more power to you, then. Good luck and let us know how it works out.
DDV, I think you're going to find that having this business will be a lot more time consuming than you think it will be no matter what you do. Because even if you hire a manager to help you, you're paying their wages, and likely they won't do the job to your satisfaction. You're probably going to want to pick one or the other but I fully encourage you attempting this. The worst that can happen is you go bankrupt and die cold and hungry on the streets.
Theres one thing that is jumping out at me and buggin the crap out of me. The pole for the standard doesn't leave a shadow on the banner. This is really nitpicky considering how good the painting is, but its like a laser beam into my critique brain.
To me it looks like that shadow is being washed out by holy light behind her head.
It really is a beautiful painting.
If the light is causing that distinct a shadow from her head, it would leave a shadow from the pole.
I'm being a picky bastard
Actually, if this type of light existed in this situation it would probably do something very similar to what he has done. The shadow from the head would be much more prominent because of the sheer amount of light a large object like that is blocking. Where as with the pole (and you can see hints of the pole's shadow, especially towards the top of the banner where it makes the most sense) the object is very thin, and tons of light would be seeping in and bouncing off the rest of the banner which is curling in on itself.
Certainly in reality you would see more of a shadow than there is there, but it would destroy the effect of the illustration.
Theres one thing that is jumping out at me and buggin the crap out of me. The pole for the standard doesn't leave a shadow on the banner. This is really nitpicky considering how good the painting is, but its like a laser beam into my critique brain.
To me it looks like that shadow is being washed out by holy light behind her head.
It really is a beautiful painting.
If the light is causing that distinct a shadow from her head, it would leave a shadow from the pole.
I'm being a picky bastard
Actually, if this type of light existed in this situation it would probably do something very similar to what he has done. The shadow from the head would be much more prominent because of the sheer amount of light a large object like that is blocking. Where as with the pole (and you can see hints of the pole's shadow, especially towards the top of the banner where it makes the most sense) the object is very thin, and tons of light would be seeping in and bouncing off the rest of the banner which is curling in on itself.
Certainly in reality you would see more of a shadow than there is there, but it would destroy the effect of the illustration.
Oh for sure it would be blown out. But I think something like this really helps ground the pole, and I think the effect of the illustration is retained:
Reading Force again, I realized how different it is from what I was initially expecting. I thought it would be much more technical and clinical. Mattesi's voice passionate and personal- but then again, I mostly read science textbooks, so my perspective might be a little skewed.
Hey guys! I just taught myself how to program SQL executable code by hand to create and maintain a user-inputted e-mail database from scratch in under an hour!
I've been working at this social game studio for a little over a year now, making art for facebook games.
On the surface, it's basically a dream job and I'm really glad to have landed it right out of school. The guys here are above awesome, the office is awesome, I stay here late on a regular basis just to hang out, play games, and hash out game designs. The salary is great, there's no real hourly schedule, and as a whole, I get paid to draw monsters and weapons all day. Seems like a pretty sweet deal, right?
Well, it seems I am nothing if not ambitious. I need more than that, and I'm not sure this studio can provide me with those needs anymore.
As gaming on the facebooks is a pretty new platform, and this company itself is only about 3 years old, there's not a whole lot of experience as far as management, game design, or common sense goes. I wont go on a long tirade explaining exactly what is going wrong here, but the "game" I've been working on this whole time is essentially a bloated collection of mishmashed artwork and poorly made design decisions forced upon it by the higher ups. It never had a core GAME to be built around, and is just a horrible mess of a facebook ap.
Myself and several of my coworkers have poured hundreds of hours into repeatedly trying to salvage the project, which overall has been a financial disaster. The bosses aren't willing to just shoot the poor thing in the head and let us move onto a new project, and it continues to just be a resource sucking monstrosity.
I'm sure I don't have to tell most of you how shitty it feels to put so much of yourself into a project only to have it fail (repeatedly) despite your best efforts (durh welcome to game development, mcgibs). Compounded frustration due to these failures being outside our (the developers) realm of control (we cant just restart, and stop using this broken infrastructure). We're giving it one last overhaul to try and save a years worth of artwork, but overall the entire team is jaded with the failure of this project that none of us can abandon.
This game needs CONSTANT content, or else it dies. Ergo, I need to keep shoveling new artwork into it CONSTANTLY. We're desperately trying to find a way to change the gameplay so it doesnt require such a heavy content load, but as it stands right now, if I stop, the game dies. Well... they could get some of the other artists to pick up the slack, but in all honesty, I don't feel they have the quality or speed to keep up.
So here's the actual crux of my blabbering.
As most of you know, I'm also developing an xbox game with one of my friends (who himself is an accomplished developer, and I respect him greatly as a creative mind and a buisness person. the same cant be said for my superiors here.)
Recently, we had been discussing taking a leap and starting our own small studio (with funding from publishers and industry grants). In the frustrated position I'm in, and our confidence in our current game (which was severely hampered because both of us work full time) I'm all aboard, even if it means I'll be broke. My creative mind needs this.
Problem is, the aforementioned game's insatiable appetite for art. I -really- don't want to leave my whole team high and dry with no lead artist. We were all in that shitboat together and I can't pull the plug on them now.
So my dilemma is: how do I disengage myself from this project and free myself up to work full time at my own studio?
I have yet to discuss it with my team, or my bosses yet, but I wanted to see what you guys think about the topic of ditching a cushy job in favor of creative aspirations (which Ive pretty much made up my mind to do), and if anyone has any advice about getting out of a project that one has no faith in anymore.
god that was a wall of text. I'll probobly revise and repost it in H/A later.
So is it reasonable to expect any progress in drawing by just copying a bunch of people's work and trying to assimilate that (over a long period) into a style? Or are shaded spheres and nude models sort of a fundamental that can't be avoided?
I don't know much about the process, other than practice helps.
Not looking to become a professional or even make money; just looking for a hobby I can work on.
re: McGibs's post -
How much longer is your commitment to the studio project?
If staying on would seriously damage your psychological well-being, by all means, leave in a responsible manner (get a replacement, be communicative with everyone, end things amicably). If it's just sort of a drag, I urge you to stick things out until the end of the project. Don't be mopey either; energize the team through these tiring times with some optimism and dedication. You're always going to be limited by outside forces, but really think about what you can do the salvage the project. And don't accept crap if it's not in your moral code; really communicate with everyone involved what you think should be done. The worst that can happen is your ideas won't be implemented; no employer is going to fire you for being passionate and wanting the project to be the best it can be.
And when it's over, absolutely pursue something else that will make you feel happier. Money is so superfluous when compared to good, rewarding work. Just don't half-ass your plans, and certainly don't burn any bridge with your current job. Leave amicably, keep the channels open, and you might get support later on.
Attitude is key. It's so easy to get sucked into a negative mindset that spreads across your entire time. You gotta be optimistic. Be realistic, be critical, but don't be a downer. Fail fast and hard and use missteps as launching points. Think about all the challenges you've faced before, and how you tackled them even in the face of great adversity. You're gonna get through this too, and once you realize that there's really no reason to be pessimistic.
So my dilemma is: how do I disengage myself from this project and free myself up to work full time at my own studio?
The best way would be to give them a month or two notice. That gives them time to really get their butts into gear to change the game structure, as well as maybe looking for another artist to come in.
So is it reasonable to expect any progress in drawing by just copying a bunch of people's work and trying to assimilate that (over a long period) into a style? Or are shaded spheres and nude models sort of a fundamental that can't be avoided?
Not looking to become a professional or even make money; just looking for a hobby I can work on.
Spheres and nude models and all that nonsense are how you learn the fundementals. If you just copy peoples work, you won't know how to interpret their work stylizations properly. You won't really know why they are doing what they are doing.
thegloaming - Figure drawing is very important if you don't want to limit yourself greatly.
McGibs - Your xbox game is looking great. Would that be less of a dream job? At the end of the day you really can't kill yourself over other people, even if you have been in the trenches together. You have to do whats right for you, and if there is nobody there who could be promoted to handle your work load that isn't your fault. You might even look at that as a major reason why you are leaving....if there was somebody sharing the sheer quantity of work you are taking on, would it feel as futile?
I would worry about yourself first, and then do what you can to make your choices easier on other people.
I figured the basics were essential, as in any sort of craft, but I looked at it like this:
There are two kinds of guitarists: musician guitarists and bedroom guitarists
The musician guitarist knows the fretboard in and out, can read music, knows the modes, knows proper technique, practices every day, etc.
The bedroom guitarist knows how to read tab, can play a few popular songs, knows little if any theory, has sloppy technique, plays on and off, etc.
Both can "play guitar." I can't think of anyone who wouldn't choose being the musician guitarist over the bedroom guitarist, but sometimes we just want to do something for fun without treating it as a craft.
Is there a parallel to drawing? Can you improve and have fun by just doing it, or are the essentials really, well, essential. I'm genuinely curious, and I absolutely don't mean to insult anyone who has devoted their time and energy to really learning things from the ground up. They would be producing work light years better than I would be.
All this said, I'd probably venture into figure work and stuff eventually, if I stuck to things long enough.
thegloaming on
0
MetalbourneInside a cluster b personalityRegistered Userregular
I figured the basics were essential, as in any sort of craft, but I looked at it like this:
There are two kinds of guitarists: musician guitarists and bedroom guitarists
The musician guitarist knows the fretboard in and out, can read music, knows the modes, knows proper technique, practices every day, etc.
The bedroom guitarist knows how to read tab, can play a few popular songs, knows little if any theory, has sloppy technique, plays on and off, etc.
Both can "play guitar." I can't think of anyone who wouldn't choose being the musician guitarist over the bedroom guitarist, but sometimes we just want to do something for fun without treating it as a craft.
Is there a parallel to drawing? Can you improve and have fun by just doing it, or are the essentials really, well, essential. I'm genuinely curious, and I absolutely don't mean to insult anyone who has devoted their time and energy to really learning things from the ground up. They would be producing work light years better than I would be.
It's not your bread and butter, so do what you enjoy. Just so long as you're not getting butt-hurt over people liking others' artwork over your own or are starving in a ditch because you thought you could get along without practicing seriously, there's nothing wrong with being a "bedroom artist"
Likewise, if you're a bedroom artist who only draws for fun, there's nothing wrong with learning basics and fundamentals just so long as it doesn't ruin your enjoyment of what you're doing.
It's not your bread and butter, so do what you enjoy. Just so long as you're not getting butt-hurt over people liking others' artwork over your own or are starving in a ditch because you thought you could get along without practicing seriously, there's nothing wrong with being a "bedroom artist"
Likewise, if you're a bedroom artist who only draws for fun, there's nothing wrong with learning basics and fundamentals just so long as it doesn't ruin your enjoyment of what you're doing.
Right. I'm not looking to go pro or even to be "good," just to have something to work on as a hobby. I'm a full-time tech writer but I like to keep a healthy amount of hobbies (bass, film) so that I can have skills I can improve.
I figured the basics were essential, as in any sort of craft, but I looked at it like this:
There are two kinds of guitarists: musician guitarists and bedroom guitarists
The musician guitarist knows the fretboard in and out, can read music, knows the modes, knows proper technique, practices every day, etc.
The bedroom guitarist knows how to read tab, can play a few popular songs, knows little if any theory, has sloppy technique, plays on and off, etc.
Both can "play guitar." I can't think of anyone who wouldn't choose being the musician guitarist over the bedroom guitarist, but sometimes we just want to do something for fun without treating it as a craft.
Is there a parallel to drawing? Can you improve and have fun by just doing it, or are the essentials really, well, essential. I'm genuinely curious, and I absolutely don't mean to insult anyone who has devoted their time and energy to really learning things from the ground up. They would be producing work light years better than I would be.
It's not your bread and butter, so do what you enjoy. Just so long as you're not getting butt-hurt over people liking others' artwork over your own or are starving in a ditch because you thought you could get along without practicing seriously, there's nothing wrong with being a "bedroom artist"
Likewise, if you're a bedroom artist who only draws for fun, there's nothing wrong with learning basics and fundamentals just so long as it doesn't ruin your enjoyment of what you're doing.
Metalbourne has it pretty much on.
If its your hobby and you don't really care for it to ever be more than that, just do your own thing.
But your quote:
So is it reasonable to expect any progress in drawing by just copying a bunch of people's work and trying to assimilate that (over a long period) into a style?
I still wouldn't go about your hobby by copying other people's work. Look at them, try and figure out what makes them successful, sure. But copy? And if you ever want to take it further to a serious gotta get better hobby or even professional, then you will want to take on the fundamentals.
I figured the basics were essential, as in any sort of craft, but I looked at it like this:
There are two kinds of guitarists: musician guitarists and bedroom guitarists
Well for one, you're making a False Dicotomy. Just because one is a bedroom guitarist doesn't mean they don't know theory and just because you know theory doesn't mean you have sloppy technique (look at Jimmy Paige- he made the sloppy badass). Other guitarists like Bob Dylan or Sam Beam create some of the most beautiful/stirring music with little theory about modes scales and crazy things.
I mean, this is one of the best songs i've ever heard but its really not complicated at all:
There's nothing wrong with being a bedroom guitarist just like there's nothing wrong with being a bedroom artist. But if you want to improve you have to practice.
I still wouldn't go about your hobby by copying other people's work. Look at them, try and figure out what makes them successful, sure. But copy? And if you ever want to take it further to a serious gotta get better hobby or even professional, then you will want to take on the fundamentals.
Only reason I suggested was, again, the music parallel: you can learn a lot by learning someone else's material. Obviously you have to do something with the material other than become a jukebox. But it seems like I'm unfairly comparing the two.
I guess it really will just come down to experimenting and finding the sort of things I can work on. Which means drawing and not talking about drawing.
thegloaming on
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NappuccinoSurveyor of Things and StuffRegistered Userregular
edited June 2010
Well, learning other songs is more akin to drawing from life in my opinion.
I still wouldn't go about your hobby by copying other people's work. Look at them, try and figure out what makes them successful, sure. But copy? And if you ever want to take it further to a serious gotta get better hobby or even professional, then you will want to take on the fundamentals.
Only reason I suggested was, again, the music parallel: you can learn a lot by learning someone else's material. Obviously you have to do something with the material other than become a jukebox. But it seems like I'm unfairly comparing the two.
I guess it really will just come down to experimenting and finding the sort of things I can work on. Which means drawing and not talking about drawing.
Well thats where the music parallel breaks down. The best way to see how to do things correctly is to look at real life. Its in front of us... and its just flat out what stuff looks like. Copying someone elses work is like opening a jpeg and saving it out as a jpeg again - you are getting further from the source.
But other peoples music IS the source. Theres no filter. Copying other peoples drawings/paintings would be like studying a cover band.
Posts
better wear your spf 30 8-)
I ask because I may be the owner of a business very shortly. If I can get the loan (cross your fingers for me). Everyone here says that to be successful in art you have to focus on it, give it 100%, live it.
But how do I run a business while going to art school? Unless I could hire somebody to manage it for me for a few months.
Oh yeah. Managers. That's how they do it. I remember now.
Something about that post suddenly makes me believe with every fiber of my being that you opening a business would be a bad idea
I think it may have been the part where you arranged words into sentences to convey that you wanted to open a business and then abandon it
It's a small store, Paradise. Snacks, beer, drinks, liquor.
Say you're creating a character for an RPG and you're setting up his stats
Except instead of "stats" it's "time for commitments"
And you only have a finite number of points to distribute among things like "art" and "running a business".
Now, you could split all of your points up evenly between the two, as a sort of jack of all trades character. But then you run the high likelihood of getting your ass beat in the first dungeon because you didn't specialize.
Running a business and training to become a self-employed artist are both full time jobs on their own. Contemplate to yourself if you think you have the drive to work 60 hours a week on your business (conservative estimate), plus 40 hours a week on your art/school, and somehow afford both of those without self-destructing from stress and jumping off a cliff.
Do you really think you can manage payroll, employee scheduling, insurance, ordering stock, liquor licensing, homework, classes, and personal study all at the same time??
I don't know if you've thought this entire thing through.
+370 experience points for Fug.
Yes! New perk unlocked: Dreamshatter
Yeah. I think I can handle that. Especially if I can hire someone to help me out with it.
The reason I say this is because all of our orders happen on two days. Employee scheduling is not really a problem (even in the event of an emergency or a sickness, as I have people on call whom I could ask to cover a shift or two). Insurance, payroll, and taxes are handled by the accountant (who works for deliciously cheap).
The maintenance of permits and licenses, and making sure everything gets paid on time is the hardest part. And, again, I'm not talking about staying at this particular place forever. I was actually thinking that I'd reinvest some of the profit in new flooring, new shelves, new signage, new product, maybe some advertising...I'd really only own the place long enough to pay off the debt, fix it up, and then either become a silent partner or sell the place entirely.
I read this as Dreamshitter.
Hur hur hur
I don't see any difference
Tell me that again when you poop out a hefty nightmare.
and my axe
e: Seriously though, a small business venture should never be taken lightly.
Well, more power to you, then. Good luck and let us know how it works out.
what the fuck do you mean when? I already have
Actually, if this type of light existed in this situation it would probably do something very similar to what he has done. The shadow from the head would be much more prominent because of the sheer amount of light a large object like that is blocking. Where as with the pole (and you can see hints of the pole's shadow, especially towards the top of the banner where it makes the most sense) the object is very thin, and tons of light would be seeping in and bouncing off the rest of the banner which is curling in on itself.
Certainly in reality you would see more of a shadow than there is there, but it would destroy the effect of the illustration.
Oh for sure it would be blown out. But I think something like this really helps ground the pole, and I think the effect of the illustration is retained:
With multiple reportable error codes, too!
I've been working at this social game studio for a little over a year now, making art for facebook games.
On the surface, it's basically a dream job and I'm really glad to have landed it right out of school. The guys here are above awesome, the office is awesome, I stay here late on a regular basis just to hang out, play games, and hash out game designs. The salary is great, there's no real hourly schedule, and as a whole, I get paid to draw monsters and weapons all day. Seems like a pretty sweet deal, right?
Well, it seems I am nothing if not ambitious. I need more than that, and I'm not sure this studio can provide me with those needs anymore.
As gaming on the facebooks is a pretty new platform, and this company itself is only about 3 years old, there's not a whole lot of experience as far as management, game design, or common sense goes. I wont go on a long tirade explaining exactly what is going wrong here, but the "game" I've been working on this whole time is essentially a bloated collection of mishmashed artwork and poorly made design decisions forced upon it by the higher ups. It never had a core GAME to be built around, and is just a horrible mess of a facebook ap.
Myself and several of my coworkers have poured hundreds of hours into repeatedly trying to salvage the project, which overall has been a financial disaster. The bosses aren't willing to just shoot the poor thing in the head and let us move onto a new project, and it continues to just be a resource sucking monstrosity.
I'm sure I don't have to tell most of you how shitty it feels to put so much of yourself into a project only to have it fail (repeatedly) despite your best efforts (durh welcome to game development, mcgibs). Compounded frustration due to these failures being outside our (the developers) realm of control (we cant just restart, and stop using this broken infrastructure). We're giving it one last overhaul to try and save a years worth of artwork, but overall the entire team is jaded with the failure of this project that none of us can abandon.
This game needs CONSTANT content, or else it dies. Ergo, I need to keep shoveling new artwork into it CONSTANTLY. We're desperately trying to find a way to change the gameplay so it doesnt require such a heavy content load, but as it stands right now, if I stop, the game dies. Well... they could get some of the other artists to pick up the slack, but in all honesty, I don't feel they have the quality or speed to keep up.
So here's the actual crux of my blabbering.
As most of you know, I'm also developing an xbox game with one of my friends (who himself is an accomplished developer, and I respect him greatly as a creative mind and a buisness person. the same cant be said for my superiors here.)
Recently, we had been discussing taking a leap and starting our own small studio (with funding from publishers and industry grants). In the frustrated position I'm in, and our confidence in our current game (which was severely hampered because both of us work full time) I'm all aboard, even if it means I'll be broke. My creative mind needs this.
Problem is, the aforementioned game's insatiable appetite for art. I -really- don't want to leave my whole team high and dry with no lead artist. We were all in that shitboat together and I can't pull the plug on them now.
So my dilemma is: how do I disengage myself from this project and free myself up to work full time at my own studio?
I have yet to discuss it with my team, or my bosses yet, but I wanted to see what you guys think about the topic of ditching a cushy job in favor of creative aspirations (which Ive pretty much made up my mind to do), and if anyone has any advice about getting out of a project that one has no faith in anymore.
god that was a wall of text. I'll probobly revise and repost it in H/A later.
I don't know much about the process, other than practice helps.
Not looking to become a professional or even make money; just looking for a hobby I can work on.
re: McGibs's post -
How much longer is your commitment to the studio project?
If staying on would seriously damage your psychological well-being, by all means, leave in a responsible manner (get a replacement, be communicative with everyone, end things amicably). If it's just sort of a drag, I urge you to stick things out until the end of the project. Don't be mopey either; energize the team through these tiring times with some optimism and dedication. You're always going to be limited by outside forces, but really think about what you can do the salvage the project. And don't accept crap if it's not in your moral code; really communicate with everyone involved what you think should be done. The worst that can happen is your ideas won't be implemented; no employer is going to fire you for being passionate and wanting the project to be the best it can be.
And when it's over, absolutely pursue something else that will make you feel happier. Money is so superfluous when compared to good, rewarding work. Just don't half-ass your plans, and certainly don't burn any bridge with your current job. Leave amicably, keep the channels open, and you might get support later on.
Attitude is key. It's so easy to get sucked into a negative mindset that spreads across your entire time. You gotta be optimistic. Be realistic, be critical, but don't be a downer. Fail fast and hard and use missteps as launching points. Think about all the challenges you've faced before, and how you tackled them even in the face of great adversity. You're gonna get through this too, and once you realize that there's really no reason to be pessimistic.
The best way would be to give them a month or two notice. That gives them time to really get their butts into gear to change the game structure, as well as maybe looking for another artist to come in.
Spheres and nude models and all that nonsense are how you learn the fundementals. If you just copy peoples work, you won't know how to interpret their work stylizations properly. You won't really know why they are doing what they are doing.
McGibs - Your xbox game is looking great. Would that be less of a dream job? At the end of the day you really can't kill yourself over other people, even if you have been in the trenches together. You have to do whats right for you, and if there is nobody there who could be promoted to handle your work load that isn't your fault. You might even look at that as a major reason why you are leaving....if there was somebody sharing the sheer quantity of work you are taking on, would it feel as futile?
I would worry about yourself first, and then do what you can to make your choices easier on other people.
There are two kinds of guitarists: musician guitarists and bedroom guitarists
The musician guitarist knows the fretboard in and out, can read music, knows the modes, knows proper technique, practices every day, etc.
The bedroom guitarist knows how to read tab, can play a few popular songs, knows little if any theory, has sloppy technique, plays on and off, etc.
Both can "play guitar." I can't think of anyone who wouldn't choose being the musician guitarist over the bedroom guitarist, but sometimes we just want to do something for fun without treating it as a craft.
Is there a parallel to drawing? Can you improve and have fun by just doing it, or are the essentials really, well, essential. I'm genuinely curious, and I absolutely don't mean to insult anyone who has devoted their time and energy to really learning things from the ground up. They would be producing work light years better than I would be.
All this said, I'd probably venture into figure work and stuff eventually, if I stuck to things long enough.
It's not your bread and butter, so do what you enjoy. Just so long as you're not getting butt-hurt over people liking others' artwork over your own or are starving in a ditch because you thought you could get along without practicing seriously, there's nothing wrong with being a "bedroom artist"
Likewise, if you're a bedroom artist who only draws for fun, there's nothing wrong with learning basics and fundamentals just so long as it doesn't ruin your enjoyment of what you're doing.
Right. I'm not looking to go pro or even to be "good," just to have something to work on as a hobby. I'm a full-time tech writer but I like to keep a healthy amount of hobbies (bass, film) so that I can have skills I can improve.
Metalbourne has it pretty much on.
If its your hobby and you don't really care for it to ever be more than that, just do your own thing.
But your quote:
I still wouldn't go about your hobby by copying other people's work. Look at them, try and figure out what makes them successful, sure. But copy? And if you ever want to take it further to a serious gotta get better hobby or even professional, then you will want to take on the fundamentals.
Well for one, you're making a False Dicotomy. Just because one is a bedroom guitarist doesn't mean they don't know theory and just because you know theory doesn't mean you have sloppy technique (look at Jimmy Paige- he made the sloppy badass). Other guitarists like Bob Dylan or Sam Beam create some of the most beautiful/stirring music with little theory about modes scales and crazy things.
I mean, this is one of the best songs i've ever heard but its really not complicated at all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kh09MuIfIU
There's nothing wrong with being a bedroom guitarist just like there's nothing wrong with being a bedroom artist. But if you want to improve you have to practice.
Only reason I suggested was, again, the music parallel: you can learn a lot by learning someone else's material. Obviously you have to do something with the material other than become a jukebox. But it seems like I'm unfairly comparing the two.
I guess it really will just come down to experimenting and finding the sort of things I can work on. Which means drawing and not talking about drawing.
Well thats where the music parallel breaks down. The best way to see how to do things correctly is to look at real life. Its in front of us... and its just flat out what stuff looks like. Copying someone elses work is like opening a jpeg and saving it out as a jpeg again - you are getting further from the source.
But other peoples music IS the source. Theres no filter. Copying other peoples drawings/paintings would be like studying a cover band.
Fortunately that feeling goes away and it becomes easier. Once that happens, you can start to work on making your drawings look less stupid.
Beleive me, they'll look really stupid at first.