waiting to be "inspired" its a flaw, its an illusion
Artists do not just wait for that magical sensation to kick in. They just do it. Just like Nike says. Grab that pencil and just draw anything! Do some life drawing classes! Go to a church and study architecture! Travel! See the world!
Great post Hazardous!
Your post doesn't directly apply to me, in terms of your intended audience, but damn has that made me want to work more!
And it shall be done.
Bravo.
Im a fellow student graduating soon, here is my little contribution, things that have worked for me.
1. Have the faith and determination to get through the tough times. Truly believe and know that you can get where you want to.
2. Make Goals and find strategies that work. Look at other artists, see and understand what they are doing and why its looking awesome.
3. Make more Goals!! then plans/sacrifices to achieve your goals. Be prepared to change plans, find other solutions and alter your environment. Put yourself in a situation where you will excel faster.
4. Be consistent, its the only way to get better. Even if its not going well, push through.
5. Take a step back, see if what you are doing is helping or hindering you.
The only person who can change your life for the better will always be you - whether it is art or any other endeavor you're after. You can ask a million people for advice and get really great ones but whether you apply them to your life or not will always be your choice. There's no magic here, never was, never will be. And you have to find that out for yourself.
FYI My longest post on PC ever. Sorry in advance - OP I hope theres something useful in this for you. Im back in your thread and giving you my morning before breakfast is my way of saying ' I care '.
Usually between 1 - 5 NEW students, per day come to me for random pieces of advice. Some from here @ PC , some from Deviant Art - Mostly from Deviant art.
It's always the same questions maybe worded slightly differently and I do my best to answer every single time, every single message. Sometimes I get behind and have to catch up at the end of the week but I do my best.
As well as those, I did 2 10+ question interviews last week, on my time, for students who were still in school. For school essays, papers, projects etc that contain the same questions they always do.
I'm exposed to 'all this' *makes a big circle shape with hands* on a fairly constant basis. Everything that encompasses 'young artists trying to find their way in this scary fucking environment coming out of school' Being unmotivated, finding your place as n artist, juggling family life, finding a job, paying bills, working for fuckall $$$ while trying to improve your skill.
Now I don't think that being bombarded with these kinds of questions on a daily basis qualifies me any more than it qualifies someone else for handing out motivational advice, but maybe it will help explain why Im 'being a dick about it'. And why I believe people are being harsh on you.
Everyones a n00b at some point. Everyone asks stupid questions, annoys some pro until he blows a gasket and says dumb shit on forums. Then I thought - why are these people coming to me for answers? I am the least qualified person to provide guidance or help. My path to where Im at is so fucking weird to me, it doesnt seem like good advice to give out. It REALLY doesn't, so Im not going to tell people what I did, because what I did is the WRONG WAY.
Then as my career went on, I talked to other artists and artists that talk to me, veterans, revered artists, 3d and 2d, some working in big AAA stuff, others working in mobile stuff. Some drawing comics, some sculpting in clay, some working in film! Some of them become very good friends, and with them, I'm able to really get into the nuts and bolts of what got them there - Im talking about the Slipgatescentral's the haikai's, the Gavs - guys that are really fucken good. That's when I discover that their experience to becoming an art god (and being successful at this career) is pretty damned similar - its a pattern thats remarkably similar for all the artists that we all raise up on the 'I gotta be as good as this artist' platform.
Over the years, that got me thinking. Its something I spent an awful lot of time thinking about.
My experience and my path to get where I am, is not crazy at all, sure some decisions are unique to me, but I'm not special, and the path I took to get there is even less special.
When youre a n00b artist, the answer is so simple that it doesnt even make any sense, you just arent equipped with the experience to absorb what it means.
Put in the time.
Scared of the results being shit? Doesnt matter.
Scared of making yourself hate your work? Doesnt matter.
Scared of not knowing what to draw? Doesnt fucking matter.
Scared youre doing it wrong? Doesnt mother fucking matter.
Picking up the pencil right now and drawing a funny looking penis with hairy balls on the paper ALL THAT MATTERS.
Not how good the balls or the cockhead look - all that matters is that you did it.
So do another one. This time draw it pounding a sheep in the buttcrack. Draw the sheep eating a farmers leg, draw the farmer holding an axe about to bring it down on the sheeps spine, draw a horned goat in mid leap attempting to save his wooly buddy, draw the farmers wife with a loaded gun aimed at the goat. Boom you just told a little story. My day at the farm!' Quality? Shit. WHO CARES. Its better than sitting there passing that time and doing nothing, trust me IT IS. And you have to believe me that it was worth it. As someone asking for advice, believe me when I say... its worth it no matter how fucking piss poor, terrible your skill is.
But thats not enough, still the students ask, but HOW do you get good, what tools do you use, what tricks do you have to get good, how do you stay motivated, there must be something that gives you the edge. Very rarely, some are satisfied with the answers, they just 'get it' somehow. But most feel like my advice ripped them off somehow, I can see in their faces when I talk to them, I can hear it in their voices when I skype them, I can feel shift in conversation when I IM them. It wasnt the thunderbolt from the heavens they were looking for.
That 'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I fucken get it!!!' Moment was not present in my answer.
Now Deviantart makes it really easy for me to keep track of those same artists, I can with a click jump back to their folio, to see where they are at now. I store all of my conversations, notes, all of our exchanges. I've been able to watch some young artists grow over a 5 year period - (it makes me feel really fucken old) And Ive been able to watch some students flounder - still asking the same questions, still struggling with the same problems they have been for 5 goddamn years.
Out of the hundreds, Literally HUNDREDS of students that have asked me stuff, there is only a few that still add artwork to their folios more frequently than once a year. And in those students, you can also see the pattern emerging. They are slowly leaving the others behind, they are getting better, more skilled, and they are even starting to pick-up freelance work. They are rising up above the sea of n00bs all on their own - They also stopped asking for advice, because they realize what they are doing, works. And theres no other way, but to keep doing it, and keep posting your results even when you cant be bothered.
However, the same students that TOLD me so eagerly, I need to get a job, I want to work in games, I need to be a killer artist!!! Folio's empty. Journals that talk about playing Dota or league of legends, art? none. They seem to never get it, always asking 'How do I get a job?! Its really tough out there for students!' Some even come back to tell me they feel guilty for pissing their lives away and are fucking up and need to get back on track!
I applaud their persistence yet the advice remains the same. It didnt change from last time you asked!
Stop playing games, hanging out with your friends, and make your folio. Youre a student, now is the absolute best time to be working on it - trust me, you do not want to be an old bastard like me trying to build your folio when you have more serious things to worry about, it gets infinitely harder to do. I have no question there are a tonne of artists here at polycount that would attest to that. Dont fucking waste the opportunity you have RIGHT NOW. Your friends will be there in 6 months time and if they give you the flick, fuckem youll make more through your art! Take control of your shit! youre the boss and you CAN do it.
I just wish they'd truly listen to the little artist voice inside that pushed them to reach out over and over again. Its starving and dying in there, its food is not playing games, its food isnt fucking about getting drunk, watching days of your life go past without doing anything, it needs hairy balls and cocks drawn on paper to survive.
'I cant do it, its hard, I dont know where to start '
Yes!!! Its fucking hard!!! Ive been through it, Ive been through my own set of problems, I climbed my own mountains, without telling you my life story, have the foresight to understand that even though you are a student and I have 10 years of experience doing this job, we are the same!!! We are cut from the same fucking stone you and me. I'm trying to help you, I'm telling you what I did to 'get there' and you won't listen to the words. You wont! You refuse to help yourself, even though youre asking for help!! TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR SHIT!!
I have reached this point with dozens of students, and its taught me a few things. Firstly, no matter what I say, or how often I say it - the words can only be received, whether they are digested, fathomed or understood is up to the recipient. Secondly, what they do after talking with me about the problem isn't up to me. From that moment onwards its all up to them.
They are alone again.
They need to figure out for themselves how to move past the point of sitting there doing nothing now, to sitting there and doing something, and NOT going to play a game or watch a movie, but to go and start making art.
And its within that tiny little statement where *everyone* is remarkably unique.
What makes YOU go, 'okay I am now going to pick up my pencil and start drawing hairy balls on paper' is completely unknown to anyone else but you.
You won't find the answer to that riddle no matter how many questions you ask on what forums, how many awesome reference pics you find, or how many epic artists you befriend, or how many threads you create. No one has that answer. And there is no substitute for putting in the time. Remember that.
Knowing that the ultimate point of this dance of questions comes down to something that is unique to every person, knowing that before the student even asks the first question - already knowing that I really cant help them with that magic bullet that switches them on and turns them into art machines, what do I say?
I look at the people I've respected in my life, and recalled how they treated me, and what makes them special - why did I listen to them? What habits do I have from when I was a child, how come I kept them? I find out what it was. For me, it was people who were honest, and straightforward if that mean hurting my feelings, punishing me for making mistakes, making me cry - then so be it.
I don't remember people who treated me nicely, told me my work was great, coddled me and told me everythings ok (except my mom! of course). I remember the people that took me to heightened peaks of emotional state - and encouraged me to fly on my own. People that gave me bloody knees, got my hands dirty, encouraged me to take a plunge into the unknown and abandon my fears. Those people made me a much stronger person. And that kind of person, is who I would like to be for others if they need it because thats all I know, thats what worked for me and I try to share that.
My huge fucking posts in a lot of these motivational threads is my way of trying to tell you, listen, I do give a fuck. But be that person that goes away and figures it out, not only will that process equip you with +5 armor versus life It will make you a better artist, and It will make you a better person.
I don't have anything to add that Haz hasn't said better.
I would stress the part about giving up playing video games, and hanging out all the time. Your sacrifice to get better, is your free time fucking around and wasting it.
I've just re-read my original post and realized what a complete and cunty dismissive reply that was to an otherwise awesome post. I really, really do appreciate these posts. I'm a "professional" artist that's been been working in the industry for the best part of 10 years. Has anyone ever seen what I've done for the past 10 years? No, because i've never posted a single thing. No wait, that's wrong. I posted some stuff a few years ago when I was desperate for a job. Pretty amateurish looking back then. However, I had the "fear" back then. The fear of never having a job and having any money. That's a big motivator believe me. Well, it was for me anyway. It's a kind of, I am better than this, I can get out of this situation. You really do chose you're own path in life. So, anyway, I got my dream job and made some pretty successful games. A lot of people would rest on those laurels and be done with it. Not me unfortunately. I check out this forum everyday at work and see the awesome shit that people post and think to myself, I could do that, but I never do. I see guys and girls straight out of University, maybe even peeps who are still living with their parents posting work really trying to get better, and yet it is hard seeing the crazy shit people like slipgate and hazardous post up here. It's hard for me and I have a job but I still think that if i worked hard enough I could get that good. So, the point of this whole rant is yes, believe in yourself and work hard, post your stuff on polycount and take the advice of your peers. This is something I never do but am willing to try at. Being motivated and believing in yourself is a real struggle for some people.
I'm going to post the worst shit you've ever seen. I dont't know. It could even be good.
There, that's it. No more motivation / inspiration posts. Someone set up something to auto directs any future thread about motivation to Haz's epic post.
To aliasbane : well first find do you really wants to do this for future and to be your profession. I know people that do that just for the job and the monthly payment. Those people have completely lack of interest for anything cg/industry related.They never do something for yourself.Something for fun or for contest etc...They even don't play games.But somehow they work in game/vfx company. Because of that the work that they do is with mediocre quality.At the end their colleagues have to finish/polish their work which means extra time etc..People like those just exist no matter how small/big or perfect is one studio.In most cases the whole team knows about them but because of some circumstances they can't do anything and just live with that.I am pretty sure you don't want to be one of those people.Try to find this passion inside you.I am calling this hobby, at least in my case was this and after year I got my first job. Yes this was before 14 years. Different times not so big competition.Now is a bit hard but not impossible.Try to start with simple things. Try to make a simple rock and you found how fukin hard is to make believable looking rock. Don't try to make every possible thing from character with animation to complete environment because you will fail.This is common mistake.Programs are just tools they are all the same/ i mean 3ds max , Maya etc../ and do the same things especially for game art. Zbrush is from other world:) looks hard to understand but this is for the first few days.
don't give up. If your dream is to work for big company just follow it. One day will happen. Don't look masters work and get depressed because you can't do this. You can, but will take some time. You have a lot of time in front of you so use it.
passion, practice and many sleepless nights
I agree with Hazardous! Stop dicking around, and do work.
If you want to get motivated just cut out the demotivating, time wasting crap in your life. For me it was watching youtube videos and playing games for like 12 hours a day. Thats just a destructive way to live! Now I'm here doing work for once and it feels so much better.
Don't be like me and tell yourself you're going to do so much work... later.
Just do it, if you hesitate now, you're going to fail and lose your chance.
We only have 29219 days to achieve success and you're saying you have wasted 3 months of that by just sitting around?
Seriously get to work while you still can, time is finite.
edit: I have a couple tips that really really helped me get out of the destructive life I was living a few weeks ago.
1. Don't set up reward systems, they do NOT work and it only makes it harder for you to get to work the second time around.
2. Secondly, try holding yourself back when you are really motivated to finish something! In other words, don't stop working if you come across something frustrating, thats a part of learning.
Awesome post Hazardous, read it on DA and found it back on here.
Putting the time in is the only answer, everyone just needs to face it and realize that you need to push away distractions and avoid setting yourself up for failure with expectations.
I can bullet point the things I've learned as a student and a pro so far. Hopefully- this might help a bit for some folks.
- In relating to what Hazardous said about fear, the only thing you have to fear is your self because it is the only person in the world that could stop you from doing anything great and no one else. Yeah- sounds cliche- but self doubt usually starts within you.
- When you do a good job or get praised, just genuinely say thank you then move on as fast you can, cause you might get complacent or get comfortable at your current skill level and it might slow your progression as an artist.
- Always be inspired, every day, every hour every minute. ( cghub.com and polycount!) When you see other people's incredible work and you must be saying to your self-- " not a million years I can be that good " don't think that way! instead, find ways to get inspired by that piece and turn into productivity.
- take your time and be patient, your ultimate goal is a destination not a race. If you want to get better quicker-- I suggest sharpen your analytical skills and constantly asking your self why or how can I get better. ALWAYS!
- separate or sort your self from the pack- this could be a bad thing or a good thing socially. Look for students who are really really serious about their school work and try to hang around with them so their work ethic can rub on you and try to avoid friends who are more unproductive than you are. For an artist, laziness can be a disease,to stay healthy-- you gotta be productive.
- always stay productive! don't slow down! when your project is about to be finished or when you are in a middle of a project-
start doing some research on next up coming project, it could be a short term or a long term project. The key is having your creative mind constantly moving and preventing it from idling. It's all about getting that creative momentum going.
When I use to work in a game studio, this was my boss's answer for artist for getting too stuck one one environment project. He'll start us off with another new environment while we are in process of finishing the other. This usually happens when you work too much on piece of an environment for too long-- you ran into a wall and you get stuck.
- it's all about hard work!-- 1 percent is talent and 99 percent perspiration.
I just wanted to add this lastly- some folks might find this helpful. I was just going through some FengZhu videos and I came across this- he's a well known illustrator but I think in general he is talking about for what all us are striving to be an artist in this industry.
I've been playing games since i was 5 (Atari 800 gunfight was awesome!) but I never knew what I wanted to do with myself till i was 27. That's when I started learning art (literally from foundation level) and 3D modelling. I'm now 30, my progression is huge but it's also a huge daily struggle. Not for motivation, but because I'm trying to learn at home with a wife with medical issues and 3 kids to look after too.
So I completely agree with it getting infinitely harder the later in life you leave it.
You never know what life will throw at you, do what you can whilst you have the time.
Thx for sharing this!! It is absolutely 100% true!
And as a student (and still a noob imho ) I just want to add that it will remain hard for many years. Even when you get your first boost, make your first "greater" art and try to learn from the harsh comments, you have to remember it will keep going this way for some years. Always remember it is for the best, with the same reasons Hazardous mentioned! Don't get demotivated! Try to suck as much positive energy from post like this one, art from other people and talking to other artists about art!
Now.... Back to the board sculpting hairy balls!!
Reads Hazard's post.
Looks at hotlinks, unpins all games.
Let party hit the floor.
Really everything he said, we all know or should know by now. Even complete noobs have that gut feeling that this as a skill set and business require time & dedication. I've recently put my portfolio under the hammer as i have 49 days till my last hand in date and i'll be done at university. 3 years and I've passed two pieces that i can call honest work, the others mere doodles. So when i say i'm going to have a hell of a portfolio before i leave, i'm cutting my teeth to the gums to do it.
Here is my favorite quote that I pop out whenever someone emails about this kind of thing.
The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody wholl listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If youre sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find thats almost never the case. -Chuck Close
I gotta add to this. I'm getting myself out of this nooby "I got no motivation wat do" situation. And yes, I'm guilty of just sitting and playing games and thinking "one day I'll make something as awesome as this". Yeah. I do it. And it's shameful.
And I gotta say that all these straightforward no-bullshit answers made MUCH more of a difference than just saying nicely "you'll get there kid, just keep workin' at it".
But I do have something to add to this actually. It's something I've been learning about myself since I'm trying to get myself out of this horrible mindset of "I'll do it later".
I keep putting up enormous tasks. Awesome, incredible environments that I want to build. Crazy detailed characters I want to flesh out. Amazing complicated things. And what happens? I hit a wall. It's not that I'm not motivated. I just have no fucking clue where to start. The idea is so huge that I can't even start. And then I pull back immediately into myself, gnawing on myself for not finishing a damn thing.
So I've started to set myself smaller goals. Just make a single building. Just make a head. Make a little itty bitty cute character with not a lot of detail. And then I can build on that. I can take it further. As long as I just do that first thing. I take smaller steps, so I don't get lost in a maze of things I have to do to finish that initial big crazy idea. I'm doing this for myself, for my own progress. Not anyone else. I'm doing this stuff to get better, to expand my mind-library, and it doesn't need to be perfect, and it doesn't need to be as insanely detailed as that crazy environment I saw by my favorite artist. One day I'll do stuff like that, I know it. But not until I've actually thought that idea through. Right now, I'll just work on the little stuff, that stuff that will make me better, faster and stronger. Because that's what makes people awesome. That's what makes people capable of fleshing out their big, insane ideas.
I am new to 3d modeling and everything but I stay motivated by finishing a model, being ashamed by how bad it is, telling myself that I can make the next one better, and then begin working on some other model. My failure motivates me because I want to be able to produce the results I see on this website.
I second that. Im new to modelling as well.
Things that motivate me are awesome images displayed on CGHUB and here. Sometimes I just study simple scenes and try to reproduce them. It is hard. For me even a chair was difficult a month ago, I had to redo it tens of times from scratch, but with every next try it gets only better.
Theres probably no other motivation other than knowing what you want to be or want to achieve. If you are unsure on that part no advice would help. I believe setting some milestones for yourself and moving only forward is the key.
Thank you, I think I may just link back to that post whenever I get asked the same type of questions. People are always looking for a cheap trick to get on top, but the solution is hard work, plain and simple.
I wouldn't mind adding something I have learned since finishing uni. I spent along time thinking I wasn't good enough (tbh I still think that, even though people tell me otherwise, I know I have alot to improve on) but I realized thinking like that was moot. I work my ass off everyday in my room getting better, applying for jobs, asking for feedback, speaking to animators/designers/everyone I can from industry, because I want to learn and grow, and these people may give me that tiny bit of subject knowledge that I need to fully understand something(I don't annoy them for this info tho, that would suck, I show them things I think are cool, they tell me I did it wrong most of the time). Tbh the one thing I want to hear from people is that my work is crappy, because to me thats a challenge to get better, and most of the people I talk to will say this kind of thing in a mostly constructive way, and maybe next time they will say its stil crappy but not as crappy as last time and I know I have got somewhere. While I have freelance work I still haven't got an industry job, but that will come eventually
Don't be scared to be shit, I would be more scared when people cant see anything wrong with my work because then I would have trouble deciding what area I needed to focus/improve on, and there's always something; even the awesome guys on here will have areas of art they are weak at. Just deal with it, and work as much as you can.
Yeah, nobody wants to hear it but the answer is always the same : do more work. Get up earlier, stay up later, turn off the tv - whatever it takes. Do more work.
Give em the benefit of the doubt, maybe he's working on a new portfolio piece as we speak.
Unfortunately, it could be the situation (not saying it is) I have seen too many times, in that I think that the people Haz's post is really meant for probably won't read it or won't take from it what he intended, and it's sad, because it really is brilliant. In my experience, a lot of people think that their situation is special, that nobody gets them, and just don't want to hear it. Luckily I had people here on PC that I was able to talk with in my college/post-grad days when I struggled with some of the same stuff. For me it was putting down my 360 controller, making steady progress, even if it was painfully slow at times, and admitting my shortcomings to myself. I mean, if you could see the crap I had in my portfolio when I first started out, you'd think what I have now is the Sistine Chapel in comparison, which says a lot about how bad my stuff used to be lol. I've got a long way to go, but compared to where I was a year ago?
Really nice post. It's a principle that applies to most if not everything you want to improve on. If it's getting better at an instrument or drawing or math.
You have to pour time into it. There's no such thing as talent, just hard work.
Thanks Hazardous, I bet you got alot of lazy people ( such as myself ) off their arses!
Well said, Hazardous! That should be a sticky. This is sort of the curse/blessing of being an artist. There's always more to learn, and while there are tricks and techniques people can show you, the only way to get better is by doing it yourself.
The attitude I've decided to adopt is simple: my next project is going to be a huge success, so I will approach it with all of my energy. Is every project a success? No! Of course not. I've had tons of failures. But each time a project completes I can choose to focus on the minor successes, or on the minor failings. Every project, big or small, has both. When I focus on the negative aspects it's easy to delay the next project in fear of another failure. Instead, when choose to focus on the small successes, I'm ready to dive into the next attempt. After all, it's going to succeed!
So I'll just tell a bit about my own struggle to find my motivation, because even with Haz as a husband, I still felt bored and slack when it came to personal art.
I knew I had to make art to get better. I knew I had to fill my folio with art works that weren't under an NDA. But for the life of me whenever I sat down to make art I felt totally bored. I lacked the dirve to finish it to a standard to put in my folio. I would start something and just lay it to the side.
Totally the opposite when I worked in house on a game project though. I would be excited to go to work. Work all day non stop, try to put in some extra voluntary overtime when permitted, and think about work when I went home/. I was obsessed with making art for the game project I wad working on.
At first I just attributed this drive and passion because other people around me were working and I thrived off the joint effort in making art. But that was not it.
What I realised was I didn't make art to make a pretty picture. I love games, I love making games and the only reason I was making art was so that I could put it in the game. I made art to make games!
Realising that was my lighting bolt.
Making an item for a website picture? A folio piece? Boring as fuck for me. I thrived on making stuff to go into a game, so I can run around in the world I helped create. That's what drove me, and that's why I wanted to get better at making art.
When I finally realised this (Which was only a few years ago) I focused on that as my motivation. Games. I needed to get my stuff into games. I started working on my own puzzle level design in UDK, then moved to RPG maker to try out pixel art. Worked 12 hours a day non stop on that stuff. I was just making art for myself. I never showed anyone, and I was having a ball!
Now that I found dota2 workshop, the art style is right up my alley and I can make an item in a relatively short amount of time and then when I see it running around in the game, that's the best thing ever! That's why I can't stop working on this stuff! Holidays? Bah! Who needs those!? I have so many cool ideas I want to make to go into DOTA2 I just can't stop.
It's amazing how far I have come from the procrastinating blob who shuddered at the thought of doing art in their spare time, to someone who lives for it.
You just need to find what your true motivation for doing art is, and it makes it so much easier.
same here. I love working on actual game projects, and I always want to keep improving and doing stuff, but it's really difficult for me to do a personal project with nothing attached, with the dota 2 stuff it's really motivating and feels rewarding seeing items on a character... so as long as it still feels that way I'm going to keep working on stuff, because it's fun AND good for me!
"Stop playing games, hanging out with your friends, and make your folio. Youre a student, now is the absolute best time to be working on it - trust me, you do not want to be an old bastard like me trying to build your folio when you have more serious things to worry about, it gets infinitely harder to do. I have no question there are a tonne of artists here at polycount that would attest to that. Dont fucking waste the opportunity you have RIGHT NOW. Your friends will be there in 6 months time and if they give you the flick, fuckem youll make more through your art! Take control of your shit! youre the boss and you CAN do it."
YUSSS.
fuckin' hell. Don't squander any time you have. There's nothing worse than looking back at your school time and wishing you played a little less WoW and drew more than once every two weeks.
I will stop you for a moment there and while I think it's a beautiful idea that we are only judged by our portfolios, that is so far from the real world. When applying for any job in nearly any field, it almost as important to know people. When I first went out looking for intern ships in the arch viz industry I often met people with what would generally be accepted as a worse portfolio then my own, however, they had their social aspect in check and actually mingled with other people, and in the the end met their current bosses through parties and events.
So I think it's almost just as important to create a network of people as it is sitting in your room all day practicing art. Don't underestimate the power of a good network can have.
I will stop you for a moment there and while I think it's a beautiful idea that we are only judged by our portfolios, that is so far from the real world. When applying for any job in nearly any field, it almost as important to know people. When I first went out looking for intern ships in the arch viz industry I often met people with what would generally be accepted as a worse portfolio then my own, however, they had their social aspect in check and actually mingled with other people, and in the the end met their current bosses through parties and events.
So I think it's almost just as important to create a network of people as it is sitting in your room all day practicing art. Don't underestimate the power of a good network can have.
Valid point man. :thumbup:
But in a motivation thread dealing with students finding it difficult to improove, self help etc, All I would add is that this not be interpreted as 'Dont worry about your folio - just make friends and you can get there too'.
They are the absolute last thing needed on an art team, yet I'm sad to report they do sometimes make it:
Crap artist with tonnes of friends in all the right places.
I bet all the industry peeps here know of at least one or 2 of those in their careers. I sure as hell do - the worst is when they are injected in because they are family or friends of the family. Makes for a very uncomfortable situation.
Replies
Artists do not just wait for that magical sensation to kick in. They just do it. Just like Nike says. Grab that pencil and just draw anything! Do some life drawing classes! Go to a church and study architecture! Travel! See the world!
Your post doesn't directly apply to me, in terms of your intended audience, but damn has that made me want to work more!
And it shall be done.
Bravo.
Im a fellow student graduating soon, here is my little contribution, things that have worked for me.
1. Have the faith and determination to get through the tough times. Truly believe and know that you can get where you want to.
2. Make Goals and find strategies that work. Look at other artists, see and understand what they are doing and why its looking awesome.
3. Make more Goals!! then plans/sacrifices to achieve your goals. Be prepared to change plans, find other solutions and alter your environment. Put yourself in a situation where you will excel faster.
4. Be consistent, its the only way to get better. Even if its not going well, push through.
5. Take a step back, see if what you are doing is helping or hindering you.
But, on a more serious note, we need either
a. a sticky "motivation thread"
b. a god damn wiki page.
these are getting super redundant.
and nothing against OP, it's just too much.
Listen to this man!
I would stress the part about giving up playing video games, and hanging out all the time. Your sacrifice to get better, is your free time fucking around and wasting it.
I'm going to post the worst shit you've ever seen. I dont't know. It could even be good.
Graham
To aliasbane : well first find do you really wants to do this for future and to be your profession. I know people that do that just for the job and the monthly payment. Those people have completely lack of interest for anything cg/industry related.They never do something for yourself.Something for fun or for contest etc...They even don't play games.But somehow they work in game/vfx company. Because of that the work that they do is with mediocre quality.At the end their colleagues have to finish/polish their work which means extra time etc..People like those just exist no matter how small/big or perfect is one studio.In most cases the whole team knows about them but because of some circumstances they can't do anything and just live with that.I am pretty sure you don't want to be one of those people.Try to find this passion inside you.I am calling this hobby, at least in my case was this and after year I got my first job. Yes this was before 14 years. Different times not so big competition.Now is a bit hard but not impossible.Try to start with simple things. Try to make a simple rock and you found how fukin hard is to make believable looking rock. Don't try to make every possible thing from character with animation to complete environment because you will fail.This is common mistake.Programs are just tools they are all the same/ i mean 3ds max , Maya etc../ and do the same things especially for game art. Zbrush is from other world:) looks hard to understand but this is for the first few days.
don't give up. If your dream is to work for big company just follow it. One day will happen. Don't look masters work and get depressed because you can't do this. You can, but will take some time. You have a lot of time in front of you so use it.
passion, practice and many sleepless nights
hope this help
If you want to get motivated just cut out the demotivating, time wasting crap in your life. For me it was watching youtube videos and playing games for like 12 hours a day. Thats just a destructive way to live! Now I'm here doing work for once and it feels so much better.
Don't be like me and tell yourself you're going to do so much work... later.
Just do it, if you hesitate now, you're going to fail and lose your chance.
We only have 29219 days to achieve success and you're saying you have wasted 3 months of that by just sitting around?
Seriously get to work while you still can, time is finite.
edit: I have a couple tips that really really helped me get out of the destructive life I was living a few weeks ago.
1. Don't set up reward systems, they do NOT work and it only makes it harder for you to get to work the second time around.
2. Secondly, try holding yourself back when you are really motivated to finish something! In other words, don't stop working if you come across something frustrating, thats a part of learning.
Time to draw some dicks!
Putting the time in is the only answer, everyone just needs to face it and realize that you need to push away distractions and avoid setting yourself up for failure with expectations.
- In relating to what Hazardous said about fear, the only thing you have to fear is your self because it is the only person in the world that could stop you from doing anything great and no one else. Yeah- sounds cliche- but self doubt usually starts within you.
- When you do a good job or get praised, just genuinely say thank you then move on as fast you can, cause you might get complacent or get comfortable at your current skill level and it might slow your progression as an artist.
- Always be inspired, every day, every hour every minute. ( cghub.com and polycount!) When you see other people's incredible work and you must be saying to your self-- " not a million years I can be that good " don't think that way! instead, find ways to get inspired by that piece and turn into productivity.
- take your time and be patient, your ultimate goal is a destination not a race. If you want to get better quicker-- I suggest sharpen your analytical skills and constantly asking your self why or how can I get better. ALWAYS!
- separate or sort your self from the pack- this could be a bad thing or a good thing socially. Look for students who are really really serious about their school work and try to hang around with them so their work ethic can rub on you and try to avoid friends who are more unproductive than you are. For an artist, laziness can be a disease,to stay healthy-- you gotta be productive.
- always stay productive! don't slow down! when your project is about to be finished or when you are in a middle of a project-
start doing some research on next up coming project, it could be a short term or a long term project. The key is having your creative mind constantly moving and preventing it from idling. It's all about getting that creative momentum going.
When I use to work in a game studio, this was my boss's answer for artist for getting too stuck one one environment project. He'll start us off with another new environment while we are in process of finishing the other. This usually happens when you work too much on piece of an environment for too long-- you ran into a wall and you get stuck.
- it's all about hard work!-- 1 percent is talent and 99 percent perspiration.
I just wanted to add this lastly- some folks might find this helpful. I was just going through some FengZhu videos and I came across this- he's a well known illustrator but I think in general he is talking about for what all us are striving to be an artist in this industry.
[ame="
Well-- hope that helps.
I've been playing games since i was 5 (Atari 800 gunfight was awesome!) but I never knew what I wanted to do with myself till i was 27. That's when I started learning art (literally from foundation level) and 3D modelling. I'm now 30, my progression is huge but it's also a huge daily struggle. Not for motivation, but because I'm trying to learn at home with a wife with medical issues and 3 kids to look after too.
So I completely agree with it getting infinitely harder the later in life you leave it.
You never know what life will throw at you, do what you can whilst you have the time.
> Tells competitors they should spend their time making penises
Wait a minute
And as a student (and still a noob imho
Now.... Back to the board sculpting hairy balls!!
Looks at hotlinks, unpins all games.
Let party hit the floor.
Really everything he said, we all know or should know by now. Even complete noobs have that gut feeling that this as a skill set and business require time & dedication. I've recently put my portfolio under the hammer as i have 49 days till my last hand in date and i'll be done at university. 3 years and I've passed two pieces that i can call honest work, the others mere doodles. So when i say i'm going to have a hell of a portfolio before i leave, i'm cutting my teeth to the gums to do it.
The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody wholl listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If youre sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find thats almost never the case. -Chuck Close
I gotta add to this. I'm getting myself out of this nooby "I got no motivation wat do" situation. And yes, I'm guilty of just sitting and playing games and thinking "one day I'll make something as awesome as this". Yeah. I do it. And it's shameful.
And I gotta say that all these straightforward no-bullshit answers made MUCH more of a difference than just saying nicely "you'll get there kid, just keep workin' at it".
But I do have something to add to this actually. It's something I've been learning about myself since I'm trying to get myself out of this horrible mindset of "I'll do it later".
I keep putting up enormous tasks. Awesome, incredible environments that I want to build. Crazy detailed characters I want to flesh out. Amazing complicated things. And what happens? I hit a wall. It's not that I'm not motivated. I just have no fucking clue where to start. The idea is so huge that I can't even start. And then I pull back immediately into myself, gnawing on myself for not finishing a damn thing.
So I've started to set myself smaller goals. Just make a single building. Just make a head. Make a little itty bitty cute character with not a lot of detail. And then I can build on that. I can take it further. As long as I just do that first thing. I take smaller steps, so I don't get lost in a maze of things I have to do to finish that initial big crazy idea. I'm doing this for myself, for my own progress. Not anyone else. I'm doing this stuff to get better, to expand my mind-library, and it doesn't need to be perfect, and it doesn't need to be as insanely detailed as that crazy environment I saw by my favorite artist. One day I'll do stuff like that, I know it. But not until I've actually thought that idea through. Right now, I'll just work on the little stuff, that stuff that will make me better, faster and stronger. Because that's what makes people awesome. That's what makes people capable of fleshing out their big, insane ideas.
And fuck yeah I'm gonna get awesome.
Things that motivate me are awesome images displayed on CGHUB and here. Sometimes I just study simple scenes and try to reproduce them. It is hard. For me even a chair was difficult a month ago, I had to redo it tens of times from scratch, but with every next try it gets only better.
Theres probably no other motivation other than knowing what you want to be or want to achieve. If you are unsure on that part no advice would help. I believe setting some milestones for yourself and moving only forward is the key.
Hope my English is clear.
Thank you, I think I may just link back to that post whenever I get asked the same type of questions. People are always looking for a cheap trick to get on top, but the solution is hard work, plain and simple.
I wouldn't mind adding something I have learned since finishing uni. I spent along time thinking I wasn't good enough (tbh I still think that, even though people tell me otherwise, I know I have alot to improve on) but I realized thinking like that was moot. I work my ass off everyday in my room getting better, applying for jobs, asking for feedback, speaking to animators/designers/everyone I can from industry, because I want to learn and grow, and these people may give me that tiny bit of subject knowledge that I need to fully understand something(I don't annoy them for this info tho, that would suck, I show them things I think are cool, they tell me I did it wrong most of the time). Tbh the one thing I want to hear from people is that my work is crappy, because to me thats a challenge to get better, and most of the people I talk to will say this kind of thing in a mostly constructive way, and maybe next time they will say its stil crappy but not as crappy as last time and I know I have got somewhere. While I have freelance work I still haven't got an industry job, but that will come eventually
Don't be scared to be shit, I would be more scared when people cant see anything wrong with my work because then I would have trouble deciding what area I needed to focus/improve on, and there's always something; even the awesome guys on here will have areas of art they are weak at. Just deal with it, and work as much as you can.
Give em the benefit of the doubt, maybe he's working on a new portfolio piece as we speak.
Unfortunately, it could be the situation (not saying it is) I have seen too many times, in that I think that the people Haz's post is really meant for probably won't read it or won't take from it what he intended, and it's sad, because it really is brilliant. In my experience, a lot of people think that their situation is special, that nobody gets them, and just don't want to hear it. Luckily I had people here on PC that I was able to talk with in my college/post-grad days when I struggled with some of the same stuff. For me it was putting down my 360 controller, making steady progress, even if it was painfully slow at times, and admitting my shortcomings to myself. I mean, if you could see the crap I had in my portfolio when I first started out, you'd think what I have now is the Sistine Chapel in comparison, which says a lot about how bad my stuff used to be lol. I've got a long way to go, but compared to where I was a year ago?
You have to pour time into it. There's no such thing as talent, just hard work.
Thanks Hazardous, I bet you got alot of lazy people ( such as myself ) off their arses!
http://ctrlpaint.com/blog/choose-to-succeed
I'd like to, but i have a feeling he didn't get the validation he was looking for and thus left.
but hey, i could be wrong.
Well then, now would be an excellent time for him to prove he's been paying attention to all this free yet priceless advice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LazUZz3K6IY
- Thought I would drop it in here haha!!!
Anyways, that is one of my favorite quotes. Always has been. Thanks for posting it up; it is painfully relevant to this thread.
I knew I had to make art to get better. I knew I had to fill my folio with art works that weren't under an NDA. But for the life of me whenever I sat down to make art I felt totally bored. I lacked the dirve to finish it to a standard to put in my folio. I would start something and just lay it to the side.
Totally the opposite when I worked in house on a game project though. I would be excited to go to work. Work all day non stop, try to put in some extra voluntary overtime when permitted, and think about work when I went home/. I was obsessed with making art for the game project I wad working on.
At first I just attributed this drive and passion because other people around me were working and I thrived off the joint effort in making art. But that was not it.
What I realised was I didn't make art to make a pretty picture. I love games, I love making games and the only reason I was making art was so that I could put it in the game. I made art to make games!
Realising that was my lighting bolt.
Making an item for a website picture? A folio piece? Boring as fuck for me. I thrived on making stuff to go into a game, so I can run around in the world I helped create. That's what drove me, and that's why I wanted to get better at making art.
When I finally realised this (Which was only a few years ago) I focused on that as my motivation. Games. I needed to get my stuff into games. I started working on my own puzzle level design in UDK, then moved to RPG maker to try out pixel art. Worked 12 hours a day non stop on that stuff. I was just making art for myself. I never showed anyone, and I was having a ball!
Now that I found dota2 workshop, the art style is right up my alley and I can make an item in a relatively short amount of time and then when I see it running around in the game, that's the best thing ever! That's why I can't stop working on this stuff! Holidays? Bah! Who needs those!? I have so many cool ideas I want to make to go into DOTA2 I just can't stop.
It's amazing how far I have come from the procrastinating blob who shuddered at the thought of doing art in their spare time, to someone who lives for it.
You just need to find what your true motivation for doing art is, and it makes it so much easier.
same here. I love working on actual game projects, and I always want to keep improving and doing stuff, but it's really difficult for me to do a personal project with nothing attached, with the dota 2 stuff it's really motivating and feels rewarding seeing items on a character... so as long as it still feels that way I'm going to keep working on stuff, because it's fun AND good for me!
I will stop you for a moment there and while I think it's a beautiful idea that we are only judged by our portfolios, that is so far from the real world. When applying for any job in nearly any field, it almost as important to know people. When I first went out looking for intern ships in the arch viz industry I often met people with what would generally be accepted as a worse portfolio then my own, however, they had their social aspect in check and actually mingled with other people, and in the the end met their current bosses through parties and events.
So I think it's almost just as important to create a network of people as it is sitting in your room all day practicing art. Don't underestimate the power of a good network can have.
Valid point man. :thumbup:
But in a motivation thread dealing with students finding it difficult to improove, self help etc, All I would add is that this not be interpreted as 'Dont worry about your folio - just make friends and you can get there too'.
They are the absolute last thing needed on an art team, yet I'm sad to report they do sometimes make it:
Crap artist with tonnes of friends in all the right places.
I bet all the industry peeps here know of at least one or 2 of those in their careers. I sure as hell do - the worst is when they are injected in because they are family or friends of the family. Makes for a very uncomfortable situation.