How should I Practice Art as a 15 year old?

Zalonio

Hello! For some background: I'm a student (recently turned 15 years old) in Ontario who just joined high school grade 9 nearly 6 months ago. After just becoming really fascinated by Artstation work, I decided, about 8 months ago, that I wanted to work to become a professional artist (currently interested in both 2D and 3D) and get that dream job. Why? I just love analyzing creative work, and hope that when I pursue the same path, I could make the amazing work myself. 

But to get the point, I am asking: how exactly should I be practicing all day at my age?

(And when I ask how, I really emphasize: how?)

I know this might be a really general, dumb question, but it is a question I ask myself daily when I feel lost. I look at other professionals, and wonder how their daily practice as a 15-year-old compares to mine. How they managed all the assignments, how they knew what art resources to look at, and how exactly they would go about their days when just arriving from school. 

In my life, the routine for me is coming home from school every day to return to my same old desk, occasionally taking out my sketchbook to draw or view a Maya tutorial for 5-10 minutes. This cycle repeats every day, and I began to feel lost as to what I should do every day to become someone as skilled as one of the professionals I see. (Like Finnian Macmanus, someone I read about who was incredibly skillful at the age of 16.)  So I ponder:

 

Did all the other professional artists, at my age, just occasionally pull out their sketchbooks after coming home from school? 

"What exactly would they do when returning home to teach themselves art? After accomplishing something, how did they know what to do next? (like build a gun, for example?) Exactly how much effort did they put in every day?"

Maybe I'm just expecting an easy answer like: On my average day, I drew Pinterest-nature photos from Google for 3 hours, or Google-searched and watched a YouTube tutorial about 4D Cinema for 4 hours.
In that answer, I'm just hoping that I would be able to apply this to my own everyday routine. 

So to end: what are your thoughts or guidance?

_________

If you also would like to see what I make when practicing: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php/325656-Zalonio-s-Sketchbook

slosh

I'd say it depends on what you really want to do.  Right now, I think your 2d sketching is looking a bit stronger than your 3d so maybe just sketch a lot more.  If you want to focus, focus on your anatomy.  Find lots of good anatomy reference and do a ton of studies.  Even if you're bored, draw a bunch of hands for practice.  This could get boring so do an illustration every once in a while.  If you do this long enough, I think you will get good pretty fast.  You are still so young if you put your mind to it, you should progress pretty quickly.  It would be good to watch some tutorials on painting and what not so you can improve your digital illustration skills as well.  I think once you get to a good point with your illustration and you still are interested in 3d, switch part of your focus to Maya or 3dsmax.  Pick up some basics and model some fun stuff.  Then once you have a decent grasp on that, move onto zbrush.  But I guess my main point is to pick a focus and stick with it.  Trying to watch random videos of all sorts of different programs and disciplines is going to confuse you even more.  

Brian "Panda" Choi

Get your art foundations in NOW.

My recommendation:

Basic painting (color theory, value, composition): Acrylics, Oils, doesn't matter, as long ass you're doing observational painting, you're learning to see the world.
Figure Drawing: this is SUPER important.  It's gonna set you up to see the body like a professional.

Software is easy to learn.  Foundational skill are not.

ambelamba

Check out Peter Han's dynamic sketching samples. 

RustySpannerz

Honestly you're ahead of the pack by asking this question now. I almost spent 4 years at university before I realized that I couldn't just coast through doing the bare minimum and that I have to work to get where I want to be. And it's insane how many people in my class were maybe not in the exact same boat, but after 4 years at least of studying they should be able to produce almost industry standard work. The vast majority didn't. So understanding now where you want to be, who your inspirations are, and what you want your work to look like is very important. And work every day to reach that goal. 

On the more practical side, it seems you like drawing people so really study anatomy. There are some great resources on pinterest and deviantart and a bunch of other website for drawing people. Maybe find out if there are any life drawing classes in your area, because that will be infinitely useful.  And that point about basic colour theory/value/composition is also really important. No matter what area in art you focus on, 2d or 3d, character or environment, those basic art fundamentals will come into play. I've not actually tried it, but I've been meaning to use Ctrl Paint to build up my own 2d skills, so that might be worth a try? 

Also I really like your second landscape the one with all the wires. It looks really nice, and is definitely on the right track skill wise. 

beccatherose

I'm just going to reiterate 3 points that have already been said: fundamentals, observational work, and making what you enjoy. Making what you love is absolutely essential for an enjoyable long-term relationship with your art. And it's great that you have a sketchbook thread! Update it regularly and learn how to internalize the feedback that you get. Good luck!

beccatherose

Looking at your work, I'd highly recommend that you work on your fundamental drawing skills before diving into painting too much. Observational and original drawing skills will significantly improve the structure and form in your work, trust me.