Art resources bought but never used?

nebula_north

Has this happened to you? You find an ad while browsing the internet about digital painting and you quickly click it. Then, you're brought to the site that offers resources that say is "cheaper than any art college course" meaning it still costs money, but it won't be as expensive as college. You've purchased it, opened up the downloaded files and then realize that the material is either not making sense to you or it doesn't hold your attention. Money wasted on an art resource. So you try again with another one. You went down this route of paying for digital art tutorials because maybe it would be better to learn from them than the free ones. To be honest, free or paid, the materials of process of digital art, painting, or concept art still can't be comprehended.
  This is me. I have been drawing for 14 years, but my art does not look like it. I thought that free resources were not enough to help me understand. So I tried premium content, things like Art school for digital artists by cube brush and Digital Painting Academy over on Paintable. There were more paid resources that I tried and I just stopped using them. Maybe my motivation was not strong enough to just pick one resource and stick to it but instead, I felt each of these paid tutorials or programs were not helping me understand digital painting. To this day I have no idea why I still dont understand something as simple as blending in digital painting. Im trying not to buy anymore premium content and also dont want to pay to be a patron of artists when i can just learn it myself. But even then...I can't really self teach myself long enough to be distracted or disappointed.
 But after calculating up the amount I spent, it was up to a thousand of dollars on it. Not good but I don't know what else to do.

Eric Chadwick

Welcome to Polycount!

It does sound like you may have a motivation problem. See Motivation is Bull.

If you want actionable feedback to help you see your work in a new light and improve, first make a Topic of your own in the section "2D Art Showcase & Critiques". Post your artwork there for critique... just the latest artwork, what you're currently working on. Then reply with updates as you keep working on your art.

Instructions and advice here on how things best work here: Why you're not getting any replies.

Brian "Panda" Choi

I'll atest to what Eric wrote.  Contributing and learning from Polycount has been 75-80% of my actual skill education.

But I had to keep giving to get something back,

Alex_J

Exhaust all of the free content there is online before spending any more money. There is enough to keep you busy for years.

What you have to learn first is not how to make art, but how to learn. If you do not know how to learn, you'll never get anywhere. Once you know how to learn, there is nothing you can't do. Only a matter of time and your personal preference.

You learn how to learn by trial and error practice. You use the scientific method to ask questions about yourself, run an experiment, and get answers. It's a never ending process but you get better everyday. To be clear, the tool you are learning to use is not the wacom pen or photoshop. It's yourself. That's the primary focus of your experimentation.

The first hypothesis I would throw at you for testing would be, "If spend the rest of the year doing at least 1 hour a day of art fundamentals practice, I'll be able to decide if being an artist is really what I want to do by the end."

nebula_north

Alex Javor said:

Exhaust all of the free content there is online before spending any more money. There is enough to keep you busy for years.

What you have to learn first is not how to make art, but how to learn. If you do not know how to learn, you'll never get anywhere. Once you know how to learn, there is nothing you can't do. Only a matter of time and your personal preference.

You learn how to learn by trial and error practice. You use the scientific method to ask questions about yourself, run an experiment, and get answers. It's a never ending process but you get better everyday. To be clear, the tool you are learning to use is not the wacom pen or photoshop. It's yourself. That's the primary focus of your experimentation.

The first hypothesis I would throw at you for testing would be, "If spend the rest of the year doing at least 1 hour a day of art fundamentals practice, I'll be able to decide if being an artist is really what I want to do by the end."

So even after drawing for 14 years I still havent figured out if I want to be an artist or not?

poopipe

Do what Eric says

Watch video lectures by feng zhu

Also, not every successful artist can draw - how are you with other media?

Edit:
Oh, and 90% of art is observation 

nebula_north

poopipe said:

Do what Eric says

Watch video lectures by feng zhu

Also, not every successful artist can draw - how are you with other media?

Edit:
Oh, and 90% of art is observation 

traditional media I do better in. I use copic markers but my problem is that i want to do digital since it seems more wanted both as a hobbyist or as a professional artitst

Alex_J

nebula_north said:

So even after drawing for 14 years I still havent figured out if I want to be an artist or not?

It sounds like you like to do art, but doing something as a hobby wiht a comfortable routine is different from being a professional at it, especially in competitive market.

The gist of what I am saying is that there is no secret ninja skills you have to discover like the holy grail. Improvement comes down to focusing on the self and learning how to learn. I'm sure that sounds banal but usually people who don't improve are the ones who won't take personal responsibility, hence the addictive search for a way around doing so.

nebula_north

Alex Javor said:

nebula_north said:

So even after drawing for 14 years I still havent figured out if I want to be an artist or not?

It sounds like you like to do art, but doing something as a hobby wiht a comfortable routine is different from being a professional at it, especially in competitive market.

The gist of what I am saying is that there is no secret ninja skills you have to discover like the holy grail. Improvement comes down to focusing on the self and learning how to learn. I'm sure that sounds banal but usually people who don't improve are the ones who won't take personal responsibility, hence the addictive search for a way around doing so.

Well I do feel like it is me as a reason for not improving. I beat myself up because I realized that I can't comprehend things fast enough. So I do take responsibility for it. My problem is I think I may have a learning issue or maybe Im slow? XD

Eric Chadwick

Upload your art. Let us help you.

Alex_J

Eric Chadwick said:

Upload your art. Let us help you.

Some of us are dumber than others, but we still got to eat, right? So leverage the skill and expertise of others. It's free!

Eric Chadwick

Hey, only my kids get to call me dumb, arright?

Alex_J

I was talking about myself!

Biomag

nebula_north said:

Alex Javor said:

nebula_north said:

So even after drawing for 14 years I still havent figured out if I want to be an artist or not?

It sounds like you like to do art, but doing something as a hobby wiht a comfortable routine is different from being a professional at it, especially in competitive market.

The gist of what I am saying is that there is no secret ninja skills you have to discover like the holy grail. Improvement comes down to focusing on the self and learning how to learn. I'm sure that sounds banal but usually people who don't improve are the ones who won't take personal responsibility, hence the addictive search for a way around doing so.

Well I do feel like it is me as a reason for not improving. I beat myself up because I realized that I can't comprehend things fast enough. So I do take responsibility for it. My problem is I think I may have a learning issue or maybe Im slow? XD

It might be just your method of learning. Everyone's different. Maybe watching others do it in video format isn't the right thing for you.

For me personally the key to learn something is to first understand why people are doing things in a specific way - what's behind the action their are making, what's their thought process. Until I can't wrap my head around that no matter how much practise I put into it I personally don't get better at it. Once I understand WHY they are doing it I can asses WHAT they are actually achieving with each step they demonstrate and then adept it to my personal needs/workflows. Otherwise its just observing motions and imitating them, which doesn't help me at all.

sacboi

Biomag said: For me personally the key to learn something is to first understand why people are doing things in a specific way - what's behind the action their are making, what's their thought process. Until I can't wrap my head around that no matter how much practise I put into it I personally don't get better at it. Once I understand WHY they are doing it I can asses WHAT they are actually achieving with each step they demonstrate and then adept it to my personal needs/workflows. Otherwise its just observing motions and imitating them, which doesn't help me at all.

Yeah +1

Likewise, utilize a similar approach. Actually at the moment testing a workflow implemented mainly via the graphic arts industry, corporate logo design and such, but pushing the bounds toward photo-realism. Basically way beyond my comfort zone type stuff however have continued to persevere literally for months grinding through various self learning content because I see potential for cross-over into the game/film sector, specifically 2d environment concept art or otherwise. Hence, now tweaking, optimizing what I'd learnt into a personal drawing style too facilitate that goal, somewhat.

So  nebula_north, I'd suggest unplug the internet and perhaps commence something?! either a painting/drawing...etc in whatever medium you might prefer. Although I know like many of us here on Polycount had experienced as well, just the simple act of starting can be a bit of a challenge in and of itself but nonetheless once taking the first step you'd be surprised how easily 'getting into the flow' takes hold which is when the 'fun' really begins