I want your beautiful mind!
polycounter lvl 18
Hey folks,
if you've seen my other thread, you might know that i'm in a bi-ha-ha-ha-t of a situation where i'm going to need to get my shit together and find work, quickly. Last night something that i've been working on clicked, and i've got a really good idea.
I'm a certified NLP (nero linguistic programmer) basically someone who can unpack and organize thought patterns. it's something i've studied for a while, but i'm only just now getting good at it.
What i'd like to do is take anyone with a great skill who wants to volunteer, unpack their strategy, and offer it up to the community. this will be fun for you, as you will probably get to become conscious of something that you enjoy doing, It'll be great for me, because i can learn what makes you awesome, and it'll be GREAT for the community, because we'll have a collection of psychological patterns for new artists.
I'll give you an example at the bottom of all this.
I'm looking for strategies for anything and everything that you do well. I'm really interested lately in
- any art strategies
- making money
- convincing management to give you a job
- any other interpersonal skills
tell me if you're interested! reply, pm me or Msn me at johnny_warner@hotmail.com -- i dont know how many responses i'll get, but so be it.
If i could get strategies from you awesome artists out there, like Kevin J, Per... too many of you to name... oh man that would be fantastic.
an example of a strategy
My modeling strategy.
i start with a good idea of something that i want to sculpt -- I get an internal image of what it is generally. as i imagine that image, i get a strong, good feeling. i then take that general idea, that image, and put it slightly off to one side. i then start constructing my model, which is a process (basically a series of steps) that i've learned over the years. (this is something that we could unpack, but there's lots of technique tutorials out there)
the steps that i go through to build the model unfold in levels of detail-- i get the broad shapes, then the medium detials, then i do fine detailing.
every time i do a step, and it's in line with the origional good feeling, the good feeling gets stronger. i feel like i'm doign well and getting closer to my goal -- i feel like each step is a fantastic success. i have pride in everything that i've done, and i use that feeling to generate excitement about just how awesome the model is eventually going to be - i do this with an internal image, but i dont get too far ahead of myself.. only the next few steps.
as i feel better about it, i start creating internal images of my friends all being impressed with what i'm doing, and giving me compliments.. telling me how awesome it is. i keep going.
this strategy allows me to learn quickly, because I can use a excellent model from one of you guys as a target, and then use this strategy to try and hit the mark. also, if i come up against a technical limitation of mine, i take time to learn that, get it done, and then continue on with the original strategy.
here's my problem -- I never finish my work. last night i got a good finishing strategy from my friend though.. i'm still putting this into words so sorry if it's psychobabble.
he goes into a mode that's less bottom-up creative, and more external-- he takes whats already THERE -- what he's just painted, for example.. externally, and just embraces it, explores it, fills it in, completes it... so instead of referencing some creative void to tell him what's next, he takes what IS and makes it clear.
I'm all about the void man.
tell me if you're interested!
if you've seen my other thread, you might know that i'm in a bi-ha-ha-ha-t of a situation where i'm going to need to get my shit together and find work, quickly. Last night something that i've been working on clicked, and i've got a really good idea.
I'm a certified NLP (nero linguistic programmer) basically someone who can unpack and organize thought patterns. it's something i've studied for a while, but i'm only just now getting good at it.
What i'd like to do is take anyone with a great skill who wants to volunteer, unpack their strategy, and offer it up to the community. this will be fun for you, as you will probably get to become conscious of something that you enjoy doing, It'll be great for me, because i can learn what makes you awesome, and it'll be GREAT for the community, because we'll have a collection of psychological patterns for new artists.
I'll give you an example at the bottom of all this.
I'm looking for strategies for anything and everything that you do well. I'm really interested lately in
- any art strategies
- making money
- convincing management to give you a job
- any other interpersonal skills
tell me if you're interested! reply, pm me or Msn me at johnny_warner@hotmail.com -- i dont know how many responses i'll get, but so be it.
If i could get strategies from you awesome artists out there, like Kevin J, Per... too many of you to name... oh man that would be fantastic.
an example of a strategy
My modeling strategy.
i start with a good idea of something that i want to sculpt -- I get an internal image of what it is generally. as i imagine that image, i get a strong, good feeling. i then take that general idea, that image, and put it slightly off to one side. i then start constructing my model, which is a process (basically a series of steps) that i've learned over the years. (this is something that we could unpack, but there's lots of technique tutorials out there)
the steps that i go through to build the model unfold in levels of detail-- i get the broad shapes, then the medium detials, then i do fine detailing.
every time i do a step, and it's in line with the origional good feeling, the good feeling gets stronger. i feel like i'm doign well and getting closer to my goal -- i feel like each step is a fantastic success. i have pride in everything that i've done, and i use that feeling to generate excitement about just how awesome the model is eventually going to be - i do this with an internal image, but i dont get too far ahead of myself.. only the next few steps.
as i feel better about it, i start creating internal images of my friends all being impressed with what i'm doing, and giving me compliments.. telling me how awesome it is. i keep going.
this strategy allows me to learn quickly, because I can use a excellent model from one of you guys as a target, and then use this strategy to try and hit the mark. also, if i come up against a technical limitation of mine, i take time to learn that, get it done, and then continue on with the original strategy.
here's my problem -- I never finish my work. last night i got a good finishing strategy from my friend though.. i'm still putting this into words so sorry if it's psychobabble.
he goes into a mode that's less bottom-up creative, and more external-- he takes whats already THERE -- what he's just painted, for example.. externally, and just embraces it, explores it, fills it in, completes it... so instead of referencing some creative void to tell him what's next, he takes what IS and makes it clear.
I'm all about the void man.
tell me if you're interested!
Replies
I am going to have to give this some thought before giving any real thoughts on this, but I will say that I can share your friend's sentiments. In my experience, if you focus too much on end product and ego (ie friends' approval) you'll find yourself running out of steam very quickly, since the process often involves long stretches of problem solving that don't provide a quick fix visual to show off, but pay dividends in the long term. Ego boost is like a caffeine motivator. It helps for a little push now and then, but if you can't enjoy the hell out of the process then it will never carry you like a nice dish of meat and potatoes...not to get carried away with the food metaphor.
Oh, and if you can somehow distill the brainjuice from a couple of the rockstars around here you'll have my buissiness. Cherry flavored if you could.
btw.. my strategy: to push as hard as possible to get through the "the-model/texture-looks-like-shit"-phase.. and this phase lasts quite long (esp. regarding texturwork)
if you can´t push yourself trough this "ugly"-hole, than i guess u don´t make art (..anymore)
and my music teacher used to say 'you can't edit nothing', which is to say put something down fast, and chop off all the rough edges until its smooth. no point trying to make the finished smooth thing to begin with, as there's fuck all chance of hitting the mark first time
I see what you try to do here John Warner
You wont fry my brain!
Need to get Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger...
"Need to get Harder, Bigger, Faster, Stronger..." *fixed
"I've looked into EQ's mind...there's a big penis in there."
and I did sense that John is a lighting rod for this...
haha but to get this thread back on track, I have something to add that is in my process while I work;
I was recently making a ski-ball carnival game sculpt and was having a fantasy of encountering the object in real life after I had finished sculpting it. I was laughing as I sank my money into the real one. And as I grabbed that first ski-ball I thought to myself... "you dont even need to toss that ski-ball, for you have already won. hahahaha"
Similar to your fantasy of telling people about your sculpts, I am having a fantasy where i stonewall the innatimate object in real life and laugh at how puny and easy its construction is.
Ive had this before. I guess its just a fantasy that allows me to believe I can complete the construction even though im stumped a bit and surfing Polycount stalling... I think the fantasy appeases the same part of the brain as yours, i guess you are looking for something more high level... and not an anecdotal example of the same thing... well too bad, im not that smart, and besides.... oh wait, I get it now.
okay here's my real strategy:
when i make dicks (which is all i do really) i get a big, bright image of a dick, and then i go over it mentally with my tounge. as i feel every single bump and crevass, i take that information and i put it out in the art. i do this untill i get an intuitive sense that i've fully .... hmmm it's deep.. hang on.. lemme dig it up..
"tasted the dick"
then i know i'm done!
Micro - very interesting. -- you seem to have a supreme confidence that you dominate. very interesting resource... so it's like.. confidence through certainty of.. simplicity of the thing in your focus, and your ability to totally own it. sounds great.
that's exactly what i was looking for, fantastic. i guess my next question would be, when you feel confident, what do you do next, and then how do you know when you're done?
ChaosEidolon- very interesting -- i'm finding the opposite thing lately .. i'm trying to take my large, 'big picture' intent into the small details, so i can feel good about them as i accomplish them one by one.. kinda like a fractal in that sense--- the whole is in every part.
this is why we need the nutter artists to join this conversation and describe how they do things. common! i'd almost pay money! ... actually i probably would, come to think of it. we'll see if i get any responses first though..
this is great -- rooster, rollin, that's great, that's the type of stuff i'm lookin for.
rollin -- interesting.. for the beginning part, i just take satisfaction in the rough, low-poly form...
rooster, that's brilliant, i'm going to take it in somewhere.
actually, i do use something similar to that. when i have a target that i really really need to hit, i do that.. i look at some art, like bobo's, and say "shit i can do that no problem" -- in my head, i've already done it. it's already me. i dont even need to do it to prove myself, because i'm certain.. but then i just do it anyway cuz i want to take all the approval i get and make it manifest.
man i'm an approval whore. oh well, fuck it. who gives a shit
"
I suppose I start from a place of confidence - that I've been dancing a long time, and I know I can, so when I go out, I go out to shine, and I shine that on people to make them smile -- I look them in the face, I smile at them, I make hand gestures to indicate taking love from my heart and giving it to them, and I just kinda try to spread it around. and then I pull it in, and I do some small, intense super-skill stuff that's just for me, but I know I've hooked them already with all the smiling. then, I whirl around smiling at them again to finish. when I stop, and they cheer, I smile for me.
it's all very satisfying
John says:
what if you were to give them all love, and take the love that they gave you
John says:
and amplify it.. then send it back
that's pretty much what happens. the better a crowd is, the better the performance is
we feed each other --- if I have a crappy audience, I get bored & I don't connect the same way
"
That's what you call a healthy, blissful, give-and-take strategy. fantstic!!
I can answer the first part of the question and give you a cop out answer on the second half...
1. When im confident that I will finish it in the way I described below, through fantasy, I can then move into uncomfortable territory and try things out of my comfort zone, I can do this because I have a feeling I will push through and finish it - from the confidence. So if I try something that doesnt work it wont get me down ect... just try something else, otherwise ill never be able to look at another skiball machine haha.
2. how do I know when im done. gah, you are gonna hate this. Nothing is ever "done" it just becomes more and more acceptable and with diminishing return on work put in.... this answer is really ugly to me. its uncomfortable to think of it since I love closure....but when those 2 things balance I stop work. As of yet I have yet to finish anything or believe that I have finished it. There is always more things I could do to any piece... I am pretty new at this as well, so obviously that must be taken into account.
Im interested in a veteran answering the same questions tho man. One who has all the answers!~