I want to be an artist.

[BeefNCheese]

Hi people. I want to be an artist when I'm older and study art. I figured this site was the best on the internet for advice.


The art here is blow-your-pants off awesome. And I want to make stuff that'll do the same to others.

Can you tell me what I can do or draw to get better? I really do stay up at night thinking about how I'm going to improve, because it seems like I can't...

I've been drawing since I was little, and I am 14 years old right now. I really want some pointers.



And yes, I'm serious.

Don't worry, I'm not going to be all "scorpion-and-wasp" on ya'll.


This is probably the only thread I'll start, because I just want some advice, and then pack up, practice, come back when I'm older, and see how I improved.

[SweetPea]

It really depends on what kind of art you want to pursue, landscape painting, traditional figurative, concept / video game art, etc. Really the best thing for ne of it would just be to draw shapes and learn perspective. Get down the really basic things band be able to recognize shapes in objects because really all things are just combinations of shapes that have been changed or distorted a little bit. I know that sounds really simple and below you, i thought the same thing, but it really will help you so much. for instance, the ribcage can be thought of as a rectangular prism or as an egg depending on the person, then just refine that. It helps greatly with proportion, lighting, planes, etc.

What you really should do is post about 5 drawings that youve done recently so we can take a look and give specific pointers, becaue without anything we cant really tell ya what to improve on. Best Luck!

[FraserMcT]

Get a sketchbook, and a biro. Then get to a coffee shop, train, school, house and draw people doing their thing. Drawing from life is a really useful way of spending time. Do that every day for several hours while concentrating on different things, and there is no doubt you will improve.

[Bruce Pluto]

Hello BNC my young friend.

There is no reason for you not to post your artwork NOW, here on this very forum. If you are just beginning then start a thread in the SKETCHBOOKS section. I’m sure that you will get lots of advice on how to improve and what areas you need to work on the most.

My second piece of advice would be to find someone local, like an art teacher or student that you feel can help guide you along. Creating art is about sharing and most of the time people are upfront and honest with their critiques of your work.

If you truly want to get better and create things people really enjoy looking at then jump in with both feet. The more you do it the better you will become and the faster you will get at what you like.

Bruce

[Bhrazz]

Everyone gave you good advice. I'll add that drawing with pencils and paper is the base of every visual art. If you want to do 3D gaming, concept art, photography, a painter or whatever it is, start with drawing, is really simple, don't do the same mistake I did by starting doing 3D because I couldnt draw.

Drawing will teach you everything: composition, proportion etc...

Download Andrew Loomis book ( they are free ), it helped me a ton when I started.

Have fun!

[The Crazy Dude SRD]

Yep, all great advice so far. Draw from life, understand perspective and use basic forms and work your way to complex forms... Set up still lives with single source lighting and get a better understanding of how light creates form... And also draw from imagination so you can see what you have absorbed and what you need to work on.

Most importantly, EXPERIMENT!!!! Play with your mediums and understand how they function, see the 'limits' that they can reach and try different things to push them.

I'll also second starting a Sketchbook thread... and put the link in your Signature...

(Its in the User CP... Just grab the Hyperlink and using brackets -->[] instead of parentheses (URL="whatever your sketchbook thread's url is in full") BeefNCheese's Sketchbook or whatever you want to write here (/URL)... )

You'll get the most replies if you post daily, but some people only post weekly or monthly, it's all a matter of how much time you can afford to spend posting. But remember that if you get a reply in your book, return the favor... sometimes it will work the other way around.

I hope I have helped...
-Shawn

[Anid Maro]

Like others said, start up a sketchbook and get to work. You'll want to build up your technical skills and there's no way to do that except sheer effort, so put in the sweat now so you can enjoy the pay-off as soon as possible.

While you're working up a sweat studying anatomy, planes, perspective, composition, and the like you should start reading up on art history. Filling up your sketchbook will make you a better draftsman, but it won't necessarily tell you what you want out of your art. Art history will.

Study past artists, look at what the Greeks and Romans did, study how things changed in Medieval times, recognize what the Renaissance era artists were trying to revive, look to the different aesthetic standards in Asian art, check out American and European and Japanese comics, scour all of art history and make note of everything that you like whether you understand why or not. By doing so you'll discover what it is that you want to make with art.

[BeefNCheese]

Thank you all who replied! I feel much more confident now.

Right now, I have been drawing my hands, drawing random stuff on my desk, and trying to learn from Bridgman's, although everyone seems to really like Loomis too...

Anid's advice was very interesting... I never actually thought of studying art history before... If it'll help, then I guess I'll do it.


And I don't know what this emoticon is supposed to be... -->

Sorry. That was bugging me.

[pfloyd]

sketch like crazy. Focus on people for a while, then move on to landscape, then move on to something else until you decided exactly what you want to do and focus on that.

[Zazerzs]

Find good classical instruction somewhere.

Learn about and practice perspective, drawing and shading forms like a cube and sphere, learn human proportions, draw from casts and life.

Starting a sketchbook here will keep you motivated and you will allow you to get help along the way. Do et!

I like to use the Barnstone Studios as an example as to what kind of classes and education one should seek out. If you can start attending solid classically taught drawing classes do it,at 14 now the time for more serious studies.

[Eclypse]

The moment you want to be an artist you are one. Acquire the skills you need to makes your work more valuable.

perspective
cast drawings
figure drawing
representational paintings
proportions
color theory
composition
inspiration from life all helps you work from imagination and abstraction

not giving up also helps

[Dorkthrone]

Get a sketchbook and just start sketching from life.

[Scribble King]

I'm sorry but all of the artist positions are filled up, so you'll have to pick another profession... I hear there are many spots available in waste management. XD

In all seriousness, if you follow the advice of the above posters, you'll be blowing our pants off with your art in due time.

[SageTso]

I want to pursue art as well, and there is good advice in here!

[JeffX99]

Great - study your fundamentals - it all comes down to those so that's the place to start. I talk about the fundamentals in this thread a bit and list a few good books and a great blog: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=178087

I hope that helps - just keep at it!