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[link]"]Portfolio building class 2- the self assessment/
It is again aimed supposedly at painters, and illustrators. However these questions apply also to pretty much any artist.
Here is my take on the class assignment:
When i started this i thought i knew most of the answers, but the closer i got to the end, the more i realized how far I am from my goals in art, and in life.
Question #1 What are you passionate about?
Science fiction, philosophy, theology, world politics, astrophysics, art, music.
Question #2 What do you want to bring forth in the world?
My vision of the world, that i acquired in my short 25 years.
Because i really think that there are not many people that have experienced the things that i had in my life, and did the things that i've done. (But maybe most of us could say exactly the same thing).
Question #3 Who do you want to be in your life?
I want to be a lot of things, that is probably the problem - i do too much stuff at the same time trying to be a writer, artist, physicist, and more.... at the same time.
Question #4 Where do you derive your inspiration?
My daily life, mostly the bad and the good things that happen to me on a daily/weekly/etc... basis.
Questions #5 Who do you want to be for others?
Myself, i try very hard not to care what others think about me and what i do.
Question #6 What is your favorite content/subject?
"Older" style fantasy and sci-fi art.
As the time goes by and i grow up, I really start to detest all the generic anime influenced and "concept art" crap that flooded the internet and the world of art.
Question #7 What is your favorite medium?
Pencils.
Question #8 Who is your favorite painter/illustrator?
Luis Royo, Boris Vallejo.
Question #9 What is your favorite texture, piece of anatomy, basic shape, color to paint?
Favorite texture: Skin.
Anatomy: Women faces.
Basic Shapes: Blocks.
Color: Don't have one.
Question #10 What do you get out of painting?
Satisfaction that i can at least partially, reproduce the ideas that i have in my mind on canvas.
Question #11 What are your strengths in creative thinking, drawing, painting, problems solving, color theory, composition, perspective, visual narrative, and design?
Creative thinking: Don't know.
Drawing: I can draw pretty much anything with a pencil, even without references, high rendering skills.
Painting: Nice use if "paintery" styled brushes.
Problem solving: Don't know.
Color theory: Nice use of vibrant colors.
Composition: Simple and readable.
Perspective: Simple knowledge of basic rules.
Visual narrative: Simple and readable.
Design: Simple designs.
Question #12 What are your weaknesses in creative thinking, drawing, painting, problems solving, color theory, composition, perspective, visual narrative, and design?
Creative thinking: Not enough imaginative/original ideas.
Drawing: Too stiff, sometimes over rendered.
Painting: Poor knowledge of the different tools, and ways of using them.
Problem solving: Don't know.
Color theory: A very limited knowledge in color theory, color mixture and etc.
Composition: Weak composition solutions.
Perspective: Weak perspective knowledge.
Visual narrative: Poor ability to convey a coherent and powerful message.
Design: No imaginative design solutions for different problems and aspects in the paintings/drawings.
Question #13 Pick one company or product that you want to work on. (We'll come back to this, so chose wisely).
Cover art for Heavy Metal magazine, and the likes of it.
Question #14 What specific skills are REQUIRED to acquire work with the company or product you identified in #13, and what levels of proficiency are required in those skills?
Very good design skills, high level of painting skills, original and imaginative ideas, the ability to attract the eye of the potential reader from a single glance.
Question #15 How do your skills align with the company or product you chose in #13?
They don't
.Question #16 What is the skill that needs to be a priority for development to attain your goal of working with the company or product chosen?
Visual narrative and design.
Question #17 What specific problem does your company or product need solved visually?
The ability to attract the eye of the potential reader from a single glance.
Question #18 What design challenges need to be solved visually?
Cover design issues = simple, appealing, beautiful.
Question #19 What issues of *"user experience" need to be solved visually?
Don't understand the question.
Question #20 What one image in your portfolio shows that:
• you have ALL the skills required : None.
• you have the level of skill proficiency for all skills required: None.
• you understand the problems that needed to be visually solved: Partially this - [link]"
• you can do the job better than an artist they are currently working with: None.
The last section made me think really hard about, what i really want to do and what i need to do in my art to achieve my goals.
I really hope more people would take the time to answer these questions, and ponder about their skills and goals.
Cheers,
Fallen.
Tired 
If I can suggest a few things that will help.
in order to become really good at something you must put all your energy and effort in that particular thing, if you want to be an awesome artist then put all your effort in art and do anything you can to learn and practice as much art as possible, physics and writing will have to wait. from Experience you cannot juggle between different professions/subjects and be proficient in all of them in a short time, it will take you way too long to become good at all these things you want to be if you study all of them at once. take Leonardo Davinci as an example he was painting and drawing since he was 6 years old and by the time he was 20 he was a master artist and was studying different subjects. even in art itself you cannot become great at every thing at once, if characters is your thing then concentrate mostly on characters and how to make them look just as good as the ones you see on magazines and cardboard games and even game covers, once you are at a professional level in one subject and maing decent money you can study other stuff and become really good at environments for example, or hard surfaces etc...
what Im saying is that the fastest way to make progress is concentrate on a subject and divide it into pieces, for example if you want to do figures divide all the different parts of a figure like hands and torso, heads into separate studies and put a week or two on each study and you will see a tremendous improvement, this is proven fact done by top industry professionals.
for inspiration and good time check out [link]
Anthoony Jones is only painting for 5 years or so and he is ridiculously awesome, it is because he is implementing this kind of thinking that allows him to get so good.
Cheers bro
You didn't tell me anything new - others told me the same thing.
The problem is, that i am interested equally in art, physics, philosophy...and some other stuff.
I know that if i only concentrated on a single thing (like art) i would've been very successful in it, but i am truly interested in the other stuff too, and i'm afraid that if i"ll abandon these other interest areas I would loose something of "me".
Currently i try to invest in all those interest areas, and what is being sacrificed is my personal/social life...dunno if it is a good thing or not, probably not, but i don't see any other possible option.
Cheers,
Alex.
I draw and paint, because i like the freedom that it gives me and my mind. It is something that I've been doing for too long, and i'm too close to becoming a professional to quit now.
I started writing, because i have a lot to say about world affairs that i want to share with the rest. From the feedback I've had so far, people would be actually interested to read it.
These are all things that i can earn money in, and in two of those (physics/art) i am quite sure that i would be able to get a proper paycheck in a matter of a year or two.
Currently i don't have a family to support, or any other big expenses, i'm a student...so i think i can wait a year or two until i finish my degree or become a pro. artist.