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There is a bunch of things online artist do terribly wrong on a regular basis. Some of it might be directly aimed to you and some might be things you from others.

Shortlist:

Way too little time spend on painting/practice.

People making nit pick pointers.

The extreme fuzz about labels and methods.

Witch-hunting/ talking smack.

However I'd like to start with a totally opposite note:

This year I've also experienced great support from the art community for which I'm dearly grateful for.

got me an amazing birthday gift(video), made by him and fellow awesome artists:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1…

And the support I've had this past week with the event of my sisters death has been incredibly helpful. (Thank you for all the donations, there are no more worries about money anymore thanks to you awesome people!)
I need help.Some of you might already know (though FB). I've suddenly lost my sister as she suddenly died a week ago in her sleep.
This came as a big shock and leaves all of us sad/angry/confused. She was a kickass rockchick and no way old enough to leave this world.
She had a daughter (my niece) for who'm this indecent hits the hardest.

As if losing someone isn't one of the most unfair feelings in the world so is the technical stuff that comes with it.
Not being prepared for paying for a funeral is one of those technicalities that in no way helps such an awful event.
(4200 euro)

So that's where I could use your help.

I'm willing to sell all sorts

(most of) You seem to spend way to little time on painting!!!

Last month I've had people fill in a questionnaire and the results were quite shocking.

So since you all want to be pro's, are looking for work and a bunch already made it as pro's.

The amount time spend on training is shockingly low!!

There really needs to be more study time done if you want to succeed in the field.

It's different per person depending how quickly and well you learn things, but I would say the real estimate time you should spend painting on a weekly basis would be between: 40-50 hours (only 2,09% of the contestants did that..)
After seeing that I was not surprised to see the low results on people who actually manage a living as an artist. Even though 87% were older than 19.

43% thereby admitted to not having started their career yet.

49 % were not able to life of the money or were completely unsuccessful.

Leaving a bare 8% leading a successful artistic career.

These are some interesting statistics on art-browsing and sharing.

I've got a few journals to help you get going if you have trouble training your skills or starting our career:
Are you on the right track? + Fuck Talent!Am I on the right track?
This is a thing people often wonder and think it's a complicated to find out, but it is actually pretty simple. It's a different question you need to ask yourself based on different topics.
As for: Fuck talent! You'll find it if you scroll down :P

:bulletblue: Topic 1: Am I on the right track to becoming a better artist?

Does your work from today, look closer to your initial goal than your work from last week? (this needs to be both in skill and idea.)

:bulletgreen: Good skills: Honing your technique, training you muscle memory, being more knowledgeable about your tools and art rules. With art rules I mean: Perspec A big black hole called: Procrastination.Procrastination is an infinite cycle that becomes bigger and bigger the longer it's there and the time wasted being sucked into it is a dark matter of nothing.
:P hahah I figured this was the most dramatic way to put it, but yeah, it's real and it sucks.

For those who don't know what it means: Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the "last minute" before the deadline.

We all suffer from procrastination. It is pretty innocent when you have it wi What to do as an artist in training.There are many ways to Rome they say. But I meet a lot of aspiring artists lost and asking me for guidance
and this is what I tell them.
(This is a revisited version of an old journal with new and updated guidelines/info)
Find out what you really want to do with art, there are so many different professions or hobbies to take on.
Graphic designer, Concept artist (mobile and high end), Illustrator of book covers or for card games and so much more.
Once you can make your pick, or at least pick 1 or 2 you must do research on the most valued artwork from that niece.

Find out what makes the best artist of your favorite field the best artist. Wha Where to get started before you can apply for workThere is no such thing as suddenly knowing when you are ready to turn your

passion into your profession. But there is a way of measuring your chances on being
able to get work and eventually sustain a living from it.
Accepting commissions or freelance for low payment won't help you. You can think any penny counts, but it will lower the worth of your work and damage the market.

:bulletblue: How to measure that you are ready?
You probably have high goals, but they are usually not your first step. You must search out the clients who can be that first step. Often found in the card game industry, book cover illustrations and smaller game compan Fast lane to becoming a better artist.I often get this very question: How did you get this good this fast?

Now as I consider myself not being as good as people tell me, even struggling quite often with being an artist in general.
I do know how to get better and how to reach it fast. I'm still growing as I go and it's the main thing that keeps me going.
You need to get into the right mindset and the rest will follow. With the rest I mean:
1. Willpower.
2. Endurance.
3. Positive energy.
4. The NEED to draw.

:bulletblue: Seeing growth in your work gives you the courage to work harder. You know that feeling when you're just about done with an image
and feel like this image is bett Are you being honest with yourself?As part of becoming good at something you need to be able to reflect upon yourself. Judge your own abilities and work and consider the possibility that what ever you have been doing it wrong all along. Or perhaps you're actually being to hard on yourself and you're better than your conscious is telling you. (This is bad too because it leads to insecurities.)

Signs that you might overestimate your current skills.
Do you often feel these things when you look upon work from good artists?:
I can totally do this too.
This is not so hard, I can do this faster.
My work is way more interesting.
It's not fair that this person gets way more atte So tired of not achieving what you want?So tired of not achieving what you want?

:thumb351497375:

Everyone has something they really want dearly, a career, to have a certain loved one, to be able to make certain things...
The most common one among us artist are:

- I want to be able to draw better
- I want to be able to draw like "this"person.
- I want to earn money with my drawing.
- I want to be able to draw what I imagine in my head.
- I want more people to appreciate my art.
- I want more feedback from artists I admire.
- I want more..
- I want better....

All this wanting.. dreaming of... hoping for.

How about doing it!! With these sort of "wants", it's a matter of DOING IT

Nit-pick pointers.
Some people feel the need to go through Facebook simply to report people on nudity in their anatomy studies so they work gets banned. Or people that point out where they recognize stuff from....

No body really cares about where you recognize that piece of building from or that facial feature that sorta looks like.. this or that. In no way does the remark make you seem smarter.

It's like pointing to a cloud and saying.. mh that looks like a cloud...

If anything, artists really really hate getting such comments on their work so you're better off keeping it to yourself.

Another bad one is the: your work reminds me of this other artist.

Though sometimes the artist might consider this a compliment, it's a risky thing. Everyone tries to be their own unique individual. Don't think that just because another artist did something similar they automatically own it!

(because we can take that way back and people like Rembrandt will totally own the patent on dramatic lit portraits and Turner on seascapes... etc)

The end result of it all: You've gotten no wiser, you limited your creative self and possibly insulted the other person.

The extreme fuzz about labels and methods.
Why is the end result of an art-piece undermined by it's method?

So many artists now care about: how it's made, how long it took and how it should be labeled.

'Oh my Glob!' quoted Lumpy Space Princess.

Stop caring so much about these things. I totally understand you want to learn and be able to make your art rock too.. but this has gotten really unfriendly!

Discussing whether or not something should be labeled as painted or photo-bashed... or neither.

Or questioning someones artistic abilities based on their medium.

Or artists in training being bashed for experimenting with techniques (such as using photos) and simply because it doesn't look that good as pro's, they get told they shouldn't do it at all!

Don't let it stop you! You are allowed to fail as much as you do, no matter what medium or method you approach! Let using photos in your work be as much part of your training as penciling figure studies and copying master paintings.

Fuck the people that judge you!

:bullettred: Witch-hunting & talking smack online.
Gossip, you will find it everywhere. It's a healthy and normal human thing to be taking part in, it's best kept in private and the internet is rarely private.

The smallest accusations and one sided stories can lead to full on witch-hunts and online bashing.

And it's scary. I've seen it happen to friend of mine in the past.

what are witch-hunts and online bashing you say?

Witch-hunts: Stalking people online on forums or Twitter/FB feeds. encouraging others to take part in this. Becoming incredibly incredibly aggressive towards the accused "witch". Completely ignoring reality and the fact the person you harass is a real human being. (I've been send photos of burned and tutored horses and people threatening me to kill me)

Talking smack online/ online bashing: Saying mean things about a person or their artwork without actually knowing this person first hand. This is usually from stories the person has heard form others and they are simply passing it through without consideration.

I've dared to Google my name a while back: the topics I was mentioned in where hilarious..

(Apparently I'm a fake artist and fucked my way into a concept art job XD)

The end result: Being a mean and rude person in the open that gossips leaves you a bad and untrustworthy reputation.

All my other journals:
The 5 bullshit myths of concept art.Concept art is getting bigger and bigger. More people know what it is nowadays, it gets shown in the media more often and more books get released. This automatically results into more people wanting to become concept artists. So many artschools are now creating special courses all towards game art or concept art. (Game art can also include UI design, 3D modeling etc.).

Yet it is a fairly new thing to most people and the idea of "becoming a concept artist" has grown rapidly over such a short time that a lot of people who are new to it seem to get a lot of misguide info. I am going to try to list this misguided info and direct you to the corre Are you on the right track? + Fuck Talent!Am I on the right track?
This is a thing people often wonder and think it's a complicated to find out, but it is actually pretty simple. It's a different question you need to ask yourself based on different topics.
As for: Fuck talent! You'll find it if you scroll down :P

:bulletblue: Topic 1: Am I on the right track to becoming a better artist?

Does your work from today, look closer to your initial goal than your work from last week? (this needs to be both in skill and idea.)

:bulletgreen: Good skills: Honing your technique, training you muscle memory, being more knowledgeable about your tools and art rules. With art rules I mean: Perspec How to win Art-contests! (+ Caldyra winners!)Let me start by saying how incredibly happy I am with all these amazing and inspiring entries! This definitely calls for doing another such contest soon!
Most of you have really tried their best and it shows! I couldn't have asked for better or more, choosing the winners among these was already aching my brains.
This journal will show the winners and the special mentions but also a bit about how to higher your changes on winning contests (maybe good for the next one).
This was my contest for those interested:

How to win contests?!The change on winning a contest always gets smaller based on the amount of people joining in, however this doe A big black hole called: Procrastination.Procrastination is an infinite cycle that becomes bigger and bigger the longer it's there and the time wasted being sucked into it is a dark matter of nothing.
:P hahah I figured this was the most dramatic way to put it, but yeah, it's real and it sucks.

For those who don't know what it means: Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the "last minute" before the deadline.

We all suffer from procrastination. It is pretty innocent when you have it wi What to do as an artist in training.There are many ways to Rome they say. But I meet a lot of aspiring artists lost and asking me for guidance
and this is what I tell them.
(This is a revisited version of an old journal with new and updated guidelines/info)
Find out what you really want to do with art, there are so many different professions or hobbies to take on.
Graphic designer, Concept artist (mobile and high end), Illustrator of book covers or for card games and so much more.
Once you can make your pick, or at least pick 1 or 2 you must do research on the most valued artwork from that niece.

Find out what makes the best artist of your favorite field the best artist. Wha Where to get started before you can apply for workThere is no such thing as suddenly knowing when you are ready to turn your

passion into your profession. But there is a way of measuring your chances on being
able to get work and eventually sustain a living from it.
Accepting commissions or freelance for low payment won't help you. You can think any penny counts, but it will lower the worth of your work and damage the market.

:bulletblue: How to measure that you are ready?
You probably have high goals, but they are usually not your first step. You must search out the clients who can be that first step. Often found in the card game industry, book cover illustrations and smaller game compan This is why you (and your art) get ignored.People often get the sense of being ignored in the art-scene, especially here online. We all try so hard to get our foot in the door, it's like trying to stuff yourself in an overfull bus like a sardine in a can.
Sometimes you just want to socialize with other artists you admire and you seem to be talking into a brick wall or perhaps you've send your portfolio to a company over a dozen times and still don't even seem to get the smallest response or feedback. I will try and tell you WHY you get ignored and HOW you can get noticed instead.

I will go through the following cases of being ignored:
:bulletgreen: Your comment.
:bulletgreen: Your The problematic behavior of online artists.There is a bunch of things online artist do terribly wrong on a regular basis. Some of it might be directly aimed to you and some might be things you from others.

Shortlist:

:bulletblue: Way too little time spend on painting/practice.
:bulletblue: People making nit pick pointers.
:bulletblue: The extreme fuzz about labels and methods.
:bulletblue: Witch-hunting/ talking smack.
However I'd like to start with a totally opposite note:
This year I've also experienced great support from the art community for which I'm dearly grateful for.
:icontituslunter: got me an amazing birthday gift(video), made by him and fellow awesome artists:
https:// Don't let the crap of the internet brainwash you.warning: This journal is my opinion and my view on things. I support open-mindedness and the possibility of anything.The internet is full of it: People with strong opinions. Usually about 'how to do things' and 'how to absolutely not do things'.
Ask any given person this question: What is good art?
They will all give you a different answer and some of those answers are waaaay to specific for their own good.
Meaning they have a very specific view on what is good and see other work that does not meet up those qualifications as: bad, fake or cheating.
It is natural to have a preference toward certain topics or techniques when making art, but
The stuff that artists go through.There are so many pro's and con as to being an artist, professional or as a hobby.

It feels nice to be able to express yourself through something you make and when that something turns out to be looking good we get this sense of accomplishment.
Most of the time though there are bad feelings mixed with the good ones.

:bulletblue: Not being understood. Those moments where your friends or family does not understand that you have to desire to be alone and work on your art. Those copious amounts of hours you spend working and they wonder why you wouldn't rather be outside relaxing in the sun or hang out with your friends.
The only people who wi Overcome your unfair obstacles.We all have certain obstacles that gives us the feeling of: 'This is so unfair!.'

To me it's one of the most annoying feelings in the world because in general we don't really know how to deal with it. One little part of us says: 'Don't whine about it, you are just being jealous.' the other part of you tells you: 'If I didn't have this obstacle or disability I would rule the world!!'
So you bounce around anger, sadness, hopelessness and envy.
If you were just sad about something or simply angry it would be a lot easier to deal with, you cry or you just vent a bit towards a friend.
But how to deal with he feeling of unfairness?

:bulletblue: Fast lane to becoming a better artist.I often get this very question: How did you get this good this fast?

Now as I consider myself not being as good as people tell me, even struggling quite often with being an artist in general.
I do know how to get better and how to reach it fast. I'm still growing as I go and it's the main thing that keeps me going.
You need to get into the right mindset and the rest will follow. With the rest I mean:
1. Willpower.
2. Endurance.
3. Positive energy.
4. The NEED to draw.

:bulletblue: Seeing growth in your work gives you the courage to work harder. You know that feeling when you're just about done with an image
and feel like this image is bett Why it's so important to unite as artists.We are with many though yet we are with few. We're all divided over little subgroups such as, fantasy illustrators, concept artists, comic book pencilers, photomanipers, techartists, anime drawers, realism sketchers etc. You might even find your place at multiple sections.

I found that the biggest united groups on Deviant Art are mostly evolved around fan art, such as Sonic, or My little pony.

Observations aside, I think the good thing about those groups is that they serve for companionship. Being an artist all by yourself with no one to share/talk about/discuss your work with can feel rather lonely. And that lonely feeling is not encouragi Are you being honest with yourself?As part of becoming good at something you need to be able to reflect upon yourself. Judge your own abilities and work and consider the possibility that what ever you have been doing it wrong all along. Or perhaps you're actually being to hard on yourself and you're better than your conscious is telling you. (This is bad too because it leads to insecurities.)

Signs that you might overestimate your current skills.
Do you often feel these things when you look upon work from good artists?:
I can totally do this too.
This is not so hard, I can do this faster.
My work is way more interesting.
It's not fair that this person gets way more atte When someone brings your art down...Putting our art out there makes us very vulnerable, especially when you've made something close to your heart. Perhaps something of your own fantasy, a story, a fan fiction your passionate about?

As much as most of us really want to improve, we also simply want to make art because we love it and when we share it there is a slight hope there is someone out there who will love it too.
There are all kinds of ways other people can bring you down by saying something about your art, or by doing nothing at all! Perhaps YOU are even part of making someone feel down and you're not realizing it!

:bulletblue: The harsh critique.
This person might want How to deal with or get feedback.Getting feedback or critiques may be hard for people.

Some people want it really bad but can't seem to get it, at least not from the people he/she is hoping for.
And other get it all the time but feel a little attacked or bullied by it.

Pretty much anyone with eyes and some intelligence is able to spot mistakes or irregularities in someone's work. This person doesn't have to be more skilled than you.
However, this person... might be wrong....

:bulletpurple: How do you judge a critique?
You initially made your artwork according to the knowledge you currently have. Leaving room for mistakes in the elements you're not trained or knowledgeabl So tired of not achieving what you want?So tired of not achieving what you want?

:thumb351497375:

Everyone has something they really want dearly, a career, to have a certain loved one, to be able to make certain things...
The most common one among us artist are:

- I want to be able to draw better
- I want to be able to draw like "this"person.
- I want to earn money with my drawing.
- I want to be able to draw what I imagine in my head.
- I want more people to appreciate my art.
- I want more feedback from artists I admire.
- I want more..
- I want better....

All this wanting.. dreaming of... hoping for.

How about doing it!! With these sort of "wants", it's a matter of DOING IT Avoid getting ripped off by a client.As a freelancer most of your business takes place online, which makes it really easy
for people to rip you off. How many times have we seen the following scenario's:

1- Someone offers a descent payment for your artwork but wants you to do an art-test first.
after the art-test you're being told you're not good enough. Later you find out that other people
got to do different art-test topics and also weren't good enough. The client clearly ripped people off to get free artwork.

2- Someone offers good money for your artwork. The sketch gets approved so you continue working. Right when it's done the total image suddenly becomes a great disappoin
The emotional shield that prevents hurt.Being an artist = Being sensitive.We all know it. Making something and then showing it out there makes you very vulnerable, emotionally.
What if people think it's shit? What if they think it's weird... what will they think? Will that reflect on how they think of me as a person?

I know what some of you are thinking right now... 'You should care less about what people think of you or you art.'
In a sense you are right.. than again, you SHOULD care what people think of you and your art! They are your market and potential clients.
It's easier when you're already doing your dream job and couldn't care less for other potential directions... but Being a miserable artist = being a bad artist.I recently felt it being one of the most important things, not just for an artist; being happy with what you do. No one wants to get up every morning thinking.. shit .. another work day. Of course there can be days, maybe even a full week of that, but the majority of your time you should be feeling content and happy even.
With that lack of love and enthusiasm it is most likely reflected into your work.

Now it's not always your own fault that your work doesn't make you happy and doesn't feed your creative monster. But it can be in these cases.

You make your OWN workday miserable when:
:bulletblue: If you don't speak your mind and stand up Timing fucking matters.Time does a lot of things, it makes you older, it gets you to places, it never stops going forward. However you control when and how you use it!

Everyone makes choices on a daily bases, most of them are actually done with your auto-pilot function out of habit.
Most people usually sit in the same spot on the couch, chooses what to wear based on previously made combinations and so on, unless they consciously become aware of their action and might decide it's time for a change. It can be a small thing that makes people aware of their options
You can count that pretty much every person out there works like this and YOU often depend on THEIR ch Things I learned at: The Industry Workshops 2014Holy shit amazeballs... this past weekend....
But let me start of by shortly telling you what the industry workshops actually were.
(The artwork in this journal are from some of the lecturers.)

:bulletblue: What is: #IW_14?The Industry workshops took place last weekend August 29 to 31 2014, at 2 venues both located at Hoxton Square, London United Kingdom.
It was organized and hosted by a group of industry professionals in the fields of concept art, matte painting and illustration in film, games and freelance.
Let me name the people that profited the lectures and demo's from 10 in the morning to 8 in the evening, ending with a 1+ hour QA When inspiration is far to be found...We all get these anoying times when we really want to make something cool, get inspired and work that magic. We see everyone around us (online) do it, but how come we are not?
So we look for ways to get inspired, we ask around, find these usual answers: go watch a film, listen to music.. take a walk...

But even when we do that, we still end up stuck most of the time.
Part of the solution is knowing WHY we get stuck and this is my theory.

:bulletblue: ADT - Attention Deficit Trait.
'Experiencing an inner frenzy of distractability, impatience, difficulty in setting priorities, staying focused and managing time. Those are our biggest enemie A simple guide on: Commissioning an Artist.It's often not as simple as one wants it to be when both artist and client want it to be: Cost efficient, time efficient and quality efficient.
I've often spend my time discussing the best way to handle commissions with clients and artist friends that I came to the conclusion that clarity and understanding is key.
I will divide the guidelines I work with based on 3 commission types.
:bulletblue: Character commissions.
:bulletblue: Book covers ( or illustrations)
:bulletblue: Concept art.

Reading all 3 parts will give you the full scope as a lot of it applies to one another as well.

:bulletgreen: Character commissions.

:bulletblue: 1. The Key to keeping yourself motivated properly.Let me start off with telling you what motivation is and why you need it.

A motivation is a reason behind doing something a certain way to work yourself up to a certain goal. Just having a goal but no understanding of how to get there, means you have no way to motivate yourself and your goal will be hard to reach.
Therefore motivation is needed desperately in order to become truly good at something.

The motivation to eat is the feeling for hunger and the end goal of ending the hunger and feeling healthy and energized. This type of motivation is a feeling.
Which brings me to: Intrinsic motivation and Extrinsic motivation.

Shortly explaine

Thanks for all the comments! I will do my best to reply to most of them, even if it sometimes takes a while, reading these always cheers me up a lot!

Wanna ask me direct questions? Come hang with me on Twitch sometime where I paint and give feedback
Suzanne Helmigh Twitch channel

Disclaimer: The artwork posted in my journals are not made by me but artists I admire. This is my way of sharing their incredibly work with the rest of you. All these journals are based on my personal experience and that of artist friends. English is my second language and I have dyslexia so do note I am prone to make mistakes. I write these journals to remind myself of the things I've learned.

Thank you!

The random winner selected for doing the questionnaire is: She got an artbook to pick! Send me a note girl!
I will make a new questionnaire soon, meant for artists aiming for an artistic career only. Again a random entry will be selected and gets a free artbook

And I have an artpage on FB! : www.facebook.com/Caldyra

Bullet; Blue — Description

There is a bunch of things online artist do terribly wrong on a regular basis. Some of it might be directly aimed to you and some might be things you from others.

Shortlist:

Way too little time spend on painting/practice.

People making nit pick pointers.

The extreme fuzz about labels and methods.

Witch-hunting/ talking smack.

However I'd like to start with a totally opposite note:

This year I've also experienced great support from the art community for which I'm dearly grateful for.

got me an amazing birthday gift(video), made by him and fellow awesome artists:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1…

And the support I've had this past week with the event of my sisters death has been incredibly helpful. (Thank you for all the donations, there are no more worries about money anymore thanks to you awesome people!)
I need help.Some of you might already know (though FB). I've suddenly lost my sister as she suddenly died a week ago in her sleep.
This came as a big shock and leaves all of us sad/angry/confused. She was a kickass rockchick and no way old enough to leave this world.
She had a daughter (my niece) for who'm this indecent hits the hardest.

As if losing someone isn't one of the most unfair feelings in the world so is the technical stuff that comes with it.
Not being prepared for paying for a funeral is one of those technicalities that in no way helps such an awful event.
(4200 euro)

So that's where I could use your help.

I'm willing to sell all sorts

(most of) You seem to spend way to little time on painting!!!

Last month I've had people fill in a questionnaire and the results were quite shocking.

So since you all want to be pro's, are looking for work and a bunch already made it as pro's.

The amount time spend on training is shockingly low!!

There really needs to be more study time done if you want to succeed in the field.

It's different per person depending how quickly and well you learn things, but I would say the real estimate time you should spend painting on a weekly basis would be between: 40-50 hours (only 2,09% of the contestants did that..)
After seeing that I was not surprised to see the low results on people who actually manage a living as an artist. Even though 87% were older than 19.

43% thereby admitted to not having started their career yet.

49 % were not able to life of the money or were completely unsuccessful.

Leaving a bare 8% leading a successful artistic career.

These are some interesting statistics on art-browsing and sharing.

I've got a few journals to help you get going if you have trouble training your skills or starting our career:
Are you on the right track? + Fuck Talent!Am I on the right track?
This is a thing people often wonder and think it's a complicated to find out, but it is actually pretty simple. It's a different question you need to ask yourself based on different topics.
As for: Fuck talent! You'll find it if you scroll down :P

:bulletblue: Topic 1: Am I on the right track to becoming a better artist?

Does your work from today, look closer to your initial goal than your work from last week? (this needs to be both in skill and idea.)

:bulletgreen: Good skills: Honing your technique, training you muscle memory, being more knowledgeable about your tools and art rules. With art rules I mean: Perspec A big black hole called: Procrastination.Procrastination is an infinite cycle that becomes bigger and bigger the longer it's there and the time wasted being sucked into it is a dark matter of nothing.
:P hahah I figured this was the most dramatic way to put it, but yeah, it's real and it sucks.

For those who don't know what it means: Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the "last minute" before the deadline.

We all suffer from procrastination. It is pretty innocent when you have it wi What to do as an artist in training.There are many ways to Rome they say. But I meet a lot of aspiring artists lost and asking me for guidance
and this is what I tell them.
(This is a revisited version of an old journal with new and updated guidelines/info)
Find out what you really want to do with art, there are so many different professions or hobbies to take on.
Graphic designer, Concept artist (mobile and high end), Illustrator of book covers or for card games and so much more.
Once you can make your pick, or at least pick 1 or 2 you must do research on the most valued artwork from that niece.

Find out what makes the best artist of your favorite field the best artist. Wha Where to get started before you can apply for workThere is no such thing as suddenly knowing when you are ready to turn your

passion into your profession. But there is a way of measuring your chances on being
able to get work and eventually sustain a living from it.
Accepting commissions or freelance for low payment won't help you. You can think any penny counts, but it will lower the worth of your work and damage the market.

:bulletblue: How to measure that you are ready?
You probably have high goals, but they are usually not your first step. You must search out the clients who can be that first step. Often found in the card game industry, book cover illustrations and smaller game compan Fast lane to becoming a better artist.I often get this very question: How did you get this good this fast?

Now as I consider myself not being as good as people tell me, even struggling quite often with being an artist in general.
I do know how to get better and how to reach it fast. I'm still growing as I go and it's the main thing that keeps me going.
You need to get into the right mindset and the rest will follow. With the rest I mean:
1. Willpower.
2. Endurance.
3. Positive energy.
4. The NEED to draw.

:bulletblue: Seeing growth in your work gives you the courage to work harder. You know that feeling when you're just about done with an image
and feel like this image is bett Are you being honest with yourself?As part of becoming good at something you need to be able to reflect upon yourself. Judge your own abilities and work and consider the possibility that what ever you have been doing it wrong all along. Or perhaps you're actually being to hard on yourself and you're better than your conscious is telling you. (This is bad too because it leads to insecurities.)

Signs that you might overestimate your current skills.
Do you often feel these things when you look upon work from good artists?:
I can totally do this too.
This is not so hard, I can do this faster.
My work is way more interesting.
It's not fair that this person gets way more atte So tired of not achieving what you want?So tired of not achieving what you want?

:thumb351497375:

Everyone has something they really want dearly, a career, to have a certain loved one, to be able to make certain things...
The most common one among us artist are:

- I want to be able to draw better
- I want to be able to draw like "this"person.
- I want to earn money with my drawing.
- I want to be able to draw what I imagine in my head.
- I want more people to appreciate my art.
- I want more feedback from artists I admire.
- I want more..
- I want better....

All this wanting.. dreaming of... hoping for.

How about doing it!! With these sort of "wants", it's a matter of DOING IT

Nit-pick pointers.
Some people feel the need to go through Facebook simply to report people on nudity in their anatomy studies so they work gets banned. Or people that point out where they recognize stuff from....

No body really cares about where you recognize that piece of building from or that facial feature that sorta looks like.. this or that. In no way does the remark make you seem smarter.

It's like pointing to a cloud and saying.. mh that looks like a cloud...

If anything, artists really really hate getting such comments on their work so you're better off keeping it to yourself.

Another bad one is the: your work reminds me of this other artist.

Though sometimes the artist might consider this a compliment, it's a risky thing. Everyone tries to be their own unique individual. Don't think that just because another artist did something similar they automatically own it!

(because we can take that way back and people like Rembrandt will totally own the patent on dramatic lit portraits and Turner on seascapes... etc)

The end result of it all: You've gotten no wiser, you limited your creative self and possibly insulted the other person.

The extreme fuzz about labels and methods.
Why is the end result of an art-piece undermined by it's method?

So many artists now care about: how it's made, how long it took and how it should be labeled.

'Oh my Glob!' quoted Lumpy Space Princess.

Stop caring so much about these things. I totally understand you want to learn and be able to make your art rock too.. but this has gotten really unfriendly!

Discussing whether or not something should be labeled as painted or photo-bashed... or neither.

Or questioning someones artistic abilities based on their medium.

Or artists in training being bashed for experimenting with techniques (such as using photos) and simply because it doesn't look that good as pro's, they get told they shouldn't do it at all!

Don't let it stop you! You are allowed to fail as much as you do, no matter what medium or method you approach! Let using photos in your work be as much part of your training as penciling figure studies and copying master paintings.

Fuck the people that judge you!

:bullettred: Witch-hunting & talking smack online.
Gossip, you will find it everywhere. It's a healthy and normal human thing to be taking part in, it's best kept in private and the internet is rarely private.

The smallest accusations and one sided stories can lead to full on witch-hunts and online bashing.

And it's scary. I've seen it happen to friend of mine in the past.

what are witch-hunts and online bashing you say?

Witch-hunts: Stalking people online on forums or Twitter/FB feeds. encouraging others to take part in this. Becoming incredibly incredibly aggressive towards the accused "witch". Completely ignoring reality and the fact the person you harass is a real human being. (I've been send photos of burned and tutored horses and people threatening me to kill me)

Talking smack online/ online bashing: Saying mean things about a person or their artwork without actually knowing this person first hand. This is usually from stories the person has heard form others and they are simply passing it through without consideration.

I've dared to Google my name a while back: the topics I was mentioned in where hilarious..

(Apparently I'm a fake artist and fucked my way into a concept art job XD)

The end result: Being a mean and rude person in the open that gossips leaves you a bad and untrustworthy reputation.

All my other journals:
The 5 bullshit myths of concept art.Concept art is getting bigger and bigger. More people know what it is nowadays, it gets shown in the media more often and more books get released. This automatically results into more people wanting to become concept artists. So many artschools are now creating special courses all towards game art or concept art. (Game art can also include UI design, 3D modeling etc.).

Yet it is a fairly new thing to most people and the idea of "becoming a concept artist" has grown rapidly over such a short time that a lot of people who are new to it seem to get a lot of misguide info. I am going to try to list this misguided info and direct you to the corre Are you on the right track? + Fuck Talent!Am I on the right track?
This is a thing people often wonder and think it's a complicated to find out, but it is actually pretty simple. It's a different question you need to ask yourself based on different topics.
As for: Fuck talent! You'll find it if you scroll down :P

:bulletblue: Topic 1: Am I on the right track to becoming a better artist?

Does your work from today, look closer to your initial goal than your work from last week? (this needs to be both in skill and idea.)

:bulletgreen: Good skills: Honing your technique, training you muscle memory, being more knowledgeable about your tools and art rules. With art rules I mean: Perspec How to win Art-contests! (+ Caldyra winners!)Let me start by saying how incredibly happy I am with all these amazing and inspiring entries! This definitely calls for doing another such contest soon!
Most of you have really tried their best and it shows! I couldn't have asked for better or more, choosing the winners among these was already aching my brains.
This journal will show the winners and the special mentions but also a bit about how to higher your changes on winning contests (maybe good for the next one).
This was my contest for those interested:

How to win contests?!The change on winning a contest always gets smaller based on the amount of people joining in, however this doe A big black hole called: Procrastination.Procrastination is an infinite cycle that becomes bigger and bigger the longer it's there and the time wasted being sucked into it is a dark matter of nothing.
:P hahah I figured this was the most dramatic way to put it, but yeah, it's real and it sucks.

For those who don't know what it means: Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the "last minute" before the deadline.

We all suffer from procrastination. It is pretty innocent when you have it wi What to do as an artist in training.There are many ways to Rome they say. But I meet a lot of aspiring artists lost and asking me for guidance
and this is what I tell them.
(This is a revisited version of an old journal with new and updated guidelines/info)
Find out what you really want to do with art, there are so many different professions or hobbies to take on.
Graphic designer, Concept artist (mobile and high end), Illustrator of book covers or for card games and so much more.
Once you can make your pick, or at least pick 1 or 2 you must do research on the most valued artwork from that niece.

Find out what makes the best artist of your favorite field the best artist. Wha Where to get started before you can apply for workThere is no such thing as suddenly knowing when you are ready to turn your

passion into your profession. But there is a way of measuring your chances on being
able to get work and eventually sustain a living from it.
Accepting commissions or freelance for low payment won't help you. You can think any penny counts, but it will lower the worth of your work and damage the market.

:bulletblue: How to measure that you are ready?
You probably have high goals, but they are usually not your first step. You must search out the clients who can be that first step. Often found in the card game industry, book cover illustrations and smaller game compan This is why you (and your art) get ignored.People often get the sense of being ignored in the art-scene, especially here online. We all try so hard to get our foot in the door, it's like trying to stuff yourself in an overfull bus like a sardine in a can.
Sometimes you just want to socialize with other artists you admire and you seem to be talking into a brick wall or perhaps you've send your portfolio to a company over a dozen times and still don't even seem to get the smallest response or feedback. I will try and tell you WHY you get ignored and HOW you can get noticed instead.

I will go through the following cases of being ignored:
:bulletgreen: Your comment.
:bulletgreen: Your The problematic behavior of online artists.There is a bunch of things online artist do terribly wrong on a regular basis. Some of it might be directly aimed to you and some might be things you from others.

Shortlist:

:bulletblue: Way too little time spend on painting/practice.
:bulletblue: People making nit pick pointers.
:bulletblue: The extreme fuzz about labels and methods.
:bulletblue: Witch-hunting/ talking smack.
However I'd like to start with a totally opposite note:
This year I've also experienced great support from the art community for which I'm dearly grateful for.
:icontituslunter: got me an amazing birthday gift(video), made by him and fellow awesome artists:
https:// Don't let the crap of the internet brainwash you.warning: This journal is my opinion and my view on things. I support open-mindedness and the possibility of anything.The internet is full of it: People with strong opinions. Usually about 'how to do things' and 'how to absolutely not do things'.
Ask any given person this question: What is good art?
They will all give you a different answer and some of those answers are waaaay to specific for their own good.
Meaning they have a very specific view on what is good and see other work that does not meet up those qualifications as: bad, fake or cheating.
It is natural to have a preference toward certain topics or techniques when making art, but
The stuff that artists go through.There are so many pro's and con as to being an artist, professional or as a hobby.

It feels nice to be able to express yourself through something you make and when that something turns out to be looking good we get this sense of accomplishment.
Most of the time though there are bad feelings mixed with the good ones.

:bulletblue: Not being understood. Those moments where your friends or family does not understand that you have to desire to be alone and work on your art. Those copious amounts of hours you spend working and they wonder why you wouldn't rather be outside relaxing in the sun or hang out with your friends.
The only people who wi Overcome your unfair obstacles.We all have certain obstacles that gives us the feeling of: 'This is so unfair!.'

To me it's one of the most annoying feelings in the world because in general we don't really know how to deal with it. One little part of us says: 'Don't whine about it, you are just being jealous.' the other part of you tells you: 'If I didn't have this obstacle or disability I would rule the world!!'
So you bounce around anger, sadness, hopelessness and envy.
If you were just sad about something or simply angry it would be a lot easier to deal with, you cry or you just vent a bit towards a friend.
But how to deal with he feeling of unfairness?

:bulletblue: Fast lane to becoming a better artist.I often get this very question: How did you get this good this fast?

Now as I consider myself not being as good as people tell me, even struggling quite often with being an artist in general.
I do know how to get better and how to reach it fast. I'm still growing as I go and it's the main thing that keeps me going.
You need to get into the right mindset and the rest will follow. With the rest I mean:
1. Willpower.
2. Endurance.
3. Positive energy.
4. The NEED to draw.

:bulletblue: Seeing growth in your work gives you the courage to work harder. You know that feeling when you're just about done with an image
and feel like this image is bett Why it's so important to unite as artists.We are with many though yet we are with few. We're all divided over little subgroups such as, fantasy illustrators, concept artists, comic book pencilers, photomanipers, techartists, anime drawers, realism sketchers etc. You might even find your place at multiple sections.

I found that the biggest united groups on Deviant Art are mostly evolved around fan art, such as Sonic, or My little pony.

Observations aside, I think the good thing about those groups is that they serve for companionship. Being an artist all by yourself with no one to share/talk about/discuss your work with can feel rather lonely. And that lonely feeling is not encouragi Are you being honest with yourself?As part of becoming good at something you need to be able to reflect upon yourself. Judge your own abilities and work and consider the possibility that what ever you have been doing it wrong all along. Or perhaps you're actually being to hard on yourself and you're better than your conscious is telling you. (This is bad too because it leads to insecurities.)

Signs that you might overestimate your current skills.
Do you often feel these things when you look upon work from good artists?:
I can totally do this too.
This is not so hard, I can do this faster.
My work is way more interesting.
It's not fair that this person gets way more atte When someone brings your art down...Putting our art out there makes us very vulnerable, especially when you've made something close to your heart. Perhaps something of your own fantasy, a story, a fan fiction your passionate about?

As much as most of us really want to improve, we also simply want to make art because we love it and when we share it there is a slight hope there is someone out there who will love it too.
There are all kinds of ways other people can bring you down by saying something about your art, or by doing nothing at all! Perhaps YOU are even part of making someone feel down and you're not realizing it!

:bulletblue: The harsh critique.
This person might want How to deal with or get feedback.Getting feedback or critiques may be hard for people.

Some people want it really bad but can't seem to get it, at least not from the people he/she is hoping for.
And other get it all the time but feel a little attacked or bullied by it.

Pretty much anyone with eyes and some intelligence is able to spot mistakes or irregularities in someone's work. This person doesn't have to be more skilled than you.
However, this person... might be wrong....

:bulletpurple: How do you judge a critique?
You initially made your artwork according to the knowledge you currently have. Leaving room for mistakes in the elements you're not trained or knowledgeabl So tired of not achieving what you want?So tired of not achieving what you want?

:thumb351497375:

Everyone has something they really want dearly, a career, to have a certain loved one, to be able to make certain things...
The most common one among us artist are:

- I want to be able to draw better
- I want to be able to draw like "this"person.
- I want to earn money with my drawing.
- I want to be able to draw what I imagine in my head.
- I want more people to appreciate my art.
- I want more feedback from artists I admire.
- I want more..
- I want better....

All this wanting.. dreaming of... hoping for.

How about doing it!! With these sort of "wants", it's a matter of DOING IT Avoid getting ripped off by a client.As a freelancer most of your business takes place online, which makes it really easy
for people to rip you off. How many times have we seen the following scenario's:

1- Someone offers a descent payment for your artwork but wants you to do an art-test first.
after the art-test you're being told you're not good enough. Later you find out that other people
got to do different art-test topics and also weren't good enough. The client clearly ripped people off to get free artwork.

2- Someone offers good money for your artwork. The sketch gets approved so you continue working. Right when it's done the total image suddenly becomes a great disappoin
The emotional shield that prevents hurt.Being an artist = Being sensitive.We all know it. Making something and then showing it out there makes you very vulnerable, emotionally.
What if people think it's shit? What if they think it's weird... what will they think? Will that reflect on how they think of me as a person?

I know what some of you are thinking right now... 'You should care less about what people think of you or you art.'
In a sense you are right.. than again, you SHOULD care what people think of you and your art! They are your market and potential clients.
It's easier when you're already doing your dream job and couldn't care less for other potential directions... but Being a miserable artist = being a bad artist.I recently felt it being one of the most important things, not just for an artist; being happy with what you do. No one wants to get up every morning thinking.. shit .. another work day. Of course there can be days, maybe even a full week of that, but the majority of your time you should be feeling content and happy even.
With that lack of love and enthusiasm it is most likely reflected into your work.

Now it's not always your own fault that your work doesn't make you happy and doesn't feed your creative monster. But it can be in these cases.

You make your OWN workday miserable when:
:bulletblue: If you don't speak your mind and stand up Timing fucking matters.Time does a lot of things, it makes you older, it gets you to places, it never stops going forward. However you control when and how you use it!

Everyone makes choices on a daily bases, most of them are actually done with your auto-pilot function out of habit.
Most people usually sit in the same spot on the couch, chooses what to wear based on previously made combinations and so on, unless they consciously become aware of their action and might decide it's time for a change. It can be a small thing that makes people aware of their options
You can count that pretty much every person out there works like this and YOU often depend on THEIR ch Things I learned at: The Industry Workshops 2014Holy shit amazeballs... this past weekend....
But let me start of by shortly telling you what the industry workshops actually were.
(The artwork in this journal are from some of the lecturers.)

:bulletblue: What is: #IW_14?The Industry workshops took place last weekend August 29 to 31 2014, at 2 venues both located at Hoxton Square, London United Kingdom.
It was organized and hosted by a group of industry professionals in the fields of concept art, matte painting and illustration in film, games and freelance.
Let me name the people that profited the lectures and demo's from 10 in the morning to 8 in the evening, ending with a 1+ hour QA When inspiration is far to be found...We all get these anoying times when we really want to make something cool, get inspired and work that magic. We see everyone around us (online) do it, but how come we are not?
So we look for ways to get inspired, we ask around, find these usual answers: go watch a film, listen to music.. take a walk...

But even when we do that, we still end up stuck most of the time.
Part of the solution is knowing WHY we get stuck and this is my theory.

:bulletblue: ADT - Attention Deficit Trait.
'Experiencing an inner frenzy of distractability, impatience, difficulty in setting priorities, staying focused and managing time. Those are our biggest enemie A simple guide on: Commissioning an Artist.It's often not as simple as one wants it to be when both artist and client want it to be: Cost efficient, time efficient and quality efficient.
I've often spend my time discussing the best way to handle commissions with clients and artist friends that I came to the conclusion that clarity and understanding is key.
I will divide the guidelines I work with based on 3 commission types.
:bulletblue: Character commissions.
:bulletblue: Book covers ( or illustrations)
:bulletblue: Concept art.

Reading all 3 parts will give you the full scope as a lot of it applies to one another as well.

:bulletgreen: Character commissions.

:bulletblue: 1. The Key to keeping yourself motivated properly.Let me start off with telling you what motivation is and why you need it.

A motivation is a reason behind doing something a certain way to work yourself up to a certain goal. Just having a goal but no understanding of how to get there, means you have no way to motivate yourself and your goal will be hard to reach.
Therefore motivation is needed desperately in order to become truly good at something.

The motivation to eat is the feeling for hunger and the end goal of ending the hunger and feeling healthy and energized. This type of motivation is a feeling.
Which brings me to: Intrinsic motivation and Extrinsic motivation.

Shortly explaine

Thanks for all the comments! I will do my best to reply to most of them, even if it sometimes takes a while, reading these always cheers me up a lot!

Wanna ask me direct questions? Come hang with me on Twitch sometime where I paint and give feedback
Suzanne Helmigh Twitch channel

Disclaimer: The artwork posted in my journals are not made by me but artists I admire. This is my way of sharing their incredibly work with the rest of you. All these journals are based on my personal experience and that of artist friends. English is my second language and I have dyslexia so do note I am prone to make mistakes. I write these journals to remind myself of the things I've learned.

Thank you!

The random winner selected for doing the questionnaire is: She got an artbook to pick! Send me a note girl!
I will make a new questionnaire soon, meant for artists aiming for an artistic career only. Again a random entry will be selected and gets a free artbook

And I have an artpage on FB! : www.facebook.com/Caldyra