Just saw another YouTuber pop up (they be crawlin' outta the woodwork since I made a throwaway acc) and this person went to Calarts and was abusing the school online.
I am OK with her trashing Calarts, although she did it 10 years too late. People often talked shit about CalFarts without hearing my experiences, they said they couldn't stand an environment like that. Yeah me too. I had always thought I still owe it something for kicking my young-adult ass into gear, but I was already motivated before even contemplating art skool.
So it was a bit surprising to say the least, but refreshing to have a nod of acknowledgement towards my trauma from art school not being a rarity, so im not all alone. But her advice for alternatives to expensive art school lost the plot. Something about social media and finding magical Discords.
Why do all these bad internet artists do all the preaching? It's called objectively bad advice to tell aspiring animators or designers or anything that they need to hustle and waste their life on social media or find some magic golden ticket to gain entrance into some magical Discord. Barf much?
Time spent on social media doesn't equal time drawing, Einstein. In fact, internet scrolling keeps you from experiencing such a transformative boredom on a daily basis, which breeds self reflection, to then finding the unique shapes, lines and stories within YOU.
(My wonky cat loop for Oct LoopdeLoop theme)
The second I dropped out of Calarts since I knew it wasn't helping me (but hurting me actually) and ran away back to my lovely hometown of Adelaide, because my soul needed it, was the second I made a right step towards becoming a real artist.
(And artists that love their small hometowns are not necessarily small fries. Good artist comes from anywhere you can hold and pencil and draw. Stop being pretentious.)
Guys. You must find and hone your own philosophy with artmaking. Nobody can give you that.
Doesn't it warm your soul when you're lonely? Make you smile when you're sad, or calm you when you're angry? Not just lines, but characters and stories with emotions.
If you don't get the power (and pleasure) of practice that I'm preaching, nothing can save you. No fancy software or exclusive chatroom will ever help you. It's a little thing called artistic practice, and you either have the grit to keep at it. Or you don't.
I'll say it one last time, but you should always keep a sketchbook and pen on you every day. Wherever you go, just like good writers keep journals. Not just an iPad or god knows what fancy tablet, but a real sketchbook. Just use normal office pens. Learn how to make real art to break away from your codependency on Ctrl-Z, layermodes and lineart lunacy.
I got this at age 10 or younger, when I fell in love with drawing Neopets and other peoples OCs I saw online. I got this, and spent my time not only copying art (for personal use and never tracing), making my own OCs and immersing myself creating my own stories. Putting in the time every damn day because I loved it.
People demand magical 2D animations, as if it can be conjured out of manure, but these people never get the devotion necessary. You need to put in the daily every-day observational drawings to improve.
Important newsflash that may discourage the faint-of-heart but needs to be said, but I've drawn consistently (most days my life) since I was 3 years old. I also have never taken more than a 1 day break at a time from drawing at a time, even during my hardest years. Yes, drawing is a passion that means that much to me.
I have had different mini artistic epiphanies along the way as I got older. Pivotal moments which my feeling on storytelling, characters, design and appreciation for the world around me deepend and blossomed.
Therefore, when new people fetishise some endless quest for animation 'jobs' or becoming like 'popular artists', but these people don't seem to get the actual point: that being a real artist is a lifelong pursuit and therefore, a lifestyle choice for how you spend your free time. If you aren't taking my sketchbook advice yet, you will never understand that crafting good animation depends on your own perception and passion for life. Show curiosity for the natural world, of both humans and animals and of storytelling, myths and legends! You must develop a keen eye towards picking up on delightful details, so much effort and nuance goes into good animation!
You don't master drawing a month, or two, or in 456...Especially if you're not studying in the right way and are just doodling empty cartoons. But if you study the right way, you'll have countless little moments of inspiration where you 'get better' in a rich and meaningful way which deepens the older and wiser you get, hopefully.
TLDR but you draw for a long time. A lifetime.
So yes, I'm sorry but you won't get any better by doom scrolling. Cya~
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