[SFW] Artist's Group Chat

Is it true that you have to be obsessed with art to become great at it?
 
I’ve seen a lot of professionals say that you have to be thinking about art 24/7 if you ever want to move past being an amateur at it.
 
What are your guys thoughts on this?

@Background Pony #3786  
Well, the more you practice the better you get. So professional artists tend to have hundreds of hours of practice to be good enough to compete.
 
Then you get others like myself who just draw because we enjoy it, or because no one else is drawing what you’re thinking of. If others like what you’re doing, that’s a bonus.
 
In any artist’s images, try comparing early art to new stuff. You’ll almost certainly see a noticeable improvement.

@Background Pony #3786  
Havent gone past amateur so I wouldnt know.
 
On the flip side, you’re forever amateur until you go pro.
 
Literally the difference is whether or not you’ve made a profession out of your art. Skill, in that sense, is almost irrelevant.
 
Wanna be pro? Find your market. If there is a client / clients willing to put you to work at whatever your current skill level is, and you manage to supply their demand and gets paid for it on a consistent basis? You’re a professional. Don’t matter your actual skill.

Meaning? If you’re actually serious about going pro, then focus on becoming a professional than improving your art. That means finding clients, market research, looking at trends, networking, finding gigs, odd jobs and competitions and basically being a pro.
 
There’s wanting to be a pro, and there’s wanting to level up your art. The two dont necessarily need each other.
 
Lots of indie devs doing small basic rpgmaker and visual novel games with art that even I can do, and getting crowdfunded for their games, are already professionals, even if their products look like school projects.

@40kponyguy  
That makes sense. I think I have a tendency to assume any artist that has a higher skill lever than I do is a professional in some way. In reality, even a lot of the artists I look up to still might consider themselves to be amateurs. I guess it depends on how our mindset is, since art is highly subjective.
 
@tehwatever  
I’m not really aiming to become a part of the industry. I just want to improve my skill level. Sometimes, it can be a little bit overwhelming to watch several different tutorials, each with different instructions for beginners. Some say to start with gesture drawing, others may say start by learning shapes in different perspectives, etc.
 
I started drawing earlier last year, but I’ve been kind of on and off with it. Since I’m still fairly new to this, I keep having to remind myself that improvement comes gradually, and I may not get the results I want, even after several attempts.

What happens to a genie alicorn princess when they get too stressed… they revert to a more primal form.
 

I’d cuddle with Binky’s pony.

@Ponies And Cuddles  
what bout me?

 

 

@Background Pony #3786  
Honestly, I want to be better than before and excel to where I can master the skills as a faster pave. There are times where I have this fear of failure of not aiming towards the goal. Like for example, when K think of cel shading my work, I feel hesitant because I have to back trace to study the fundamentals of it before I do. Or when artists on either Twitter or IG posts their pics from a meme challenge, I.E. the SailorOon challenge, I feel ashamed.

@Flutter_Lover  
Did you do this? OMGGGG That is so fekking coool!

@tehwatever  
Thanks.

@Flutter_Lover  
Firstly: Wow you are good at shading. =D  
And don’t worry about failing.  
If you are putting effort into your art(which from what I see here is very apparent that you are) you’re not failing, and in art you cannot “fail”, the mere fact that you are creating art: is art and therefore succeeding at art.
 
New techniques take time, it took me forever get my ponies out of the uncanny valley and into something I consider presentable and even then my first post took about 3 weeks to get to where I felt I could post her.  
Besides the guys on Twitter and IG have had years of time to practice their preferred techniques and then they use what they are comfortable with to do the challenges.
 
My motto for when I feel something isn’t turning out how I want it to, no matter what I have been trying is: ‘I’m still learning’and ‘these things take time’

 
finished another edit, i dont know if its good or not.

@Background Pony #3786  
You don’t have to be obsessed with Art to be great at it. You do, however, have to put in a some time to practice and get the bad drawings out of the way so you can make the good stuff.
 
One common piece of advice I hear is to draw everyday, which isn’t a bad idea on paper. However, don’t just draw mindlessly. If there’s an area you’re lacking in (such as Anatomy or Proportions), focus on improving on that subject so you’ll get a better grasp at it quickly.

@Slingring  

 
I’ll gladly give you cuddles too. :3

FUCKING HELL YEAH!!!! I knew this album cover is awfully familiar with that StarTrix rocket toy and would really blend well with Glim and Trix!
 
Oh I really can’t wait to see the outcome of this thing, hope nothing bad goes along.
 
 

@Ponies And Cuddles  
Thank you! , ill gladly take them /)

(Before the two ponies mix together)
 

@Flutter_Lover  
I understand what you mean. One piece of advice I heard, is to compare your current skill level with your past skill level. That way, you’ll notice what you’re improving at, and it’s more beneficial than comparing yourself to another artist entirely.
 
@Salamenace  
Thank you for the advice!
 
I admit, one of the traps I fall into is mindlessly practicing a bunch of different fundamentals, without really paying attention to how this will improve my work later on. As a result, I begin to lose focus on what I wanted to do originally with art, and I also end up not being able to apply the fundamentals to what I actually want to create.

@Background Pony #6D6C  
So cute, I like their shiny hooves!  
your style is so soft and cute!

Anyways, any advice for learning from tracing?  
i just did this recently, and im gonna refine the linework a bit more.

@Slingring  
Break down the key features into simple shapes(circles, squares,etc) to see how pose is constructed.
 
I weirdly enough used this method on paleo-art to help with creature designs
 
 
And YouTube artists to help out is:
 
Proko- detailed anatomy and rendering (very analytical)
 
Sycra-for foreshorting, colour theory and character design
 
Angel Ganev- structure and rendering(can be an ass but makes a point)
 
Twitter:  
Wolfgarden7- good anatomy and advice, doesn’t post but will respond to DMs though (say I sent you is my bro)