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ExiledSeraph6

Corey
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After setting a goal of practicing my digital painting two hours daily and keeping to it for about half the year, I kind of took a break from it. I'm very proud of my hard work and progress for those first six months or so, but my social life kind of exploded afterwards and I wanted to take advantage of that. So I kind of put a hold on my art and have been having a blast with great friends. I still sketched and doodled quite a bit, but completed fewer paintings and did less studying.

Part of this is because I've never had so many awesome people in my life before, and the other part is because I felt like I was working so hard at my art that I was losing sight of why I was doing it and what I wanted out of it. It was sort of becoming a second job that I had to clock hours into instead of a creative form of self-expression; and I felt that I needed to change my approach or perspective in some way in order to avoid what I felt was a road to lifeless paintings.

I was kind of inspired by a statement I had heard in the podcast "Sawbones" where Sidney said something about in order to be the best doctor she could be, she also had to be the best her that she could be. So I've kind of stepped away from my art, and I'm attempting to get a new perspective on it and why I want to do it, or what I enjoy about it. I feel that the 2hrs/day practice was lacking what I enjoy about art.

So now I'm trying to find the balance in my life between art, friends, and me time (doing nothing important/productive) while also trying to push my art and experiment more. I'm reviewing the work of artists that I like and reminding myself of what I like about art. I'm pushing the form more, adding more energy and emotion, overemphasizing movement; basically cartoonifying figures. Work that I admire most is usually created by animators or artists with training in animation, so I'm attempting to emulate a lot of what they do while still doing my own thing. Hopefully, I can work towards adding more life to my illustrations while also making time to experience life.
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Practice

2 min read
I set a goal (or made a resolution) at the start of the year to seriously practice my art; to work at it two hours daily. I can't believe that June is just around the corner already. For the most part, I've stuck to my goal. I've given myself one day of rest every week, and there have been a some days that I've skipped due to stress or other issues. But there have also been days where I've put in more than 2hr/day, and there was that whole week that I managed to practice 3hrs/day (couldn't repeat it though), so I think I'm doing pretty good thus far.

I've been working really hard at improving, but now I'm trying to find a balance between working hard at my art, and enjoying the fun stuff that re-energizes me and inspires me. Trying to take more time out for movies, games, and exercise, while still working at my art. I'm also trying to ease up on myself when creating; focusing more on experimentation and play, and less on studying anatomy and reference (although I know I still need to study that stuff).

So far, this has been a very rewarding experience for me. There have been times where I've even surprised myself at what I'm able to do. I'm looking forward to continuing my 2hrs/day practice throughout the rest of this year, and I already feel that I want to continue this practice in the years to come. Having a schedule like this has helped prevent me from slacking off. I've found that it can sometimes be hard for me to get started; but once I begin, it can be difficult for me to stop.

I've got a long ways to go yet, and I hope to keep at this.

Thank-you to everyone that has commented, faved, and awarded me with llamas. Also, thanks to all the artists on DA whose work inspires me. Thanks DA.
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Looking Back on my Progress in 2016 by ExiledSeraph6, journal

Practice by ExiledSeraph6, journal