Can Looking at others work be counterproductive?

[pickthall]

Hi guys,

I do a concept art job of sorts and work in the games biz and I consider myself an 'okay' artist.

Im finding myself visiting this forum more and more and looking at the d'artiste concept art books that have astonishing work im them. Now when I do something of my own I find myself trying TOO hard, so hard its frustrating and almost sucks the joy out of the process and really effects my mood. This isnt a kiddy whine about ' I wish I was better' just interested if anyone else has this kind of paralysis and how they dealt with it. Will it perhaps make me a better artist? Is it the curse of the artist?

One of my thoughts is that ones 'critical' eye is at one level but the skill and technique isnt quite up to the same level.

Basically I think i need to get the joy back in to it and enjoy other peoples work but also see the merit in my own. Easier said than done!

Sorry if this is one of those subjects that keeps popping up

[Seedling]

I think, like in every other endeavor, you have to find balance. You *need* to be looking at what your peers are doing in order to continue learning and stay at a professional level. But you also need to maintain a mental state that lets you keep producing work. If keeping your morale up means not looking at the work of others, then cut yourself off when you need too. Just be sure to come out of hiding now and then when you are feeling confidant, and make it a long-term goal to build up a tolerance to seeing the work of your peers.

Cheers!

[Mitze]

I find looking at the top dogs work inspiring. I kind of think “i could do that”. I haven’t managed to yet. Try not to imitate the artist you admire but pull his work apart and find out what you like about it and use that in your own stuff.

[tomwaits4noman]

Pickthall, i can second what you are going through.
Honestly you got to work to your strengths, someone else's style might not suit what you are trying to achieve, its ok to borrow tricks from other people but
trying to capture their style or achieve the same level as an old pro........

You have got to embrace the talents and weaknesses you have at the moment and try and make them work to your advantages, as Seedling said maybe you should not look at others work just have belief in your own style, post your work in Crit visit the tutorial forums and gather the knowledge you need to hone your own style not to shape it into someone elses.

[Farvus]

This is a difficult question.

I'd say don't try to imitate design style or ideas. Look sometimes at techniques of other artist but when you see/try enough of them, focus mainly on your work.

[Jason Rainville]

Anyone ever notice how a lot of sketches of people in the SB section are looking kind of.... 'same-y'? Hard to describe what it's like though...

[dose]

One of my thoughts is that ones 'critical' eye is at one level but the skill and technique isnt quite up to the same level.

I think this is the case pretty much perpetually. The more you learn, the more you realize there is to learn. Eventually that fact can be one of the great things about doing art (but it's still always a bit frustrating!).

[Ian Mack]

Art is a lifelong journey and you'll always get better as you go about it. No matter what you draw.

I find others artwork to be stimulating but I take care not to let it influence me too much. My studio is seperated into two halves...a blank space for me to create where I post material pertinent only to my current project. The other half is where I can see other peoples artwork, animation, movies, etc. It's much more 'busy' and I've found that looking at other artists' work and then retiring to your space to draw is an effective way to get the creative juices going.

[pickthall]

Many thanks guys I was hoping to get thoughtful and mature response and I got just that. It kind of compounded what I was feeling in that its good to look at the best for inspiration and to keep you aware of the 'bar' so to speak but not get too tied up and tp work on your own stuff and develop your own style.

I guess it doesnt matter how good you become you always want to be better

-Pickthall

[chobomaster]

I remember reading someone say, "Don't think to yourself to be the best artist in the world. Be the best artist you can be instead"

It was probably one of the more influential things I've read about art. You can't be the best at everything, so just focus on your own strengths and build up your weaknesses.

[Inkjexion]

What I have to say is basically the same as to what alot of people here have answered to your question.

Id say focus on your own.
Focus on being your own critic and motivator.

I know that sometimes when you compare yourself to others they either make you feel better or make you feel worse. I sometimes look at others work for inspiration and motivation. Even though sometimes I get frustrated that I can't be as good as the TOP artists, I try be the best that I can. I think it all goes down with your attitude.

Good luck!

[JJ McKool]

The way I understand it, is that ideas work in the same way that energy and matter do. By this I mean that, you never come up with your own ideas without getting ideas from elsewhere in the first place. You see life, images, words, stories, and then you change those in our head, and come up with new ideas, the more creative you are means you can pick out patterns and things better. I know this is a school of thought in philosophy, and I'd appreciate it if someone knows the name of it could say it, I don't remember what it is now.

That means if you look at other art, you have a higher chance of coming up with a cool new idea or design.

[IndieTranie]

Probably the way I cope with being on the lower end of the pool is to know the pool exists but try and create a separate philosophy to apply to others work and my own. For other people, I use my critique eye like you said, but constantly look for how they approach my weaknesses. This isn't about style or technique its about trying to find a new way of thinking where mine isn't quite coping.

Then when I look at my own work, I don't compare it to outside work, but to an internal metric of where I want to be and where my last piece was. It can still be daunting, but typically there is an upside where I can say, "well at least it's better than x, I'm making progress."

[pickthall]

Good point indietranie I do try and make sure the next piece is better than the last. Reading the D'artist book they describe their insecurites and how they used to and still try and guage their work to others. And the key thing I think was that they said that as long as they saw an improvement of sorts it was just a case of patience.

Again thanks for the thoughts and comments

Pickthall




my Sketchbook - http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=102432

[worxe]

Hi guys,

I do a concept art job of sorts and work in the games biz and I consider myself an 'okay' artist.

Im finding myself visiting this forum more and more and looking at the d'artiste concept art books that have astonishing work im them. Now when I do something of my own I find myself trying TOO hard, so hard its frustrating and almost sucks the joy out of the process and really effects my mood. This isnt a kiddy whine about ' I wish I was better' just interested if anyone else has this kind of paralysis and how they dealt with it. Will it perhaps make me a better artist? Is it the curse of the artist?

One of my thoughts is that ones 'critical' eye is at one level but the skill and technique isnt quite up to the same level.

Basically I think i need to get the joy back in to it and enjoy other peoples work but also see the merit in my own. Easier said than done!

Sorry if this is one of those subjects that keeps popping up


Apologese for not reading the rest of the thread, but for the op;

Yeah, when I first found out about CA and saw the quality of work being thrown left right n center it opened my eyes alot to some of the 'standards' of proffessional concept art, and since I was 15 concept art, art in general was something I wanted to persue as a career. But the mistake I made at first was comparing my own efforts to those with several years of experience backing them up, because of the quality of the work that I saw it raised my own expectations of myself way too far to be rational, it got pretty severe in late highschool of year 11-12, got so down about it because I was ashamed of the drawings I did.

Lately though I've been able to get out of that self-conscious trap of irrational standards and been doing more or less 'abstract' work, particularly in printmaking, trying a different medium for me always seems to spark a bit of a drive to experiment, its better than not drawing at all believe me :). Re: Abstract, I dont like alot of abstract art myself and im pretty picky about it but what attracts me to the work me and alot of other students in my class have been doing is that from the abstract work, certain colors or values come up that suggest form, which you can work from for an idea, then comes the drawing because Im interested enough to not care about high standards just yet and enjoy picking out said forms from a bunch of sample prints I've made and constantly mixing them/changing them, scanning em into the computer, changing more elements, printing it on canvas paper, printing over that again with inks.. All this distracts me from thinking of those 'standards' I mentioned and lets me experiment without thinking too much and just doing it, which I reckon is an invaluable skill to have as an artist. Ideas are no good when theyer locked up in your head, and sometimes you have to see them on the canvas/paper/monitor to make a educated and rational assessment.

I know where you're coming from when you say it sucks the joy out of your work, before I'd put a line down to start a drawing, just for say.. constructing a pose and id immediately rub it out because it wasn't 'right' or just stop. Incredibly frustrating at times and I often 'failed', and I use the term loosely, because of my irrational attitude.

Despite all this though, looking at the other pro's work, Seedling says it best. Everything in moderation, look at other peoples work to get an idea of their styles, even work habits, like working on a timetable and setting yourself x amount of hours/days for work tasks (something I need to work on :wink: ), 'mistakes' - mistakes that you can learn from too - and be analytical/critical about it, try not to just sit there staring at a piece in awe, it justs builds an envious ego and man does that have an ugly-ass head. I've noticed when I first came here I did just that, stared in awe at most of the work being posted here, didnt think for a second that something might be strange, something wrong worth bringing up or out of place. Now? I still do :wink: , but at the same time I give it another look and try to see if any elements are as the aforementioned; strange, something wrong worth bringing up or out of place. Critique sometimes is also not only helpful to the artist you are providing critique on, but yourself and others aswell as you may notice details that you didnt notice before, and the help you are trying to provide will be read by others if you are doing it on this forum or if someone else is listening in.

Anyway, all in all, try working in different mediums, I find the more 'random' ones like the printmaking I mentioned above ^, watercolors an such fun, but you may be different and enjoy the more technical and precise aspect of mediums, just explore and experiment, if the thoughts of 'this isnt good enough' 'this wont turn out well' 'maybe i shouldnt' 'this sucks' start coming in, stop drawing for a moment and distract yourself with something that allows you to work but works like icing on a cake, I find listening to fast paced feel-good music does just that, makes ya feel good :). For instance the music I've gotten into lately is from Powerman 5000, Action is my favourite. Ambient sound is also pretty good, like falling rain, very relaxing.

However if you're someone that finds it hard to work with music or noises, maybe some visual stimuli would help - which would come from trying different mediums and not focusing on creating 'something' but just being random about the strokes/how you apply the medium, or perhaps, if you have a kneaded eraser.. I have a big clump of it in my case that I take out and make shapes out of, join them together or flatten them onto the table to make landmasses, structures ontop, or make creatures with it.. like ceramics/clay/sculpting except cheaper ;).

[Icon]

When I paint I go through a period of no art. I avoid looking at others art like a plague, because it always influences the outcome, and I always end up painting like other people. I find it more satisfying to just be able to concentrate on your own works, using all the knowledge you've gathered with no interruptions to the outside world for a bit. That way at least I’m assured of no frustrations, no comparisons and best yet no dead obvious influence!

Seedling says it best though, it's still important to keep current with your peers, and industry professionals, while building a tolerance. As soon as I’m done painting I always sit back and look at other’s work, undoubtedly comparisons will come, but as long as you maintain critical, logical and a little positive about it, it shouldn’t be too bad. Especially when the truth will only help you improve.

[Chermilla]

It can be pretty disheartening at times yes, but at the end of the day I for one always try to remember the real reason as to why I draw or paint, because I enjoy it and cherish every moment, it's my way of expressing my self and showing emotions etc. Sometimes I get like, 'oh what's the f**king point?!' because I get pissed if I feel like people are putting me on a downer...but you always find a way to bounce back, and usually you are back and better than before (hopefully)!! :) I guess what I'm saying is, never give up!

Cx