PROFESSIONALS!!! foster, android, etc...

[stikler999]

this note is for anyone willing to listen and to help. i keep posting asking for tips... pointers anything to get my fet going in the right direction. i am slowly becoming consumed by this fire to becom a concept artist.... to design and creat characters for movies and video games. i have a wicked urge to learn and to grow. i have no schooling as far as art goes except for high school and vocational schooling. i have been brushing up on anatomy and have been paying more and more attention to the world around me... looking at trees and animals, etc. i would love to be able to just chat with someone regarding this. my main focus is to gain a job in the movie industry. this may be vague or maybe it's not getting my point across, but if someone would just PM me or email me: gdoerfler@cox.net
i'd love to get some pointers from folks already in the industy (movies or video games or even illustrators)

check out my website at the bottom link (view the sketches section) and let me know what you think. thanks a lot. i really do appreciate it.

[Lono]

have you combed through the categories under the "employment" section yet?
if not,, you should start there. some really good and informative threads in there that will put you on the right path. read them all, and if you still have questions, try asking them in that section,, and if no one answers you,, well then, do what you gotta do.

-Lono

[tyboogie]

stikler---dude you have fundamental drawing skills--and if your passionate about waht you want to do it will come with time---unless you have specific questions there is really no "secret" to illustration/conceptart---

draw people, environments, vehicles, cultural references, costumes, puppys, boats, hands, feet, boobys etc.---

its like learning the violin---the only way to get in to a concert hall to play is YEARS of practice---

i guess what im trying to say is--the answers are within you--you just have to be willing to invest the hours/years of your life drawing and painting--and they will come

thats my TIP

also--check out books like "the art of star wars episode 1" (and 2) and other film art books to see what kind of work the industry utilizes.

oh--and look at as many artists as you can to help you grow---especially masters-like rembrandt, seurat, picasso, klimt, schiele, degas, sargent, etc, etc

[stikler999]

yeah, you know maybe i am just asking for questions that i have the answers to. you guys are right. i just need to sit down and just get to work. things will fall into place. i guess i just want too much too soon.
i really apperciate it.
i guess i just feel rushed cause i ain't getting any younger!! :D but anyway you guys and this forum have been very helpful. thanks

[MindCandyMan]

I am in the same position as you stikler...I too have a desire to become a concept artist and I only started drawing at all about 8 months ago. I am 23 and not getting any younger (although I am young now hehe). My suggestion to you would be to start learning the classical way. That's the fastest and best way to gain the skills needed to become a concept artist. Concept artists are, at the base level, just fundamentally skilled (highly skilled on this board hehe)...who usually have classical training...but who utlize that classical training as a springboard to create interesting creatures...settings...etc... All the great painters you see on here...foster, manley, targete, sweet, puddnhead, aleksi, sparth, etc.... they have all been classically trained. For instance...Jason Manley told me that Justin sweet uses the same limited palette as rembrandt did...etc...etc...

What does this mean for us?...in other words what exactly should we be doing right now? I have thought of this question for a while and I honestly believe that you and I (being newbies) should be drawing from life ALL the time. There are times when we need to come back and exercise our imagination but it should definitely be an 80/20 relationship. The reason being that we don't have a visual vocabulary to pull from yet. For instance...I have never painted metal from life...so there's no way I can paint it from my imagination I can tell you that. Same goes for trees...brick...etc... What I think you should do is come over the "middle class" thread in the life drawing section and get involved in what we are doing over there. Drawing from casts...doing painting exercises...life studies...etc... This is the way to learn. Come over to that thread and join us. And most importantly...draw draw draw every spare second of every day...all the time man. If you can paint a masterful oil painting than you can certainly paint digitally. Look at targete...he had never done digital paintings till recently. He posted his first digital painting. It was FANTASTIC! One of my favorites of his so far...the reason he could move over to digital so easy is because he knows how to paint...give him a fork and some pigment and he can work wonders with it because he KNOWS what he is doing. Don't get discouraged...push hard and join us in the middle class...we are on a journey...after all this is why we are called the "middle class" hehe.

I hope that helps...you and I are kindred spirits...keep pushing man

[Android]

you sound frustrated, dont be, being a concept artist takes work lots and lots of work, I started drawing monsters and robots when I was six and i never stoped, there is no easy anwser , work hard draw every day, dont brush up on anatomy dig into it, literaly if possible, I saw your sketches and you have years of work ahead of you until you reach the level you will need to be competative now, and the bad news is that the bar gets higher every year it not going to ever get easier to become a concept artist, its going to get more competitive every year, this is the truth and Im not going to blow smoke up your ass. if you want it bad enough well than its up to you to make it happen, you can do whatever you set your mind too, I dont want to discourage anyone from thier dreams, but i dont want to cast a happy haze of dissilussion over you either. i can piont you in the right direction concept art is one of the only forms of art left that still halds valuable the academic teachings of the old masters, form, perspective, anatomy color, composition, you ned to pay those dues before you will get anywhere, and if you can master them ou will be able to go anywhere.

good luck

[stikler999]

thanks for opening my eyes android. wow. my jaw just hit the the floor.... :eek: years or work ahead of me?! so i guess my goal of getting into concept art by the time i'm 30 is out of the question then... i'm 26. actually no it isn't out of the question. i'm gonna be working in CA real soon. i'm not discouraged, i'm just gonna push that much harder now. thanks. in fact i'm gonna be better than you!! hahahahahahahaha :D
seriously i will put 5 years or whatever worth of work into my art in the next couple of years. draw draw draw.... thanks again for the response i really do appreciate it!!
cheers! :chug:

EDIT: thanks for all the responses guys. mcm i may check out that middle class. PM me with some info. who knows maybe one day we'll be working together? hahaha

lono: i've checked the employment section, but i'm not qualified really to try out for those yet... i was just curious as to what it's gonna take to get my foot in the door.

tyboogie: i actually picked up those star wars books and have been flipping through them to see what's going on. i'll need to research and study my old master painters and study more traditional art. seems to be the place to start and something that i have neglected to look into.

well i'm off to get my shovel to dig up some dead folks and draw their bones and muscles.... thanks!

[Android]

good

if you feel like the clocks running out just make sure you learn as much as you can every time you draw. you have lots of exciting principles of art to learn, learning new things in art if fun, so you have about 5 fun years ahead of you. that sounds better.

[foster]

stop thinking about time! stop wondering how long it will take. start enjoying and learning what you want to do. age has nothing to do with it. the fact that you are a little older can help speed up your learning process. it is like playing catch up. the path that you need to go down for now is clear and blazed by many before you. go down it and when you get your fundamental skills tuned up you then will need to start your own paths, that is when you will feel lost or doubt. but for now learn, make mistakes, many mistakes, each mistake that you learn something from is a step forward. do not delude yourself when working. see your short comings and correct them. learn from books, life, and other artist here.

now paste all that andrew wrote here as well. he said it well and eloquently.

there is also a thread here where people talked about the idea of given or born talent as opposed to learning and aptitude. look that one up or if someone remembers t he title of the thread please paste it here for striker's benefit.

jon

[Lono]

haiieeeYah!

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5466

-Lono

[MindCandyMan]

Jon is making a seriously good point stikler...you HAVE to love the process...if you think about it...fine artists...and sometimes concept artists...don't really ever get to keep their final product. Fine artists sell the originals and the copyrights etc... to them...concept artists give up their material so it can be used in a magazine or manual where no credit will be given them unless you look in the back. This isn't every situation but probably most. You have to love what you are doing. It is hard work and you have to keep a work ethic but if you don't love the process or the journey than you won't like it once you've "made it" either. I have a good 5 years ahead of me as well but it's going to be fun that's for sure. That's the great thing about art...no one can ever master it fully...so there's always something to shoot for....there's always a goal. Love the process.

p.s. - I know how you feel though...my job sucks and I'm sick of having to kiss up to these stupid executive types who give you absolutely no respect...especially if you have a creative mind. But we can't change where we are...(maybe you like your job though hehe)...but what we can change is whether we are going to draw or not.

[stikler999]

hey don't get me wrong, i LOVE to draw and i love to learn how to draw and pick up new techniques etc. i just want to thank conceptart.org for reigniting the flame, to get me back into drawing and to inspire me to go for my original dreams. i'm not really limiting my time, 5 years was just a goal. i'm not trying to rush into anything. i was just really getting info on how i should break into CA. i wanted crits etc. and sometimes a squeaky wheel will get some attention :D
anyway.. i'm a totally enjoying what i'm learning and drawing (i do try to draw everyday even if it's just for 15 minuutes). but mr. foster, mr. jones, mr. lono and mr mindcandy... i appreciate your comments and i thank you for comforting my mind and getting me refocused and less frazzeled. i will study anatomy and perspective and the masters (old and new) and i will practice pracitce practice!!!

tedsuo:"I didn't really start drawing until I was twenty. I feel like I missed the boat, but I'm swimming like a motherfucker." i couldn't have said it better.... hahahaha
thanks!