A question of dedication

[MindoverMetal]

Hello all. I have been lurking behind the scenes here for a bit and have never posted before. I find all of your works to be inspiring and impressive. My question may take a tiny bit of set up so bear with me please. I have worked many different jobs and crafts. I have even been considered an artist in some of them to which i had dedicated myself to, but in general I have never been worth a crap at drawing. I usually make some monkey scribble on a napkin and go on to create my concept in real life. Now things have changed for me in life and i have responsibilities greater than just looking after myself and cannot dedicate endless time to new endeavors. I read your post and they say practice practice and more practice, which i have done in the past with other skills. The question is, if I dont have the time, but have the dedication, will I be able to gain any creditable drawing skills if i keep at it over the coarse of time or is there just too much to learn that if you cant practice 3 hours a day its not going to happen.

PS as a side question, if I took pictures of some of the things that i have made in the past, or currently for that matter, would i post them in sculpture forum or not at all? (The things im talking about are armor and costuming that I have made) I dont know if these kind of things are appropriate to this site.

Thank you for your time to any who bother to post.

[insane visions]

check out mindcandyman's thread

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=870

[MEP]

I think the only thing is you need to draw often enough that whatever lessons you have learned the last time you held a pencil don't evaporate before the next time you hold a pencil. Repetition is important to learning any skill that requires motor skills or dexterity, and the time between those repetitions directly effects how well you learn.

It's like anything else. If you don't do it for a while, your skills get a little rusty. If you know something really well and don't do it for a long time, the first time you try it again, you won't be totally up to snuff. There's some refresh time required. If there's a long gap between your drawing sessions, then you'll spend just as much time catching up to where you were as you will improving.

Three hours a day might be a bit much. But try to practice enough that you don't get rusty so all your drawing time is spent improving rather than catching up to yourself. How much practice that actually is varies a lot depending on the person. Only you can tell if you're gaining something or just getting yourself frustrated.

[markwagner]

"Worth a crap, monkey scribbles"... the thing is, maybe it's not what you think it really is! Maybe at this time you think the answer is over here or over there, wanting someone to tell you how it really is. They say you don't "have" time, you "make" it. You have dedication, that = passion. The monkey and crap live in your head, oh sound it new age but when you go down into your heart or belly there will be a different sound, maybe it's not what you think it is. Act as if you are guided and see how your life unfolds.

Hope this help somehow. It's just whats here now.

Oh I got it. Dedicate it, to what? Exactly....dedicate your life.
Find your purpose, mission - mine is to "Re-Enchant the World Through Art."

~M

[aesir]

if you cant draw 3 hours a day, then maybe just draw one drawing a day. That'd be enough for you to significantly improve over time.

[jetpack42]

1- if you draw for 3 whole hours (3 hours of pencil hitting the paper) everyday you will be smokin in 5 years or less.

2- you have dedication but not time? dedication = hard work + time. better make/find/create time.

[Ilaekae]

Mindovermetal...

Post your stuff in the sculpting section. If it's original and a product of your own doing, I think it'll be allowed...at least once, anyway, so we can see what you do now...

I'm wondering if you aren't really asking a different question than the one that everyone is answering...

You ALREADY do something that sounds like it falls into the realm of art, at least from the little that you indicated in your post. If so, just how much do you have to develope your drawing skills further? Will they be meant to stand alone as drawings, or will they continue to be guides for your other 3D work?

My primary interests are in sculpting and printmaking, and though I have what most people would consider at least "above average" drawing skills, I rarely use them to their fullest in my work. Basically, I scribble "notes." I'm assuming you do something similar. If so, wouldn't it be more productive to develope your approach skills and range in the area you're aleady in further rather than to try and "suddenly" become a 2D artist? I can see trying to advance drawing skills (I'm doing it now myself...) to widen my productive base, but not at the expense of what I can already can do better. Does any of this make sense, or did I completely mis-understand you?

[MindoverMetal]

Thanks to everybody who has replied.

MEP- Thanks, the way you have broken it down is encouraging.

Markwagner- When i say crap and monkey scribbles, i am not taking the time to denegrate myself to make it all ok. I am very accomplished in what I do, but in the past I have never needed a high level of drawing skills, just enough to keep me on coarse for pattern making or crude reference, but I do appreciate the comment

Ilaeke- You have hit it about right. In general i spent a number of years making and crafting custom leather and chain armors and I never had to pursue drawing or sketching to get the job done, just enough for reference and it was crude (very). Now I am trying to change what I do a bit, and the number of things that it would be helpful to learn is quite long. So knowing that a person cannot do it all, or at least do it all at the same time, I was asking if it was worth the effort to try, like if there was a threshold of effort required to improve ones skills in sketching or should i leave it for another time.
You can only say that I am gonna practice so many things for an hour a day before your entire day is gone and you havent practiced it all.

Jetpack42- Hope this above reply explains it better, I do have dedication, I just realize that sometimes you cant do it all, or maybe all that you would like to do. I can take a sketchbook with me and use spare time appropriately, but when I am in my shop I need to spend time on other aspects of what Im doing that are not as portable as sketching. It would be very helpful at this point if I was better at sketching but my time will be limited.

Thanks to all for replying