Hello my loves and welcome back to my sketchbook.
Today I'm working on a gouache painting of an eye, trying out a somewhat alternative
colour scheme, and I'll be talking more about the process and tools I'm using throughout
the video, but for now, let's get to today's topic...
Now, I first started thinking about this at the end of last year after seeing an Instagram
post.
An artist I've followed for a long time- Davi Go or Constant Risk of Fire on Instagram-
posted something along the lines of 'stop complimenting someone else's work by putting
down your own'.
And I'll leave a link below to the original post I'm talking about and you can check out
their beautiful comic illustrations and character work while you're there.
But this really got me thinking about how I view and talk about my work publicly.
I'm always honest about how I feel about my work.
Generally I'll say if something didn't turn out how I wanted it to- which is quite often-
and I do this because part of my channel is about the reality of being an artist, you
can do this for years and years and still not feel like you're at the level you want
to be at.
There's always a drive to want to be better and learn more.
But I do *try* to make it a learning experience- sometimes I'm sure I'm not successful in that,
I know at times I come across as overly critical or negative and I think that's more a flaw
in how I communicate how I'm feeling rather than how I actually feel.
I might be disheartened by the outcome of a particular piece of art, but that doesn't
equate to 'I hate my art' for me.
Not any more, and not for a long time.
It's more a sense of, 'I can see where I need to improve on this and it's frustrating to
have that gap between where I want to be and where I am.'
And this is what the original Instagram post was talking about.
There is nothing proactive in the statement, 'I hate my art.'
That, on face value, is not someone looking to learn.
And that might not be what you're trying to get across when you say 'I hate my art', but
the fact is, with a statement like that, your mentality is very much going to dictate your
trajectory.
If you say to an artist you admire, 'Your work is amazing, I hate my art.' or 'I could
never do something like this.'...
What can anyone really say to that?
You could just as easily say 'I really admire the way you use colour.
That's actually something I'm struggling with, does anyone have any tips?'
One thing I love about my comment section here is just how many people are ready and
willing to help and give advice on their experiences.
But if they don't know how to help, or even that you want help- because you sound like
you've already given up- then what can they do?
You can be critical about your work without putting yourself down.
Look at your art as if one of your best friends has made it and is asking you what you think.
I would hope that you wouldn't say you hate it.
That there's no hope for them and they'll never get to the level they want to be at.
You might say that you can see that they've put a lot of time into it and you can see
the start of something really great there.
You love their ideas, their creativity, and maybe they should practice softening their
shading, or maybe the proportions are a bit off.
Be honest, but be gentle.
And you don't have to make these feelings public.
Of course you can if you want to, but proceed with caution.
I know very well that someone who is constantly being overly-critical of their work is going
to make the people who view and like their work uncomfortable.
Making it a learning experience and sharing how you plan on doing things differently will
certainly take the edge off, but one thing that I see a lot when I see huge flaws in
my work is... no-one else sees it.
I think a lot of the time when we talk down about our own work, we're preempting the criticism
and insults we anticipate getting, when the fact is, people probably aren't even seeing
what you see.
And even if you do receive criticism- constructive, not unproductive insults and rudeness- when
you've already considered your work, come to terms with what you can work on, and put
it out there anyway, having someone else tell you what you can work on isn't the blow you
think it'll be.
Like 'yeah, I'm actually already working on that, thanks.'
Speaking of what we're working on- nice segue into the sketchbook page you're seeing now-
a big thing I want to work on in my art this year is my use of colour.
I actually think I have a pretty good grasp on colour when I'm mixing it, when i'm trying
to match the colour to a reference, but I'd like to step outside the box a bit more, kind
of build my own go-to palette of colours that I think will bring their own kind of style
element to my work.
And I want to keep that exploration fun too.
So I had a look at some film screenshot colour palettes.
You can find them on pinterest, where people have taken a screenshot from a film and isolated
the dominant colours that create this one cohesive scheme.
I picked one that I liked and then I picked out a few corresponding or close-enough colours
from my Arteza gouache set.
Found a reference which I'll have linked below, and just worked on essentially just putting
the darkest colours in the darkest areas of the reference photo and really just seeing
what worked when it came to mixing the colours as well.
You'll see there's a lot of me going over the same areas and just making slight shift
here and there.
The more you build on a painting like this, the more of a place of reference you get to
work from, so you might get half way through and realise your darkest darks aren't dark
enough.
And that's fine, all you have to do is make them darker.
It was a really nifty practice actually, it helped me let go of control a bit more and
learn to go with the painting, learn with it and adapt where I needed to.
You might be able to tell, I'm working to go easier on myself, be more mindful of the
language I use about myself- not just in art, this is something I want to really to commit
to going forward in all aspects of my life- the negative self-talk is just not something
I have time for anymore.
The long and short of it is this, 'I hate my art' and similar statements.... it's just
not a good look.
It makes other people uncomfortable, it looks really unprofessional to prospective clients-
if you don't believe in you, why should they- and it's just not productive.
These kind of thoughts are usually habitual, so it's time to shift the narrative.
Build a new habit of catching yourself in those thoughts and re-framing your perspective.
You can talk to yourself like you would a friend, but generally, you're just trying
to be more understanding, more hopeful, more constructive.
If you see another artist excelling, don't see them as a threat or their success as your
failure or some unreachable, untouchable achievement.
Catch yourself in negative, jealous talk and shift your response to one of admiration and
aspiration.
Get specific about what they're doing that you want to do.
And then start working on it.
The only other option is to stagnate in the perpetual, depressing cycle of 'I hate my
art.'
And that's not somewhere I think any of us want to be.
Anyway, we'll leave it there, but I'd love to start a discussion in the comments below
if any of you guys have a certain perspective on this.
Thanks so much for joining me, don't forget to check out the video description for the
tools I've used today, the original Instagram post that inspired this video and any other
useful resources I might be able to throw in there as well.
Feel free to leave your questions below for me to cover in future videos, and same if
you think there's something I touched on here that I could go a bit deeper into.
And I'll see you in the next one.
Bye!