Hello my loves and welcome back to my sketchbook.
For today's page, I just wanted to get back to basics, work on capturing form in light
and shade.
And just see if I still know my way around just a graphite pencil.
It's always important for me to make sure I'm still taking time to work on the foundations
behind my art, the stuff that everything else is built on.
And there will be info below on the reference I used and my supplies, but otherwise, lets
get into today's topic.
'I want to make a career out of my art, but I don't know where to start.
Do you have any advice?'
This is one of the questions I get asked the most, and it's such a difficult one to answer.
The thing is, everyone’s situation is different, so there is no one-size-fits-all advice I
can give.
I do think there's a huge amount of value in looking at how other people have built
a career in art.
It's great to be proactive in seeking out a path to take- so I will briefly re-iterate
my own journey into being self-employed later in the video- and if you want the full, in-depth
story, you can check out another video I have on just that which will be linked on screen
now and down in the description- but the fact is, my journey worked for me at that particular
time with the particular circumstances I was in.
My journey looks very different to this person over here and that person over there and potentially-
and probably- yours too.
It may be that you are super-social-media-savvy- I know artists on Tik Tok are doing big things
at the moment and I feel way too old to tell you anything about that, you might live somewhere
with a good art scene where you have a better chance of building an in-person network, you
might want to have gallery shows or illustrate children's books or design backgrounds for
animation or video games or have your work featured on packaging, in magazines, editorial
work.
The list of possibilities and unique circumstances you could be in just goes on and on, so it's
really important, not just to look at what other people are doing, but look at where
you are, what interests you have, and what strengths and advantages you might have.
And think outside the box in that sense.
You might have a degree that you think is completely unrelated to a career in art, but
just consider how your unique combination of skills and strengths could give you an
advantage, or some sense of novelty in the work you create or the story you tell.
And as I said in my original video about this, if you're in school, commit.
Commit to your studies.
I'm not asking you to excel, but learn the essential skills of self-discipline when it
comes to doing work you don't necessarily want to.
Do your best in your other subjects because you really don't know how and when those things
will come in handy in setting you apart from other artists.
So what else can you do?
Wherever you are in life, whether you're at school or you're retired or you're somewhere
in between, maybe in a job you don't like.
If you're looking at a career in art, the first thing you need to be doing is making
art.
As much as you can.
It's no good wanting to embark on this journey with an empty suitcase.
Get your priorities in order, find the time to make art.
Practice and have fun and spend some time figuring out who you are as an artist.
Last week I gave a few tips on finding time for art when you have none, so I'll leave
a link to that video too.
If you feel a bit directionless when it comes to 'just making art', I'd really recommend
getting in the habit of commissioning yourself.
This is something I want to share more of on my channel in the future, but essentially,
you're setting yourself different projects, whether it be specific to what you know you
already want to do- if you want to have your work on peoples walls and in galleries, you
can give yourself a theme or look at names of real, past gallery shows.
Things like 'flux' or- I don't know...
'Colours of the Wind'.
Give yourself a project and treat it like this is already your job.
Study and practice and create the work for your first gallery show or the packaging of
your favourite snack or whatever else you might be interested in making art for.
If you don't know what you want to do with your art, then try all the things.
Try designing a book cover or illustrating one of your favourite childhood stories.
Then try designing a character from a cartoon or patterns for fabric.
Look into all the things you can do as an artist, and set yourself some homework to
dip your toe into any and all of them.
If, through this, you find the trajectory you want to be heading in, or if you already
know what that is, then work your way backwards.
How have other people got there, what other opportunities are there to get there.
Do you need to build a portfolio?
Do you need to join local communities, do you need to get a particular degree, do you
need to build a following on social media.
Write down the steps, and any other potential steps or projects or milestones you think
would help, and then research.
WHAT communities do you have access to, how often could you connect with them.
WHAT schools could you go to and what do you need to get in, WHAT do you need in your portfolio,
HOW do you build a following online?
When you get specific, all it takes is a google search, some topic-specific books, online
articles, YouTube videos, Skillshare classes.
The information is out there, you just have to know what you're looking for.
And as I said, you might not know what you want to be specifically.
You might not have narrowed down exactly what you're looking for.
That’s fine.
That was me.
I grew up wanting to write and illustrate children's books.
As I got older, I wanted to be a forensic scientist, and when it came time to 'choose
my subjects' at school, commit to the exams I was going to take and what I was going to
do at uni, I wanted to be an interpreter, so I studied languages and ended up at King's
College London reading Spanish and English.
When I dropped out, about a month later, feeling completely lost and unsure of what I wanted
to do, I eventually got a job, and spent my free time making art and partying too much.
When I started to think I wanted to take art more seriously, I partied a bit less and started
researching social media strategies, how to make money on YouTube, how to set up and market
your online shop.
All the while, I worked on my art.
I tried to get better.
I studied the areas that I felt weaker in.
And even then, I could've done more, and I knew I could be doing more.
But I was complacent in my job and I was scared of taking a leap into a career that wasn't
really clear.
I was making money from YouTube and sponsorships and a bit from selling prints and original
pieces.
But who was I as an artist?
You know what, that was almost 4 years ago, and I'm only JUST starting to figure out what
I want to do with my art- funnily enough, I've come full circle and I want to illustrate
books- but if I had waited all this time to figure that out, I wouldn't have built the
skills I have now in the meantime, making mistakes and learning from them, building
a community who have been along for the whole journey.
And I probably STILL wouldn't have figured things out by now, because you can't if you're
not DOING anything.
Be open to trying things that might not work.
If it doesn't work, tick it off the list and find the next thing.
You're suddenly that much closer to finding what DOES work.
So I quit my job.
I believe I had 3-months worth of savings to cover my rent and bills if things went
wrong.
I would actually recommend having a bit more than that, maybe even 6-months or, for me,
I had the added safety net of knowing my old job was waiting for me if I needed it.
I quit my job and I just started feeling my way around.
I worked on my art, I tried different things, I researched and researched and researched,
I played to my video-making strengths and I tried to stay current with my knowledge
of social media algorithms.
I worked at it for 4+ years and I continue to work and learn and adapt.
I am not a fully-formed, professional artist.
I don't think I ever will be.
I'm not sure if that even exists.
So I'm happy to just be moving in the right direction, and if this is what you want, then
commit to doing the same.
There is no shortcut.
Just one little step at a time.
And you can start right now.
That's all for today gang, I hope it's given you a little bit of a push forward.
Thanks so much for joining me, don't forget to check out the video description for the
tools I've used today, the other videos I mentioned 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, 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!