A humble student of the art, checking in
-
Hello!
I've been enjoying the courses on this site for a couple of weeks so I figured I would present myself and see if the forums is something for me as well. My name is Morten and I live in Denmark where my day job has nothing at all to do with art - unless you call software development an art (which I guess you could
).I've always liked the idea of being good at drawing but it never really got anywhere. I tend to lack patience for the part of learning a new thing where you're not very good at it, which turns out to be a bit of a show stopper. However, last summer I figured I would give it a serious go and see where it would lead me. I've had the opportunity to have a day off from work each week for the past 15 weeks, which has helped a bunch.
Apart from an evening course in classical drawing, I've been completely self tought - mostly from watching youtube videos. The amount of great resources freely available has been staggering to say the least but this has also lead me to jump around between all the different options, never settling on one approach or direction. I followed the draw-a-box course for a while but it felt a bit too time intensive for the limited amount of free time that I've had available. So far SVS has provided a great way to structure my learning and I think it works better than combining a disparate collection of videos and tutorials into a study plan.
While it seems to be a primary focus for this site I'm not particularly into children's book art - but then again, I'm still quite new at all this art stuff so who knows which direction I'll end up taking. Either way, this place seems to have lots to offer.
I'm looking forward to checking out all the great art in here and maybe get in on some of the competitions as well.
I'll leave you with the closest to a children's book drawing I've made so far
If you'd like to see more, you can find my instagram account at @mortenchristiansenart and my DeviantArt account here.
-
Hi, Morten... Sounds like we have a lot in common. There are so many valuable resources available on these here interwebs, that it is hard to choose and stick with one thing. SVS definitely has a lot to offer for a beginner such as myself, and the structured approach is helpful in staying focused and on track. Like you, I’ve also done some Draw-A-Box, and managed to get about halfway through the 250 box challenge. I understand the value of the exercise, but it ended up more tedious than helpful. I’ll probably get back to it eventually, but at this point I rather enjoy working my way through the SVS curriculum. And, as you said, even though SVS might be biased toward children’s book illustration, many of the classes offer great advice and invaluable information geared toward drawing in general. There’s always something new to learn...
I’m digging your picture... Always wondered what monsters think lives under their beds. Fun stuff!
-T
-
Hi Morten,
It's amazing what working 4 days a week can do for your side interests! I did the same for a while last year, was really helpful having the time to develop and practice techniques.
Software development can definitely be called an art. Is the definition when there is more than one way to do something and you choose to do it a certain way? Does that make it an art?!
I'm a Graphic Designer by day, and have some cross over into web development (very limited), and I'd definitely call coding an art. The same way that any language is.
Welcome, and love your pics. Will check out your insta later too!
-
Thanks for the welcome.
Unfortunately, my 4 day work week just ended but I hope to renew it later during the year and maybe even transition to a more permanent arrangement. To offset the lack of art time, I have begun scheduling specific hours each week which have been set aside for different drawing activities. Monday evenings are for theory and exercises for instance.
