Effective Vehicle Design assignments
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@PenAndrew said in Effective Vehicle Design assignments:
@lucy_gow Are you not happy with your progress?
I'm cautiously hopeful that this year I will finally make some progress towards making a decent portfolio. However, I've been trying for over ten years, after already failing at a previous career (as a mathematician) and pursuing various failed attempts at learning skills in order to get other kinds of work.
A few years ago I attended a children's book conference and had my portfolio assessed. I was not good enough to get work yet. It seemed I shouldn't quit my day job, but at the time I couldn't even get a day job! So, I trained as a teacher and I'm only finally settled in my work enough to try to develop my illustration skills again. (I tried full-time teaching but it was too much, and now work as a substitute teacher.)
At this rate, I will run out of time before I get anywhere. But at least, I feel like I am running out of ways to fail, and I'm confident that this is something I would love to do. Even if it is only to be able to draw well and use that for my own personal projects.
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@lucy_gow Try not to be disheartened, and remember art has to be for yourself first and foremost. I understand your feelings about failure I have had similar results after 2 courses at college, but I think the more you work on yourself the more progress you make, I almost gave up this year. The closest to thinking it just isn't going to happen at all. But then I worked through my feelings and joined SVS and feel like i am really making progress and everyone keeps saying so in my small circle.
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@PenAndrew @lucy_gow Oof! I absolutely relate with both of you. I've tried and given up on so many things, some because I didn't enjoy them, but most because they got to that horrible hard stage (training to become an aged carer, studying disability rehabilitation, learning Chinese Mandarin to become an English teacher overseas, running a knit/crochet design business, attempting to create products for Etsy, Amazon KDP, etc, etc). It can be so easy to look back on these "failures" and tell myself I don't have what it takes to complete a book illustration project - or to even get the gig, for that matter!
But drawing is something I can't give up on. I haven't yet found my confidence or my groove, but I'm here in SVS soaking everything up like a sponge. I'm relying on the Critique Arena deadlines to get my portfolio growing (currently at zero), and it's really nice to know I'm not alone.
PS: I've been lurking this forum topic and I'm really impressed that you've gotten so far through the assignments for this course, Lucy. Actually, your work in general is super inspiring, and I just saw you're a fellow Aussie! Haha, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on you and cheering you on ^_^
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I can relate a lot to this. In my family, being an artist was synonymous of being poor and barely have enough to eat, with that kind of mindset I ended studying engineer at the university; of course, after trying a ton of courses and stuff before going to college... when it could had been an easier choice from the beginning.
When I was at my lowest in venezuela, it was doing art commissions what kept us literally alive because it was our only source of income.
Now I realize that to be good at something you have to put a lot of work to it, and to be able to put a lot of work to it you have to feel motivated to do it because it’s something that you find enjoyable and it makes you spend a lot of time on it without realizing it. So, as far I can see you already got most of the work done! You just need to hang on it and keep going.
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@Eliana-Bastidas Yes it sounds like you've had a tough battle. To be an artist and to accept oneself as an artist and to value oneself as an artist is not an easy thing to do. I have been trying and struggling with this my whole life.
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@Meekipink I guess it is good to eliminate what isn't you. Vesper Stamper was saying in Jump into the studio she took 20 years to realise that she was trying to work in the wrong genre of children's books(i believe-don't quote me) and now she works in Young adult books, both writes and illustrates them, and she's a super talented person. So, everyone struggles! We are no different to the professionals in that we must all follow a similar path, and those that make it through the weeds and tall grasses and swamps become successful.
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@Meekipink You can teach English in China if you have a degree and some kind of certificate for teaching English, plus all the documents that now cost a lot of money! You don't need Mandarin.
And I really liked your car drawings for the effective vehicle assignments. -
@PenAndrew I totally agree with you here.
I've always believed that what it's really hard in life is to get to know ourselves, learn about how our minds work and how do we learn best, this helps us develop a good and resilient mindset.
This is something that you never stop to learn about, life is a journey of knowing oneself. -
@Meekipink Hi Meekipink, Thank you! I'll keep an eye out for your art, and cheer you on as well. Much of yours looks effortlessly great, so I don't naturally imagine you struggling, but I guess it's more common than I think. I really like your drawing of a little girl with two cats.
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@Eliana-Bastidas @PenAndrew Thank you for your supportive words! You are very kind and I don't know quite what to say. I can relate to so much of what you wrote.
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@lucy_gow Oh, thank you - that actually really means a lot. I struggle big time! Even to the point where it's paralysing and I don't draw for days or sometimes weeks.
I have huge admiration for artists who are there showing up doing the thing. I watched a video by Will Terry where he basically trash-talked his old art but pointed out that even though it was "bad", he still got by making decent income as an illustrator in spite of it. It really reassured me that I don't need to become Leonardo Da Vinci in order to put myself out there and earn money for my work.
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@PenAndrew Oh, I love that! Thank you for the encouragement.
Haha, I think the teaching English boat sailed away a looong time ago. But it's funny, while studying Chinese I met my (Chinese) husband, and now have two kids who I can actually help learn Mandarin since I still retained some of that basic knowledge.
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@Meekipink @lucy_gow @Eliana-Bastidas Yes, i think it is normal to struggle with art as ultimately I believe art is an inner process first so there's a lot of hang ups tied to being oneself and being an artist and what that means to people in the world, good and bad. I think you can't avoid these problems with art, all you can do is accept that making art can be a vulnerable process, therefore you must treat yourself kindly. Art has supported me my whole life in terms of being there for me since childhood. I wish too that it could also be the vehicle to expressing my inner world and sharing something good with people, and eventually making money(in order of importance).
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Hooray! I finally finished the final assignment for this course. I was really stuck because I'm terrible at drawing cars. I actually borrowed How to Draw by Scott Robertson and Thomas Bertling to try to work on it. I did some of the exercises and drew some of the toy cars around the house. I'm just not very good at it. This is one of my practice drawings:
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Then I did the assignment. I couldn't resist trying to do something related to Rabbit Road Race (the competition this month). I couldn't think of a story, but wanted to do a car that a rabbit might have somehow made themselves from found materials.
Rabbits are pretty small, so it seemed like a traffic cone would be roughly the right size. It would have to be a pedal car, because you couldn't put an engine in a traffic cone, surely? Also, I imagined that they would have upholstered it with stuff from a picnic basket, and maybe the pedals are made out of cutlery.
These are my references:
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And this is my final assignment. I started off with the intention of using a perspective grid well and making everything correct, but I messed it up. Still, on the whole I like it and am happy with it.
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@lucy_gow SO CUTE!! That's adorable that these little rabbits are pinching traffic cones to make their own pedal cars, haha.
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@Meekipink Thank you!
When I started it I had no real ideas, and now I'm thinking I might draw them racing away from where they've been stealing/ransacking a construction site. It's possible I can learn to be more optimistic through these courses. I keep feeling like I have no chance of coming up with anything. Then I force myself to do the twenty thumbnails and I end up with an idea after all.
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@lucy_gow That's lovely and a really good concept!
I'm not the most optimistic of people either, but the more you create, the more you find yourself able and wanting to create. Keep going at it!
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@lucy_gow these are all so wonderfully creative! You've definitely made me want to take this class! I think my favorite has to be that reindeer helicopter
