random babbleanyway, i was thinking about school and deviantart. i know there are a lot of people here who study art, whether it be animation, graphic design, illustration, etc. and i know there are a lot of people who spend lots of time here on deviantart and have been members or lurkers here for a long time. there's a specific culture that has developed here that everyone's pretty much aware of, which isn't necessarily specific to dA but plays a huge role in the art that's posted and the work that gets praised - for example, fan culture. people love fanart and they love to draw fanart (not everyone, of course, but you know what i mean). also, there are certain styles people are crazy about, like furry art and anime and all of that. everyone who hangs out here knows this, so i'm kind of stating the obvious, but ok. i'm not complaining right now; i myself draw fanart and can appreciate good furry art and anime.
when i first went to animation school, i had no contact whatsoever with the professional art world. i drew in my free time; the closest i got to art class was IB art, and my teacher was kind of a nut. i could basically just do my own thing and no one ever complained. so when i waltzed into my artsy-fartsy school with a bunch of fanart and anime-inspired style, i had no idea how much i was offending the teachers, haha. i got accepted but on the condition that i completely ditch my style and start over from scratch. i agreed (with my fingers crossed) but in the end the school was way too extreme about this for me; i really couldn't handle the style switch and had a hard time keeping up. i think there should always be a transition if you're gonna change styles, rather than suddenly quitting one style and starting over with a new one. the latter is pretty much impossible to handle.
but anyway, back to my point. personally, i always enjoyed doing fanart and very cutesy disney/manga stuff but i see it as fun and a form of practice, not a serious direction to grow into. it's sort of a guilty pleasure by now. despite how difficult my first year of animation school was, i'm glad i got that reality check. the stuff i do now is much more personal and real to me, and also much more interesting in general (i think). but not everyone feels that way when they go through what i do. many people stick to their original styles, which is fine. it's a choice you're free to make.
for me, there will always be this tension between school and places like this site. the overall reaction i get here, based on the favorites and the number of comments, encourages me to do more fanart and make my stuff as cute and pretty as possible. many people here don't mind if i do the same thing over and over - not EXACTLY the same thing, but the same basic idea. i'm not pointing fingers, and many specific people have encouraged me to do the opposite, but you guys know what i mean. if deviantart was my target audience i'd basically only be drawing disney princesses for the rest of my life.
school is completely different. my teachers don't like it if i keep drawing the same thing over and over, as if i'm just proving to myself that i can do it repeatedly. they also don't like the extremely shallow nature of the cute girl drawings - they barely have a point besides being pretty. and fanart is generally seen as a waste of talent and a way to avoid coming up with your OWN concepts. they appreciate the technique that goes into it but believe i can do more with that skill. and i agree with them. when i see galleries here that are 90% fanart i'm not impressed, and i'm also drawn to artwork that has a bit more of an edge and isn't so wishy-washy cute or "pretty." i'm trying to apply this standard to my own artwork right now. but at the same time, i can't deny that i really enjoy doing what i'm known for doing here as well, and i'm probably never really gonna give it up, although it'll be more of a free time/practice thing than a serious thing.
who else has gone through similar dilemmas? what did you choose for in the end, if you made a choice at all? what motivates you to draw in a certain style, whose feedback do you value the most? what do you think of western artists adopting anime as a style, is it a serious direction to head in? despite how much fun it can be, is fanart and shallow cute stuff seriously just crap like my teachers tell me, or are we just being pressured to think that against our will? etc.
Devious Comments
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"Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed." ~ Kahlil Gibran
P.S....i luuuv ur art style!!
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hmmm...ever got the feeling that you wanted something ..... but you didn't know what it was?
Anime is not evil, and it's a shame that so many art schools and businesses shun it. There are a million different styles and genres within this silly "anime" label, and to limit expose to it seems like nonsense.
I get that there is art with higher meaning... but sometimes, I like to look at the Mona Lisa just because she's so pretty. I'm not thinking about anything beyond that. I think if the concern is being commercially viable, most people want to look at lovely things, and probably not spend so much time thinking about it.
While I was in school, there was a great pressure to fit the mold of a commercial artist - but I get more work, more FUN work doing my own thing.
But I have a fantastic advantage over my college mates- my style is as flexible as the wind- if someone asks for cute i can produce it with my personal style same with portraits and western comics anything asked of me is easy for me to come up with- im no longer tied down by the restrictions of my old fanart style and as a result I am now able to work for myself and on a variety of projects both western and asian! It was definatly worth the stress in college! Ill never forget what an aged professional for dc comics said to me- "be flexible or youll go out of fashion"
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Alma O' Carroll
mnah mnah doo doo do do do!
checky out mah galllereeeee! pweeeeaaaase????
ah go on go on go on go on- ya willl ya will ya will!
doing art professionally won't be just fun and giggles, giving up fanart and cutesyness is a small price for improving and being able to make a living of something you love doing :3
but the excitement from people who see what i do is a real motivation. the surreal creates frightening feelings as well as excitement, and when that happens, its very funny to watch.
ive never really liked anime styles. although i can understand many people who draw anime. but i love your art, because of your great technique in both lines and colours, the combination of colours are magical. they inspire me sometimes to do my own works
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It's a thingy! A fiendish thingy!
Photo account ---> [link]
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