The Artist Army

[Audrey_Bee]

Dont know if this is ok to post here but i couldnt think of anywhere else seeing as its to do with art. I am doing GCSE art at the moment and i am in a complete slump. At my school we have an art checklist to complete and we have to have to it completed by the end of easter half term (we have had things being added to it since september). If we dont have this checklist done by the time we go back to school (half term is 2 weeks and theres a week left) then our attitude to learning goes down to a 1. Im not really bothered about this but i dont want my teachers to be disapointed and i want to get a decent grade. The problem is i am sucha procrastinator ive only completed 10 of the 30 things we have had for months, and now i only have 4 or 5 days left to do it. Does anyone have any tips for getting work done quickly but not rushing it and/or getting out of a slump and stop procrastinating?

I was EXACTLY the same. literally. were twins.
I took GCSE Art and before doing a big piece we had to complete SO much work. like 4 research pages, 10 paintings, 5 close ups, 10 chalk etc. Then rough sketch of big piece, information on media, artist that inspired us. you get the picture. it was hard work.

and i never completed it all because i never had inspiration for it. i find that when you're being forced into doing art, you don't want to do it, its all phsycological. Thats why I'm not taking art in College, no matter how much i would love to. i know i couldn't do it.
But i did have ways to force myself to do work so that my teacher didn't hate me (Although i have the worst of art teachers so the feeling was mutual anyway).

Tip 1: If you know someone that you talk to in your class, meet up with them and do work together, especially if they worry about getting work done. i was lucky enough to have someone like this and we meet up at her house to get work done and talk about ideas.

Tip 2: Plan the day ahead. i know you don't have much time now but maybe say "Tomorrow ill do X amount of work at X time". Then at that time be stern. turn your phone off. maybe get family involved by asking them to hold onto your phone until your art time is finished. This works for most but what works for me is just saying "DO IT" and get on with it. i tend to think about how great it'll be to finish and thinking of the outcome and how i can show off some mad skills once its done. i end up getting uninspired during this time though. but just keep thinking of what made you love art to start with:) i also watch TV while completing art pieces. or listen to music and going mental. and drink a tad bit of alcohol but DONT DO THAT BECAUSE YOURE PROBABLY TOO YOUNG. just do something fun with it too but not so fun that you get distracted.

Tip 3: Think of the grade you're getting out of it. despite my lack of cooperation in art, i got an A. But i would LOVE to go back with the skill i have now and actually do the work and get an A*. think of the big picture. if you want to continue in your career of art, you need to do the work now to get that grade.
my procrastination caused my lack of A's and A*'s at school even though i know I'm smart enough to get that high and it sucks! don't do the same as me!!!

But most of all just have fun with it! no one wants to do things they have to do. fact. you have to want to do it. thats why i have never had a job that i dislike, its always something fun that i can enjoy. something thats different everyday with fun people.
so if you keep thinking about how you have to get it done, you never will get it done.

this is gonna sound weird, but try sitting down and just think "i don't have to do this, I'm not being forced to" and just keep telling yourself that you don't have to. then sometimes it makes you want to do it. it works for me with my panic attacks, sometimes i start to ketone if I'm "forced" to go out somewhere or to get out of bed or to eat a whole meal (Those last too usually just feeling sick rather than a full on panic attack) but i sit down and tell myself i don't have to. but then its like a challenge then. your brains like "oh...you don't want me to do this...FIN ILL DO IT"

maybe. hopefully.


I wish you luck with your art, YOU CAN DO IT!

also maybe post some stuff on here? one thing i love about art is showing it off at the end and getting compliments, they keep me going!! i wanna see your awesome work!!

xoxo

[PrincessPinkyPoop]

Dont know if this is ok to post here but i couldnt think of anywhere else seeing as its to do with art. I am doing GCSE art at the moment and i am in a complete slump. At my school we have an art checklist to complete and we have to have to it completed by the end of easter half term (we have had things being added to it since september). If we dont have this checklist done by the time we go back to school (half term is 2 weeks and theres a week left) then our attitude to learning goes down to a 1. Im not really bothered about this but i dont want my teachers to be disapointed and i want to get a decent grade. The problem is i am sucha procrastinator ive only completed 10 of the 30 things we have had for months, and now i only have 4 or 5 days left to do it. Does anyone have any tips for getting work done quickly but not rushing it and/or getting out of a slump and stop procrastinating?

I was EXACTLY the same. literally. were twins.
I took GCSE Art and before doing a big piece we had to complete SO much work. like 4 research pages, 10 paintings, 5 close ups, 10 chalk etc. Then rough sketch of big piece, information on media, artist that inspired us. you get the picture. it was hard work.

and i never completed it all because i never had inspiration for it. i find that when you're being forced into doing art, you don't want to do it, its all phsycological. Thats why I'm not taking art in College, no matter how much i would love to. i know i couldn't do it.
But i did have ways to force myself to do work so that my teacher didn't hate me (Although i have the worst of art teachers so the feeling was mutual anyway).

Tip 1: If you know someone that you talk to in your class, meet up with them and do work together, especially if they worry about getting work done. i was lucky enough to have someone like this and we meet up at her house to get work done and talk about ideas.

Tip 2: Plan the day ahead. i know you don't have much time now but maybe say "Tomorrow ill do X amount of work at X time". Then at that time be stern. turn your phone off. maybe get family involved by asking them to hold onto your phone until your art time is finished. This works for most but what works for me is just saying "DO IT" and get on with it. i tend to think about how great it'll be to finish and thinking of the outcome and how i can show off some mad skills once its done. i end up getting uninspired during this time though. but just keep thinking of what made you love art to start with:) i also watch TV while completing art pieces. or listen to music and going mental. and drink a tad bit of alcohol but DONT DO THAT BECAUSE YOURE PROBABLY TOO YOUNG. just do something fun with it too but not so fun that you get distracted.

Tip 3: Think of the grade you're getting out of it. despite my lack of cooperation in art, i got an A. But i would LOVE to go back with the skill i have now and actually do the work and get an A*. think of the big picture. if you want to continue in your career of art, you need to do the work now to get that grade.
my procrastination caused my lack of A's and A*'s at school even though i know I'm smart enough to get that high and it sucks! don't do the same as me!!!

But most of all just have fun with it! no one wants to do things they have to do. fact. you have to want to do it. thats why i have never had a job that i dislike, its always something fun that i can enjoy. something thats different everyday with fun people.
so if you keep thinking about how you have to get it done, you never will get it done.

this is gonna sound weird, but try sitting down and just think "i don't have to do this, I'm not being forced to" and just keep telling yourself that you don't have to. then sometimes it makes you want to do it. it works for me with my panic attacks, sometimes i start to ketone if I'm "forced" to go out somewhere or to get out of bed or to eat a whole meal (Those last too usually just feeling sick rather than a full on panic attack) but i sit down and tell myself i don't have to. but then its like a challenge then. your brains like "oh...you don't want me to do this...FIN ILL DO IT"

maybe. hopefully.


I wish you luck with your art, YOU CAN DO IT!

also maybe post some stuff on here? one thing i love about art is showing it off at the end and getting compliments, they keep me going!! i wanna see your awesome work!!

xoxo

Genuinely thank you so much, I thought no one was or has been in my position because many others in my class seem fine with getting the work done on time. Yeah, i can say the same - the workload is super heavy and the teachers seem to think its the only subject we take.
There are 2 GCSE art classes in my school and a few of my close friends are in the other class and i meet with them when we are all free (which is hardly ever but oh well) and i find that this definitely helps me get work done faster. For example one day last week i managed to do an oil pastel piece in the time it would normally take me to grid an image (which we have to do but i dpnt mind as it helps anyway) so yeah thats great when i can do it
Planning is a good idea, luckily im alright at getting up early and im most productive at night so this means i could work for the best part of a whole day if i really had the motivation. I can start by planning what i'll do tomorrow - seeing as todays half gone anyway. Dont worry i wont start drinking i am too young
Yeah. my teacher said i can easily achieve a grade 7/8 (equivalent to A or A* - still not the top grade though, we now have 9 which is A**) but my expected grade is 5 or 6 at the moment because of my lack of work, so i guess i need to use that to spur me on.
Thanks for the advice, ill defo try telling myself that and see if it helps, because i agree it makes me want to do things less when im told to by someone else or have to even if i was going to do it anyway.
When i finish something ill think about posting it here aswell!
Thanks again xoxo

[honeydont]

Hey guys!
I want to start selling art for USD, but I have no idea what to price my artworks at..? I'd love some advice from some fellow artists!
Here's some examples of my art

typically a good rule of thumb is to charge [x] per hour, and you usually want the x to be AT LEAST what you would get working a minimum wage job (for me i charge $10 an hour so my commissions usually range from $10-$30)

so say one piece takes you 3 hours, 30 bucks would be a good starting point; if it takes you 5, charge 50 (and your art is def worth that much, it's rly good!!)

[catra]

i love art and i keep practicing but i hate every piece that i make
i know improvement takes time and practice
but i feel like i am not going anywhere with my art and i am in the same place i was three years ago
i don't even know basic things such as shading and everything
i just feel so lost

[Audrey_Bee]

i love art and i keep practicing but i hate every piece that i make
i know improvement takes time and practice
but i feel like i am not going anywhere with my art and i am in the same place i was three years ago
i don't even know basic things such as shading and everything
i just feel so lost

I know this is what everyone says but practice does genuinely make perfect. I'm over 18 (not saying actual age) and I've only just started being proud of my work. And I did GCSE Art. Also try different media's. I'm absolute rubbish in EVERYTHING except coloured pencils. Maybe some pencil work and oil pastels if they're good enough (it seems only my school oil pastels wanted to work with me). But everything else turns into a car crash!! Keep practicing different media's but also look at YouTube videos. That what mainly helped me.

I'm not even joking when I say I barely improved in till I watched so many videos on YouTube and suddenly I could colour in really well. Like literally I am in love with my work. I put it up there somewhere ^^^ although it's not showing up for me anymore so I don't know if others can see It? But it's given me loads more motivation.

But also remember that every artist starts somewhere, no one is born with the talent to draw, it's all about how much you're willing to put into your art work and how much time you want to spend practicing. The more you do, the more you improve. Just like revising for a test, the more you read, the more you know(:

Also take a look at what brands you're using ! That incredibly important. At school I used great oil pastels, as stated above, and I adored the flowers I made, but I used some cheap ones the other day for a quick pic and it didn't work at all, it was all coming off the page and clumping tofeather and would NOT blend. So I need to do some research one that (any suggestions?). What's your all time favourite media to use?? Xoxo

[crystal gryphon]

i love art and i keep practicing but i hate every piece that i make
i know improvement takes time and practice
but i feel like i am not going anywhere with my art and i am in the same place i was three years ago
i don't even know basic things such as shading and everything
i just feel so lost

Something I like to do is redrawing my old art to see how I’ve improved! You might be surprised at how much better you actually are.

What are you doing to learn? Here are some of the ways I practice:
- get out of your comfort zone instead of drawing the same thing over and over! You can’t improve on something if you don’t draw it, like shading or interesting poses
- use photo references or draw from life. There’s nothing wrong with using references, and it’s very, very helpful to do so.
- in the same vein, do photo studies! It will help you understand how form, shadow and light, and pretty much anything else works.
- look up tutorials and guides for learning, and put them into practice! A couple of my favorite youtubers for this are draw with jazza and sycra. There are tons of great sources out there though. Make sure to avoid step by step how to draw book type things though, they’re usually not very helpful.

[Silverhart]

i love art and i keep practicing but i hate every piece that i make
i know improvement takes time and practice
but i feel like i am not going anywhere with my art and i am in the same place i was three years ago
i don't even know basic things such as shading and everything
i just feel so lost

I know I don't post here often, but I'll give my two cents. I agree with all the advice that's been posted so far, but I'll add onto it.

One thing that keeps me going when the drawing is this wonderful quote:

“We all have 10,000 bad drawings in us. The sooner we get them out the better.”

Instead of looking at your bad pieces as simply bad, look at each failed piece as one step closer to a good drawing. Every failure is a learning opportunity. What went wrong with it? What can you do to improve it? Is there something you need to learn or look up that will help you to improve? Would it help to start over, or can you fix what you have? 9 times out of 10 it's better to fix what's wrong rather than start over, because you'll learn more about the process. If you're always restarting in the sketching phase, you'll never get to the shading and color parts.

The biggest thing you can do it draw every single day. I hear it all the time from artists - they only saw improvement when they started to draw every day. No, it's not easy. It takes a ton of discipline. Some days you will really struggle. But if you want to improve rapidly, and especially if art is something you want to pursue as more than just a hobby, you need to build up that discipline.

Seek out and study different styles and techniques and practice them. Every artist has a different 'process' that they need to develop and tweak. It may take years to nail down that process. Even if your piece isn't that great it pays to figure out the process that works for you. I personally start with a loose sketch, then refine it into the finished line drawing. Others might do a very complete sketch, or trace over their sketches with bold lines. Some artists make color studies - others dive right into coloring. When rendering some artists aim for photorealism, others use the classical techniques, or crosshatching, and others might use cell shading. Experiment. Even if all you're drawing is spheres and cubes, find the process that works for you.

I don't know what type of at you're interested in, but whatever it is, be sure to research it. If you want to draw animals, you need to study animals. I'm a big proponent of anatomy, so if animals (and this includes humans) are your thing, study the skeletal and muscular systems. Study their movement and behaviors. You want to build a sort of 'library' in your head of observations you can fall back on. Photo reference is wonderful - live reference even better. Look up other artist's studies - such this one by daVinci - to learn how other artist's solve these problems. You can carry a sketch book and jot down gestural drawings and studies to start building up that library.

Same advice applies to other forms of art - if you want to learn landscape, study landscapes. Learn how light interacts with water. Pay close attention to the world around you, and to the techniques employed by other artists. Still life - learn about composition and lighting techniques.

Overall, be patient, and be persistent. Art is not a talent that spontaneously arrives some day if you wait long enough. It's a skill, just like learning a new language. Anyone can do it, if they put in the effort. It takes a lot of time, a lot of practice, and a lot learning and research. It's a lifelong endeavor, but it's a worthwhile one, as art is a language that transcends time and other language barriers.

@LongLiveRegina - it sounds like you were using oil-based pastels. I personally prefer hard or pencil pastels. They're more chalky which leads to easier blending. Here's a site with all the info you could want on different pastels. I use Prismacolor for class. It's a great brand, but it can be very pricey. If you're going to try it, definitely get one of the smaller sets to start.

[Audrey_Bee]

-Snip-

@LongLiveRegina - it sounds like you were using oil-based pastels. I personally prefer hard or pencil pastels. They're more chalky which leads to easier blending. Here's a site with all the info you could want on different pastels. I use Prismacolor for class. It's a great brand, but it can be very pricey. If you're going to try it, definitely get one of the smaller sets to start.

Ah thank you! I honestly wasn't expecting a response from that ahahah(: yess I use prismacolor for my coloured pencils too so I can imagine how good pastels Are. Luckily I have a full time job so money isn't too much of an issue, I'm aiming for the best of the best! Although I may start off with the small set to see what it's like first! I went straight for the big pack of pencils last time without even testing them out (whoops!) Luckily I adore them but it was a bold move(:

I just had a look at that link and WOW! Thank you so much, It was super helpful! I never knew there were different kinds of pastels, I thought they were all oil! Shows how much I know hahah, I've been staying in my comfort zone for a while which I definitely shouldn't do, as you showed in that message too (love the quote by the way!).

Thank you very much for your help!!!

[Silverhart]

@LongLiveRegina I'm glad I could help! And yes, good supplies are always worth a few extra dollars, but either way it's good to limit your palette when experimenting with a new medium, just so you can get a feel for it and learn how to blend and mix your own colors; practicing those techniques before adding more. In my experience it's a lot easier to add colors to your palette then take them away! ^^
I hope you find a pastel you like! Hard and soft pastels can be a little messy, but they are a lot of fun. So long as you lay down a scrap piece of paper or something, clean up is a lot easier than, say oil paints. You might want to consider using spray fixative on the finished pieces to keep them from smudging, but it depends on your preference. I typically don't; I don't have experience with soft pastels, but my hard pastels seem to not smudge very much as long as they're on a good heavy paper. Put a piece of deli paper over them and they seem to hold up pretty well.

[non]

Hey everyone.
Does anyone else occasionally feel like maybe their art is just a terrible bag of trash and nobody is telling them?
I feel like no one ever acknowledges my art unless I say it's terrible, which I don't actually believe, so I was wondering if maybe my art is just terrible and no one ever acknowledges it because it's just that terrible.
I'm not asking for everyone to say that my art is amazing, but I am asking for ways to help myself out of this psychological rut.