Artists...I need some input...and alot of help
By
BattleWraith,
Posted on: 2007-09-26 06:57 in Multi-Media Fan Creations
You have a long journey before you.
[u]1. Practice[u]
Sketch something daily. Seek out people you trust to give you ideas, and to point out flaws or areas in need of improvement. Challenge yourself to improve in the areas that give you the most trouble, but also put some effort into the areas where your strengths lie.
[u]2. Develop a style[u]
Whether it's media, coloring methods, the way you frame the bodies you draw, tendencies towards the real or towards the cartoonish, choose a style to call your own. If you want to have a high degree of realism in your work (which, I believe, would help a great deal in computer animation as the genre continues to push the envelope in our ability to tell the artificial from real), then pursue realism in your style, and work it into your practice. Focus on the details that may not come up at first glance. Develop a keen sense of proportion, and stretch it to the limits. Try using poses in magazines as models. Try switching between models and poses to see how proportions change. Since you have children, try to see if you can transform an adult pose with childish proportions. Of course, these are just suggestions.
[u]3. Pick Favorites[u]
When you have sketches that you're particularly fond of, you have the beginnings of a complete drawing. Try some different techniques to enrich the sketch into a work of quality. Scan the sketch into your computer, and try adjusting and coloring it. Copy the sketch by hand onto some different materials, and try different mediums of shading.
Of course, I'm probably at about the same level as you are, artistically, so give priority to advice from artists who actually impress you....
Oh, and as a sculpter by nature, photographs of anything you've sculpted are quite legitimate as portfolio items.
Lj's really the source for this seeing as he was a Proffessor of it.
Here's my experience and advice.(Btw when I mention points, there's no real point system they use, its more like how the assessor gauges your art based on his taste and the school's entrance criteria.)
1. No Anime, No Comic book Art. None. Not at all. Major(and not so Major) Art Institutions don't give one bit about how awesome you can do chibis of Wolverine. You will get points knocked off bud, trust me.
2. Anatomical(sp?) Figure Studies a must. This should be the bulk of your portfolio. Draw your hands, your friends hands, your Friends and most of all you. Nudes, and Clothed studies will bump your points up. You should draw yourself at least twice a day while gearing up for your portfolio. Trust me, this helps alot.
3. Pieces that show use of Space. If you currently draw panel comics. Work alot on those. If not, do alot of Landscapes, Urban and Rural. Pick Your Scenes carefully though. What they are lookin for is your sense of "negative space" ie: how you place items in/on your canvas. At least 2 or 3 of these.
4. Working Knowledge of Perspective. This can also go with "Space" but these pieces should emphasize 3D shapes, Horizon lines, vanishing points and your ability to both adhere to and distort them.
That's me 2 bits,
-Cj
When I was taking art classes, my portfolio got a 4/5. That is happy time! Anyway.
1. Do NOT do fantasy. Most portfolio judging boards DO NOT want to see unicorns and fairies (no offense Captain). Try to draw realistic figures. Try to avoid drawing cartoons (No offense Korith). Cartoons take the least amount of 'skill' to draw, or so I was taught.
2. When someone critiques you, don't expect sunshine and sparkleberries. Don't take it personally though. It can be harsh.
3. Listen to Crimson Jimson. Every piece of advice he gave is awesome.
ALSO!
Take time on your pieces! The panel can ALWAYS tell if you spent 5 minutes or 5 hours on a piece. I was told to spend at least 6 hours on any given piece in my portfolio.
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(No offense Korith)
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None taken!
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Should I keep an eye out at the MFRC *military family resource center* for art courses so I can at least learn some basics?
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Sure, art classes are never going to hurt you.. well, beyond all those snooty attitudes and creativity-limiting rules! Ahem, sorry there. Anyway, classes are a great idea when you're starting out (and beyond.)
You can also try to hook up with a private tutor. I've had tremendously positive experiences doing this. Just hanging out with a good artist is pretty inspiring and the personal attention and guidance will be a bigger help than a classroom group.
Humans learn primarily from experience, that's why it's important (and I know this advice is already all over the forum) to practice ALL the time. Every time you draw is an opportunity to learn. Make sure to save all your stuff (I'm a massive hypocrite here) ESPECIALLY if you suck. It doesn't take long to be able to look back and see big improvements, which is a confidence boost. You'll start to think, "Hey I can really do this if I keep working at it."
SO much to cover...
First off, I wanna clear up that I'm not a Professor. However I did attend a prestigious art high school for 4 years, we were taught, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, calligraphy, as well as normal academics. Alas this was back before the computer age, I student taught at my old high school years later for 6 months, and NOW they DO have computer art.
I also went to a very respectable art college (Parsons in NYC) but I majored in graphic design, when all my friends after freshmen year picked Illustration as their major. This was both a n advantage and a disadvantage. I don't have their drawing skills, which they honed for 3 more years, but they didn't have my design skills which is a trade off, but it helps sell your work.
I went back to school to become an art teacher (got the degree, but didn't care for school politics, so I left) BUT more importantly while I was at college, I work studied for 2 years in the Admissions Office, so I KNOW what colleges want. Having seen many portfolios come in...
Another thing to clear up, it's not true that schools don't want to see comic work, or faeries or unicorns. What they don't want to see, is a splotch drawing, floating on a white background. That doesn't say much more than the student can trace or copy.
What they want to see is you knowledge. If it's a superhero, that has to show your knowledge of anatomy. If he's colored, your knowledge of color that helps to make your figure believable. If you have your hero flying over the city, then they want to see your knowledge of perspective, of design composition, and overall skill.
If you want to include those pieces, they should be no different then a life drawing of a nude model. It should instead look like your model, put on spandex, flew over the city, and YOU were able to capture it.
Not to say you have to have photorealism as your style, but a good drawing, a good cartoon, DOES have a knowledge of these things, just exaggerated for effect.
If you're gonna show sequential art, pages, covers, they have to again show all these things: anatomy, style, composition, color, perspective, the list goes on and on...
No, I don't suggest including chibies no matter how cute, however if you're going to do faeries, then make the drawing intricate. Look at some old woodcut prints say of Durer or Dore...
Granted these two are Masters, but they're Masters for a reason, they didn't just draw splotches. You have to think in this way in order to show colleges you have potential and passion.
SO let's get to the actual portfolio. I've covered some of the things you should know, the other thing to show them is variety. That drawing superheroes isn't the only thing you can do.
You can do this in two ways, subject and medium.
Subjects to consider: portraits, still life, landscapes, surrealism (dream like imagery), I believe a lot of today's conceptual art falls under this... life drawing, anatomy studies (hands, feet, etc), architectural drawing (take a photo of some great building details and draw that)...
Medium: Black & White (ink, charchoal, tight pencils, loose gesture drawings, even ball point or marker) Paint (watercolor, acrylic, gouache, and of course oil) Sculpture (clay, either fired or unfired, paper sculpture if you can do it...)
Misc: This is where most superhero work falls, these can be in storyboards, detailed tight ones, AND an absolute must, page to page heavily finished sketchbooks. Sketchbooks show your thought patterns, how you breakdown what you see in the world and draw, so please include a lot of obersavtions from life drawings, not just imaginary stuff.
And getting back to that, all drawings of unicorns should have a working knowledge of horse anatomy, if it's a pegasus, then you better study the wings of a real bird, and not just draw loopty loops on top of his body. This is about showing how hard you work at your own work, not just that your some newb with a pencil that likes pretty pictures. You have to show yourself on the page.
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That said, decide now what kind of art it is you want to do. If you want to be a fine artist, that is NOT a comic artist. Even though Alex Ross is the most amazing painter, he loves comics, and that's what makes his work great. Not every painter can paint an Alex Ross...
You say you're primarily a sculptor, so can we see an example of that? Maybe you should be pursuing that if this is where your passion lies. There are schools just for comic work (Joe Kubert's) and for fine arts and for working in the animation field.
You should try to get someone from Disney to talk to, someone you can write questions to occasionally as you hone your skills. A lot of these studios have job offers listing what the prospective artist should have a working knowledge of...
Which brings me to my final question - are you sure the school you listed is the one for you? Go check it out, ask to sit in on a class you want to take. Talk to the students, and the teachers... either after the class of before, but get their input on what it's like to be at the school, and what the workload is like, what the class teaches, and see if it's what you want...
Cause face it you're paying for every second of an art education at one of these places. It's not a high school atmosphere where you sit aimlessly waiting for the bell to ring. If you don't take it seriously, you won't get anything from it... and well there goes your hard earned money.
Your drawing has some pluses, but it is a long way from what a college will take into consideration. My suggestion is to find yourself a good class where you can get some one on one time, and make every second count. If this is what you want, you have a long road ahead... Getting in is only half the battle.
Good luck, and don't give up on your dream.
LJ
I want to stress that you can show comic art. I had to submit both a portfolio to my high school to attend as well as my college. For my high school one, I did a humongous COPIED drawing of a John Buscema work of Mephisto in Craypas! Hey it's all I had...
But they liked it.
Cause I took the piece one step further from a marker drawing, it was huge, like 19 x 24 and matted. Which reminds me a good portfolio is labeled well, and presented as cleanly as possible.
For my college portfolio, it was more specific as many colleges have specific tests. They want to see a self portrait, they want to see problem solving. What you show on paper is the only that will speak for you when it gets to their admissions office. You're not gonna be there to explain it... Some schools will review your work, but usually an interview at a school means you're being considered. The interview is where you really have to sell your work and your self...
I did this oil painting of Bo Derek in a bikini, and my interviewer took a part my anatomy (something I'd only had 1 class of in high school), so he knew I was copying from a photo and just how much I didn't know.
I gave tours to prospective students also for 2 years at my college, and that leads me to another point. Go on as many of these as you can, and have a long list of questions. Pay attention to the students, to see if this is something you really want, talk to them after the tour... And if there's a class you really want at a school, say in their Animation program, find out what you can about their graduates, about their teachers, and see if you can attend a free class. Some colleges offer summer programs to high school students... for both portfolio reviewing and for credit.
Good luck again...
thanks for the suggestions and advice..wow.
0_0
A: I'm not in highschool. Havn't been for about 10 years now. The one I went to had no art program. None.
B: I was stupid when I left a place without taking pix of my clay work...I should email them and see if they have them still.
C: was thinking of taking a few beginners night courses to learn/relearn the basics. Since I am in obvious need of learning the basics....
@MrsAlphaOne
Member of the [url="http://www.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=171543&TabID=1451954"]RIMC[/url]
[url="http://www.freewebs.com/mrsalphaone"]DA![/url]
[color=red]Official Beer Wench of PWNZ[/color] Arc 452196 When Madness Reigns over Reason. Play it and PM me your constructive criticism on what I can tweak before Oct 20th. <3 U all
Dammit Lj!!
You keep getting Cooler and Cooler!!!
My angsty kid routine only get's me so far up the cool meter. At this rate I might not catch up... might.
Looked at Joe Kubert's website........................Drool. Three years of doing something I love. Too bad I have a job and kids.....sigh........someday.......someday. 
View the story of W.A.R.F.A.C.E. and Septimus Bane here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6785073/1/Meus_Profiteor#
my email chrismfears99@yahoo.com
LJ:
Man, I wish someone had told me that instead of "No fantasy" when I did my portfolio -- They told us to keep it very realistic.
In any case, pulling the 4/5 wasn't a bad thing. I can tell you right now, not sure if they've revoked this, but 4 years ago when I did my portfolio -- The panel we sent our work to said "You cannot mix sculpting and 2D style art" which really gimped me.
My portfolio had the following:
1. Self-portrait in water colour -- I made sure to take advantage of the "rule of 3rds" in this.
2. A silhouette picture of my hands on a coloured background (the bands had intricate paisley like designs on them) and it was mostly to show my knowledge of colour schemes as recommended by the professor
3. A black and white pencil drawing of 3 eggs in a corner
4. An acrylic painting of women's upper halves seperated from their lower halves by a line (hard to explain) to show anatomical knowledge
5. Photography of someone getting their lip pierced (B&W, I won an award at my high school for it)
6. A photocollage of a woman drinking coffee
7. A portrait of a friend - oil painting
8. A black and white india inking of lips -- done in all horizontal lines
9. A watercolour of an elderly couple kissing
10. A black and white soft pastel landscape of SLC
11. A prismacolour marker (oh god, I love them) of a woman in a cafe -- it was retro looking. My mom has it framed somewhere in our storage closet.
12. An exaggerated picture of two koi fish done in india ink
I'm not saying do what I did, but thats an example of what my portfolio looked like. It scored me a fatty scholarship too.
MrsAlphaOne, a while ago Scarfgirl posted a sketch she did for critiquing. I recommend maybe doing that. It was great to have an entire group of people getting their input in. I really, really liked that idea!
Edit : Also, as far as not mixing 3D and 2D, you may want to check with an admissions committee at a school you are looking into. If you look online, you can find some more advice, examples.
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LJ:
Man, I wish someone had told me that instead of "No fantasy" when I did my portfolio. In any case, pulling the 4/5 wasn't a bad thing. I can tell you right now, not sure if they've revoked this, but 4 years ago when I did my portfolio -- The panel we sent our work to said "You cannot mix sculpting and 2D style art" which really gimped me.
My portfolio had the following:
1. Self-portrait in water colour -- I made sure to take advantage of the "rule of 3rds" in this.
2. A silhouette picture of my hands on a coloured background (the bands had intricate paisley like designs on them) and it was mostly to show my knowledge of colour schemes as recommended by the professor
3. A black and white pencil drawing of 3 eggs in a corner
4. An acrylic painting of women's upper halves seperated from their lower halves by a line (hard to explain) to show anatomical knowledge
5. Photography of someone getting their lip pierced (B&W, I won an award at my high school for it)
6. A photocollage of a woman drinking coffee
7. A portrait of a friend - oil painting
8. A black and white india inking of lips -- done in all horizontal lines
9. A watercolour of an elderly couple kissing
10. A black and white soft pastel landscape of SLC
11. A prismacolour marker (oh god, I love them) of a woman in a cafe -- it was retro looking. My mom has it framed somewhere in our storage closet.
12. An exaggerated picture of two koi fish done in india ink
I'm not saying do what I did, but thats an example of what my portfolio looked like. It scored me a fatty scholarship too.
MrsAlphaOne, a while ago Scarfgirl posted a sketch she did for critiquing. I recommend maybe doing that. It was great to have an entire group of people getting their input in. I really, really liked that idea!
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ooooh nice!
I just did one up... not comicbook anything though...I just took something simple...a parakeet lol *starts new thread*
@MrsAlphaOne
Member of the [url="http://www.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=171543&TabID=1451954"]RIMC[/url]
[url="http://www.freewebs.com/mrsalphaone"]DA![/url]
[color=red]Official Beer Wench of PWNZ[/color] Arc 452196 When Madness Reigns over Reason. Play it and PM me your constructive criticism on what I can tweak before Oct 20th. <3 U all
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LJ:
Man, I wish someone had told me that instead of "No fantasy" when I did my portfolio -- They told us to keep it very realistic.
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While I was at college, we got a portfolio by the son of a very famous cover painter (name rhymes with doris), and you can tell his father had a massive influence with him, heck if he was my dad, I would have made him draw and paint till the cows came home...
My point is, the portfolio was ALL fantasy, but heavily laden as well with dead perfect anatomy, fauna and flora details, amazing color, and very good composition. The technique, the style, and the subject matter overruled the simple "fantasy" label... And he wasn't given any special consideration for being the son of someone that famous.
He got in on his talent, and most likely who he was as an individual.
Your work is pretty darn amazing Dirt (belated happy birthday btw), I tell ya if it was up to me... I'd open a school for Comic Art with the talent in this forum, and beat away the kids trying to get in...
I'd also have faculty only classes so I could have Graver teach me more watercolor, and Crimson, sorry bro, but you'd have to teach us all how to ink!
The point of getting into the school of your choice is to get that art education you've been dreaming about. While it's never too late to learn in life (I've self taught, and still am constantly self teaching myself digital art since 2000), if the school you want has the right class for you, jump on it!
I took a comic drawing elective class twice, because I was already tired of Advertising by Senior year of college. The guy teaching still teaches the class at my college, he's a wealth of knowledge, but not the end all of comic learning.
If I had the chance to do it all over, I'd have gotten my cutest cousin to marry Joe Kubert, no wait Jim Lee... oh heck she could cheat on one of them, who has to know?
LJ
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LJ:
Man, I wish someone had told me that instead of "No fantasy" when I did my portfolio -- They told us to keep it very realistic.
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While I was at college, we got a portfolio by the son of a very famous cover painter (name rhymes with doris), and you can tell his father had a massive influence with him, heck if he was my dad, I would have made him draw and paint till the cows came home...
My point is, the portfolio was ALL fantasy, but heavily laden as well with dead perfect anatomy, fauna and flora details, amazing color, and very good composition. The technique, the style, and the subject matter overruled the simple "fantasy" label... And he wasn't given any special consideration for being the son of someone that famous.
He got in on his talent, and most likely who he was as an individual.
Your work is pretty darn amazing Dirt (belated happy birthday btw), I tell ya if it was up to me... I'd open a school for Comic Art with the talent in this forum, and beat away the kids trying to get in...
I'd also have faculty only classes so I could have Graver teach me more watercolor, and Crimson, sorry bro, but you'd have to teach us all how to ink!
The point of getting into the school of your choice is to get that art education you've been dreaming about. While it's never too late to learn in life (I've self taught, and still am constantly self teaching myself digital art since 2000), if the school you want has the right class for you, jump on it!
I took a comic drawing elective class twice, because I was already tired of Advertising by Senior year of college. The guy teaching still teaches the class at my college, he's a wealth of knowledge, but not the end all of comic learning.
If I had the chance to do it all over, I'd have gotten my cutest cousin to marry Joe Kubert, no wait Jim Lee... oh heck she could cheat on one of them, who has to know?
LJ
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Thanks a bunch LJ, I really, really appreciate it!!
I ended up scholarshipping, but going into biotechnology instead... Don't ask 
I know my anatomy is rough when I am drawing comic-style. Its really new to me, and if it wasn't for BattleWraith, I'd still be drawing crappy comic [censored]. Really, it was baaaaaaaad. If I draw my vectors, my anatomy is a lot better. I don't know what the big difference is, but in my brain, I can't seem to fathom theres not that much of a difference between reality and comic. Sigh!
If it were up to me, I'd have stevensanchez.deviantart.com show me how to draw exaggerated comic style art, I'd have bluefley.deviantart.com help me with my digital painting, and artgerm.deviantart help me with anatomy.
In any case, MrsAlphaOne, I think that there are a few things that will help you with anatomy.
1. I know you're on DA and I can attempt to link you to a few really helpful tutorials on there. Try doing everything the person in the tutorial does step by step. Then try without the tutorial.
2. Drawing books. Study them carefully. Don't copy them, but -- for lack of better word -- fondle and feel up the anatomy drawings with your eyes... (lol, I'm a perve).
3. Practice! Draw and doodle until your hand hurts.
4. Attempt to do realistic anatomy before you do cartoon. To draw a good comic or cartoon, you have to understand real anatomy and how it works first.
5. Don't be afraid to ask for help!
6. Study how some of your favorite artists draw things. If you see something you like, ask them how they do it.
7. Always be critical of yourself -- its an advantage as an artist. It will motivate you to continue doing better. And believe you me, there is *always* room for improvement!
8. Last of all, this may sound cheesy, but all those artist interviews I do in the Scoop? I always ask what their advice is. Its always different. Go back and read a few. Some of those answers are very inspirational.
I know what you mean about Vector and regular art... Illustrator makes my head hurt... my wife taught it to me over a year ago, and I did it for about 5 months - as seen here... now I only use it to ink. Have you seen Takumy's work on DA with vectors, man I wish I had the patience for that... my wife does elaborate meshes that look like photos afterward, I would kill myself doing that! :O
Anyway, totally love Artgerm and Sanchez... DA has too many people I'd want classes from, thank god I can just study their work ad infinitum.
Good advice in those 8 points above...
Seriously.
You know who my idol is for vectors and you'll totally be able to tell?
http://jaspergoodall.com (NSFW)
Ah yes I see the influence in your work... very graphic (design wise, not in content, though yeah nsfw lol) and cool. I myself like that Pat Nagal look, my wife leans the other way, she's doing technical cutaway vectors now... I got her one of those Wow! books, and she won me this Photoshop tips and tricks book, but I'm still waiting for delivery... *sigh*
Speaking of books, can't recommend this enough: Drawing Crime Noir for figuring out that heavy shadow look...
MrsAlphaOne--
I think the most important thing for you to do is define what you mean by computer animation. 2d? 3d? For television? Games? Special effects for the film industry?
Do you intend to get work in one of the industries? Do you want to work as a generalist, maybe doing freelance work or working for an ad agency or something?
I've taught 3d animation and modeling to undergrads. When I started learning 3d, I was interested in doing animated cut scenes for video games (actual animation like in the Diablo games). That sort of thing would break down to several types of specialties:
1. 3d modeling. Most likely in 3d Studio Max or Maya for games.
2. texturing. making textures to use in the 3d renderer. Would need to be good at Photoshop, etc. Possibly Z Brush.
3. lighting rendering. Expertise in a 3d rendering package
4. animation. Either keyframe animation using a bone-driven deformation system or motion capture.
Now if you were going to do #4 in the example above, how well you can draw may be completely irrelevant to how the company views your work. You need to define what it is you want to do before you can start making progress in that direction. My personal emphasis is on 3d modeling. I'd recommend sculpture over drawing as the thing to study in preparation for that.
Computer animation is extremely technical and most professional positions are very specialized. In addition to paying for courses you will probably need to invest in expensive software and a good rig that will run it.
If you are looking to get a job working in games or tv, you need to learn in a program that is going to teach you the skills those companies are looking for, including proficiency on the type of software that is typically used. In addition, you want to go someplace that is going to provide you with industry contacts if at all possible.
www.battlewraith.deviantart.com
Hokay, since you mentioned computer art and animation, here's my standpoint as an animation major.
Life drawing.
Life drawing.
LIFE DRAWING.
LJ already covered nearly everything fine arts, and I'm just going to reinforce a few things.
1. Fundamentals. ALL animators, 2D and 3D both have extremely solid fundemental art skills. These are classes you can take at a local community college. They're cheaper there, and then you can apply to the program you want to get into. Fundamentals include: color and composition, layout, understanding of light and shadow, observation skills, painting, perspective, design...
2. Life Drawing is not only a fundamental, it is not only a requirement of any animator worth their salt, it is by far, the fastest way to learn about perspective. Why's that? Because the human body is the most difficult form to draw because of the various changing perspective on it. You will want to start with the basics, drawing body parts, learning about the various shapes that create the form, and then, get a LOT of quick gesture sketching in. This can be done in class, or you can go ahead and sit down at a park, a mall, or a cafe.
2.a. In correspondence with life drawing of people, there is animal drawing. Animal Drawing or Zoo Drawing is invaluable to animators. So if there's an opportunity to do a class that might be an option, TAKE IT. The more well rounded you are as an artist, the better!
3. Fine arts and computer animation, two seperate worlds right? Wrong. The overlap is there. One of my teachers, now at Pixar, started out as a fine artist. He had no idea that he'd end up working on the Simpsons as a story artist, only to now end up in Emeryville working with some of the top animators and artists in the industry. So, be you an animator, illustrator, or fine artist, you'll probably end up jumping ship from one industry to another as long as your versatile.
4. I'm gonna take LJ's last post about Drawing Crime Noir and give another solution. Go get old Film Noir movies, and pause them. Then, with only two markers, a black and a grey, do small thumbnail sketches no bigger than 2x1 inches. It's a great way to learn about those shadows, composition, and staging, which is vital to both areas of study you're interested in.
I ended up sticking around community colleges for art classes before transferring to get my BFA in animation and it was one of the smartest choices out there. Got a lot of groundwork covered and got a lot of general education out of the way without spending too much.
Hope that helps <:3
EDIT: I want to also give a slight warning, as passionate and as confident as you 'sound' via typed letters. Animation isn't for everyone. In fact, although I myself am an animation major, and I can and do animate, my heart is in visual development and storyboarding. It is an EXTREMELY tough area of study, with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears put into what you do. Out of the original class of maybe 80 students I ran with, there are about 6 of us left. It's cutthroat, it's difficult to find work after you graduate, and the competition is INSANELY fierce. With animation, unless you're in the top schools, you probably wont find work after you graduate, because networking is so key. So Ringling, CalArts, SVA, RISD... Case in point, my best friend went to Ohio to study animation. He now works in a graphic design firm. He gets paid nicely, but he obviously isn't in his field of study, and out of the handful of graduates from my own school, I only know of maybe 10-15% of them had jobs after graduating. A year after graduation, many still don't have work. Beyond that, it's not very family/relationship friendly, and if you do have a job, it will last 6-9 months before you look for work again. So get ready for a tough life. Now the upside? I've already worked professionally in the past, and am now a production assistant with a feature film company. My hours are long and the work is grueling, but if you love what you do, you wouldn't, and I certainly wouldn't trade it for anything. Despite how hard it is, I couldn't/wouldn't/can't trade what I do for any other job on the planet...
Cool, I gotta try that Sayterra, I use to buy old Hollywood glamour photobooks for just that purpose... 
Oh those are AWESOME for practice You could even just go in with tracing paper over a photo and outline just the shadows and it'll show you a lot about the way they staged it
hmm that's interesting. I remember back when I was in highschool, we went to New Brunswick Community College Miramichi, and they have a real sweet animation program. Some of their students got picked for Disney...I was intrigued and wanted to sign up but...that kinda fell through with "Get me out of this crappy province" lol
Anyway, I'm taking baby steps right now. Little teeny baby steps. First, I have to work on my drawing, then, get better...I need to learn the basics before I jump into something. That's been my mistakes in the past, wanting to do BIG before little and winding up on my rear.
@MrsAlphaOne
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[color=red]Official Beer Wench of PWNZ[/color] Arc 452196 When Madness Reigns over Reason. Play it and PM me your constructive criticism on what I can tweak before Oct 20th. <3 U all
Might be tl;dr if so Cliffnotes first: Wanna start up fine arts degree at local community college/university thingie. Need portfolio, not confident in skills to make portfolio, halp?
Long Story:
http://www.nic.bc.ca/calendar/fine_a...ts_and_design/
Now...I want to learn computer animation and well become a better artist. But, there's one *small* problem...other than getting the tuition for this course.
Portfolio...
I'm really REALLY not confident in my artistic abilities to even start one. How do I start one? What do I put in it? How much of what...KWIM?
Should I keep an eye out at the MFRC *military family resource center* for art courses so I can at least learn some basics? The highschool I went to did *Not* have any art courses at all. None. No art theory, history anything..well art history was mixed in with English lit...
I really need help. I *really* want this degree....I want to learn what they have there....
Toss ideas at me. I PROMISE I won't shoot them down. I WANT THIS SO BAD I CAN TASTE IT. I need help on how to upgrade my art skills. I'm more of a sculptor than a drawer/painter....but I *really* want to work in Computer animation. I do have a flair at creative writing too...
*head keyboard* So..many options...
Anyway, I want to get this all going, I have a few years at least (Call it my Five Year Plan comerades) because I don't plan on even *starting* this until my youngest is in school full time too.
BTW Here's what my work is like now:
http://pandora114.deviantart.com/art...urfer-64772029
Shudder at the horror.....
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