I once read a really great critique of the artistic process that spoke of an artist's tastes versus their sense of their own abilities. The idea is that your taste peaks far before your talent does. So when you look at your own artwork, you do so with great taste, and therefore critique it harshly. The biggest struggle an artist has then is the ability to work through this phase to the point where their own ability reaches this level of taste (or as close as they can come). A lot of artists give up at this point.

For me, I think I'm reaching that point where my tastes have peaked. I know exactly what I enjoy in art, what I don't, and recognize the ins and outs of why I enjoy something. This isn't to say I'm not constantly surprised by art; I'm able to find new artists and artwork more readily by knowing what I'm looking for.

I am of course, not at the point where I believe my ability has peaked. I have a lot to learn, but it can sometimes seem insurmountable. This may be partially due to unrealistic expectations. I of course want my art to be as good as the art I love. I will say though, that I can more readily identify when I feel a piece of my own art has failed.

I will present the following as an example of that. This was originally done for the topic "Scary". For me, it fails. There's aspects I'm pleased with, but the piece as a whole falls short of what I wanted it to be. The biggest thing that stands out to me? It's too much like I'm trying to realistically render it. All the art I love, that gets me really excited, contains an element of whimsy. You can picture the artist with their tongues out to one side, smirking to themselves the whole time they drew it. Just pure joy. That's the type of art I want to make. I think this effort to render it realistically also made me not focus on the composition as much, so it's a bit weak as well. That being said, I think it's not terrible, and that's progress.



Next up is some ink work that's been sitting in my sketchbook for a bit, waiting to be scanned in. I won't say too much, as I think I may still colour some if not all of these pieces, and can speak to them then. Still mostly working with the Pentel Brush Pen, and still mostly enjoying it.

Deciding which plug to pull:

Victorian Zombie Portrait:

Chamber, from the X-Men:

Labels: Chamber, ink, Photoshop, scary, Victorian, X-Men, Zombies

I've always had a fascination with the Victorian era. I think it's fuelled by things like steam punk and Jules Verne stories, but I like the idea of it. It seems like the perfect setting for a proper ghost story. This piece is sort of borne out of that; I wanted to depict a seance or some other communion with the dead. Simple as that.

This originally started out as a doodle that sat for quite a bit in my sketchbook. I have problems with some parts of it, but as a whole I think it gets a pass, so I decided to finish it. I'm continually trying to capture the moods I want while not overworking things in Photoshop. My previous tendencies leaned toward throwing as many layers at a piece to see what worked. I'm trying to stay more conscious of that as I (hopefully) progress.

Labels: ghosts, medium, seance, spirits, Victorian