#24 - Testing Your Art? The Only Way To Get At The Truth Is To Question Everything, And Then Test
Seeing your art as a consumer product. The story goes that one day, Leonardo Da Vinci wanted to find out if the anatomy books were correct. So he went out in the night and stole dead bodies from the morgue, and he dissected them.
#23 - Should Artists Really Know The Rules Before They Can Break Them?
There are no rules when it comes to making art. It’s not that he couldn’t paint symmetric fruit bowls; he had proper training at an art academy. He was perfectly capable of painting a perfectly symmetric fruit bowl.
#22 - The Media You Consume And The Things Your Senses Experience All End Up In Your Art - Curate Your Input To Control Your Output
Pay attention to what you pay attention to!I soon figured out that it wasn’t for me. To be an editorial cartoonist, you have to make yourself angry every day, and I am just not like that.
#21 - For Artists, This Is Much Better Than A New Year Resolutions - Do This Instead Of New Year Resolutions
A better way to plan your future creative endeavours.For years, I would have cool ideas—or so I thought—and then I would enthusiastically pile things on, which I could add to that idea until I ran the idea into the ground!
#20 - To Try New Things, Artists Should Create Experiment Campaigns With A Clear Begin, And End Evaluation
This is better than just struggling on. One of the main things that are so cool about campaigns is that they are limited in time. A “campaign” is something with a goal, a proposed approach to reach that goal, a start, a middle, and end, and a moment to evaluate the results.
#19 - Making Art Creation Fun Can Be A Great Way To Make It Easier To Draw A Lot - Gamify Your Art Creation Process
We find play irresistable. I recently decided to let go of producing output and just focusing on the process. Just have fun drawing, you know? Fill sketchbooks and such.
#18 - Consider The Sounds That Surround You While You Create Art And Notice How What You Listen To Affects Your Art Creation Process
Notice how your surrounding soundscape affects your artistic process. In her remarkable book ‘Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain,’ Betty Edwards explains how you should shut out words from your mind while drawing.
#17 - What Pen Is Best For Drawing, And Does It Really Not Matter What Pen You Use?
The eternal quest for that pen that will make your drawings magically look nice. If you watch Kim Jung Gi’s YouTube channels, you can sometimes hear the exasperation in his voice when yet another person asks what pen he uses.
#16 - Artists, Do NOT Follow-For-Follow, Or Even Look At Follows And Likes On Social Media
Social media tempts us to do stupid things. I’m noticing this surprising thing as I am starting my YouTube channel: other creators comment on my videos in a way that makes it clear that they watched my videos, liked my videos, subscribed to my channel.
#15 - Do Not Listen To Military Men When They Talk About The Creative Process - Art is NOT War!
Do not listen to a Marine when it comes to making art. What is the single worst advice you have ever seen when it comes to making art?
#14 - Should You Go To Art School Or Can You Become A Good Artist By Being Self-Taught?
The answer is, it depends. I have been to an art academy. I went for slightly less than three years. A few weeks before the end, I realized it wasn’t the right course for me anymore, and I quit.
#13 - How Online Art Teachers Help You To Draw While You Think You Are Procrastinating
Learning new skills is a skill too. When learning to play the piano, it is helpful to practice playing music composed by others. When learning to cook, it is useful to follow recipes. Eventually, you can write your music or create your own meals.
#12 - Should A Modern Artist Be A Jack Of All Trades And Master Of None?
There’s an exciting thing happening nowadays, and it started around ten years ago. With online publishing in blogs, newsletters, and on YouTube and such, people could suddenly market themselves. They could put their work out there and present it to their audience without going through a middle man.
#11 - My One Rule For Watching My Tutorial Videos
You have to do them!A video where we draw simplified volumes of an arm. This arm is based on a study
@yuassamakoto shared on Twitter and Pinterest, likely inspired by George Bridgman’s studies of interlocking volumes.
#10 - Things To Consider When You Are Looking For The Perfect Sketchbook
And how to find yours.If you’re an artist like me, you’re probably constantly on the lookout for the perfect sketchbook. Each sketchbook has different properties. Which ones to choose?
#9 - Why You Should NOT Do Drawing Challenges, Or Daily Drawing Prompts Like Inktober
On why you should NOT do them.Each October, there is a drawing challenge where you are invited to draw based on a daily prompt.
#8 - What I Learned From Re-Inking Joseph Clement Coll
Get into the heads of your favorite artists!I tried out episodic stories online a few years back and decided to try that out on public domain stories. One story I tried it on was The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle—the story on which Jurassic part was later based. It is pretty interesting to read the story after seeing the movie. The filmmakers did lift a lot of ideas from the original story. But I digress.
#7 - Fiction Or Non-Fiction, Which Of The Two Can Be More Timeless? The Answer Will Surprise You
On the timeless nature of good art.One of the reasons some people are attracted to writing non-fiction is that it feels like it can be timeless. We’re all afraid of death, and all want to leave something behind in this world. We all want to become immortal.
#6 - Would Hand-Written and Drawn Emails and Blog Posts Work?
Would it not be cool if we sent each other hand-written letters again?As you can see,
I am experimenting with hand-written emails and blog posts. I haven’t seen anyone else try this even though email is so suitable for this! #5 - I Tried Making Romance Novel Illustrations, And This Is What I Learned
My short venture into story illustration.Some years ago, I decided I wanted to try to make illustrations for stories. I posted on Twitter, asking the writing community if anyone would be interested in trying it out. I’d do it for free.
#4 - Ideas That Help Keep A Drawing Habit While On Vacation
Drawing while on holiday!I just came back from a wonderful, superb—and therefore too short—holiday with great friends—hi, you-know-who-you-are!—in Normandy. I had taken several books with me with the plan to copy from them.
#3 - What Artists Can Learn From Making YouTube Videos
On what you can learn from other art forms.As you know, I have been trying my hand at making YouTube videos. One cool thing about it is that, when it comes to audience retention, the things you can do to make your video a success actually translate well to other things you make!
#2 - Is It Bad For Artists To Copy Other Artists, Or Are There Good Sides To It?
On why you should consider copying art. I often say that it is good practice to copy other artists. But isn’t that bad?
#1 - Why I Am Now On YouTube, Some Thoughts On The Relative Merits Of Different Platforms For Artists
A deep dive into the pros and cons of open and closed social media platforms, and the importance of having goals as an artist. You need to set goals in life, but the thing is, which goal you choose doesn’t actually matter as much. This is because actually reaching a goal isn’t that much fun. I mean, it feels great for a short while, but then you feel empty inside and you’re rudderless, without direction. What to do now?
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