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Training Montage, Part Eight
Oct. 9th, 2017 02:50 pmAround 7:30 on Saturday evening I posted a design sketch for Zelda in a SSB Office AU that I'm working on, and then I reblogged it on Sunday afternoon at 1:00. It didn't get many notes (three to be precise, with me reblogging it making four), which is a trend that's gradually ceasing to surprise me. The reason I used to be surprised was not because my artwork is necessarily interesting or noteworthy, but rather because anything I reblog will generally get a minimum of eight notes, and a typical note count for content I reblog is more like twenty to thirty, especially if it's something relating to Ganondorf (and then, if one of my fandom artist mutuals reblogs it from me, the post's note count can jump up by several hundred). Also, back in 2015 and 2016, even the shittiest of sketches I posted would get at least a dozen notes.
Whatever fandom goodwill I used to enjoy has dissipated, however, and now I'm facing a difficult hurtle, which is that my work needs to be good enough to surpass its association with my username. As long as I can continue to be friends with a few good people on Tumblr, I'm genuinely happy to be there, but this situation unfortunately makes gauging the success of any given piece difficult, since the feedback I'm getting right now is that everything I'm doing is bad.
It's impossible for me to work harder, because I'm already devoting as many hours as I can afford to spare every day to practice and skill development. I think that what I therefore need to do is not to work harder, but rather to figure out a way to work differently. The easiest way to do this is to find a teacher. There's an art store in downtown DC that sells Copic markers at a major discount, and every time I go in to buy more of them (I might have a problem haha) the employees are always friendly, so maybe that might be a good place to ask about classes.
I also think I need to start devoting more attention to developing two specific skill sets. First, I need to get better at drawing established characters on model; and second, I need to start drawing more sequential art, the creation of which is, after all, my end goal.
Whatever fandom goodwill I used to enjoy has dissipated, however, and now I'm facing a difficult hurtle, which is that my work needs to be good enough to surpass its association with my username. As long as I can continue to be friends with a few good people on Tumblr, I'm genuinely happy to be there, but this situation unfortunately makes gauging the success of any given piece difficult, since the feedback I'm getting right now is that everything I'm doing is bad.
It's impossible for me to work harder, because I'm already devoting as many hours as I can afford to spare every day to practice and skill development. I think that what I therefore need to do is not to work harder, but rather to figure out a way to work differently. The easiest way to do this is to find a teacher. There's an art store in downtown DC that sells Copic markers at a major discount, and every time I go in to buy more of them (I might have a problem haha) the employees are always friendly, so maybe that might be a good place to ask about classes.
I also think I need to start devoting more attention to developing two specific skill sets. First, I need to get better at drawing established characters on model; and second, I need to start drawing more sequential art, the creation of which is, after all, my end goal.
