In the past week Ive seen a few aspiring artists here on FB considering giving up because the online response to their work does not make them feel confident that they can succeed. So Im going to take a short break from diaper duty and step back up on my Status Update Soapbox for a moment. Please trust me when I say that online popularity is not the sole indicator of your ability to make a living doing what you love. Some of the best and most respected artists within the industry (especially in concept art) are people you may have never heard of. There is a trend lately in which likes, features, and favorites are treated as the currency of success. They arent. A great piece of concept art will get a fraction of the online attention that a mediocre piece of My Little Pony fan art will. An amazing illustration will be overshadowed in exposure by a really awful lineup of Disney Princess redesigns. Potential employers are not scoping out your art album to make sure you have enough glowing compliments. Focus on your craft, not the number of people looking at the result. Try to find gratification in the process, and make something youll be proud of even if only ten people give it a thumbs up. Just keep moving forward. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got came from James Kei when I was trying to get into the Safehouse atelier five years ago (somewhere around my third try, I believe). Persistence is key.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 20:41:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015