Reddit Reddit reviews Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

We found 46 Reddit comments about Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking
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46 Reddit comments about Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking:

u/nyxmori · 21 pointsr/learnart

IMO, the best way to start drawing is with a pad of unlined paper and mechanical pencil.

But if you want software: GIMP is free (yay), Photoshop is the well-known standard (and these videos are good), PaintToolSai feels more natural to draw with, and I just started using Mischief (which has a natural drawing feel, infinite canvas, and vector-based). My recommendation is Sai, since it's cheap, easy, and fun to use.

To learn how to draw people, start working through the Loomis books, beginning with Fun with a Pencil. A classic for learning how to 'see' like an artist is Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. And when you start to feel frustrated with your work, turn to Art & Fear and Daring Greatly.

Let me know if you have any questions, and good luck with your art journey :)

u/NoddysShardblade · 20 pointsr/Music

Sometimes quantity leads to quality tho:

> The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

> His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an "A".

> Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity.

> It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

From Art & Fear

u/David_Bowies_Package · 18 pointsr/pics

Read the book "Art and Fear" (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733). My sculpture teacher in college made us read it and it's 122 pages of amazingly accurate descriptions of how many of us artists struggle with exactly what you described.

I had it too and eventually I started to realize that it was worth messing things up and labeling them as "version 1" so that in my mind I knew that I could make a version 2 if I wanted to. Doing it wrong is better than not even doing it at all because at least then you have mistakes to learn from.

u/shmi · 14 pointsr/photography

Honestly if you don't know what they need from asking them, a gift card to Amazon. I'd much rather have that and spend it on what I need or whatever G.A.S. tells me I need than to receive a piece of kit that I didn't choose. I don't mean to sound rude, it's just that I rather prefer researching and choosing my own gear.

If you absolutely must, though, I recommend a book.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1907708952/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817439390/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961454733/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159711247X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312420099/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Or a notebook for taking notes while out shooting, scouting, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8883701127/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

u/Metal-Phoenix · 11 pointsr/learnart

You're not afraid of drawing. You're afraid of response combined with perfectionism. Read Art & Fear. It's a short read, most people can get it done in about a weekend.
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

u/ApatheticAbsurdist · 11 pointsr/photography
  1. Look at other photographers and work... study it. Figure out what works for you and what doesn't. Go to museums, galleries, and exhibitions.

  2. Spend time figuring out what kind of photography you want to make and why you want to make it.

  3. Get a notebook. Write about 1 and 2 as well as ideas of photos you want to make and what you want them to say. Having an idea in your head it one thing but our brains jump from thought A to thought G and we don't notice because the mind is very good at filling in the gaps.

  4. Keep building technique but focus on doing so by defining the problems you have and what knowledge will allow you to create the photograph you want to make.

  5. Travel. This is a bit optional and it's usefulness (and where to travel to) varies depending on what kind of photographs you want to make. But I find at the very least getting out of your comfort zone often helps the process of development. There are several photographers who offer workshops, traveling to such a workshop will give you a different geography and find instructors that you want to emulate or learn from.

  6. See if you can find a place for critique... having to put your work up, hear what others have to say, and on some level defend what you are trying to say is scary but it's important for growth. Local Photoclubs are a start, local community art classes will push with a little more pressure.

    Books: Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland, Critcizing Photographs by Terry Barrett (you can find previous additions used a lot cheaper), and On Photography by Susan Sontag.
u/[deleted] · 10 pointsr/redditgetsdrawn

Oh wow, great questions! Umm...

  1. Watercolor, cotton hot-press paper, painter's tape, and sometimes a quick sketch underneath. I add eye highlights with white ink, and sometimes use black ink too. Each painting is built up from several layers, light-to-dark. They take anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on my energy level (unpredictable internal weather) and how many layers the piece wants. I try to stagger multiple paintings at once since I have to wait for each layer to dry before doing the next one.

  2. I would say this one, because it was a real breakthrough moment, in learning to let go and take the photo in a direction I want.

  3. Oh that's hard, like picking a favorite author... off the top of my head, megaswan kicks some digital ass!

  4. Don't change anything, lol. Maybe creating an easy way to find other contributing artist's blogs/dA/etc?

  5. I discovered it probably through the links at /r/sketchdaily

  6. Read Art and Fear. And draw every day :) It's just like practicing any other skill; time and patience are rewarded.

  7. High contrast photos are easier to work with, and 3/4th head shots are more interesting, so I always scan the new submissions for those types of photos.

  8. redish and yellowish brown ;) Source: venus and mars
u/SkysOutThighsOut · 8 pointsr/learnart

You should check out the book 'Art & Fear' by David Bayles and Ted Orland.

From my own perspective I have a pretty similar background. I picked up drawing fairly easily in grade school and kind of lost touch with it and never developed a real solid foundation to my art skills. I'm going back now and starting entirely from square one. It's hard to have that image of your past self's skills get kind of shattered, but once I realized I needed to put in a lot of ground work to get good I started really enjoying everything I was learning.

I still get the apprehension of spending time on a drawing that I might not like in the end but I realize every drawing I make I get a step closer, even if only a tiny one, towards being better able to do what I'm trying to. Try not to draw for the end result. Try to draw because it's something that you enjoy. If you tell yourself you're not going to enjoy it and it's going to be bad, well then you're not going to enjoy it and it's going to be bad! Stop worrying about how good your work should be and just put pencil to paper and learn because you want to.

Hope you find the path you're looking for!

u/pier25 · 6 pointsr/edmproduction

The eternal quantity vs quality debate. Here's a quote from Art & Fear:

> The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

> His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot—albeit a perfect one—to get an “A”.

> Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work—and learning from their mistakes—the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

u/wi_2 · 5 pointsr/TechnoProduction

Ha, I knew it.

So, yes, we all face this issue in the creative space.
And honestly, it is a curse, it is probably the most damning thing that happens to our ability to work.
This book is all about that https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733
Interesting read if you want to read, but my main point with sharing the book is to let you know how common this issue is.

Now, the solution is, you suck, you need to accept that you suck, and you need to stop caring that you suck.
What you need to focus on is your love for music, your love for sound. That feeling you get when you press the keys using a synth with a cool sound or listen to a cool beat.

The problem really starts there, because while you produce, your love for music will so easily get trumped by the music that you love.
Do not do this, do not compare yourself to others like that.
They are different humans, with different experiences, and different lives, different brains. You will never be like them.

You are your own person, your own brain, your own experiences, and this is where your beauty lies.
People often tell you, when you want to pick up a girl just be yourself.
Well it's the same is with making music, just be yourself.
If what comes out of your head is beep boop beep, then make beep boop beep, do not feel shame for your simplicity, focus on the love of the sounds you choose, focus on the ideas that pop into your head and express them, no matter how primitive they sound to you.
Another link about this exact topic, little more esoteric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHW1I8T0caI

Trust in your own ability to get better, do not compare yourself to others all the time, again, they are different people.
Don't buy a shirt because it looks cool on some dude, buy a shirt because you like it and it fits you.

In short, you are trying to climb a ladder starting at the top.
It's a very common feeling for all, we all have to go through this, the solution is to accept your suckage and try to improve yourself not by trying to be someone else, but to be a better you.
If that pulls you away from the music you love, let it pull you away.
If you find yourself making classical music or pop songs or punk or whatever instead of techno, let it pull you away. You need to set yourself free creatively, you need to relearn the joy of play.
To box yourself in with a genre or worse, music that you like, is extremely damning, especially if you are not well conscious of your own creativity etc.

Grab your instruments, play around, have fun. Drop some notes, drop some beats, just make music and play. If something does not feel right to you, tweak it until it does, but stay within yourself, trust your own gut, your own inspiration, stop the automatic response to start looking at other work to try and find their solutions.
Do look at other people work to study as you please, you can learn a lot, just do not do that while you are producing your own song.
Don't do so when you are trying to put yourself into your creative/expressive mindset.


Anyways, hope it helps, feel free to hit me up if you feel crappy about stuff. I have suffered this exact issue for years and years, it took me like 10 years to finally start to grasp the issue.

EDIT
more ranting

In more practical terms, I suggest you try to find your creative playful mindset.
If you are bored with a track and not inspired, fuck it, let it die, trying to finish so you can share it, will quickly kill your creative mindset, you need solid awareness of this conscious switch to be able to deal with it.
Do not try and make music like others, make the music that you hear in your head, even if it's just beep boop beep human music, hmm, I like it. You will get better and more expressive as you dig deeper, trust that.
Do not make drum patterns the way they are supposed to be, make drum patterns that sound good to you.
Use your hands and feet as much as you can, record things live using your midi keyboard, tweak after, it does not matter if you can't play piano, the point is to express yourself, using your body to do so is a much shorter road for your mind to fall into that mindset.
If you dance, then dance, do you know this moment while you are dancing and forgot to care you look stupid? That moment when you are just having pure fun and are feeling one with the music, flowing like some ninja or whatever? This is it, this is what you want to dig for.
Dance on your midi keyboard and record it, and tweak it after, with your dance recent midi keyboard dance still fresh in your memory.
Music is language, try and think of it like that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmKyySG6qp8
Listen to you beep boop beep, reply to it, maybe another boop? beep boop beep boop boop boop BAM! Whatever, have fun with it.

For me techno sounds like "yeh, yeh, let go, woohoo,, watch out, wait, wait watch out,, here we GO! yeh yeh yeh" It's primitive, stupidly retarded in a way, and gloriously fantastic.

Classical music is often like "can you hear it? can you? omg it is beatiful... no... no wait!.. it is happening again.. my love where have you gone?.. now I am here alone again.. waiting for you .. alone alone.. forever alone.. .. alone... NO NO NO I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS.. FIGHT.. I will FIGHT!!!.. glory glory!! fight for glory!!"
It is more an emotional rollercoaster ride, which people find is more complex I suppose, fair enough.

EDIT

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Spirit-Robert-Henri/dp/0465002633/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0465002633&pd_rd_r=893TKNMA88H6YMF627F7&pd_rd_w=TcJuv&pd_rd_wg=temwA&psc=1&refRID=893TKNMA88H6YMF627F7
This book I also recommend, it's about painting, but the same ideas apply to pretty much any creative endevour

u/TheGreatPiata · 5 pointsr/ArtFundamentals

I'm going to piggy back off this post and recommend Art & Fear by by David Bayles and Ted Orland: https://www.amazon.ca/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

It's a short read so it shouldn't take too much time from drawing.

The two things that really stuck out for me were:

  • Students graded by the number of pieces produced created more and better art than students graded on one piece at the end of the class
  • What others think of your art is irrelevant. You are going to make stuff anyways so you might as well ignore everything else and focus on making art

    The other thing that really influenced me was Strip Search from Penny Arcade: https://www.penny-arcade.com/strip-search/episode/artists-assemble

    Mike's advice to almost everyone eliminated was to "draw every day". That really stuck with me and I've done it ever since. Making drawing a part of my daily routine is the only way I've managed to grow as an artist.
u/0101110010110 · 5 pointsr/cscareerquestions

There are two resources I would recommend you take a look at.

The first is Learning How To Learn by Barbara Oakley. It is a tremendous resource for learning about how your brain works, and it has an entire section devoted to procrastination.

The second is the book Art and Fear. It's focused mainly for artists, but there are many parallels with creating in general. Given your fear of failure, I think it would be a great resource.

u/NaiDriftlin · 5 pointsr/nanowrimo

>I feel like absolute shit about myself now. Mine was the only paragraph no one had anything good to say about. I don't think I can continue with this story now, but I don't know what else to do.

Uh, oh! Better give up now, because everyone knows that the first paragraph you have looked at is the best you can do, and nothing that follows that one paragraph will ever redeem that mistake.

Are you complaining because no one complimented your clearly brilliant paragraph, or did someone genuinely criticize it? When you ask for critique, you want someone to say something negative about your work. You ask for critique so that you can become better at your art, not bitch and moan because no one gave you a pat on the back.

Misery is a writer's most faithful companion; channel it into something productive, or get used to feeling like shit because you decided to get butt hurt over someone's criticism and quit as a result.

Edit:

If you want to write and learn from criticism, I recommend reading a book called Art and Fear.

u/BasicDesignAdvice · 5 pointsr/ArtCrit

READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. i learned the lessons here the hard way. i saw it in another thread recently and man, i would have saved myself a lot of suffering if i had known about it.

and stop trying to be someone else. you do have something to say, you're just afraid to say it.

u/Sunergy · 3 pointsr/learnart

If this kind of thing is helpful to you I highly recommend Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. It's a fairly short book, but it deal with the fears that surround getting down and doing the art in a very direct and personal fashion. It really helped me a lot when it came to getting going again.

u/Altilana · 3 pointsr/infp

Read Art & Fear, a really clear short book that addresses all of the issues in making art, fear of failure, fear of success, inadequacy. You'll struggle with fear for the rest of your life, and it's a great book to come back to over and over.
Here is the Google Doc version, though I still suggest the actual book is better to have on hand.

u/HandshakeOfCO · 3 pointsr/ArtistLounge

I remember feeling a lot of these same feelings. There’s a book called Art and Fear... it really helped me. Here’s a link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0961454733/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kW30CbH1NBXKJ

u/Nuinui · 3 pointsr/learnart

I believe you should look at Art & Fear or The Art Spirit

u/lookinathesun · 3 pointsr/pics

Great description. I see someone who has seen successes and just as many failures, but still continues on with his life's work. He looks like someone who has seen enough to know when to keep his mouth shut and just observe. This image makes me think and art that does this is worth something.

Struggling with the worth of your art is the price we pay for making art. A good book on the subject (required reading from an old art teacher): https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

u/VivaSpiderJerusalem · 2 pointsr/NoStupidQuestions

Seriously, get that book. It's much better than my paltry words. I bet it's highly likely that you will end up like me: I'm on my 10th or so copy, as I've kept giving away mine to whomever has expressed artistsic doubt and just getting a new one. Most of the folks I've given it to have followed the same practice. It really helps.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

u/viwrastupr · 2 pointsr/MLPdrawingschool

>You have no idea.

I have every idea. Everyone goes through this in art. Every. One. There is a wonderful book out there called Art & Fear which goes over... Art and Fear. It is short, an easy read, and really quite helpful for learning how we approach art and what this does and the role fear plays. If you've got a library card or $10 I really recommend it.

It does you no good to try and get things perfect the very first time. They won't be. Accept mistakes as a foundation for the future. Look at the undersketch guide and play around with seeking marks out. A clean piece of paper means nothing as far as learning art goes.

u/thephotopiper · 2 pointsr/photography

>I'm also pretty jealous when I see photographers local to me getting paid gigs, exposure and kudos for what I think are terrible photos. These are ok photos to the untrained eye (most of the time), but when I see a photo that hasn't been straightened, is over saturated or is just someone playing with the clarity slider just because they can, it just makes me a little angry.

This is why I tell people not to waste money on an "art education." The reality of the photo industry these days is that very little about success comes from your ability to create good photographs. It's an extremely frustrating characteristic of the beast that is the Photo Industry.
There will always be people out there who are better at networking and convincing others to spend money on them.

I once had a friend get very angry with me for suggesting how lucky he was to be earning 100k a year at the age of 25 in the NYC photo industry. He said it was all hard work. Bottom line is there are thousands of people who work VERY hard and are VERY good at what they do, and they will still never "make it" in the industry. It's not an assessment of your worth, skills, talent, or drive. It is simply the nature of the beast.


RE: Your creative rut...
Don't be afraid to switch gears. Take time off and avoid photography. Or dramatically switch subjects. I'm sure everyone here has been burnt out before. That is when I started landscape photography, and hiking. After about a year of not doing "real photography" I am now scheduling shoots with dancers left and right. Back at it with a vengeance, you could say.

You may also enjoy reading the following two books, which my old photo professor gave everyone in my glass upon graduating.

Creative Authenticity

Art and Fear

I could elaborate in depth on any of the things mention here, but I shant bore you. There are already too many comments to go through.

u/b-fredette · 2 pointsr/pics

I am going to art school and have been drawing and painting for a few years now. I offer up a few suggestions, mostly things that helped me starting out. I run the risk of sounding like a know-it-all or a snob, but I'm just hoping to offer up what little things I've learned along the way. I don't claim to be an accomplished artist, but just someone who was where you were once, and took similar advice from people who had been doing it longer than me. I hope to humbly pass on some of the things that were passed on to me.

I mostly use oils, but the startup for oils is a little more expensive. I would consider trying them out sometime, because they offer a little more freedom in what you can do with them, but you don't need them to learn to paint. You can mimic a lot of these capabilities with acrylics. With oils, you mix the paint with medium to adjust the viscosity of the paint. You can paint thick, chunky strokes, or have nice smooth flowing strokes, just by how much medium you add. Acrylic is water based, so try adding some water as you paint to adjust the viscosity, it will give you more control and more options. I'd suggest going to an auto parts store and getting a little oil squirter can, (yes, like the tin man had) and you can squirt small amounts of water on your pallet next to each puddle of paint and mix it in with your brush as you apply it. Less messy that way. (I think other people have mentioned this, they've got the right idea.)

Another thing that gives oils an advantage is working time. They take an incredibly long time to dry, which gives you lots of time to work in transitions and shadows while the paint is still wet. To achieve this with acrylics, which have a relatively fast dry time, try using some retarder in your paint. It's a clear, gel like substance that when mixed with the paint, helps keep it from drying, without changing the color or consistency. This gives you more freedom to work, and keeps you from being restricted by time (as much). You might be able to get it at a big box art store, but I recommend finding a smaller, locally owned one. People tend to know their shit in the smaller, local kinds of stores, and will be more helpful at answering questions, and have a better selection.

Another piece of advice I'd give is to learn a little bit of color theory, and practice mixing colors. My professor always said that you should never use a color straight from the tube, because chances are it wasn't really the color you need, and that if you look closer, the color you really want is a mix of a few things you have. He used to say "You think that winsor newton knew exactly what color you needed there?". It mostly just helps you look and see more specifically. 80% of painting is seeing more specifically, and getting your hand, brain, and eye to work as a unit. The book "Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green" Is one of the better books on color theory and mixing with paint. Check it out. You can practice by finding something, and trying to mix that exact color, holding them side by side to test it. You'll find often that 3, 4, maybe 5 different tube colors mix to make the one color you need. Being able to mix any color you want will open doors for you and let you have more options.

Also, try painting on large canvases/paper. Giving yourself more room to work is a big thing that helped me starting out. I was still gaining control over the paint and brush, and bigger space made it easier to hone those skills and fit more detail in. You can make your own canvases for a fraction of the store bought price, message me if you're interested in that, I could write up a quick how to.

I think you're going to notice yourself improve greatly over time, you'll gain control over your brush, the paint, and then anything's possible. I think you've already got a good eye for things, and this painting looks pretty good, damn good for a 3rd painting. My third painting was in black and white (hadn't even ventured into color yet) and it was a sloppy mess. You've got strong compositional lines here, nice color choices, and a good sense of depth. It looks like you're trying out a little bit of an impressionist style, which is good. Find awesome paintings/painters, and learn from them by imitating. Once you've imitated some of the things they do, you'll have learned a little more and will be able to find what you want to do.

Most of all, practice a lot. Hope this is encouraging, if you like it, keep at it. Also, another must read is "Art and Fear" Good luck!

u/ernster96 · 2 pointsr/ArtistLounge

there's a book that may interest you called "art and fear." i like to listen to the audio sometimes when i'm not motivated to draw.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511550560&sr=8-1&keywords=art+and+fear

u/acatnamedpeach · 2 pointsr/AskAstrologers

I know how you feel, it’s really difficult to put yourself out there. Creations are intimate expressions of the self. Erykah badus quote “Now keep in mind that I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit” always reminds me that sensitivities ARE vulnerabilities. You are being vulnerable. You have to give yourself the credit where it’s due. I think the issue is fear like how you say you’re terrified- fear of rejection, fear of being misinderstood, fear of the feeling of exposure. The book I linked might help you. Your analysis of yourself is great, but also too harsh. One thing that you can change and that you do have control over with enough discipline are your thoughts. Get out of your head, as lame as that sounds. Really though, no one can do it but you. Positive thinking practices will help you, whether it’s clearing your thoughts through meditation or exercise, positive affirmations, or just really shutting your pervasive and invasive thoughts down. Use that strong mental energy you have that you’re using against yourself and put it into your work and what you love.

another thing I would add to your chart though is it having your moon in the tenth house. Something more for you to research and reflect on. When you’re in the public eye, you can get emotional, negative or positive emotions. There are ways around this. There are many artists who stay in the background and let their work speak for themselves. I know a big part of being an artist in a way is selling yourself, but really the people you need to sell yourself to are the people who are going to display your work. You can still be your low key public version of yourself in the art world and have your work shine.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

u/shalis · 1 pointr/ArtFundamentals

I'm a newbie as well, so take my words with a grain or two of salt. I've been working at it for about as long as you have. Everyone trying to follow an artistic pursuit of any kind struggles with that, and it never goes away neither, as the more you know the more you are aware of what you don't know.

Now keep in mind that, just like me, it sounds like you are still working on your fundamentals. Its easy to get discouraged at this stage (heck I know I am right now, as I keep trying to draw plants and feels like i'm hitting my head against a wall) because you are basically learning how to (visually) talk and listen. Its frustrating when one can't express oneself, we are basically at "gugugaga moma?" stage. Learning to visualize 3d forms in 2d space, being able to see the information that you need from the subject that you are examining, being able to break complex forms into simple primaries, being aware of flow within 3d space, etc, these are the things you should be looking for progress in as that has been your focus with the boxes, organic shapes and even the figure drawing stuff I would think. Pretty pictures will come easy after that skill is comfortably under your belt.

Saying that, I try to categorize my progress in 2 ways. Mechanical and Conceptual. Mechanical skills progress is slow but progressive, all it takes is conscious repetition (conscious as in not in autopilot, you don't learn anything if you are not aware of what you are doing), Conceptual thou... that is what gives you the headaches as it often requires you to change how you think, progress in this is far more sporadic, but when it comes its explosive and completely changes how your art work looks. It takes not repetition, but analysis, reflection and study.

This is a good book that address the struggle : Art & Fear

u/CloudDrone · 1 pointr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Yeah, man. Look, I hope you didn't think I was being too harsh. I tried to make constructive criticism.

I will say this: I really appreciate hearing when artists try things that are different and out of the ordinary. Its necessary, and I will always support artists who try things differently more than artists who tread the same tired waters in a more polished way.

Yes, you could use some practice in the application of your ideas. But I hope this will be a fire under your ass a little to focus in on taking the little elements that you like about what you do, and find a way to do them better. That's where the true magic happens as an artist.

I'm reading a book right now called "So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love" by Cal Newport.

The main idea of the book is breaking down the idea of being motivated to do what you do based on passion, and how that's an idea that can be dangerous. He says we can think about our work in two ways. There is the passion mindset, and the craftsman mindset.

  • In the passion mindset, our focus is on what value our work will bring us.

  • In the craftsman mindset, our focus is on what value we can bring to our work.

    The passion mindset leads us to find more heartbreak and creative blocks in our workflow because of our expectations for the kind of feelings and value we perceive our work to be adding to our life.

    The craftsman mindset however, is much more fulfilling, realistic, and helpful in the long run. Our minds become not consumed with the grandiose ideas of how amazing our work is, and instead are focused on how we can improve them. This ultimately leads to a point where our work is undoubtedly much more full of value, because of all the energy we put into giving our work value. We can't help but feel the value in our work. We don't have to rely on vague abstractions of passion and trying to stay optimistic with our work, because we know exactly how much work we put into it.

    I have found this to be especially true, and there are a lot of other theories and things I've found along the way that support it too.

    The book mentions Ira Glass's Famous quote on advice for beginners. The idea that we've got to just keep working and learning and improving and not focus on how good our work is. Here's a really nicely animated version of the short speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1oZhEIrer4

    Then there's the famous 10,000 hour idea from Malcom Gladwell's book Outliers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_%28book%29) The idea that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a master. I always take that with a grain of salt, but there is something to it. I generally take it though that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberately working on getting better to become a true master. 10,000 hours of casual playing will make you a master at casual playing. Like Kenny G. (who I still consider a master, by the way. He's the best at what he does, even if what he does is fucking simple)

    Another of my favorites is the story from the book "Art & Fear" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0961454733/lifeclever-20?tag=lifeclever-20) about the pottery teacher who turned one semester class into an experiment. He split the class into two halves. One half were told they would be graded on only one pot that they could spend all semester working on, and the other class were told they would be graded on the amount of pots they created. The long story short is that the side of the class who took all semester working on one pot had inferior pots than the side of the class who wasn't graded on the quality of work, but by the quantity they produced. The side who made a lot of pots gave themselves so many opportunities to learn from their mistakes simply because they gave themselves the freedom to make them. Once you do something so many times, little changes each time mean you find a better method. There is only so much you can do to improve when the approach hasn't been practiced, and all the fundamental skills haven't been repeated over and over.

    Something that can help us to keep in this mindset is from one of my favorite books "The Artists Way" by Julia Cameron (http://www.amazon.com/The-Artists-Way-Julia-Cameron/dp/1585421464) She suggests a practice to help artists work through creative blocks by a process of freewriting with a pen and paper, a practice she recommends for every kind of artist. She suggest starting every single day out with writing 3 pages of longhand writing without stopping. The only rule is to not stop. You write and write, even if you have to repeat stupid things over and over because you can't think of anything else. You come up with ways to keep yourself from stopping by writing about your day, or your grocery list, or saying "this is stupid" over and over. Anything to keep you from stopping. It gets the juices out and you keep going and going, and going. You practice getting over the fear of making the mistakes. You are practicing your art. Free expression where there are no mistakes. You practice coming up with ways to keep going. Then when you are done with the three pages, you close up the notebook and you don't read over it. You are done with the pages and you move on with your day. There is no reason to look over what you wrote since you are not critiquing what you wrote. The process is about getting over creative blocks and creatively acting without hesitation. I've found this practice to be invaluable.

    Some advice that started to help me was to not spend too much time on each of my songs deliberating over details, until I was good enough where it was hurting the final product to not dive in deeper. I also don't listen to my tracks over after finishing. Instead, when I finish a song, or make a recording. I listen to it and set it aside and begin working on something else. After at least a day, or sometimes more, I listen to it with a notepad and take notes as objectively as I can, and try to find ways in which I would have improved on the song. Things I could have done better or approached differently. If its a couple of small things, I might fix them right there, but if its a bunch of bigger things, I just appreciate that I learned a lot from that song and try to incorporate what I learned into a new song to practice it.

    All of these all point toward the same thing, and I hope you find some of the advice useful if you try it out. I'm not telling you this because I think your music sucks, but because I think you have what it takes because of how you are trying things outside of the ordinary.

    My ideas to all artists: Abandon thoughts of your work being brilliant. Focus on keeping moving. Let yourself make terrible music. Learn from your mistakes without getting down on yourself. One finished song that you had to think creatively to get to work even though it sucked, is a better use of your time than 20 unfinished alright ideas sitting as loops. If you do like making lots of loops, export them as audio loops and churn them out like an assembly line. Don't deliberate on every move when your time would be better spend actively working through a block. In art, mistakes is where magic happens. Hone in on your mistakes and see if you can let them dictate the direction of where your song goes. Focus on improving your skills instead of feeling good about being an artist.

    I hope this wasn't just a bunch of gibberish. Let me know what you think about this kind of stuff if you're interested. I'm always down to talk about it when I can't be making music.
u/Vylanius · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

This is something I need because I could use all the help I can get when it comes to artwork. Its my primary source of income at the moment, so anything that could aid me in that would be spectacular.

Chuck Finley

u/fotoford · 1 pointr/photography

Surely you've heard the term "late bloomer." Photography is fucking hard and it takes years to actually get good at it. If you put in the time and love it, it will love you back. Get this book because it was made for people like you (and me): Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Get it. Read it. You'll be happy you did.

u/IronMyrs · 1 pointr/learnart

FORCE YOURSELF.

I'm on day um... 63 I think? I don't have my sketchbook on me at the moment, but I was challenged by a friend to do one drawing a day. No restrictions on content or detail. Just had to be in pen, and had to be daily. So far it's been FANTASTIC to just be in a position of "well, I don't wanna draw today, but I gotta get this done before I go to bed." It really beats the fear of a blank page out of you when you know that you MUST draw today, even if it's just abstract polygons.

Another recommendation is Art and Fear. It discusses what you're feeling on a very high level (it doesn't talk about technique at all, just things like motivation around the creative mind and thought process) and the book itself is short.

u/elementary_vision · 1 pointr/infp

Yeah that's a bullshit answer. Most people give crap answers anyway, you're better off not paying any attention to them.

It definitely stings when you work hard on something and post it and it gets no attention. In fact I went through that exact thing with a track recently. My best piece of advice, work hard. Don't burn yourself out, but really focus on getting those ideas down and pushing your comfort zone. Don't feel the need to release everything you make. Sit on it for a while, move on to something else, come back to it. If you're still really feeling it, post it. Otherwise leave it be. I know it can feel like one massive race at times with people creating tons and tons of art that people love and it hurts to see that and come to the realization you're pretty far off from there. But run your own race. Measure yourself with how well you've improved compared to yourself in the past, not successful people.

I know this gets posted A TON, but this ira glass video is so spot on. ira glass

And this book has really helped me out

If you want to bounce ideas or talk about creative roadblocks like these feel free to message me anytime. This stuff can get really isolating and depressing fast. Even more so if you don't have people in your life that understand the passion behind your artistic pursuits. When it comes to artists a lot of people are ignorant about how much blood, sweat, and tears goes into that work. That's why you have to shut out the opinions of people who aren't on the same level as you.

u/WurzelGummidge · 1 pointr/photography

I have a quick read of this little book whenever I feel like I'm in a cul-de-sac.

Art & Fear : Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking


From the back cover

Art and Fear explores the way art gets made, the reasons it often it often doesn't get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way.

This is a book about what it feels like to sit in your studio or classroom, at your wheel or keyboard, easel or camera, trying to do the work you need to do. It is about committing your future to your own hands, placing Free Will above predestination, choice above chance. It is about finding your own work.

u/supermattmasta · 1 pointr/FL_Studio
u/milkeater · 1 pointr/java

An interesting parable from the Art of Fear

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot”albeit a perfect one”to get an “A”.

Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work”and learning from their mistakes”the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

To each their own but I'd say hiding behind the Quality vs. Quantity argument is a path to becoming irrelevant. Fail and fail fast, people don't have time for you to plan the world....still fail....and then fix it. Otherwise Waterfall wouldn't be such a curse word these days.

I hope we have the ability to reel in those who are fired up to make shit happen, not those clinging to some semblance of safety that never existed.

u/sick__bro · 1 pointr/Filmmakers

Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez is pretty great.

Not as film related bur more related to the artistic process is Art and Fear. I highly recommend this to everybody I talk about art with. It's a great book to take notes in and destroy with highlighters.

u/endless_coil · 1 pointr/learnart

Art & Fear is a good read on the subject.

u/Cashewcamera · 1 pointr/writing

There is a great, afternoon sized book, that covers this really well.

Art and Fear

Edit: Fixed link.

u/ilikeboarding · 1 pointr/GetMotivated

Art & Fear if you haven't read it.

u/babblefrog · 1 pointr/edmproduction

I would bet only 1% of artists in any artistic field make enough money out of it to be worthwhile. You have to do it for yourself, not for other people, because (probably) nobody else is ever going to understand your art.

There is a book that might help you, though it doesn't focus specifically on music: Art and Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

u/mt0711 · 1 pointr/learnart

A person (including you) shouldn't judge your initial efforts and exercises in art any more than they would judge the worth of a mathematician on the practice problems in his old algebra textbook.

That being said, don't let your perceived lack of ability keep you from tackling projects you're interested in because you feel you need more practice first. Keep practicing but don't be afraid to say what you want for fear of technical ability.

Some books:

The Natural Way to Draw

The Art Spirit

Art and Fear

u/tst__ · 1 pointr/Advice

Judging by the competitiveness for jobs in the game industry you got to stand out.
If you haven't read it, read On Becoming a Game Writer.

General steps to stand out:

  • Become a personal brand. Start a blog, twitter, be active on mailing lists, etc.
  • If there are less than 50 - 100 books on game writing, read them (or stop if you can't learn anything about game writing anymore)
  • Read all the classics on writing, take writing courses
  • Read books on how to improve as an artist (like Art & Fear, Steal Like an Artist, etc.)
  • Read books about story writing / telling
  • Learn about about communication & marketing (this will help you to get the word out and a job)
  • Blog about your journey, start talking about the books, principles you learned; maybe get interviews with other game writers;
  • Read blog post / articles about game writing (e.g. google "game writing", read the first 30 - 100 pages) & start following blogs
  • Apply your knowledge, e.g. analyze game plots or game writing
  • Write, write, write. Produce something. (see *)
  • Create games - there are so many programmers out there who just love to make a game, contact them, make it happen
  • Connect to the industry - ask for advice, invite somebody to dinner, be a nice guy
  • Publish your work. Get honest feedback, this is the best way to improve even if it hurts.


    Summary Be so good that they can't ignore you.


    * There's a great story in Art & Fear about a pottery course. The students were divided into two groups. One group got judged on the quality of their vase, they other on the quantity. Which one produced the better vases? The second one.
u/_namaste · 1 pointr/infp

Check out Art & Fear along with The War of Art.

Tons of good things to say about these books as someone whose perfectionistic brain has ruined many projects by screaming "worthless, pointless" over and over again.

u/faaackksake · 0 pointsr/gaming

yay let's all be nice for the sake of being nice, you should take all criticism on board, just don't take it to heart, if you're creating something for yourself you shouldn't really care about the approval of others. read this : http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0961454733/?tag=hydra0b-21&hvadid=9556644669&ref=asc_df_0961454733