I was hanging out with some friends yesterday and the subject of my blog came up - and something they said surprised me.
Now, I'm my own worst critic. When I started this blog a month ago (one month anniversary today! Woohoo!), I knew that to keep it going, I would have to compromise. On occasion, I would have to post something I wasn't completely happy with. Sometimes I try something new and it may be a bad idea - or maybe it's a good idea and I just can't pull it off. Sometimes there just isn't time to keep at it until you're satisfied with the result. The point of this blog is to keep practicing - to improve the ratio of "good enough" to "good."
Here's the thing... my friends pointed out a certain entry that they liked a lot. I hadn't mentioned it to them, but if I had to choose I would've said it's the single WORST thing I posted so far. On the other hand, one of my own favorites I've barely gotten any feedback on at all! Now, it's one thing if your mom or dad say they love your artwork. Of course they will. But when a couple of creative people, talented in their own right, say this - is it my judgment or theirs that is flawed? Both? Neither?
Mystifying, isn't it?
Sometimes I feel I really nailed it, sometimes I'm disappointed in my own ability, but I don't feel that it's my place to say what I feel about the sketches I post. As I said before, this sketchblog doubles as a portfolio to potential employers, and the last thing I want to do is negatively color their opinion of my work, and I don't mean to say to my friends that they've lost their marbles either.
I think what I mean to say is, if you're a casual reader of this thing... please take the time to comment. Tell me what works. Even tell me if it sucks. Because I sure as hell don't know.
Enough of this rant. Back to our regularly scheduled escapist spandex fantasy tomorrow.
4 comments:
Very interesting entry. I have a theory, let me know if Im right or if Im way out.
For you to be pleased with something that you have created, I believe you look for perfection when it comes to technique. If its not technically good, then you'll see all the faults and tell yourself it not good enough.
When I see a piece of yours that I like more than the other ones, its the ones with more feeling (possibly not the ones _you_ put the most feeling into, but very much so the ones _I_ react to with _my_ feelings). A piece I love might not be technically perfect, but it has got a lot of other elements to it that speaks to me a great deal, and that's why I like it more. And because the emotion it evokes is so great, then it matters _less_ that a leg is shorter than the other one, or the angle is a bit weird, or the shadows aren't perfect, etc.
Hrm. Just wanna add that of course technique matters to me too. Perfection is something any artist should wanna achieve.
For what it's worth, that Vader is probably my favorite thing you've posted thus far.
Vega - you make a great point. I would perhaps say I judge my artwork on how close I got to the intention of the piece... How well I met the challenges I set for myself, whether it's conveying a mood, creating an aesthetically pleasing composition or just plain making Spider-Man look cool. So I consider different pieces in different ways, I guess.
Chris - thanks man! Glad you like it!
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