NelsonJames
(ππ ππππππ¦ π‘βπ πππ πππ π‘π ππππππ ππππ ππ‘ πππ¦π‘βπππ)
I think that the majority of people who spout pithy adages like "the journey is the reward", or "getting there is half the fun" are talking out of their ass. These are generally people who've never seriously started a journey to master something, or they've been so long at their goal they don't remember what was like to get there and are looking back on the endeavor with nostalgia googles.
If the journey to become good at something were actually that much fun, and that "enlightening" the roadside wouldn't be as littered as it is with the remains of all the people who gave up on their dreams out of frustration, the enormity of the commitment, or the incredible amount of time when it πΈπ’π΄π―'π΅ fun.
Becoming ππ€π€π at something is hard work, sometimes lonely work, sometimes extremely boring work, sometimes seemingly endless work with no evidence of progress to be able to point to. The "journey" is more something to be endured because you believe that when it's over it will have been worthwhile. It requires faith in the biblical sense in that it truly is ". . .π‘βπ ππ π π’πππππ ππ π‘βππππ βππππ πππ, π‘βπ ππππ£πππ‘πππ ππ π‘βππππ πππ‘ π πππ." And this is even if you like the thing you're doing, because contrary to the popular myth just because you like doing something doesn't mean it ceases to be work. Just liking something is often not enough to sustain you when you decide that you're moving up from dabbling to actually wanting to master a skill.
And of course it can be even more difficult when one takes into account how society lionizes those who have become extremely good at something while chastizing and discouraging those who attempt to become skillful at something.
But that's a whole other topic. Later. #artistlife #artistjourney #rambling #dreambig #perserverancepaysoff #ItsWorthTheFight #itsworthit #DontBeDiscouraged
An Artist Dilemma
Now with the internet and gallery sites itβs very easy to let people see your early efforts, works in progress, tests and get critiques and accolades, both of which can be extremely helpful. Also in order to grow any type of following on social media consistency of content has become the rule. People are sharing everything. The question is at what point do you devalue yourself as an artist by letting people see your early work? Also because everybodyβs work is now in the public sphere audiences have become highly selective. Itβs very easy for very good creators to go completely unnoticed because their stuff gets lost in the deluge.
Coming from a filmmaking perspective, when I was in film school, it was very hard to see the early works of a celebrated filmmaker. We heard about these great shorts a lot of directors like Scorcese, Tarantino or Nolan had done while they were in school or learning the craft, but most of us only saw those films after these directors were big names, making these films very inspirational to a young budding filmmaker as to what one could do with little money and less than professional equipment. Would these films have had the same impact if weβd watched them before knowing what any of these directors would later become?
Posting my beginnings in 3D art was for me the nudge to get me to actually finish something I started. I donβt believe many artists are ever really satisfied with their creations, and Iβm a perfectionist, so the odds of my ever posting anything were pretty low. I knew my work wasnβt near the level of many of the artists I admired, but at least I was doing something and hopefully getting better at it.
In retrospect, most of the really good artists that I follow seem to have hatched fully formed so to speak. Itβs very difficult to ever find a bad work theyβve ever done where the composition might be off, the lighting isnβt just perfect, or the concept not completely fresh. One wonders how long they worked secluded from the world until they reached the level that they attained.
Still, I personally like discovering a budding talent, and watching them grow. I find it extremely inspirational. I guess itβs a subjective call. Some artists need to exhibit their work in whatever form in order to keep doing it, while others go the perfectionist route only showing their work when they believe they and it are ready. Fortunately when it comes to 3D, no art piece is ever truly finished, and you can always go back to it. The downside is that everything published on the internet is forever so those earlier, less than perfect attempts are always out there. Not that it matters so much when nobody is checking out your stuff to begin with.
Goodbye 2016
If it's true that artists discover what they truly want to say through evolution and time, the only common themes I can clearly see in my own work at this point are women and Sf/fantasy settings, which isn't such a bad thing; I know a few professional artists that do that and make a fairly good living at it.
What started out as a means of doing storyboards for the web series I was planning has become a hobby in it's own right -- especially after my house was burglarized and all my camera gear stolen putting my film aspirations on hold, and leaving me only able to work on CG art. Furthermore, I honestly had more ideas for stuff than I suspected though I'm not nearly at the skill level to pull many of them off. I can see where all of the submissions I've made to the gallery could be made better by someone with a full understanding of the software. So that is the job for 2017, to learn CG, modeling, and my software to become a more original artist not solely reliant on other people's assets; to find out if I do have anything to say that people even want to hear. Artistic expression is a wonderful thing in it's own right, but few people create stuff in a vacuum that they only do for themselves. Most artists put their work out in the public sphere to see how it resonants with people, and most artists (if they are honest with themselves) want to do good work that people like. One of the biggest horror films to me is the film Ed Wood and the idea that I could be a bad artist/filmmaker/musician whatever and not have the slightest clue that my stuff was bad.
As for now it's all fun, and I'm amazed at the talent out there, people that started out just like me and kept working at it until they are consistently doing phenomenal work. The 21st century is without doubt the best time in human history to be a creative, with the greatest opportunities of having your work seen by people. There really are no excuses, and very few limitations.