Getting Started
Updated: Jan 20, 2019
The aim of this blog post is to help you decide on where to start if you are currently stuck on your journey or your just confused on where to begin. I'll talk about understanding which stage you are at currently and the best course of action based on the stage that you are at.
Where do I start?
This is the question most of us face when we decide to start on our journey to becoming an artist, or basically any journey but I'll be focusing on the life of an artist since that is what I aim to become. I too face that question now. I've read the books, I've watched the videos and there's just so much to do. You've got to market yourself, build an audience, create artwork, practice your skills, update your social media and I'm not even getting into the nuances that lie under each category. Now what I believe you should do is identify the stage of the journey you are at currently and then decide on a course of action
This video by Crowne Prince is one way to find out your level and even mentions what to do at each level. So go through that to get an idea. Here's my list
If you've just started drawing recently or if you've been drawing for a while but your pieces lack precision even when copying references you should focus ONLY on IMPROVING YOUR ARTWORK. Focus on the areas that you feel very uncomfortable drawing with. If its the line work do exercises on those, if its anatomy and proportion read and practice the techniques in Successful Drawing by Andrew Loomis (This book is good no matter which level you are at. It is literally everything you need to know on drawing. BUT PLEASE REMEMBER JUST CAUSE YOU FINISH THIS BOOK YOU WILL NOT CREATE A MASTERPIECE. DEPLOY PATIENCE AND KEEP PRACTICING)
You can draw from references really well and you're technical skills aren't the best but they're good enough to turn some eyes. At this stage I would recommend BUILDING A PORTFOLIO You've done the studies, you've practiced a lot. Its time to make a product that you can market. Here the important thing to remember is ITS OKAY IF ITS NOT PERFECT. You need a product not a project Watch this amazing video by Jake Parker to help you understand why.
This is it. You've made the product and it can be anything from a series of artworks you sell as prints or maybe a book full of illustrations or the portfolio for getting into college/ gaining new clients. This stage is when you start getting into marketing. When you LEARN ABOUT SEOs AND HOW TO USE FACEBOOK ADS,TARGETING YOUR AUDIENCE,ETC
So where does blogging and making a social media presence come up? From day 1. DOCUMENT. DON'T CREATE an amazing video by Gary Vee tells you why you should record your content, the WIPs, the failures, the attempts. Do something every day and show it to the world. No matter which level you are at, document what you do.
I'll create more content that goes in depth on each of these categories, improving your art skills, building a portfolio, marketing,etc., so until then stay tuned. Leave me a comment if this helped clear things up. Your feedback will help me better my posts so they can be more helpful to you.