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Tip of the Day: to be better than yesterdayTip of the day: I don't care to be the best. I just care to be better then I was... constantly.
When I do this kind of comparison it encourages me to focus on my artistic journey as opposed to the destination. It creates momentum and great habits.
Sending positive vibes to you all!
Bobby

It's a TrapJust some things I've been thinking about and mulling over in my head lately in regards to studying and improvement, and before you read any further, a word of caution: This is just me recording my thoughts, it's not advice to be taken literally or as gospel, just something that I'm putting out there to perhaps prompt you to think about what your goals are, what you want to do, and maybe take another look at how you want to go about achieving your goals. Nothing is black and white, including this post.
Since about the summer of 2012 I've been mostly doing studies from reference and digging into anatomy and not doing so much original stuff, and I haven't really finished any personal pieces that I've really been proud of in a long time. I don't mean "proud of" as in I think they're really great, but more of a step forwards to where I want to be. A big part of this was that I started that summer after having finished two large school projects where I didn't

Chiu's your time wisely! Chiustream Wed Jan 16th
Hey everyone! We've got another session of Chiustream coming!
Tune into Schoolism.com by clicking on the newsletter image to go to the Chiustream link at 2pm ET on Wednesday Jan 16th, 2013. It's going to be a fun time, and be sure to follow along as he does a live demo and answers any questions that you might have. Get ready to punch laziness in the face!

The Illusion--- Even as a new professional in the art business, there's the slight temptation to believe that you're making your own schedule, but with the exception of a few prodigies, a couple of lucky bastards and some senior professionals, artists do not make up their own schedules.
--- Working as a freelance artist means that every second of your waking day, down to the last millimeasurement, is time you could've spent productively. Without getting into the nuanced minutia of this idea, there's two fairly distinct approaches; firstly, you can work to improve your trade, by increasing your skill level you decrease the number of people you're competing with - don't fall prey to the fatuous argument that there aren't tiers of artistry - thus opening the doorway to more specialized, higher-pay jobs and beating out the competition. Second, you can hawk for yourself, this means advertising and applying for work, putting together a portfolio, setting up a Facebook or managing your Devi

How to Become a Better Artist OvernightCheck out my newest weekly blog post "How to Become a Better Artist Overnight" where I go over the skills of becoming an effective learner.
I promise this doesn't belong in the self help section.
Hope to see you there!
Do it---> http://garretaj.blogspot.com/

Features #4Hey guys,
I'm a bit late for the feature of the week, should have done it yesterday but I was busy with my diorama for the Merell contest!
So here we go, 20 new pieces that didn't get the exposure they deserved

Enjoy!

I also wanted to share with you an animation that blow me away, it's very cute and funny, go check it out here : http://mowito.deviantart.com/favourites/#/d5iihhj

Making film nowI'm making an animation for degree nowadays.
And I uploaded some images on my tumblr : http://pikaole.tumblr.com/

From Weekly features to Sketchathon in detail!Hey Concepteez,
Its taken us some time to strip back some access fat we had slowing us down. Sometimes you just have to take a step back to be able to see the bigger picture. Lets roll the camera again and bring out some of the old features we all loved in this group. One of which of course if the Weekly feature that *TKGentry use to run. You'd be glad to hear that TK is back with us now and is helping us run the group. Enjoy the feature!
By ~FrankAtt Nice visual story telling in this piece and some cool atmospheric effects.
By *Jak-The-Drox Uuuuuh the colours, and the balance, what about the skulls! Great work!
By ~dimitrineron Still in progress! This is quite nice, can't wait to see the finished piece. Nice lighting.
By ~ScriptKiddy Lovin the anthro creature, great anatomy landmarks peeking through the skin.
By ~C0nstantini Is this for sale? A year of learning the foundations has definitely paid off for you.
By ~Darkhikarii Great piece by an EA artist. Dep

Castles

Study ScheduleHey, some people recently asked me if i could upload my schedule i used for my studies with the crimson daggers. Its based on Dave Rapozas schedule with some minor changes, so check out his blog and the crimson daggers board, you might find the original up there aswell. I used it as a wallpaper and decorated it with some of my inspirations, so here it is, have fun doing your own.
I uploaded the Schedule on my blog, so just go there and save it if you're interested.
http://fetschart.blogspot.de/
also check out the crimson daggers blog/board if you're just starting out, alot of useful information up there and folks to study with.
http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/index.php

Commissions WidgetI just wanted to make a post to refer back to when people ask me about using DA's new commission widget. You may read all about this new widget here.
http://danlev.deviantart.com/journal/Introducing-Commissions-on-deviantART-347788178
I will not be using this widget for several reasons. First of all, I don't accept points as commissions. Second, I don't approve of the 20% cut of commission profits from using the widget. Third, I have virtually nothing for sale that meets the price limit. I understand that this is a method to convert points to usable income, but it's not worth the trouble it comes with.
You are of course free to do whatever you want, however I recommend to other artists reading this to go ahead and use your journal or a custom widget to accept commissions so that you can:
~ Charge whatever you want without a cap imposed by a third party.
~ Don't have to deal with the limitations of the widget.
~ You can keep all your profits

The Priming DirectiveNow for the exciting Part 3 of BECOME A BETTER ARTIST
Do it---> http://garretaj.blogspot.com/

You love art Right? Then work for free. Yeah!"The Sticky Affair of Startups"
This week I go over the strange things startup companies will say to get complete strangers (i.e. freelance illustrators) to work for free.
Check it out, and let me know what you think.
Do it---> http://garretaj.blogspot.com/

promo: TRIUMPH YEAR ARTBOOK CONTESTGeneral Info
Artists List
Artist Season Selection
Member Contest

Submission Guide
Hiya
everyone is welcome to join the group
and to participate in our contest.

and this is not just a regular here you have the 1st place
this is your prize some points and a drawing (though I like points and

Livestreams i watch*Update
The information when a stream of livestreamstatuslist comes online or goes offline is now also posted to twitter.
Follow @livestreamstatu to get that information on twitter.
*EDIT*
Sorry - had to move the app - new address is: http://livestreamstatuslist.appspot.com
*HOPEFULLY THE LAST EDIT TO THIS JOURNAL*
*EDIT*
I was fed up of browsing through all the links all the time - so i made an app that checks my favorite livestreams for if they are live.
Works almost all of the time - only sometimes the streams cannot be found but that is a problem of livestream not of the app.
The online streams are listed at the top.
http://livestreamstatuslist.appspot.com/
I can take more streams on the list but beware that calling the page will take longer the more streams i have to check. Feedback is welcome...
*END OF EDIT*
-----------------------------------------
I watched a lot of livestreams lately and wanted to put the information here.
Livestreams have a lot of cool results.
1)

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Our First Love

by ~noahbradley, Nov 2, 2012, 7:50:57 AM
Journals / Personal

We all loved it at first.

We loved creating. Those first attempts were driven by enjoyment. We weren't doing it to get better, to "practice", or even, God forbid, for a paycheck. We were doing it to do it. A joy unto itself.

In some ways, I find all my current work to be little more than efforts to rediscover that first love. To get back to that feeling I had at the beginning, before all the training, practice, and work. Before I was "serious." Back when drawing wasn't about creating something pretty but just having fun. No pressure, no demands, no expectations.

...continue reading on my blog: [link]

14 Comments

Our First Loveby ~noahbradley

Journals / Personal

~GraySho Nov 3, 2012 Hobbyist Photographer

Where is the like button?

Love your blog.

~noahbradley Nov 3, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

Thanks.

~trickynixie Nov 2, 2012

But I think every time we start something it's simply out of the need to get it on paper, canvas or wherever and it's always something new every time when we start it out of this need,just as we grow older after each little thing we start to polish it right away,but basically I don't think that it's possible to lose THE spark once we are able to have it in us...

~William-Scott Nov 2, 2012 Student Digital Artist

Yep yep, feels like the better I get the farther away i get from the reason I started in the first place. I still remember my reason though and can't wait to finally get to apply my new found knowledge to it

~MetalSnail Nov 2, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Sage advice as usual

=Brainfruit Nov 2, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

I started painting to use my personality to make people smile. My recent mountain of commissions has meant that my personal stuff has been put on the backburner which is sad but necessary.

~Philco92 Nov 2, 2012

Wow. Your blog entries are kinda amazing. Thank you.

*garyjsmith Nov 2, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

I'm almost there but it's hard to enjoy that moment when you share that creative work and it's ill-received, or even rejected.

~Skrubhjert Nov 2, 2012

Gosh, I know that feeling. Thanks for your words.

*zmote Nov 2, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

That's what's driving me to go honestly, to acquire the skills to properly express my ideas, I hope I don't loose this love along the way. Thanks for the reminder.

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