Lately, I have been milling over my old artwork--and I have come to a shocking conclusion. While I have certianly improved my anatomy, my ability to draw details and even my coloring to a certain extent I've gotten too comfortable.
What I mean is, I have fallen into drawing things that I find easy rather than challenging myself with new compositions, environments and various other things. As an artist, I have stunted my own progress by becoming too comfortable with the same things. I used to really used to challenge myself. I tried to create things far beyond my skill level at the time, and I improved because of it.
What happened?
When did everything become so cookie-cutter?
I was watching Aqua-Limeade's livestream yesterday where she was redrawing some of her older art in her current style. It was a moment of epiphany. A good way to practice would be to improve some of my old art by redrawing it, fixing mistakes, and ultimately [hopefully] improving my skills, adding depth to my art and continuing to grow as an artist.
So to any artist reading this, assess yourself. Have you fallen into the trap of drawing only what is comfortable?
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I think it's definitely a seductive trap to fall into only drawing what you're good at. Because what you're good at comes easier, and looks better, so people give you more praise. The result is all the talented artists on dA whose art all looks the same.
ReplyDeleteTrue, everyone finds a style or subject they like and tend to orbit around it (example: myself and my penchant for dragons and scenery) but I think it's imperative to anyone who is serious about expanding their skills to take on new tasks—even if the results are not as spectacular as what they have come to expect when working in familiar ground.
As for re-drawing old stuff: this is something I simply cannot bring myself to do. I can understand how it would be helpful, but I suppose I am too impatient: I must always be moving onwards to the next challenge.
Good luck to you! I feel not enough artists are sanguine to realize this.
.Rondie