Practice…Practice…Practice…
Looking at the kind of designs I am doing now, it’s hard to remember where I first started out. I, by no means do I think that I am the worlds best illustrator…I have a long way to go, but it’s hard to deny the fact that drawing every day can help anyone get better at their craft. For the past 2 years I have pretty much done nothing but draw and design every single day. Sure there are some days when I don’t, you gotta take a break sometime or else you will get burt out. However, the majority of my time has spent doing a job that I feel lucky to do each day.
This is the kind of junk that I was doing at the beginning. Now, at the time I thought I was doing a great job at this whole Illustration thing, but I look back on a lot of these designs and wonder how I even got started doing what I’m doing. Flashy bright colors, poorly drawn characters and anatomy, and no detail whatsoever. I guess I am writing this to say, that every artist has to start from somewhere, and if what you are doing right now isn’t the best, keep practicing and drawing all the time and you will get better. I can only hope to look back at the designs I am doing right now and thinking how terrible they are…or were.
Your newer work is incredible, but there’s still something charming about your old drawings (well, as ‘charming’ as monsters can be *g*), and it’s nice that you can refer back to them and see how much you’ve progressed.
I totally agree that the more you work at your craft, hone your ideas, and leave yourself open to trying something new, the better you become, and it also helps you find your own unique voice/style. Even when you feel like you’re stuck in a rut, time-travelling to old posts can be enlightening and encouraging, and hopefully get things moving again! (Even if they are a little cringe-worthy at times.)
I found your designs via another blog, btw, and I’m loving them. Your use of colour is fantastic and really lends to the horror / monster genre. Great stuff!