Babydoll Study Update

This was a very rewarding process. I have learned a huge amount about color and light in this painting and I'm very pleased with my final outcome. Maybe not exactly like the photo, but pretty durn close.

Challenge Accepted

Get over here! (que Mortal Kombat music)
It may be that today is my 37th birthday or that I just lost site of the goal, but I believe I mentioned below that as I lumbered through this past decade something didn't click. I began to coast as an artist and, even though these past couple years I have been reading practically every Art Blog, Forum, and eMagazine I could get my grubby fingers on, for some reason I refused to put all that knowledge into action. The whole thing reminds me of several opportunities I chose to pass up as a young man in order to go back to college and hang out with my friends. I wasn't so much concerned with actually going to class back then, though reality eventually set in for me and I did well in the end, but instead I focused on what immediate returns I could get for my time and energy spent. Reading that you might think to yourself, "Hmm...that sounds oddly like what's happening to you now, Scott.", and well, you would be mostly correct about that. The only difference this time is that I only dropped the ball in one arena and in life all around. Still, I dropped the ball.
I can be hard on myself at times, and this is one of those times, but I'm not about beating myself up and working myself into a stupor to wallow in self pity and low self-esteem. Instead I'm looking hard at where I am professionally and where I want to be instead. Then, I'm considering what do I need to do to get there. Fortunately, the answer if fairly easy this time. I want to be over there, painting book covers, movie posters, and commercial art. I want to create awe-inspiring fantasy and science-fiction paintings that make people ask me how I did it or where the idea came from. I want this spark in my belly to ignite into a flame so bright that others want to know what drives me to do what I do. And you know what? I think I just stepped up to the challenge of all that and more. As I've told my wife, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. It's time to do something and stop saying 'one day', or 'I wish'. No one will hand you a free ride with no evidence you are worth the risk, but many people will invest in you if you can show what you can do.

This is a Work In Progress I started 8.3.11 that I plan to finish on 8.4.11. It's a study to see if I could bite off photo realism, and I think I'm moving in the right direction.

Working to find 'The Edge'

Many of you know, especially if you are an artist, that being competitive in today's market is not just competing against the local guys (or gals), but rather within the world market. It's just as easy to hire out an artist, illustrator, graphic designer in Texas (my new home as of a month ago) than it is to hire one from somewhere in Canada, China, Russia, etc. All the artist and employer need is a means to communicate via the web and it's a done deal. So what does it take to hang tough and get off the porch? (Yeah, I like mixed metaphors, deal.)

Well, for me so far, it's just a matter of finally admitting to myself that I'm just not as good as I would like to be. I've managed to get a lot of small press jobs. I've done many interiors and several book covers now, but every time I turn around there's ten more, younger, edgier artists out there licking up the jobs that I want. So what do I do? Take a hard look in the mirror. Take a hard look at my work. And take a hard look at the artwork of the artist who are getting hired more frequently for the big boys. What did I find? Well, to be honest, I couldn't help but recall words from long ago ringing in my ears. Words from instructors and artistic friends who had tried to help me onto a path of being a better artist well over a decade ago, but quite frankly I was too lazy and arrogant to listen.
That stings more than a bit. But you know what? It's the kind of sting like the soreness the day after a hard workout. It's the kind of sting that says, yeah, better late than never, and ok, this is possible. So here I am continuing this hard look at all these things and realizing it's just a matter of putting in the time, doing the work, and being bold. Here are some steps I've taken recently. The move to Texas slowed me down a bit, but at the moment I'm working on some pieces to further my progress and I'm moving away from the comic book looking stuff (not that I'm turning down work like that though!) into more of a painterly style, which I utterly love, btw. As always, critiques and comments are welcome. Thanks!