For a week I have had doubts about the steps I take in my artistic proposal, I think it is common among creative people, do something that others like or like yourself, this post is about that, the style and what you do for yourself.
Leave the comfort zone
I am a person who constantly tries to get out of the comfort zone and who likes to try different tools, means and techniques. I feel excited when I can paint with oil, draw with charcoal and I love how dynamic a digital tablet can be to draw.
I have painted abstractionism and a lot of figuration, I think I let myself be easily carried between one thing and the other, so I also illustrate varied themes such as characters, animals, monsters, even robots. Actually I have worked up stories about politics in my country because when you are freelance you can touch anything to earn your bread, and if you have the opportunity to try new things why not try? Of course, it can be very good to try everything, from something very commercial to the least commercial, but you can get lost in the variety and in your portfolio you can see images that have nothing in common between them, some possible client may think “this person it is not clear what he wants to do ”and sometimes it is better to be very good at one thing than to be fairly good at 10 different things.
Show your work
Defining a style is important, look for what you really love to do, whether it's children's illustration, photography, sculpture, drawing or painting bugs, you always have to try and repeat things until you feel satisfied. It is a very long road but as the Zen proverb says “the stones on the road are the road” One of the ways to know if you are on the right track is to show your progress to others.
For a long time I have stopped publishing in some of my social networks and one of the reasons is to stop seeking external approval and do what I like without pressure, but the time comes when it is necessary to show progress of our art to Let the critics help us improve. I like Steemit and the creative community because you can write about your artistic work, show about your process and there are people who take the time to read and comment on what you share, instead on some social networks like Instagram people don't always take the annoyance in stopping to see the work of others well. Having feedback is really necessary and important to improve, you can meet very good people to help you with advice, references, tricks, personal experience, etc.
Break needed
On the other hand we have good days in which everything goes very well, you feel very happy and other days when you don't like anything you do, a day of creative blockage, where you feel monotonous, repetitive and a little dead. Well, today I felt this way, a little dead and tired, taking steps as I can, although my legs twist awkwardly, although it seems to go against the wind but always trying to move forward.
My way of catharsis about this type of feelings is by drawing or painting, but sometimes even that does not flow freely.
One of my drawing teachers once told me that the best thing you can do in these cases is to withdraw for a while from what you are creating, have a coffee with a friend, walk around, read a book and let your mind not be saturated, then you come back and see things that you couldn't see before because of the blockage. And so, one of the best tricks to make a good drawing is to take what I call "necessary breaks" to see things from another perspective. And of course show, maybe someone else has the answer to help you out of your block.
I hope these tips help you!
Here is the drawing that made me think about all this! Walker I made it with Photoshop
I was looking to do something expressive (I was very frustrated)
And just one second for this vídeo fading away
Meanwhile, I better go for a cup of coffee. Maybe that will improve everything.