For me, with art I go into highs and lows. I feel great about my work, think I'm 'good' and 'talented', and crank out some new stuff and then the high goes away and I feel the weight of 'all that I have yet to learn'. But, it feels more like 'everyone is so much better than me' - which I know isn't true, any more true than everyone in the world is smarter/thinner/prettier/priveleged than I. It's a silly perception and something that will drive you to the ground if you let it get into your thinking.
So this post is to remind myself that I'm really good at certain things;
Things I really like:
Drawing People (especially women), Faces/Expressions, Color, Shiny Things, pin-ups
I'm not so great at (right now):
Environments, Depth, Extreme Values (shading), huge scenes or storylines
That's not to say I should ignore the second list, but to remember that I enjoy and have more skill in the first, and I should put my focus on the things I enjoy and get better at them, while gradually adding in the things from the second list.
Here's some great words of wisdom from this post:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178582
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the most bitter.”
- Confucius
This isn't a step-by-step list, but rather a reminder that there are always different approaches to the same thing. Some people seem locked into thinking you have to approach this thing in this way or that thing in that way but never think to approach this thing in that way or that thing in this way.
If you're trying to learn perspective, for example, you're not stuck just reading books (reflection). You can also try looking at perspective drawings from other artists and either replicating them or overlaying perspective lines (imitation), or you can try setting up the perspective points on paper or draw on sheets of glass like the old masters and work it out yourself (experience). Heck even if you feel you really understand perspective it may be worthwhile to try other approaches if you never have, you may gain some deeper insights you had no idea about.
- Anid Maro
I think it's fairly common understanding among more experienced participants in any discipline that practicing a variety of skills related to your discipline is essential for improvement, but being conscious not to study such a broad variety of things as to over stretch yourself without gaining sufficient proficiency in any of them.
Finding out what you want to do and how to do it through experimentation and whatnot should be the first step, then when you find that one part of your discipline that you want to master, you focus on that while prioritizing additional skills.
Focus on your primary, while giving less than equal attention to secondary skills, and paying cursory attention to tertiary skills, being careful not to under-study those additional skills, since all skills play on each other for advancement. To me it doesn't make a lot of sense to become a master of human anatomy if your primary focus is on landscape paintings where there are few, if any human actors present in the painting. Still one should have a good foundational knowledge of all other aspects of their art, as these "lesser" skills will ultimately come into play into your art at some time in the future, and in the future your focus may shift to some aspects of art that you had preciously deemed lesser, or unnecessary to your advancement.
the ability to keep a wide-open mind to different possibilities is a hugely beneficial tool to have in your possession when undertaking these kinds of tasks.
-Sepulverture
I think somewhere along the lines of "I just did 3 quick line drawings of this piece of drapery, now I ought to sit down and do a longer rendering of it to get a more rounded understanding of this thing I just drew".
It took me a while to see this, but there was a period earlier in my development where I made a truck load of progress in a very short time, and on reflection I realized that it was because I was mixing methods a little bit. Quick Quick Long Quick Quick Long. Something like that.
I also realized that for myself if I simply push and push and continually study that I will not learn as much as if I do a series of studies, then completely forget about drawing for a day or two, or if I did a lot lot of studies, even several days while I digest what I just studied and try to observe the things I just studied in real life. If I spent the last week studying drapery, then It typically would do me well to spend the following day or so sitting outside somewhere and just watching peoples clothes to see how they react to different movements. I also spend a lot of time standing in front of my mirror with some loose garments on making the same idiotic pose over and over again just to watch how the folds in the clothes react.
- also Sepulverture
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