Just as big a threat are people that are close to artists and *actively discourage the artistic journey.* People that have no understanding of creativity and how it ties to the souls of human beings. They see the world in rote repetitions of "Work, results, paycheck". Short-term results and instant gratification. If you're not making hundreds of thousands of dollars, you're not "successful."
it's so saddening. We are delighted by soulful pieces of art, yet society stifles its creation with the threat of money. It makes me grateful for small indie studios and individuals that are willing to break off from the green.
One of the main reasons i keep creating art but stop pursuing art career. I cannot stand the thought that one day my art would be reduced to nothing but a mere product for money grabbing. That is not art, that's turning human into money making products, down to the deepest aspect of life that makes us human in the first place.
Thats sounds like my daily studio job (deep sigh) in my workplace art is treated as a commodity product and i cant stand it! Going to send this video message to my Art "Directors"..
This. The problem with artistic industry is not the tools, but the ever existing bad faith actors or fake artists forging someone elses work through IP theft. AI is not the root of the problem, lying is. My stress dealing against AI is not its ability, but its lack of security measures against misuse and accelerating it. Art will always be a medium of communication, and AI is just like a phone. People do not buy telephone just for the machine. People buy telephone to talk with other people - its output. Same goes to AI Drawing. Phone was hated due to its telemarketers, but it's always been useful even today. People can opt to not use telephone, and that's fine. The main thing we should focus on now, is that the same hated telemarketers now will drown proper and great artists to obscurity even more and poison the well.
I stopped posting my art online years ago because I could see the internet was having an impact on what I chose to draw. Many of my friends have the same problem of judging themselves and industrializing their art process until it's not even fun for them anymore, and in some cases judging others and repeating whatever nonsense they heard that made them miserable. I think it's important to spend some time alone drawing without reason or purpose, or if your mind can't handle that at least try drawing and painting things you uniquely appreciate or things that make you smile or laugh. Loosen up a little and express your joy and love. If your mind is too logical and must industrialize your art, at least turn it into a process that leaves you feeling better than when you started, instead of bitter, frustrated or exhausted. Measure your progress by how big your smile is, not by money, likes or approval from others.
Even though i think that true definition of art is self expression, i also think that self expression is meant for the masses and not for the damp attic to sit there and rot. Internet affecting and nudging you towards the specific things to draw isn't as much of a problem as often people make it out to be, it's art at its finest - as long as the subject you're nudged into to draw is somewhat interesting. Look at the game development, it's the medium where 24/7 viewer pushes the artist to change things and artist pushes back - this back and forth creates masterpieces like skyrim. If your horror art gets 10 likes and your pinup girl art gets 30 likes, that means 20 more people like your pinup art, now whether u want 20 more likes or no - that's up to you, however if you can't control yourself and automatically draw whatever gets more likes then you're becoming electronic arts and then yeah quitting internet might be healthy choice, however not a right one for art, especially in this day and age. Learning how to control your "like addiction" would be much smarter thing to do instead of throwing away the best promotional scene u have as an artist.
@@strangelanders5209 it's not as simple as people liking some art, the algorithms have been punishing artists for sculpting nudity(?? literally what), not posting every day/ literally doing professional lvls of media management, showing your art to less followers, pushing pictures down to prioritize videos etc. And when you don't do all those things, your engagement drops to almost zero, when before you could post in chill schedule and just pictures and even relatively small artists could get discovered because they were pushed up by the algorithm. It's very hard to keep posting in sustainable manner and not turn into art making machine, just trying to stay afloat
Lol you just unlocked a core memory of my mom secretly redrawing my homework assignments in kindergarten. She would redraw the whole thing, fix my proportion, make sure all the colour were correct and even forge my writing so it looks like I wrote my name (my mom stole my identity 💀). When I saw my art journal assignment on the wall as "best in class" I realize these are my mom's drawings and writing. She would brag about how I was top of my class. Even at 4 I'm like ok but you just talking about yourself though
@kkcat WOW! That's really sad... imagine being in your 20's, 30's, 40's and competing against Kindergarteners.🙄 Talk about being a BIG FISH in a small pond... then again, sounds like something a Creative Director, Art Director or Editor would probably do (with the exception of forgery)... but doing a paint over or making heavy text rewrites. Imagine all the other Kindergarteners, if they were competitive at all, they must have been freaking out over how much better your art was than theirs. Did you disclose that your mom did it? Or just shrug? It's important that we have many opportunities to fail and improve our own skills by learning from our own failures and documenting them as we grow as artists. Old work becomes a catalog of artistic growth - when a parent or teacher overreaches, we may fail to learn the right lessons from the experience and it skews our ideas of what our own capabilities truly are. I'm very curious what Kindergarteners of the future will be creating - imagine them using AI Art Generators... I wonder what unrestricted creativity would look like for a small child, especially if text-to-speech gets implemented. Maybe all the art would be depictions of cartoon characters they watch, some monsters, candy... and poop and fart jokes. 💩🤣
Sounds like your mom loves you so much that she doesn’t wanna see you fail, its narcissistic that you see it that way and to those that counter my argument, you either would do the same or you don’t want children but one thing is clear, you don’t deserve to breed for the future generations sake
The reason why I stopped showing my family my art is because they always nitpicked them for very stupid reasons. "Why does this girl have horns? Remove it! It makes her look scary." "Why is your robot's head so small? Make it bigger!" "The teeth on your monster makes it look very scary, remove it." And I really hated it when everytime I showed my art to my mother, she'd show this fucked up cringe and then try to fake a smile after she realized she's caught. I always think that they wanted me to only make art that suit their and everyone's tastes rather than making what I'm proud of. But on the bright side, the internet seems a little more open minded on what I do and its what keeps me going on
I'm sorry to hear this. My family does something similar but only if it's realistic art - they give critique and advice because they know what real life looks like. Maybe your family wants to support you but they don't know when they should and how so it looks like they want you to do unhealthy things to your art? Do not lose hope
I went through the same thing. Even now, whenever I draw and ppl take a peak they're always like "Who's that?? Why is her hair blue? Who's that? Why did you create these siblings? Why is he being nice to his little sister, that's so unrealistic. Oh, you draw anime 🙄 your realistic drawings are too cartoony" It never ends so I never show my stuff to anyone ...but you gotta admit...some things people draw are pretty cringy xD Especially when they're in that phase where they try to appear edgy and always shoves their "dark art" into people's faces preaching proudly that they drew that during a "mental breakdown" Sorry, met too many artists like that. Then they'd get competitive on who suffers the most and ya their art sometimes is cringy 😬 Even my art from highschool is extremely cringey cuz I was in the emo phase so my drawing of back then were so stupid 😂 it screamed try hard
Many people forget or don't realize that art is purely subjective. There is no right way of how it should be done, we all have different tastes which have been built up through past experiences. Taste is like a dictionary and the wider variety of art you're familiar with, the more words you understand. It makes it especially annoying when someone arrogantly thinks they know taste when they really just lack it
@@secretname2670 its weird lol. Like, everyone around me, especially those in the workplace seem to value 'realistic' stuff over the more creative stuff. I feel like, they have this 'fantasy for kids' mentality and condition themselves not to like creative stuff. Everytime I show people my art of monsters, robots, anime girls and cutsey stuff they be like, 'can you draw me' like mf do you only like your own face and nothing else i shown you? And yeah, i get that my family want the best for me. I think that their biggest flaw is that they have the 'I know what's best for you' attitude rather than the 'do your best' attitude. Like, they really be: 'you should do caricacture, it makes money in this country', 'you should do that popular thing on instagram/tiktok', 'you should make more art for so and so fandom'. Rarely do I hear a 'you should continue to do what you like' from them. As much as I love them a lot, I think I can never convince them to like what I love to draw. For now, I think their love for me alone is great enough support for my art.
It is immensely depressing to be in the situation you described. I entered the fashion industry right out of college and landed a job as a graphic artist developing artwork for children's clothing. Within a year of starting I made some moves that landed me a significantly high 5 figure salary in my early 20's. The money was a great motivator for me in the beginning. I did that for 10 years and around the 5 year mark I became extremely depressed, I developed anxiety disorder and I was a borderline alcoholic. I realized I hated what I was doing. My work consisted of constantly churning out designs all with very little artistic input on my end. I could do 10 designs a day and have all of them rejected by the sales team. God forbid a design was too "outside the box." My last five years in the industry I spent seeking what I really wanted to do. Having sufficient funds I enrolled in many different courses, 3D art, animation, concept art, modeling, sculpture, painting. Nothing really gave me that feeling I was looking for. It wasn't until I was transfered to a new team at work and met my new manager who saw that I wasn't happy. He one day suggested to me based on my artwork that it'd be cool if I was a tattoo artist. For some reason that stuck in my head and I researched tattoos and how to become a tattoo artist. Shortly after I landed an apprenticeship and the moment I held a tattoo machine in my hand and set the needle on a synthetic piece of skin I lit up. I found the feeling I was looking for. I'm almost in my 10th year as a tattoo artist and I couldn't be happier. After being a machine in a factory I wholeheartedly believe it is not what creatives should strive to be. We all have a unique voice and stifling it literally eats away at you. It's important to be yourself as an artist, your art is your being brought to whatever medium you use and whatever you do should allow you to express yourself to whatever degree you are comfortable with.
What a great story. I think most people are not lucky enough to have 10 years of their life doing something they really enjoy. Or even just slightly enjoy. Life and work is often quite soul crushing. I think our society could do so much better.
@@DirkTeucher I agree! I was very fortunate and I look back and feel a lot of gratitude for the time I spent learning so many things during my time working in the design industry it just wasn't what I was meant to do I guess.
Yeah dude always keep pushing ! dude i wont self promote but i have the same name in insta im a modelist / have always been a illustrator , graffiti artist . I just mention the insta so you can see im not playing around !! and well i have this problem there are so many incredible Mecha (robot) models and designs but what sells is gundam and a couple of other flashy ones so lately ive been trying (alongside with a store that has left me put there different gear ) to get people interested of courtse in a very sublime way
The biggest reason I've stopped showing anyone my art is because A) people like my mom immediately talk about me selling it and B) I get told it isn't "realistic" enough. If people want realism so bad, why don't they take a photo of the garbage they want and let artists escape from reality a bit?
This is where the fun begins. Play with ai tools. Dont give more than 5 minutes to each work. If people love shiny garbages then give it them shiny garbages.
The "B) point" is relatable for me but replace "realism" with "anime" Yeh half of my class hates my art only because "iT's nOt aNiMe uwu" like I used to draw on breaks a lot but since they found out I'm drawing they started shitting on my art because of stupid reasons that can't even be counted as "constructive critism"
@@Amy_REDACTED I love how many people, former "professional" art college professors I had included, forgot the difference between real criticism and personal preference/ opinion. Also a big reason why the art world is dying. Just like speech is getting attacked these days , artists are getting attacked for their styles too. Sorry you struggle with this too
If they want realism, they can use a damn camera. Art is taking something metaphysical like emotions and conveying it in a physical medium. I always loved stylistic art because it often says something about the artist and how they think.
You almost made this old woman cry. I've asked my agent what should I do to update my portfolio, and he said it would be good to have well-known characters on the pages (I'm a comic book artist, with +15 years in the industry). He's not wrong, I know. But I thought to myself "why". Why can't publishers judge an artist's skill level by simply looking at their work? Why do I have to be forced to draw popular characters? I've been creating a variety of art styles to live, and as a result, I was never able to improve my own art style. My solution was creating my own IP, but it's a long road to make it sustainable (aka paying basic bills). As Mohammad Emad Mostaque, creator of AI Stable Diffusion said: "Artists...,You are a tool" or "Art is Dead Dude". I've been feeling like that my whole life. You are an awesome teacher and your students are lucky to have you.
my portfolio has my entire process because I understand this need to show only the best, only the most professional and polished but there is my progress, what I want, I gave up making a "professional" portfolio to have a gallery of my progress and pretty much the whole range of styles i love it looks pretty messy but i love it
@@arturoarzatevelasco825 My respects to you and your courage :) I've been working in the comic book industry (non stop, making a living solely as an artist) for over 15 years and nothing changed. Every time I need to update my portfolio is the same thing. I'm tired, but my family needs my support. Need to endure this until my IP cover the bills completely.
Because is buisness If a company is well known for certain characters they migth want to know how your style fits their characters and the approval of buyers
@@valentinov901 Yup. I think it'll be my standard answer: "I've been working in the comic book industry (non stop, making a living solely as an artist) for over 15 years and nothing changed. Every time I need to update my portfolio is the same thing. I'm tired". super tired
@@Amelia_PC Honestly its because publishers arn't artists and thus they need a direct comparison honestly sounds like a shit system. Hope your work keeps you going Amelia plus the sheer fact your working on your own IP means your kinda AI proofing your art. AI allows for replication of consistent characters when trained with something like dreambooth. Thats where I feel AI tools will flourish. Individual artists and big studios will be on semi even footing where any artist could train an AI on their style and characters and output panels at extreme speed only limited by their idea and story they've created. Well and honestly you'll probably still need to clean up every panel but the amount of overall time spend once personal skills are trained on the AI and the obviously your own art skills to fine tune I feel AI will create an extremely speed lined way to produce graphic novels and animation. Image animation where you really are done when you have just your key frames.
Imagine if artists were given the freedom to truly thrive. No more worrying about building careers or appealing to sensibilities. No more suffering under this world's overbearing lack of genuine freedom; no more struggling through this shallow state of being that stifles our creative potential. I'll never know a better world. I'll never be able to survive by just making stories, music, games, etc. If I can do anything in this world, I hope I can at least contribute to making it into a place where future people like myself can thrive. All I want for myself is to live humbly and give form to the myriad things in my mind, heart, and soul; in lieu of that, I'll fight for a world where others can have the life I'll never know. Well, anyway, thanks for listening, as it were. ;x
@@Narko_Marko Tried that multiple times and it never worked out. Got too many issues in my head and body, I guess. I wouldn't mind at all having a job that also affords me time to compose, but nobody wants me to work.
@@Narko_Marko I'm trying to work toward that before I completely run out of what little resources I have left. I will probably just end up on the street dead like most would-be composers unless I can find some patrons or even just occasional donators. I'm pretty sure I have cancer in at least two parts of my body anyway but, you know, it's the US, so I have no way of knowing unless I suddenly get hundreds of thousands of dollars. Kind of hoping whatever it is just eats me alive before I end up homeless, honestly. ;D
The bit about “if you can understand an artist and their art, you develop a friendship, and make them happy” Made me almost cry a little I struggle a ton with valuing my selfexpression, and get stuck in overly number thinking a lot…
That same assembly line problem applies in loads of fields. A cousin of mine was WAY into cars as a teenager. He bought a hoopty old junker at 15 and spent much of his free time fixing it up so that it was actually a nice car by the time he got his licence. He loved hanging out with his gearhead friends and wrenching on their cars too. It was the one thing he was properly good at and he absolutely loved it, so naturally he went and became an auto mechanic. After 2 years on the job he was horribly burned out. He'd spend all day patching up unloved car after unloved car, knowing the owners would just continue to neglect them. There were a lot of mind-numbing repetitive procedures and a constant pressure to just get things done faster. And to top it all off his boss was an asshole who wanted to cut every possible corner to maximize profits. One day he came home from work and plopped down on the couch to space out as usual. Then one of his old friends called him, said he had a problem with his car and asked if he wanted to come over and help. A few years prior he would have jumped at the opportunity to apply his skills, but now he was so tired of wrenching that he declined. That was when he realized that; not only had he landed a job he didn't like, but he had also lost his main hobby. He tried working at 2 other garages, but kept running into the same soul crushing problems. Now he's a short haul trucker for a local construction company. It's only tangentially related to his passion, but he is much happier now. In no small part because he got his hobby back.
I've been practicing and doing art my entire life, and have faced endless gatekeepy art "teachers" telling me, fantasy can't be art, or digital can't be art....you can't be an artist. nothing upsets me more. To the degree that part of my motivation as an artist comes from a place of vengeance. People are now telling me i can't be an artists if i incorporate A.I tools into my work. I feel completely divorced from my "community", can't help but feel they are very invested in keeping things the same, a very elitist and corporate environment where i was never able to fit in in the first place. However, I do realy like your take on it. You strike me as a very thoughtful peson.
Many, many years ago after listening to my struggles, hopelessness, suffering and the constant torment I was experiencing, a therapist I was seeing at the time looked at me with a very subtle smile full of empathy and said: "You know what...Find people from your own planet." Thank you for this Adam... We may never meet but it feels great to know my planet exists....
This unlocked a core memory for me. I was 6 years old, first class and in our class, we had colored the clouds blue. Why? Because art class was short and coloring the clouds blue was a great time safer because that meant I had both time and space to color _more_ stuff. Our teacher scolded us for coloring the clouds blue. The sky was blue, not the clouds. That was how it was *supposed* to be. I hope you understand that I made a lot of blue clouds recently. They represent the *idea* of the sky better than just painting it blue. Just because it is *unrealistic* does not mean it's emotional value is rendered void. Thank you for taking me back home Adam. I appriciate it.
I'm a hobby photographer who hasn't posted anything online in 10 years. Except a photobook for my mom's birthday. Over time I realized why was doing it. It wasn't for flickr likes or getting featured on 500px. I love photography because of the adventure. It was getting up at 4 in the morning, waiting in the cold for that golden light. Or running after sheep in the Kalahari because I was thrilled with the dust they kicked up. Or sitting under the stars at night waiting for a series of exposures to Finnish up. Strolling by a small stream looking for a composition while the rain drops trickle through the leaves with that fresh smell of wet soil and pine. It's like two worlds. The photo is a personal expression of myself that I can share with people around me. But the memories and the adventure was mine. Something no AI can give me.
The way you talk about those experiences is very captivating! I love taking my time in a beautiful place to seek out compositions. Good luck and never stop doing it :)
Dear Adam, I had almost the exact same situation as a 7 year old boy in school (Not mentioning that I had a bunch in elementary school). So, we made figures out of paper and they all kinda looked the same because we would all use the same technique of folding, cutting and gluing. But we were given the freedom to decide what faces our figures (or paper puppets) would have (the character overall). I painted Spiderman on it. And since he had wear a mask, I painted him with his mask on (of course). My teacher (she was also a french teacher, how ironic) pointed out the missing facial parts such as the mouth and the nose. I responded that this is Spiderman and he doesn't show his face. And even my classmates came over to confirm that Spiderman wears a mask. Trying to talk about this character with my teacher, unfortunately she still wouldn't understand. Now, she didn't painted over my art, but she found it "strange" enough to go talk with my class teacher. Things went crazy. They had invited my mum to talk about what strange art I do. That I painted people without faces. I had tried to explain to both of my teachers who this character of Spiderman was but they lacked the ability to listen (as you described to be fundamental to empathy) They just knew what looked right to them. And it wasn't the last time I had to deal with something like what I described. I find it horrible how much this still affects me in my early adult years. I very often struggle to accept my own art and literally give up on it every week. My dream is to have an artistic job. Doesn't immediately have to be illustration (though I'd like that very much). Maybe working artistically with kids could the opportunity to give something back. Anyway. Have a nice day and stay safe. And happy!
wow that really sucks, I'm sorry. If nothing else, it just shows you that sometimes, people are just wrong for no reason. :( I had the worst art teacher in high school. She refused to accept my assignments because she thought my mother was doing them for me (she wasn't) she told me my paintings that conformed to the assignment rules were too small and I had to do extra work, she criticised my techniques telling me I wasn't painting, I was "drawing with paint" (still puzzling over that one) and at the end of high school she gave me a C - barely passing grade even though I did more work, and better than my classmates. Ironically my sister went through her class a few years later and my mother DID do her homework and she got top marks. I think bad art teachers need to collectively get into the bin. I got my revenge though, having made a successful career as a working artist creating what I want to create while she went on to be... a frustrated art teacher. I hope you can get your revenge on your bad art teacher too.
Usually self sabotage is the biggest threat to anyone who wants to learn a skill in any feild and gets jumpy the second someone who puts no effort in does what they can do in half or little time with zero understanding of the effort that makes the skill satisfying. Instead of panicking - take action and improve, get better, show that your time you invested in your chosen craft was worth all that effort. People do see and know the difference between something with done with skill and appreciate it.
That's sweet. But you do know AI isn't just used to create pretty pictures? It's foundational to CRISPR tech that is (or will) be used to create designer babies. A humanity that is far more intelligent, stronger, beautiful and creative than any normal human being. In our backbreaking strive toward perfection, talent and success we have not turned ourselves into gods but instead replaced ourselves with "gods". I'm not throwing in the towel but I have stopped caring. The future doesn't want or need me and neither do I want to be part of it. Right now this world can burn for all I care.
@@snaphaan5049 So you're throwing in the towel? Okay, fine. People who compete in "Jumping the highest" or "lifting the heaviest" type events aren't discouraged by the fact that machines have been able to jump (as it were) higher, and certainly lift heavier stuff - neither fans nor athletes care about it because it's not about the actual work done, it's about human achievement. And I usually hate sports as a form of entertainment, but this principle is really powerful- even if we imagine a world where AI can achieve true storytelling and perform actual artistic choices (not merely behave like a copywriter and remix&steal shit from the original datasets), we as humans will care about the creation of our own kin, because that's how we work. That alone will last us centuries.
@@cowbless What humans or humanity are you talking about? This isn't just about machines that's why I specifically mentioned CRISPR tech. You will have little or no use in the coming world where everything is sustained and run by this new designed humanity. As I said, we have started to replace ourselves with something "human" that ill be better, stronger and more intelligent. And also more docile and obedient. I don't hold the same excitement or ecstasy over that prospect like many silicon valley entrepreneurs. The fact is we will end up in a zoo or worse.
@@snaphaan5049 I like you, you seem very intelligent. Do you really think that ordinary normal humanity is done? It's so strange.... I've always imagined different future...but at the same time I can't find any good argument against....
I went from an awe of my favorite artists as to how they could create the impossible to a beginning of understanding their intricacies. I'm still getting there, still working my way up in skill, but I don't fear anymore. I can get better. It's not just straight up impossible.
The best thing about art is getting to make it, something AI can’t offer. Making art changes how your brain works. More people need to have this experience.
The finding yourself again part is the scariest and most amazing thing. Adam you are really a great teacher because your talks and teaching style give people the tools to be more confidently them as an artist. Thanks again for all you do!!!
Art Dad giving me permission to smoke in a shack in the forest and do art is exactly the kind of lighthearted laugh I needed. Another delightful, insightful video, as always :)
When I was in elementary school my art teacher did something similar to me. She asked us to do a Christmas piece. And I made a fat Santa Claus stuck in a chimney upside down. She told the class that everyone was going on vacation except me for not following the instructions. That I was going to spend all my holidays studying because I had a bad grade on the last day of school. And they all laughed. She was actually making a joke but I didn't know it. In the end I tried to make a quick drawing of Santa with the deeers so that she could approved me and I could pass. Between tears I give her my drawing and I apologized and the bitch told me that it was all a joke. That she was making a joke to me. She hugged me and I started crying. I still remember the feelings of desperation trying to draw something quick between tears and it still annoys me till this day.
I’m an artist, and I was told I shouldn’t pursue art for a lot of my life growing up. That it isn’t a “Real job” by people who have decided for themselves rules on what constitutes a “Real job”, usually labour. I feel this is similar to the people saying online friends aren’t “Real friends” but that’s another topic. When I was told this, being young, it made me not pursue art for years when growing up, or, try not to, but I’m a naturally very creative person. In fact, my biggest draw to art was, I think of so much all the time, I have a very active mind, characters armour landscapes alien plants strange creatures, just so much, and it annoys me so much when I don’t have the skills to put this on paper for me to keep. I remember most of them, but, not all, and that’s why it bothers me so much. Not only that, but I would love to show people what I am thinking. What I made. I’ve become a much better artist in the past few years, and it’s been much more fun actually drawing than I thought it might be many years ago. I feel like this is definitely fitting for me, and if you are reading this as an artist or just a person with an interest in art is seeing this, please don’t let that deter you from exploring. It’s much more special and brilliant than it looks until you start yourself : ) I didn’t expect to feel what I do and I know everyone is different and feelings are subjective but, Try art yourself, regardless of skill level, and you will experience something for yourself, whatever it may be.
I have a very similar mind in that way! People like us are full of stories, we contain whole worlds. It's a beautiful thing, but also sometimes torture if you don't have an outlet for it! I was lucky enough to have people that encouraged me, though. Glad to hear you've found what you love!!!
The thing you said about turning your brain off and truly listening to another person is so true and not only for art. I swear my mother perceives me as a completely different person than I am because she is never actually listening to my words. Instead she's interpreting anything I say in a way that's easier for her to comprehend from her own mindset and view she built up about me when I was about 5. This is probably pretty common for parents I think. They assume their child must just be an extension of themselves and don't think there could be anything they would have to try to understand because of that. It takes effort to actually listen to and understand another person and a lot of people don't know that. Similarly ever since I started posting art online I've realized that most people who decide to tell you what you should be doing don't actually understand what you wanted to do in the first place. They just have their own expectations of what they want to see from "an artist". It's better to ignore them most of the time. It's fine for someone to critique if you ask for critiques, but nitpicking without warning and trying to push a random person to fit your own vision of what they should do is discouraging.
I had an art teacher like a finger painting I did in 1st grade. It was on one of those 24x36 papers. I smeared out a block for a face, black eyes, riding a swoosh for a surfboard, a swirly wave and an orange sky. She really liked it and told me so. Then I wanted to write it's title on the paper. "A man," I wrote on the bottom in black Crayon. She then screamed at me for doing so. I don't mean like "hey don't do that, there's a better way," but like I had desecrated her own artwork. I was pretty bothered by it, I'm 41 now and I still remember it. She took the artwork away from me, submitted it some sort of "contest" not sure if it was just the school or county wide and renamed it by putting a card over where I had scribed the real title. She named it "Fox." It won something, I don't remember, because I was more proud of what I had created, not some approval from people I don't know or care about.
This reminded me why I stopped writing. I had assignment to write story called "my first step on another planet". I written story about character experiences on another planet and on rocket she flied ending with dialouge where story name was said. I liked this story and how creative I used title I had to work with. I was proud and felt creative. I got lowest possible score becouse "key" was writing in 1st person becouse of world "my" in title. They didn't specified that - we were given only title. I was lectured that I shouldn't "try hard" to be unique. By literature teacher. I just Google this topic and... I found key. It told "it can be written in 1st or 3rd person, have to be consistent". My teacher was wrong. It was state "trying" exam so this score didn't harmed my final grade, but... It harmed something way more important. And I even was "inside" stupid exam key.
You stopped writing because your teacher was a dipshit? Really, if that's true you were going to fail sooner or later regardless of what your teacher said to you. What are you going to do when you are about to publish your book and you're proud of it but then the publisher says it's dog shit and declines? Why should their input have anything to do with what you want to do?
@@CARMENRodriguez-ch7sd it just associated writing with trauma. Think about it once more: teacher saying to depressed kid, in class full of bullies, that this kid shouldn't "try hard" to be unique, creative, that this kid is stupid and should understand "simple assignment". Also, bullies using that teacher words later didn't helped - they seen that I was hurt and they used it. Everything that happened that day just killed my ability to feel happy, to express myself by writing fiction. It just hurts. I may or may not give up on writing - but I wouldn't be vomiting from stress at thought on this activity. In another hand: adult critiquing another adult work. My drawing and painting was mixed with mud many times - and I am still doing it and enjoying it. It still gives me joy. And those were way worse words than my teacher's. Those two kinds of situations cannot be compared. Child's psyche and adult's psyche aren't the same. Teacher saying to kid that they shouldn't be creative is just something that cannot be excused by anything.
I wouldn't have assumed to use 1st person either. Also "don't try hard to be unique" sounds like the exact opposite of what you should do in writing. 😭 I probably would've failed this too.
I just love listening to you, the way you speak, the timbre of your voice, the heart and soul of your delivery. I had similar experience in high school English class. we would read a book then do a report on it. I would write what I got out of it. the teacher would return it with red marks all over it, "THIS IS NOT WHAT THE AUTHOR WANTED YOU TO GET OUT OF IT", my response was " this is what I got out of it." fell on deaf ears. I managed to pass her class.
lol - that totally makes me think of a joke that the late Ken Robinson told during his Ted Talk .. A little girl is drawing in class. The teacher approaches her and asks "what are you drawing?" The little girl replies "I'm drawing god" The teacher says "but how can you draw god, nobody knows what he looks like?" To which the girl replies "they will in a minute"
@@AdamDuffArt LOL i fucking luv this , thank you =] , what an amazing quote/joke , holy shit , literally profound af and yet so pithy , im in awe right now srsly , going to be carrying and sharing this for awhile
@@iceprism367 like yeah, it's useful to know the author's intent if they made it known, but so much of art is personal. Let people take what is meaningful to them out of it. locking them into one thing and discouraging personal connection is one surefire way to ruin someone's appreciation for art.
I had a digital art professor that once took out my drawing tablet from a computer in his classroom. In front of the other students. Because, I struggled with Illustrator and he wanted to be an a**hole about it. That guy eventually left (or, he got kicked out by the Board.) However, people like that still exist. Empathy (or the lack of it) does show to other people. So, remember to be nice and play nice with other people.
@@done.6191 Nope. He yanked out my digital drawing tablet out of the classroom computer. I had the tablet with me during the remainder of the class. He didn't do that again though.
There is often real truth to the saying "those who can't, teach". I've heard endless stories of some petty asshole teacher fucking up their students for years, because they got a high out of it at the moment.
I think an important issue you should think about and talk about is the devaluation of art. Now with the internet and all kinds of services pushed on us in all forms of directions, where everything is amalgamated and condenced, tons of art accumilated. An image available with a click of a button or thrown in our faces through a live service, a game or app on the phone. Tons of art, all kinds of old and new art pieces available condensed to folders and digital pixels, information without the threads, the understanding, where it came from, who made it, the process, what it took to get there and what an achievement it is, it´s place in culture, history, our world. All of the threads and connections are removed and it becomes just another piece among many many others in a hollow digital world of nothingness, layers upon layers without the threads and attachment to history and it´s importance. At every turn art is cheapened and devaulued because of the process and handling, even through the views and rules that are imposed and forced upon us. Everything and all taken for granted just because they see it as ordinary, something that is EVERYWHERE and just as available and plenty as air or water. That is where we are now and where we are headed even further and further. It is the wrong perception, a lie and illusion, thanks to the industrialisation, the use of internet and online services in all forms, libraries and pages upon pages on the internet where images are stored, people take it all for granted and it is loosing it´s value. This is something i been paying attention to for a very long time and what i see is how art and artist are effected by it, how people are changing because of it, the issue is growing and growing, it is real, based on patterns i have been studying for years. Art is loosing it´s value, people take art for granted, it is just a consumable like everything else, there is always more and plenty of it, but that is not true, it is a skewed perception, it is an illusion and one day it can all be gone. There are more issues within this that contributes to it, big corporations, policy, politics and ideology plays a part in it all, and it is all having consequences on art and the life of an artist, because it smothers and kills the natural environment for art and an artist in our cultur. I wanted to express this better, i am usually a very good writer but i am losing my energy and i am getting tired, so even though i did not express it as good i usually do i hope you get the core issue and that you see that it is true, and that it is a big issue that should be taken seriously, it needs to be seen and understood. Art is taken for granted, the artists are taken for granted, humans are taken for granted and it all has it´s consequences!
Brilliantly said! While not all people will adopt this ill consumerist mindset, unfortunetly many will (and even are already!). I'm not sure if anything can be done, besides teaching new artists the way art is supposed to be?
I very much understand what you're saying. Many people tend to forget that these "products" that we consume had to be created by an artist who sat down and did the work, but because the internet, media, etc. have monetized and industrialized said products, the soul of the work is diminished. Instead we are left with many artists who feel like a cog in a machine, instead of a unique individual with a creative mind. It seems that the further we go with corporate cookie cutter approaches like this, the more homogenized everything becomes, until eventually, all creativity disappears. I think the internet and this post-modern society has stifled creativity tremendously and something needs to be done to get humanity back on track to another renaissance, or else I fear we may face extinction... no exaggeration.
@@flamegod7 Well put, that is exactly part of what i am saying, however i think this whole thing is an even bigger problem and there are more branches to it. I do not see much of anyway out of it, we are constantly pushed and ushered in this direction. The only thing i can say is that each individual artist has to make a difference on their own and refuse to bow down and be a part of the very system that destroys them, we have to stand our ground even when there is no food on the table. The truth needs to be known and understood, we need to speak it, we need to show it, we need to bring it to attention whenever we can, even if we do not see ourself being seen or heard. Thank you for your reply and comment.
just like architecture and drafting too, i see alot of my industry job being send to India or Bulgaria/Romania, clients are getting used to designs being fast, low cost, and on demand. they are interjecting more and more of their bad ideas into design. i really feel like we are losing control. the dynamic is more like Glided Aristocrats and 1800 factory workers than a creative endeavor
That story of the student of yours hit hard, i've been the type of person to love splash art for a long time, but then I started liking different styles... I would feel guilty about it thinking that my future was to be ruined since i had no clear job goal, so i never let myself explore what i wanted. My fire slowly got burned out, and i got a huge at block for around 4 months, i lost a lot of fundamental skill since my head wasn't in the game, my flame got snuffed out and i couldn't even find pieces of art i liked. I started panicking and speed learning fundamentals, none of the information stayed and the amount of stress that bore down broke me into tears at a family gathering. My brother told me: what made you good at art in the first place, it wasn't worry, what made you really good at the violin, even when you use to not give a shit about it. you just practiced and didn't worry. If you know that speeding through lessons don't stick, then stop them, and instead focus on one thing until it sticks down, for example, practice smth very specific for a week, the important thing is consistency, not those 5 hours of grind where your just half assing it and just want everything to be finished. My love of art slowly came back and i started finding what i loved again, I'm going step by step and learning, Health comes before skill. i still have stress, this was pretty recent so art is still liked to idea of stress, but it's slowly chipping away, and that's good.
You've just explained to me why having been an animator for ten years and now trying to enter the world of illustration I'm finding it so hard. I've been a chameleon for so long I have no idea how to be me. But I'm trying. It's TERRIFYING, and it's hard but I'm trying, every day.
Adam, you are truly speaking my mind! I am currently applying for art uni and inside your portfolio you have to show who you are and something that always bothered me was how quick the professors go through the artworks. Of course they have hundreds of paintings to look at, but its so heartbreaking, because how are they supposed to truly listen when they only take a split second to look at your art? Its like starting a conversation and turning away after a few words. I dont even want to start talking about the horrible wording they use in the "portfolio counseling" sessions. Usually its a bunch of interested people coming together and sharing their art to the professors before applying (for constructive criticism) and the last time the professor started calling my art childish (this art was specifically made for children) and to others he just straight up said that their art is "horrible" and they have no chance at studying at the uni. He did not even take 10 seconds to look at one artwork, he just scrolled through. Im glad there are still artists and teachers out there who respect others, not like my current experiences. Wish you all the best Adam, greetings from Germany
I'm glad this message is out there! I've struggled with expectations of the industry myself and didn't walk my artistic journey before I became a mother and don't have the time. But I've also learned that life is not over after your twenties and I can appreciate the journey on its own, without expectations of the destination. I would like to add tough, that it's not only the industry that's in the way of the artistic journey. The way art is presented online nowadays with social media creates an environment that does the same. Accomplished artists often stagnate at a certain style due to the demands of regular output and satisfying expectations, and seem to stop making the journey. Novices on the other hand, without proper guidance, see what is out there and can't help but imitate the kind of work that is already being appreciated. Going on your own authentic artistic journey is often too scary and lonely, and it's hard to get the necessary encouragement in this environment. The resources to encourage this seem to be getting less and less, myself having had a very disappointing and discouraging experience with education.
That's why i really love the internet, despite its flaws. I was very lucky to find a group of artists online that were all pushing each other to improve, encouraging each other, giving feedback, and encouraging innovation. I know not everyone can have this, but sometimes, you find beautiful people who leave an indelible mark on you. best of luck on your own journey!
There used to be figurine painting workshops in the town I grew up in. The figurines were all from molds, but you could choose colours patterns and stuff all yourself. The people doing the workshop would usually do some detail work like eyes or noses for kids or adults who didn't feel secure enough with a brush for that. That was fine. But that one time, when I was like 6 or 7 I got a figurine of a cat and wanted to paint it like our recently passed family cat, to preserve her memory. She was a black cat with white socks and a white muzzle. Simple enough. I did all that and it only needed the nose and eyes done to be finished. But the lady who did the workshop that time just took a big brush and drybrushed more white into the face without asking me. It shattered me and I never wanted to go to those workshops again. So, if I'm asked to give feedback I always ask if a redline or a paintover is something they want. Or if I should stick to verbal/writting critiques. Digital redlines and paintovers are less permanent, but it's a base level of respect to ask.
Well this was a fortuitous TH-cam recommendation. I started in comics, and illustration, then migrated to video games in the 90s. I have hit burnout a few times, but what always helped were two things: A group of artists to just hang out with, and personal projects to work on. A bunch of us “Industry Professionals”, would gather on Wednesdays, eat Pizza, and share sketchbooks. We encouraged each other’s personal projects (zines and mini comics were things back then). The personal projects were just that, personal. Looking at them, the harder the crunch, the more sketchy or unfinished they became. Still they continued, because that was how you learn new approaches, and techniques. Years later when disability took me out of the job market, I decided I wanted to learn to paint. I got back into Pathfinder and D&D, and the painted illustrations in those books inspired me. I tried it and finishes maybe four paintings. Feeling like I had missed the point or two, it took too long and I just didn’t get a consistent technique. Lacking formal instruction may have been the problem, and TH-cam tutorials were all over the board. My normal B/W sketching was boring, and a large commission in classic comic book style, convinced me I no longer had the energy to do comics any more, especially with the quality I demanded from myself. I decidedI needed som new, downloaded Blender, and decided to learn that. I haven’t been this energized in a long while. I think if one is feeling stale, do a personal project in a new medium far from the one you are working in. New challenges inspire new thinking. As for AI, it’s a tool, and view it as such , even if it resembles the fabled “make art button”, our supervisors joked about back in the 90s. Yes it can make art, but rarely has it been that good. (Hands and eyes,as well as bad perspective).. Thank you for the talk.
You know there are lots of days I'm scared of doing art as im extremely hard on myself for messing up or making a mistake. In fact I'm terrified of failing at it, yet I love art, and being able to express my emotions through it. It's hard for me to express myself as I don't like to talk much, but it's nice to hear from another artist that it's ok to be you and to be yourself which I forget a lot. Thank you for reminding me of what it means to be an artist. It means a lot to feel like my art is valuable in its own way and truly special as its mine
those who generate things with AI never aim for that feeling in the first place. It's like buying things from a shop instead of making it yourself from scratch
@@sapphireblue5799 When you get an quick idea in your head, why not use an AI to generate several images of it? Especially if you're going to forget about it tommorow? That's one of the appeals of AI.
One time my art teacher tells us to make self portrait. She knows me and that I'm nether particularly talented nor did i care that much so she comes to me and says : ,,We all know you aren't good ,just apply yourself ". Not wanting her to have the last laugh i spend 5 days ever hour i had after i had come back from school into making that portrait. It was by far the most proudest achievement and even today i look at it and think: ,,man ,this is good". So i show her the portrait during art class the next week and she turns to me and says: ,,This isn't how it's supposed to be " - Tf do you mean teach , you told me:"Apply yourself ". I literally applied myself in the way i saw fit and was called off for it . Ffs . I totally get the message in this video about self expression.
Hi Adam. In regards to your comments on the art culture becoming manufactured, I feel its too late. If you look back to the 90's, it was the last decade of free artistic expression. Every form of music was being celebrated, created and expressed. Artists pushed boundaries from music, art, games and so many new and exciting things were created. Then the 2000's came and its been dying ever since. Music is completely manufactured and manipulated, large game companies release the same recycled rubbish. Everything is rushed, low quality and repetitive. I don't watch tv or movies now or play the "popular" games. All rubbish. However, I have noticed small changes. Independent developers are trying to do things their way against corporation interests. Even you, with your course and art, you're a huge inspiration to me. Anthony Jones got me back into art and your talks inspire me to continue. Little things lead to big changes. We just need more. I dream of a day Disney and Hollywood go to far (which they are) and collapse under their own greed and independent developers see a niche' and quality for art, movies and music (among other things) explode to greatness again. Otherwise, we're all heading to a dystopia which is very, very scary.
Every time you post a video I am preparing napkins because I know it will unleash some inner doubts and traumas. At this point you are more like a therapist for me, not just another art youtuber. I thank you deeply
The reason why I became a freelance artist who delves into refining my own styles, is because I was simply gaslighted for more than a decade by many people (without ill means), close people and also art seniors, who only saw one single direction and one single style that would benefit their specific industry and preached that everything was about speed, productivity speed, speed with consistency, high quality + speed, technique speed, organization speed, adaption speed, demand fulfilling speed. Me, a disorientated artist with a handicap (drawing arm and hand disabled since birth) felt overwhelmed by all those pressuring signals around me and one day after years of moving hand over hand from one internship to another, I got tired of my mistreated eternal art assembly-line work and decided to jump in at the deep end as independent illustrator. And while it is still an ever-lasting existential struggle, I still considered it my best choice of my life mentally, since I met great people - loyal clients, art mutuals and fans alike - who weren't focused on my handicap or its "potential risks of efficiency and lack of working speed "for once, but rather appreciated my craft and style. It felt encouraging and life-reassuring that people find joy in the stuff I do and who said that they like my style. A style that could only flourish just over the last few years when I started my freelance career in earnest. I decided to not hold back with the style I loved anymore as I used to, I decided to give 200% to refine my skills, after many years of trying "to adapt" and only feeling behind in the stuff the mainstream industry was looking for and where already many life-long professionals already filled in the places, while I was also feeling constantly distracted and held back from drawing things that made fun and where I really felt like I was good in it - and I truly wished I would have reached this conclusion much sooner. That it wasn't actually about holding back my strengths or things I'm passionate about, but to find a visual language and artistic identity that make it shines through in the best way. There are more facets to this long still on-going journey and not every aspect of my long search for the right path was something bad or a waste. I even think that without all the experience, I wouldn't have been able to connect the necessary dots to see and identify my own qualities now. There might have been a time, where I dreamed of becoming a concept artist in the videogame industry, but it was a hard pill for me to swallow that my mindset, my workflow and my physical ability (and limitations), and my personal art style "my brain was coded for", weren't suited for this specific industry, and that it was ok. Never say never, but for now I truly don't see my place there for mentioned reasons and my own artistic values that go in a rather opposite direction. I accepted about myself that I'm not "fast enough" and stopped to kick myself for it. I started to filter and sort my advices from my environment and messengers more actively, being able to reflect who said what and with what kind of background and experience (Had a former roommate, a well-paid IT engineer who has a generally good heart but also had a lack of empathy and constantly told me that my art had no future and a "secured" job in a big company like his would be the only right way and that I wouldn't have tried it hard enough to find that one suitable job for me within the last decade, at some expenses of my mental health and self-confidence.) I am still grateful for all the different views and insight from other people in a weird way, because it also gives me a good understanding how many non-artists tend to think about artists, for instance. All in all, it is an endless journey where you are often challenged to reflect about your life and art values constantly again and again, be it because of a new technological game changer that turned the art field upside down or because you made further progress as an artist and as a human being with more life experience and knowledge with every new bonds and connections, and after every passing year full of developments and changes.
The problem with the 'industry' thing... is that if you want to find solid livable success you won't have to worry about on a daily basis... you have to give up on being an artist and become an asset crafter. The industry does not need more opinions. It does not need more people trying to express themselves... It has too many already. It has dozens of people on every project all trying to conform the project to their own voice... and that never makes a good product. Its not that the concept artists aren't needed...its that brute force artistic asset creation is what it needs most. It needs people who don't have anything to say, or at least people who want to say what everyone else already wants to. Being an artist has always been basically identical to being poor... unless you were willing to compromise your voice and supplant it with someone else's. Opinions and voices are everywhere and for the most part, people just want to _escape_ them. I think the reason you have to give up the artistic mindset to be a stably employed asset creator, is because your job in that effect, is to give someone else the _ability_ to speak. I think that's what AI will be. I don't think there is that much value in any sort of divide between people who have natural talent and the ability to express themselves.... and people who want to express themselves just as much or more, but don't the ability to. The AI may never be able to fully make the exact thing you have in your head, but it might be able to get you closer than you can. And speaking as a person who has always been an artist and has always strived to get that one last bit out of his head... that last nagging detail that just... isn't right.. not because of how its supposed to be... but because its not what I intend it to be... Its not... ME YET. As someone who has developed many artistic skills and various tricks to make things work... I can't help but see the AI as... a form of liberation from the struggle of constant failure. HAving the ability to select a box around a detail and ask the machine to give me 500 new variations and ideas on this one detail (something one of the AIs already does)... it just sounds so... freeing. I don't know what I want that one hand or cuff to be... but I know what I don't want it to be. I know when I see it that it isn't my vision. But my ability to create variations is... limited... and so is my time and my patience. I will gladly take a hundred generated opinions that are both skillful and style matching to my own work... over 5 hours of discontent that ultimately results in my severing of the proverbial ear and burning the canvas. But moreover... imagine... all of the people who have as much inspiration as I do... as you do.... but don't have any of the ability. Imagine them... being able to do that same thing and eventually, for the first time ever, say "yeah, like _that!_" or "Well, maybe more like this one." and they can keep drilling down and regenerating little by little, until its good enough. Because that's all an artist can ever hope for... its not... correct. Its never going to be what you actually wanted... but you can sometimes, only sometimes, get a _good enough._ I think that AI may eventually replace factory art asset craftsmen. Just like automation is already replacing most manual labor. And that is dangerous... but its also inevitable. The possibility for the technology came to exist, there's no way to stop it now, short of our own extinction. You can't put the idea back in the head once its out. But we should instead of worrying about how its going to affect our ability to be borderline-not-technically slave labor for wages... we should be looking ahead to see what new opportunities the consequences of this new technology afford us. Because there will be some. The bespoke hand will never go out of fashion. Concept artists will always have as much of a chance as they do now. Which is to say not much and with extremely stiff competition... but the need for people to just fill an empty void will go down. But lets be fair, their work was never appreciated. Its not there to be appreciated, its there to fill a gap. The AI won't really change that, but it might actually allow gap fillers... to be more expressive. They'll be able to churn out hundreds of pieces, and choose the ones they like most to submit to fill those gaps... instead of working insanely hard for hours on a single piece or two, and then being rejected anyway. Art is as much about iteration of ideas as it is about trying to create new ideas. Maybe, no probably, more so. AI offers iteration, at low personal cost. We know what isn't our expression, better than what is. And I'd argue for many of us... its not about how we achieve it. The journey of brush strokes don't matter to us... the idea does. The picture we want to see, is what we care about... not what our hands do. I feel like that opinion is too often derided in the art community... the notion that some how, the labor is more important than the intent. That's how this artist feels. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the fact that I love the computer sciences as much as the artistic expression of myself and think of them the same way is giving me somehow an invalid opinion. Maybe. Maybe such a thing exists. Maybe I'm the first to ever have a truly completely invalid and without any talking merit opinion. I certainly don't believe I am, but who ever would?
I really like your take on this, and I agree. (except for me, I also love the process of art. It feels nice. but that's just me.) AI has the amazing potential to free us from drudgery. But we also have to find a way to make sure we all succeed, despite lower demand. We as artists and as society just need to work hard to make sure it happens this way! And I believe we can do it!
There is a clear distinction between " art" and "game art", or just any other applicational art professions. Why bother comparing traditional art with those that are currently applied in the industry? In art, your drawings are the final products. In applicational art, your drawings are merely the means to get to the final products. Games and industrial arts are user-oriented. Art is creator-oriented. Thats common sense. What is there to be threatened about? If you want to empress your own style, nobody in the world is forbidding you to try, but most likely you have to do that alone or you have to go miles to convince a group of people to make a game based on yourself. You cannot just draw one or a few picture and expect people to buy the final product just because it has your style in it. If you are lucky, it might work, but historically games have never relied on individual artistic styles. The most memorable designs in game have been made by technical decisions, not artistic ones. If you want to bring your individuality to the industries, try making products using your own money. You are totally allowed to do it, just like all the musicians you talked about. You can jsut stay at home and draw what you like. Once in a while companies might notice you and want to apply your style into their games. How likely it would happen? Can ALL your students do that? I am teaching game art in Uni and I am very sure nobody wants to discourage individual voices. We encourage it but at the same time, we want everyone to be a teamworker, thats a nature of what we are doing. Its such a childish thing to say that "artist" in the game industry are not artistic enough. Like saying architects are not artistic enough. Like saying web designers are not artistic enough. They are artistic, but they don't flaunt their drawings. They show off their final products. To be in the game industry regardless of your position, you have to learn the first thing that your ideas don't mean shit. Only "working ideas" are valuable and to find those ideas, a tons others must be made and rejected.
I appreciate how at 4:52 you called that woman who painting over your art “the bitch” because when you first told the story at the beginning I literally screamed at the screen, “Bitch!”
@@Ubreakable-lr2dk But it would be great if the market for digital portrait art were bigger from not having cameras today, considering how many people want to post their faces online there would be a huge demand for portrait artists compared to our current reality
@@Ubreakable-lr2dk Cameras aren't the same thing. How many times must you brainless lot be told this? *The A.I is actively exploiting the copyrighted work of artists in order to replace them, and the companies are advertising as such.* They are training the machines off of indiscriminately collected works without compensation to the people that made them, in order to eventually let them machines run completely self-contained.
@@BlissfulBasilisk not at all. these people are actually robots. they fail to get the point and to understand that their idiotic analogies make no sense. it's like talking with someone who is schizophrenic or has the mental fortitude of a child
Something I always make sure to do is to only give critique when asked and within the boundaries of what the person was asking for, otherwise, I look for things I like about the artwork.
This video helped me accept my art, and appreciate the progress I was making in my work, no matter the speed. It also lifted the weight of not being able to continue on a piece I had made a mistake on while making. I’m a bit late, but thank you for that Bonus horrible art teacher story: In primary school, we had a a few art teachers. Most of them were pretty nice, but one was infamous for being impatient and ‘heartless.’ In my sixth grade at that school, I had earned a reputation for being a good artist since a lot of the work we had outside of art class still let me draw. That teacher sent out another teacher to go around asking the oldest classes who were the best artists in that grade (since that school only taught up to 6th, they were looking for the oldest kids). We were supposed to meet up in one of the art rooms every Monday for something. I was excited to show off my artwork and see what the other kids made, but I was SORELY disappointed when I found out that we were just printers for that teacher who wanted to paint over some old boards with other kids’ designs on them. She didn’t let us add any flair whatsoever, just clean up whatever was on that board. I remember on one of them, we had to paint a tree. She was showing us how to do the roots and branches. When she went to supervise the other kids, I started painting similar to her technique, but adding what I thought was a more natural flow to the branches since the way she taught us looked very stiff and un-branch-like. When she came back, she wiped off some of my paint and just did it herself. Needless to say I was very upset and confused and I did not return for those ‘art meetings’
I once had a classmate spit on my drawing when I was nine or ten and I got really upset about it. Later in life, I've had teachers draw over my drawings, but that has always been in an academic sense, as you said, and I learned a lot from it
It really hit home for me when you talk about the importance of being yourself, listening (and being heard) and that nobody can express yourself for you. Are we expressing ourselves or are we expressing what we think we should be? Is it your voice or something/someone from the past that's been internalized? There's such a clear difference in the energy and mood between play, practice and producing art. I used to confuse them and think that there is only producing, everything has to be perfect from the start (even if it's a completely new subject or medium which is ofc unrealistic). This was likely brought on by constant comparison, competition and the expectations of being called talented. Always being in the mindset of producing and perfection is tiring, boring and terrible if you want to improve. It took years to get out of it (still fall back a bit sometimes when I'm not careful) but a few things that has helped me was 🌻to follow my passion 🌻 make drawing time cozy 🌻try to separate play and practice from producing 🌻 spend more time having fun and trying stuff out. A big part for me is also 🌻self care - noticing a clear relationship between the physical and mental well being and the creative output quality. It's a bit complex regarding how to handle peoples feedback/opinions imho, especially if you're a people pleaser... but if you can step back and look at your artwork without emotional attachment it will be easier to also look at the responses more objectively as well. Is it actual constructive feedback or just an opinion? Would changing my art piece in that way improve it in my own opinion? Do I want to change it? Self inquiry to find out how different stages of your art piece affects how you receive feedback and why. If I receive feedback when I've completed and image I generally try to respect that it's finished and start on a fresh one with the new knowledge in mind.This keeps me from getting stuck in an image (polishing a turd if you will) and instead allows to capture progress, get more paintings done and get that boost of power that comes from recognizing your own progress. Thanks for another activating talk Adam!
Well said. After Kim Jung Gi passed away and people started making AI art in his style, I quickly realized that it isnt the AI that's making them upset; its the idea of gatekeeping non-artists from creating art. Completely ego-driven behavior since they placed their self-worth and their ability to draw and receive attention. Now that they feel that their special talent isn't so special they're throwing fits and conniptions. They're not using this opportunity to market themselves or to grow. Too blind, deaf, and dumb to see the bigger picture. I've made similar points on my thoughts about AI on my channel.
I loved listening to you and your thoughts on individual expression. It took me back to a teacher I had decades ago when still in school. I'm not talented artistically, but loved my art class because my teacher was eager to allow us to try whatever we wanted, express what we wanted, and she only stepped in if we had questions. The first day of class she asked me to draw something, anything, she didn't care. I did, and she said, "OK, it looks like you can come up with an idea and show it on the paper, so what do you want to do now?" I explored painting, simple pencil sketching, and abstract work with inks, just because they seemed interesting to me. She was always supportive of the students attempts and never said anything negative about the work, only suggestions on what we might want to try the next time to improve a skill. I left that class and went on to focus heavily on math and science, but I see that class as massively important to teaching creativity and expression and allowing for experimentation, potential failure, and incremental refinement that have been exceedingly important lessons for any field of study. It's great to know there are other artists teaching out there and sharing their ideas with the world. Your contributions go so far beyond just art.
actually reminds me of when i was in high school - one day we had an assignment to make a color wheel - almost everyone did it one certain way that the teacher had shown them but i did it a different way - i got 2 pieces of paper and put a red, blue and green blob of paint in a triangle and put the other piece of paper on top of it and twisted it 360 degrees - made 2 beautiful circles of rainbow colors - was so proud of my work thinking outside the box and seeing it actually come to fruition - turned it in and teacher was not happy - ended up sending me to the office for wasting art supplies
Your talk really reconfirmed my thoughts on AI and the current state of the industry. I really feel AI only removes art jobs in so far as it removes jobs where art fundamentals are used as a skill. I feel this truly scares alot of the industry because alot of people are seeing that while they may have immense skill they arn't artists in the essence that they know how to use those skills to express themselves nor the passion required to emotionally rip ones self apart to create actual art that truly expresses your voice.
Smart artists will use the AI as a tool and the trash ones who charge $3/hour for a 100 hour painting are the tools who dug themselves into a hole by learning to be printing machines.
As an artist I always feel it should speak and mean something to you or attempt to say something you can't put together in words and as long as you're satisfied with it like truly satisfied you should be happy with it and if the world appreciates it you're welcome or thank you
There is certainly a conversation to be had about how the industry treats the artists, and how to bring morecreativity to the process, because this will benefit everyone from the artists to the prople who enjoy the product of their colaborative work.
I decided to take my art seriously this year and I've been getting into more art communities, but I always get this elitist mentality from more experienced artists that keep telling me that i cant learn from youtube artists, or "X" artist is bad don't follow them, or this method is bad... or recently i started taking some advice from feng zhu for beginners to just draw, and i was exited to tell them that I'm going to try out feng zhu's advice on sketching but they instantly shut my excitement down and say "no that's too much don't do" even though feng is an experienced teacher and I would assume he knows what he's talking about. Its so frustrating trying to be friends with these artists, I just wanted to learn, but they are so judgemental they continuously say that they don't like having art friends because art friends only talk about art... and i just think to myself well yeah... if art is your passion whats wrong with talking about your passion? also they continuously talk bad about artists who draw things they don't like... Its starting to feel draining being around these people and i almost feel like i should rather ditch them and learn on my own because being around all this negativity from these professional local artists isn't very motivating.
@@UniDeathRaven yeah, ive always thought i needed to get around better artists to get feedback because i cant draw alone in my room forever... but being part of an art community felt more draining than i anticipated, also experienced artists are a lot more negative than i assumed also
@@asyrel6900 Ye, professional artists tend to be egoistic. They believe if they know how to draw, they took god by the balls. Honestly, avoid other artists, for your own mental sake. Also avoid any art schools... waste of money and time. Take your time year by year, don't hurry, you have entire life. Remember, art can be done at any age without losing any mastery unlike other professions.
@@UniDeathRaven I wouldnt say, "avoid other artists", tbh i think is more of "avoid the wrong people". The people that just puts you down and such, ya know the drill. Im an artist and im constantly trying to share good things to other artist and it all just fall onto deaf ears. I like to improve and get better at my art. However i can agree art schools arent... that great, but it was probably my art school that sucked, there must be good ones, good teacher, good people. But as there are good, there are also many more that are bad and selfish and egoistic. And its just.. sad to see that people is that way.
Yeah be careful of these people. For artists, these people see art as a competition and all other artists as people they need to tear down to succeed. They’ll hide job opportunities and refuse to share things they’ve learned or share good resources. They only take. Most professional artists I know are collaborative and willing to share though.
You have trully touched everyone with this brother. "People are used to not being heard". The knowing resonates at a fundemental level and that is heartbreaking. Time to recharge humanity on why you are here
This is a large part of why, despite being "gifted" in art as a child, I never became a professional commercial artist. My purpose in creating art, the meaning and motivation, was to express something visually that I couldn't express in words. A concept, a character or story moment, an emotion, or inner experience that was bursting to get out and be rendered in a form that others could experience in the same intensity that I felt it. Shackling myself to an industry and repurposing (or altering) the technical craft I had honed over the years would have amounted to gutting everything about art that bore my identity and prostituting the remainder. Art was an escape for me. Being a cog in a machine is bad enough; to transform art into just another part of that machine would erase me entirely. So for me, art is "just a hobby." It's the only way it can remain mine.
Your opening truly struck a chord with me, and reminded me of a very similar to an experience in childhood that really stuck with me. I am relearning art very late in life... and rediscovering I always had the passion for it... my earliest days in school, An authority figure, a teacher taking my drawing during "drawing time" discarded this very childish drawing of a tornado I drew with such enthusiasm, and excitement - and when the teacher received it, she told me to "Draw something nicer." and proceeded to throw away that drawing I made. I even remember exactly what colors I used, for it and how excited it made me feel when I finished to present it to the teacher... and just like that, it was just thrown away. I remember It hurt me a lot, and I felt awful afterwards, like there was no point to it. Now that I am much older... Part of me wants to revisit that vivid imagery I had as a kid, and embrace that imaginative side with my newfound vigor and more practiced hand. Your words have been profoundly impactful, in reorienting and reminding me of the important lessons I should have always been paying attention to in my life. Until I listened to your words, there was a lot of anxiety lingering within me around the topic of AI. Thank you for reminding me of what the essence of art really is. I didn't realize how much I needed to hear these words.
a few days ago I had a lil breakdown because I'm in the wrong "fandom" and my followers usually don't really give a damn about my actual art. Most of them just follow me for the occasional muscle art I'm drawing. And I posted my concerns on twitter (my first mistake I know). While the majority was really nice and tried to help me with tips on how to do things better, there was one individual that said something that honestly did hurt. They said that as soon as you post art, it's just for the consumers. Basically you just draw for an audience. Also telling me that my art is boring and will never get anywhere unless I draw something that tickles the primary se*ual instincts. I'm someone who expresses their feelings, basically my only way of actually expressing them, through art. Even tho I had like two people reach out to me and saying that this isn't the case, it still stuck with me. Just because it was something I was seeing happening for a long time. Do you have any tips on how to get out of this situation? I want to make art that people would remember and eventually work for wizards of the coast too. But Idk this whole situation kinda destroyed my faith because I've been stuck for like 10 years now. Haven't had one single success and I'm getting just really depressed over this. Your videos keep my mood up tho, that's for sure. Sorry for my bad english, greetings from germany. Also my artstation is Cayy (Cain Zander) in case you want to look at it. ;w ;
My two scents. It's complete BS when people say you have to draw something s3xual or fanart for it to be entertaining. I don't draw smut nor fanart because it doesn't interest me at all, yet I do consider myself relatively succesful as in I draw what I want (my own characters) and I have a decent number of people enjoying what I do on Instagram (16.4k at this moment). What you're talking about is what I call the "fanart trap". You will gain a following or supporters of whatever you draw. That said, it is quicker to grow if you draw for an already existing fan base aka fanart, but you just have to accept that people are there for the fanart. It's like going to McDonalds for a burger and then you're served pizza; you're not there for pizza, even if the pizza is Michelin Star quality. If you do fanart that's what people stay for and expect. My advice is to draw what you want to draw. Accept that a bunch of your followers will fall away or be upset. What is most important is that you draw what makes YOU happy and then you'll find the people who are also deriving joy from your personal art. It can be done, but you have to do it unapologetically. Don't cater to something you don't want to do. Don't listen to the nay-sayers or the haters. I checked your Artstation and you're really good! Start drawing what makes you happy. It's never too late. :)
Hey, i just wanna say I had a similar situation at one point, and while I'm still mentally working through it it's really nice to know I'm not alone and other folks are out there. Your art is also awesome, it's really nice to see
@@LunaCheraArt The fanart trap. You described it perfectly. Yeah I guess I just have to stop drawing fanart and such for a bit. 16 k is a lot! I got 63 on insta xD Yeah I should really just draw what I want and hope that something good will come of it. If all fails tho there is still the fun with the craft left. :3 thanks for your comment! Hope you'll have a beautiful december and rest of november!
Not an artist here , but as an enjoyer of art I've definitely felt those corporate shackles around so many works - be it in video games , music or other forms of art and entertainment. It's really sad to see so many artists being pigeonholed in such ways that end up restricting them ... the irony of it all is infuriating. Great talk, hope the ripple gets bigger and I'll try to help by talking about this!
Wow that story about your teacher is insane! I remember it was standard protocol in my chinese art teacher’s studio for him to walk around and paint/draw over the kids’ works on how to “do it correctly”. He’d also compare me (middle school age) with another student “9 months younger but draws better”. I never heard of the “You never touch an student’s work” until now; it’s probably also an asian/traditional studio thing. Thank you for this video!
This is the reason why I was kicked out of art class in high school. As a lifetime artist and someone who has always appreciated art in many different forms. So when I saw the teacher walk up to a student who did not love art as I do, but took the class as an elective and as I see it, a possible chance for them to find the love that art can provide. But the teacher walked up to a student while they were working on their final project for the class and began pointing out flaws their form and the way of creating their piece and began to draw on the person art piece. This is when I told the teacher to shutup. As I was clear with what I said, she wanted to make sure she heard correctly and asked what I said. I stood up and repeated the words I said. I was immediately asked to leave the class and as such took an F on my final art piece, which did not matter based on my grades in the class. But I would have failed the class and been expelled from school if I had to, to stand up for someone trying their best to express themselves in art and wanting to just enjoy it. That teacher could have, as I do not know who that was I stood up for, ruined that persons chance to find love in art and go on to live a life full of it. Just because they were unable to teacher without seeing respect for students who were not artist, to her standard. Fuck anyone who puts another down for being creative and wanting to just enjoy the simple pleasure of being creative.
I know, right???? People seem to think that it's only worth it to practice a craft or learn a skill if you can be THE BEST at it, or somehow make money from it. People used to sing a lot more, you know. It used to just be a thing people did when they wanted to. And that still happens today, but I see a lot more people just refusing to sing because they can't be Ariana Grande. I just think it's so sad. Creativity and joy are part of human nature! You should be allowed to do things that aren't "perfect" if they make you happy.
There are alot of people who see art and other forms of creative expression as something that does not matter, unless it's making them money or making them feel like they are better than someone else and can be used to . So many live their lives for money, fame, and dreams of what someone else has. Art is life! Singing, dancing, and creative expressions of color and form! It's what makes life worth living and IMO the best way for people to share, connect, and be together.... and from what I can tell, that's true meaning and purpose of life.
I've been a creative artist in my own business, making what I have wanted to make for the last 15 odd years. Recently I tried out an "industry job". Not only did they not pay anywhere near enough, they did not respect a single second of my experience and I was not treated as if I know a single thing about the work that's been my career for 15 years. I was treated as a "resource" to throw menial work at. They would ask for my input, and then promptly ignore it. Needless to say, I got out of that quick smart. I will stick to doing what I know.
The invention of gunpowder did not rob the knight of his ability to fight wars. It just changed ballistics. Art is the same as with all profession. Art means skill in old language. Only true artists will remain. Those who stay in their old ways, or to become luddites never loved their craft but only themselves seen in that craft. Selfish is what they are.
This video hits right home, and for me it was my artistically educated father who consistently tried to teach me by roasting everything I did and painting over anything he could lay his hands on. The reason I still draw is probably because my 7 year old self was a spiteful dipshit
I'm sorry you had to go through that, but good on you for continuing to draw. In my case my mother doesn't know how to paint but my father signed me up for a weekly art class when I was 9 because he saw I liked drawing and wanted me to pursue what I liked. My mother didn't care at what I made in the beginning (we would pick something from magazine clippings and such to draw and did 3 pieces in each medium paster->pencil->charcoal->watercolor etc) when the time came to do oil paintings my mother was like "you're going to paint what I like since I'm paying for your materials". Then when I finished them she made me adjust parts she didn't like at home. Then there was a contest to draw orchids, I wasn't really interested in joining but she's the type of person that if I didn't go along with what she wanted she'd make life a living hell until she decided to get over it. So I made the damn orchids in pastel and when she came home she was like "you did a shit job on purpose! your going to fix this right now in front of me". That made me feel like shit because I thought I had done a good job and was happy with how it looked. I went to submit my drawing but didn't stay for the event because I was afraid she'd yell at me or smack me for not getting 1,2 or 3rd place. When I went to pick up my piece I had gotten first place and after that I just didn't feel like drawing or sharing my drawings for a long time after. I did eventually get back into it but still don't like sharing what I do to family, her in particular, and I sometimes feel like I let my father down(he left and I don't blame him) because I gave up on it for so long...he really just wanted me to pursue what I liked doing.
@@yeoldegrayCat I feel really sorry for you, I’d probably hate doing any art if this happened to me. I hated doing art for quite some time after I had my first (and last lol) paid commission. It gave me too much stress. Now I’m trying to get back to it by drawing purely what I like and I only show it to few people.
@@RealPillowBfdi That's a good idea. I've heard several artists say you should paint for yourself first and foremost especially with social media these days and people wanting to appeal to the masses and getting likes. I've done a few commissions in the past few years and thankfully they were pretty chill and patient people.
One day recently I realized I spent my life fighting a war with myself - battling my inner voices influenced by family, and then outer voices from the world. That is a never-ending battle. When I recognized what I was doing, I could stop doing it. Peace. Art.
I chose to not be a professional artist because I saw that happening in college. I kept it for myself, as a thing I did for me. I program for the job, I draw and do art and write for me.
You are spot on, from one art teacher to another... from someone who has wasted his artistic life in the 'industry' you are so completely right about this.
That story reminds of a recent incident where a security guard drew a smiley face on an artwork at the gallery where he was working because he felt like the painting (which had a blank face) was incomplete. That security guard was fired for his obvious and blatant failure to carry out his assigned duties and prosecuted for defacing property. Some people just don't have the mental faculties to understand what boundaries are.
Thank you! Fantastic! I support everything you touched upon. I have met my heroes in my life and those are two Art teachers, that like you, opened my inner world without judgment. I have been drawing and painting since I have been 3 years old. Later in my twenties I got a degree, BFA in Graphic Design and Illustration, and started working in top Design firms and Advertising. I could have made a career in these professions, but I opted out the moment I started due to this corporate approach, where money was the success and your individual expression was either ridiculed or discarded. I vowed to myself then that this callous environment will never stop me from pursuing that expression within me that made me grow and explore that inner voice of mine that needed to draw and paint and immerse myself as an Artist. As an older man I have never stopped. I have had a few art shows, I have sold give or take over 200 works of mine to different individuals, created two graphic novels, comix, ( never published ) etc., nothing to write home about BUT more importantly looking back at my work and its journey I can tell you I feel enriched, because I never gave up on what is me. No money or success in the world can replace that!! My work enabled me to counter the challenges in Life that we all face. It helped me to not only listen to myself, but others, it helped me go through the dark times on my journey and express that which I had no words for and more so it has helped me to this day to become a better person. I never conformed. My Nature never allowed me to and I am so grateful I listened to myself! I encourage all Artists out there, like this gentleman, to BE You! Thank you!
I would like to complement on the issue of "Concept". Without justifying whether it is correct or not. In my company I'm the lead artist, and most of the characters are created through my concepts. Two things are quite common here on my team: - the other artists should do the concepts in my style and not theirs. - The templates will be modified several times during the process by different people on my team and finally approved by me. Isn't what they do art in the same way but in a collaborative way? For me Yes is art, colaborative and social art with comercial direction.
as a artist i always love seeing other people's work. and i feel so touched hear "you are the reason i started drawing". when they would ask what they should draw i would say what ever comes to your mind, anything that makes you feel closure or happiness. they would would ask does it matter how it looks. i would say it only matters to you. what makes you happy. i would look at bob ross. how he would just paint. i learned so much from him more then the "teachers" that told me that it needs to look a way they want. i told them it wouldn't be my art then. and kept drawing what i wanted. i was very defensive of my work. it did make a stagnation but some people loved my work because its some thing they never seen before, that every drawing i made had a story, a deep meaning of my struggles, and my joy. i started exploring other methods and learning how to improve but the messages remained the same. my definition of art isnt what is copied from the media but what is copied from your heart. i feel the same way about music. if all the music artists were the same none would be special.
I remember working on a newspaper for our class in 4th grade. I really wanted to do the comic section but so did someone else. Instead of allowing us to work together on it, the teacher had us both make our own comic only to pick one for the newspaper, leaving me left out of the newspaper entirely. I was so upset because I had no part in the newspaper, and some other sections were worked on by multiple students. I felt targeted.
This stifling of creativity and individuality has been intentional. Constant pressures kids are being raised under to fit in, stay in the lines, be more like x. The more uniform the public, the easier to control and the fewer surprises to deal with. I'm glad you're speaking against it. Everyone should in their own way. Humanity needs individuality and you explained many of the reasons at the end of your video. We're not meant to be one of many identical cogs in a machine. We're meant to be human, with all of the intricacies and differences contained in that. The topic you discuss is within every area right now, not only art and I do hope people wake up to just how stifling, harmful and limiting it is.
Biggest Threat in My Experience Asian Family / Asian Parents / Asian Wife It’s Always a Taboo When you say “I Want to be an Artist” and They Always say “Be a Doctor, Lawyer or Engineer Instead”
Thank you for this, I feel like you put into words what I've felt as an artist for a long time. I completely stopped doing art for many years, feeling that it was pointless to "compete" in the industry, but art somehow has a way of being so enjoyable, that I ended up making my own kind of Virtual Reality videos that rely on full body tracking, dance, and community. I play "virtual concerts" and just let myself have fun, and art just comes naturally again. If I don't feel like making videos, I don't! Giving myself permission to just be myself made me much healthier as a person and an artist. Thanks again, subscribed and liked!
Very insightful. I've experienced this so much working in the games industry. Theres a lot of pressure of stamping down your creative abilities to keep things in line for production.
Thank you for expressing something I didn't know how to put into words. Since this AI debate got heated, I've been having this unformulated idea like "should artists be commodifying their work/catering to the corporatized market anyway?". I didn't know how to say this without sounding like I thought artists should just accept AI undercutting their value proposition.
I kind of fell out of love with art for a couple of years because of this factory mindset. At the time I thought the only place for my art would be concept art for video games and feng zhu was the primary voice teaching that on youtube. He is a a good teacher but eventually this kind of mindset of "you need to hit this standard to make it, what are you providing for the company, this is super competitive" just became kind of grating and I opted to do other things. Only to eventually I find out I still wanted to do art along, just not the kind of art I was convinced was the only viable option.
I am very happy someone else is talking about this in an even better and more experienced manner. I have been noticing that what are called artists nowadays are treated like someone working on the treadmill, which of course naturally progressed into replacing them with an automated machine - because that is what many became. Another thing is how art is seen in society compared to how it should be. Nowadays I feel like even though art and design is more present around us, still, it is the very small amount of people who appreciate it. For most people it is just another swipe on instagram, or just another banner on the street, or another level dressing in a game. I am not sure if this issue is easy to fix, as it requires people to be widely educated in many different fields beside art in order to appreciate high level art. And finally, the whole copyright theft that happened, again, just a natural progression of things, as for most of the time people take in art for free, not even considering the artist's effort and way of living in order to produce that artowork, so of course it came to the degree where people take it as 'who cares about what they have to say'. Not approving it at all, however, trying to see how it came to be this way. As you don't see anyone going and taking car patents being stolen around. I do believe that this hardship happening now will push artists to revisit the way they approach things, as being stuck in the gaming grinder for 6 years did make me rethink my career during covid and made me take another direction which has more meaning in it than just stamping out generic images. Thanks for the great video and content in general!
I really like that u alwas leave the last view minutes from a video just with music, thats a nice way to give us time to think on our own about the topic
I always had no confidence in my drawings, because my younger brother always got praised at home for his drawing when he was like 6-7 and I never did, so I assumed that my drawings just sucked, and later one, though I went to an art focused school, I avoided drawing in favor of other mediums, despite actually being able to draw just fine, and enjoying drawing for my own purposes. But even now, though I sell my own art, it's not drawn art, it's sculpture, because I still have those voices of not good enough
You made some many value truths in your talk... I had a similar experience in the 6th grade, and making a ceramic leaf. The teacher came over and said it was decorative and it needed to do something. She took her thumb and push in on the three raised parts of the undulating form, and said "there, now it's an ash tray" - as if I was being schooled that art is not expression but factory work. I was horrified. I think she sensed that, and when another kid was unable to make something, she took my piece and scratched his name into it, and told me to make another one. I think that was my first PTSD moment in life. Fast forward - this week I finished an animated story about a young art that is trapped in a commercial art department, and is so stressed he can't finish his personal art. He starts believing the propaganda you talk about, having to be like everyone else, fit in, don't stand out - he even laments "no one wants to see my art." The reel I made is for our week 9 submission for a storytelling/animation class taught by Pixar artists. They told us to make our protagonist relatable, then to beat them up as much as we could, before they go on a journey and arrive in Act 3 for the payoff... My protagonist has to face challenges and then meets his muse, where she helps him coalesce his life experiences into a new confidence, and focus on his art, his expression. I won't give away the payoff in Act 3, but there are messages in my reel from things I have learned. Artists connect with people by releasing their art into the wild. The word failure is no longer used, or thought. Instead, deep learning replaces failure, the universe is slowing you down, making you humble enough to be open to learn more so you can grow and have more experience/wisdom... You mentioned animation and how everyone has to basically act as "one hand" to make a consistent looking story. I flipped the script several times... 1) I used my images and "environmentals" as antagonists. Like the protagonist, they art styles evolve and change. 2) Animation classically has been about animation art in front of a camera. Instead of creation motion/action in front of the camera, I created a matte image that is over 16,000 wide and I move the "camera" over the image. It creates one of the final scenes that flows, and is an opposite approach to the first Act that is done with pencil sketches and a cold/stark look. And - I used AI software to generate many research efforts for my scenes, in many art styles (using my training in art history, and my time studying in Europe). AI is a set of tools, like an air brush is a tool. In the hands of a storyteller, telling a story drawn from life experience, AI becomes just another tool. Like cars and so many other things in modern life, tools can be used for good, or for bad. As you said, there's a lot more for us to discuss about AI, but that's for another discussion. Thank you for saying all this, I see myself in many of the things you said, and I appreciate you articulating this for teachers, and for all of us. I just started my TH-cam channel this week, and posted Birth Day, my first animation and hope to gain some feedback for my next projects.
That is so upsetting. What a horrible person. I had a sixth grade teacher that stole work from her students. She had a huge cabinet with years of student’s work. She would show the work as examples as she described what to do on the assignment. I thought is was odd that she had so many examples of peoples past work. I did the assignment and really liked what I had done. My father had artistic talent and I was excited to show him what I had done. When it came time to give the projects back to the students, she could not ‘find’ mine. She said that it was lost. It was then that I realized that she had been stealing all those works from students all those years, keeping the ones that she liked. I was enraged and called her out very loudly. I was sent to the principal, but held my ground. I never got my drawing back and distrusted adults after this.
Love you too sir :) , I generally ramp up the speed of videos to get more info quickly but this time I listened it all on pace with you, thank you so much.
Growing up in the late 50’s I had a children’s art teacher do the same thing to me and the tree I drew for her class. What I learned was that I was not very good at art, which later turned out not to be true. The years of practice I lost after being invalidated by this random young woman are many.
@@coins_png in a way. Thanks for replying. Music, colors and shapes, these were my very first ways to talk to the world, but language also became strong in grade school. None of which registered with education or employers in the mid 60’s. I graduated music school, learned graphic design on the job by a fluke and finally made a living. After retirement and a health calamity, I tried a good art school/studio nearby, mostly to make up for the fact that I did all my design digitally. Paint and pencil were on the bucket list. It turned out the art teacher in my 1st Grade was wrong.
Great video and a lot of wisdom in it. Thank you. I'm struck by how many of us relying have our own stories like your of having someone knock our creativity down, especially as children. I passionately believe we are all artists or creatives more broadly - or could be, but that most of us have it kicked out of us as children, and it harms us deeply. Often those of who do get through that and go on to be creatives as adults are the ones most able to get up and carry on after we have been kicked. People have shared their stories, so here is mine. As a young teen I was seriously into Surrealist art, and especially taken by the use of flat horizon lines in very stark dreamlike scenes. My art teacher hated it though - told me there are no flat horizons in life (he had clearly never been to Kansas or looked out over the sea on a still calm day) and he proceeded to draw hills on my lonely largely empty picture - then he added a figure, then the figures friend and so on until he had taken a picture that was me expressing my feelings with his drawings. It hurt. I'm bloody minded though and have struggled on with my art ever since. In regard AI I feel some artists understandable fears of the negatives are drowning out the potential positives. I've been investing time and effort in learning how to get AI to work with my own vision and art, and also in the online AI community, and what I have been seeing is a lot of wounded artists using it. People who had the creativity kicked out of them as a child, people who feel they are not good enough to be 'real artists', as well as artists who have not been able to create anything in years because of a disability, or because they found themselves getting by in life doing a job that left no space or energy to create. For the first time in my life, and much to my surprise, I have found myself in a community of people who are mostly keen to learn explore, discover, collaborate and innovate together. I see people saying its really encouraging them to learn to draw and paint (its encouraging me to do traditional drawing again after years of digital) because so many of us are discovering AI doesn't have to be an end in itself - we are importing drawings and paintings and photographs we have done into it to experiment with them, we are learning how to get these AIs to respond to our our vision and intent instead of just accepting what we get, or enjoying simply playing with it and discovering what it inspires us to do as we get surprised by what we get. Some of us are using the results as a basis for doing a physical painting. Sure there are also those who are not like this, but many in the community are putting time and effort into encouraging others to explore and experiment and push past the media hype and scare stories to see what we, as creative beings, can do with this new technology, and how we can do it in ways that are respectful and considerate of each other, ad of our fellow artists who are not using AI or who really dislike it. I'm old enough to have experienced the impact of digital art on traditional, and the friction between both camps then (having moved from oil painting to digital collage) so I've seen the friction before and felt it first hand - but I have never seen the sort of community I'm starting to see forming in some circles of AI. I genuinely believe that there is a real potential for AI to heal the creative hurts many of us have experienced and to excite people about art (and art history as well) in all its forms. It could be a disaster - if we let it be one. Or we could shape it into an opportunity. Yes the negatives are there. Those of us who are experienced artists using AI know that and we feel the same worries, but I also see the possibilities and want to find a healthy balance.
Fuckin beautiful narrative dude! To say that A.I. is a threat to artists is like saying digital image editors (like Photoshop or the one you are using here) is a threat to painters, yet look at what an incredible work of art you created here, and I still know incredible real world painters. It's new and not well understood yet, which always inevitably scares the masses, but to say that it's a threat is to have no creative imagination, which at its heart is anti-art. Thanks for making this video!
The way you described the problem this student of yours have really really resonated with me. I've reach high job position but I cannot think myself as an artist at all... I don't fell I have a voice.. Thank you for sharing your wisdom., talking about subjects that are too often eluded..
When I was in kindergarten my class was given a something to color with crayons. It was some kind of anthropomorphic mouse in christmas themed clothing, it was a white piece of paper with black outlines. There were certain parts that I did not wish to color in because my artistic expression dictated that those areas should be white, so there should be no point in coloring them in. My teacher and another student said the whole thing needs to be colored, to which I said no it should not. My teacher demanded for me to color those sections again and I told them they needed to be white. She got angry and then put a white crayon in my hand hand and commanded me to "color" the blank sections white with the white crayon. Having no choice other than to keep being yelled at I "colored" the white sections with a white crayon, making the picture look stupid and ugly, there were ugly shades of white where there shouldn't have been. The teacher I had is as exactly you described at 4:44 "a bitch." A person who should have been considered in high regard and authority, the "teacher" just did this to be spiteful, controlling and a shit teacher. A young child doesn't have the confidence or conviction to protest a wrong and which taught me early that the people in authority are not always good people nor make appropriate decisions. Who cares if a child wants to not color a part of a piece of art because they believe it to look better? Fuck that stupid cunt, hope she died/dies alone and miserable. She's not even worth a "You taught me an important lesson about life" trope, she's just a moronic control freak who likes to boss around children.
I feel the companies treat artists like machines not as humans with emotions ...they even expect concept artist to know coding sometimes...recently an employer was saying that everyone should know coding even if they are not into it , becuz its the future ...seems they are against design and creativity . btwn I am not saying game-devs are bad or anything , I have nothing them or their skills , but not everyone can do coding , OR they dont enjoy it .
Even without AI, whatever a given artist produces will get lost in the sheer volume of content available today. Barrier to entry & distribution has gone to zero, for everyone.
I'm suffering my whole life because of not being a creative person (or being a person at all, i don't have a personality, and i thought i can get one by become a cool artist, but in the end i've only destroyed myself even harder to the point that i'm living as amoeba or vegetable, no, that's can't even be called "living", existing, yes), i can only copying other's works mindlessly, i was born with brain trauma and few areas in my brain doesn't functioning at all, and this saddens me a lot, because i really love arts in every forms, it's one of the best thing humanity ever made, i played many indie-games, listened to hundreds of very talented and wonderful musicians, saw a lot of astounishing and mindblowing anime, but... no matter what i just can't make myself do anything, i'm feeling myself like "i don't want to die, but i don't want to live this hell", only what i want is peace, but i can't find it while i'm alive, by both reason, while i'm alive my mind will never give me a chance to peacefully be in the moment, without endless agony and fear of death, of "HOW SHOULD I SURVIVE IN THIS WORLD IF I CAN'T DO ANYTHING AT ALL?!??", and the fact of our mortality also ruined any ever possible motivation for me to do anything at all (what the point of reaching any of it, if i will be dead after and this all would perish for me as well as my self).
I'm sorry that you are experiencing this. To tell you that I think you have potential would only come off as me not understanding you for not being in your place, because you don't seem to truly believe it. What you're talking about when mentioning that you can only copy other's works mindlessly sounds like a matter of skill... Maybe you feel angered whenever you're not able to make something similar/emulate the works of others which would cause you to have low self-esteem, and after a while of failing to meet those expectations you just don't see the point of illustrating anything because perfectionism has driven you far from what you really want. You seem to take the end result as more "worthy" than the journey... I'm just going off on a limb here... If you are unable to change any fixation or at least regulate it... I would recommend writing in a journal anytime a thought bothers or interests you, but then again I can't speak for anyone other than myself.
@@TaikenUchida41 You missing the point, i'm suffering exactly because my work are similar to someone, not the opposite, i want to be myself, but i don't know and understand what is my self, i don't know and understand what i ever want from this life, and i don't have a problems with self-esteem, the problem lies in that i can't survive in this world just by loving myself and doing only enjoyable and good things, which i want to do, this world is impossible to live happily in, endless cycle of surviving until your death, cursed capitalistic dystopian world
@@TaikenUchida41 By your message I understood that you know something about this stuff, so I kindly ask you to read this. I started doimg art a bit less than a year ago and by this time I've learned quite a bunch of things. I can draw human figures, I can make a shaded portrait of a person and it looks almost as the ref. Basically I've got some skills. I mostly can draw from reference tho. But I'm bot really trying to create my own art, I'm not trying visualize things I've been imagening cool. The last time I've tried, I stuck on the thing I couldn't been able to draw, so I went back to studying with a thought to come back, once I'm able to draw the thing. I didn't really have a strong desire to go and create and I was terrified by this thought. There was a moment of a little break through recently. I got an assignment to illustrate a character from a book as baby, adult and an old person. Being an artist, I decided not to look for random pics in the internet but actually draw it. So I gathered a bunch of refs and started drawing. I took a pose from one ref, took a bunch of haircuts, digested and made my own. And then I've been drawing details from myself or inspired by the references This thing was very enjoyable to do, ngl. Much better than only doing studies. But I'm still anxious about that fear to go and create. Sorry for texting a damn essay but I'f you've read till this point, I ask you for an opinion, or an advice.
@@CamelliaFlingert Is it that you believe you have no personality simply because it just so happens that your work is similar to someone else's despite truly liking it? If anything, we can't really make something out of nothing, if originality is part of what troubles you. I think it's something that comes over time as you keep taking things that interest you until eventually you end up making something that reflects yourself very much, even if you're not fully aware of how you work as an individual. If you really do care about your work, you will find a way to live off of it, I'm sure. Try to think of what made you go on that journey in the first place. If you have already spent years doing nothing but "copying" other's works to fit into their agendas and that stepping away from this would be a financial problem... yes, that is difficult (´≖ _ ≖｀) It's like you're not allowed to follow your interests. So... what will you do about it?
@@jony_tough I'm only self-taught with a bit of perspective feedback from one person, so I don't think I can give you an advice that would do you justice... but since you ask me for an opinion, I think it's most important to know or at least figure out what kind of vision you have. It could be a goal or just something that drives you into this journey regardless of what the end result might be, whether it's long-term or mid-term. I like to dedicate some time in areas that I feel need to be worked on (to reach my vision) while having separate sessions every day where I just experiment with whatever I have, to create what comes to my mind. So far, I'm 5 1/2 years into illustration. I would say that progress has been slow and steady (sometimes noticing jumps in growth) and I probably went through a couple of plateaus (periods of no progress), but I would take this with a grain of salt if I were you because without a teacher, you could be developing bad habits that will need to be removed when it comes to the basics. In my opinion, it's better to do something even if it falls short of your expectations-to dedicate time to create something as best you can no matter how small it is or if you get stuck while making it. You may hate how the results turn out to be, but to religiously stick to those recreational sessions might help you get over the fear. (Sorry, I don't know how many times someone probably told you this.) May I ask what kind of vision you have?
That was a relive to finaly hear a grounded and kind opinion and view on art. i notice it myself in my art study classes, that there is a huge lack of empathy. Or the artistic gate keeping, is so huge. this really hepled me to reflect again.
I like the thumbnail's slight implication that the worst threat to artists is not AI but rather an unfathomable eldritch horror
Sameeeeeeeeeee😂
it eats artists
a fate most modern artists deserve
FINALLY!
ahahaha
Just as big a threat are people that are close to artists and *actively discourage the artistic journey.* People that have no understanding of creativity and how it ties to the souls of human beings. They see the world in rote repetitions of "Work, results, paycheck". Short-term results and instant gratification. If you're not making hundreds of thousands of dollars, you're not "successful."
it's so saddening. We are delighted by soulful pieces of art, yet society stifles its creation with the threat of money. It makes me grateful for small indie studios and individuals that are willing to break off from the green.
That happen to me I can relate to this.
One of the main reasons i keep creating art but stop pursuing art career. I cannot stand the thought that one day my art would be reduced to nothing but a mere product for money grabbing. That is not art, that's turning human into money making products, down to the deepest aspect of life that makes us human in the first place.
Thats sounds like my daily studio job (deep sigh) in my workplace art is treated as a commodity product and i cant stand it! Going to send this video message to my Art "Directors"..
This.
The problem with artistic industry is not the tools, but the ever existing bad faith actors or fake artists forging someone elses work through IP theft. AI is not the root of the problem, lying is. My stress dealing against AI is not its ability, but its lack of security measures against misuse and accelerating it.
Art will always be a medium of communication, and AI is just like a phone. People do not buy telephone just for the machine. People buy telephone to talk with other people - its output. Same goes to AI Drawing. Phone was hated due to its telemarketers, but it's always been useful even today. People can opt to not use telephone, and that's fine.
The main thing we should focus on now, is that the same hated telemarketers now will drown proper and great artists to obscurity even more and poison the well.
I stopped posting my art online years ago because I could see the internet was having an impact on what I chose to draw. Many of my friends have the same problem of judging themselves and industrializing their art process until it's not even fun for them anymore, and in some cases judging others and repeating whatever nonsense they heard that made them miserable.
I think it's important to spend some time alone drawing without reason or purpose, or if your mind can't handle that at least try drawing and painting things you uniquely appreciate or things that make you smile or laugh. Loosen up a little and express your joy and love. If your mind is too logical and must industrialize your art, at least turn it into a process that leaves you feeling better than when you started, instead of bitter, frustrated or exhausted. Measure your progress by how big your smile is, not by money, likes or approval from others.
Spoken like a true artist
Kudo's
Even though i think that true definition of art is self expression, i also think that self expression is meant for the masses and not for the damp attic to sit there and rot. Internet affecting and nudging you towards the specific things to draw isn't as much of a problem as often people make it out to be, it's art at its finest - as long as the subject you're nudged into to draw is somewhat interesting. Look at the game development, it's the medium where 24/7 viewer pushes the artist to change things and artist pushes back - this back and forth creates masterpieces like skyrim. If your horror art gets 10 likes and your pinup girl art gets 30 likes, that means 20 more people like your pinup art, now whether u want 20 more likes or no - that's up to you, however if you can't control yourself and automatically draw whatever gets more likes then you're becoming electronic arts and then yeah quitting internet might be healthy choice, however not a right one for art, especially in this day and age. Learning how to control your "like addiction" would be much smarter thing to do instead of throwing away the best promotional scene u have as an artist.
@@strangelanders5209 it's not as simple as people liking some art, the algorithms have been punishing artists for sculpting nudity(?? literally what), not posting every day/ literally doing professional lvls of media management, showing your art to less followers, pushing pictures down to prioritize videos etc. And when you don't do all those things, your engagement drops to almost zero, when before you could post in chill schedule and just pictures and even relatively small artists could get discovered because they were pushed up by the algorithm. It's very hard to keep posting in sustainable manner and not turn into art making machine, just trying to stay afloat
this is gold❤❤❤❤❤❤
absolutely gorgeous piece of advice. especially for those with logical minds. thank you :)
Lol you just unlocked a core memory of my mom secretly redrawing my homework assignments in kindergarten. She would redraw the whole thing, fix my proportion, make sure all the colour were correct and even forge my writing so it looks like I wrote my name (my mom stole my identity 💀). When I saw my art journal assignment on the wall as "best in class" I realize these are my mom's drawings and writing. She would brag about how I was top of my class. Even at 4 I'm like ok but you just talking about yourself though
That’s so messed up
@kkcat WOW! That's really sad... imagine being in your 20's, 30's, 40's and competing against Kindergarteners.🙄 Talk about being a BIG FISH in a small pond... then again, sounds like something a Creative Director, Art Director or Editor would probably do (with the exception of forgery)... but doing a paint over or making heavy text rewrites. Imagine all the other Kindergarteners, if they were competitive at all, they must have been freaking out over how much better your art was than theirs. Did you disclose that your mom did it? Or just shrug?
It's important that we have many opportunities to fail and improve our own skills by learning from our own failures and documenting them as we grow as artists. Old work becomes a catalog of artistic growth - when a parent or teacher overreaches, we may fail to learn the right lessons from the experience and it skews our ideas of what our own capabilities truly are.
I'm very curious what Kindergarteners of the future will be creating - imagine them using AI Art Generators... I wonder what unrestricted creativity would look like for a small child, especially if text-to-speech gets implemented. Maybe all the art would be depictions of cartoon characters they watch, some monsters, candy... and poop and fart jokes. 💩🤣
All the other kids must have felt shitty comparing themselves to a fabricated version of you, not knowing that an adult made the drawings.
That's insanely narcissistic lol.
Sounds like your mom loves you so much that she doesn’t wanna see you fail, its narcissistic that you see it that way and to those that counter my argument, you either would do the same or you don’t want children but one thing is clear, you don’t deserve to breed for the future generations sake
The reason why I stopped showing my family my art is because they always nitpicked them for very stupid reasons. "Why does this girl have horns? Remove it! It makes her look scary." "Why is your robot's head so small? Make it bigger!" "The teeth on your monster makes it look very scary, remove it." And I really hated it when everytime I showed my art to my mother, she'd show this fucked up cringe and then try to fake a smile after she realized she's caught. I always think that they wanted me to only make art that suit their and everyone's tastes rather than making what I'm proud of.
But on the bright side, the internet seems a little more open minded on what I do and its what keeps me going on
I'm sorry to hear this. My family does something similar but only if it's realistic art - they give critique and advice because they know what real life looks like. Maybe your family wants to support you but they don't know when they should and how so it looks like they want you to do unhealthy things to your art? Do not lose hope
as did I - sometimes it was constructive advice, sometimes it was just micromanaging someone else's vision - there's only one that has value to you.
I went through the same thing. Even now, whenever I draw and ppl take a peak they're always like "Who's that?? Why is her hair blue? Who's that? Why did you create these siblings? Why is he being nice to his little sister, that's so unrealistic. Oh, you draw anime 🙄 your realistic drawings are too cartoony"
It never ends so I never show my stuff to anyone
...but you gotta admit...some things people draw are pretty cringy xD
Especially when they're in that phase where they try to appear edgy and always shoves their "dark art" into people's faces preaching proudly that they drew that during a "mental breakdown"
Sorry, met too many artists like that. Then they'd get competitive on who suffers the most and ya their art sometimes is cringy 😬
Even my art from highschool is extremely cringey cuz I was in the emo phase so my drawing of back then were so stupid 😂 it screamed try hard
Many people forget or don't realize that art is purely subjective. There is no right way of how it should be done, we all have different tastes which have been built up through past experiences. Taste is like a dictionary and the wider variety of art you're familiar with, the more words you understand. It makes it especially annoying when someone arrogantly thinks they know taste when they really just lack it
@@secretname2670 its weird lol. Like, everyone around me, especially those in the workplace seem to value 'realistic' stuff over the more creative stuff. I feel like, they have this 'fantasy for kids' mentality and condition themselves not to like creative stuff.
Everytime I show people my art of monsters, robots, anime girls and cutsey stuff they be like, 'can you draw me' like mf do you only like your own face and nothing else i shown you?
And yeah, i get that my family want the best for me. I think that their biggest flaw is that they have the 'I know what's best for you' attitude rather than the 'do your best' attitude. Like, they really be: 'you should do caricacture, it makes money in this country', 'you should do that popular thing on instagram/tiktok', 'you should make more art for so and so fandom'. Rarely do I hear a 'you should continue to do what you like' from them. As much as I love them a lot, I think I can never convince them to like what I love to draw. For now, I think their love for me alone is great enough support for my art.
It is immensely depressing to be in the situation you described. I entered the fashion industry right out of college and landed a job as a graphic artist developing artwork for children's clothing. Within a year of starting I made some moves that landed me a significantly high 5 figure salary in my early 20's. The money was a great motivator for me in the beginning. I did that for 10 years and around the 5 year mark I became extremely depressed, I developed anxiety disorder and I was a borderline alcoholic. I realized I hated what I was doing. My work consisted of constantly churning out designs all with very little artistic input on my end. I could do 10 designs a day and have all of them rejected by the sales team. God forbid a design was too "outside the box." My last five years in the industry I spent seeking what I really wanted to do. Having sufficient funds I enrolled in many different courses, 3D art, animation, concept art, modeling, sculpture, painting. Nothing really gave me that feeling I was looking for. It wasn't until I was transfered to a new team at work and met my new manager who saw that I wasn't happy. He one day suggested to me based on my artwork that it'd be cool if I was a tattoo artist. For some reason that stuck in my head and I researched tattoos and how to become a tattoo artist. Shortly after I landed an apprenticeship and the moment I held a tattoo machine in my hand and set the needle on a synthetic piece of skin I lit up. I found the feeling I was looking for. I'm almost in my 10th year as a tattoo artist and I couldn't be happier. After being a machine in a factory I wholeheartedly believe it is not what creatives should strive to be. We all have a unique voice and stifling it literally eats away at you. It's important to be yourself as an artist, your art is your being brought to whatever medium you use and whatever you do should allow you to express yourself to whatever degree you are comfortable with.
What a great story. I think most people are not lucky enough to have 10 years of their life doing something they really enjoy. Or even just slightly enjoy. Life and work is often quite soul crushing. I think our society could do so much better.
@@DirkTeucher I agree! I was very fortunate and I look back and feel a lot of gratitude for the time I spent learning so many things during my time working in the design industry it just wasn't what I was meant to do I guess.
Yeah dude always keep pushing ! dude i wont self promote but i have the same name in insta im a modelist / have always been a illustrator , graffiti artist . I just mention the insta so you can see im not playing around !! and well i have this problem there are so many incredible Mecha (robot) models and designs but what sells is gundam and a couple of other flashy ones so lately ive been trying (alongside with a store that has left me put there different gear ) to get people interested of courtse in a very sublime way
congrats!
@@hrisafenio thank you 😁
The biggest reason I've stopped showing anyone my art is because A) people like my mom immediately talk about me selling it and B) I get told it isn't "realistic" enough. If people want realism so bad, why don't they take a photo of the garbage they want and let artists escape from reality a bit?
This is where the fun begins. Play with ai tools. Dont give more than 5 minutes to each work. If people love shiny garbages then give it them shiny garbages.
The "B) point" is relatable for me but replace "realism" with "anime"
Yeh half of my class hates my art only because "iT's nOt aNiMe uwu" like I used to draw on breaks a lot but since they found out I'm drawing they started shitting on my art because of stupid reasons that can't even be counted as "constructive critism"
@@Amy_REDACTED I love how many people, former "professional" art college professors I had included, forgot the difference between real criticism and personal preference/ opinion. Also a big reason why the art world is dying. Just like speech is getting attacked these days , artists are getting attacked for their styles too. Sorry you struggle with this too
Yeah, I love realism, but stylization is just as beautiful, and sometimes even more of a feat to accomplish well.
If they want realism, they can use a damn camera.
Art is taking something metaphysical like emotions and conveying it in a physical medium.
I always loved stylistic art because it often says something about the artist and how they think.
You almost made this old woman cry. I've asked my agent what should I do to update my portfolio, and he said it would be good to have well-known characters on the pages (I'm a comic book artist, with +15 years in the industry). He's not wrong, I know. But I thought to myself "why". Why can't publishers judge an artist's skill level by simply looking at their work? Why do I have to be forced to draw popular characters? I've been creating a variety of art styles to live, and as a result, I was never able to improve my own art style. My solution was creating my own IP, but it's a long road to make it sustainable (aka paying basic bills).
As Mohammad Emad Mostaque, creator of AI Stable Diffusion said: "Artists...,You are a tool" or "Art is Dead Dude". I've been feeling like that my whole life.
You are an awesome teacher and your students are lucky to have you.
my portfolio has my entire process because I understand this need to show only the best, only the most professional and polished but there is my progress, what I want, I gave up making a "professional" portfolio to have a gallery of my progress and pretty much the whole range of styles i love it looks pretty messy but i love it
@@arturoarzatevelasco825 My respects to you and your courage :)
I've been working in the comic book industry (non stop, making a living solely as an artist) for over 15 years and nothing changed. Every time I need to update my portfolio is the same thing. I'm tired, but my family needs my support. Need to endure this until my IP cover the bills completely.
Because is buisness
If a company is well known for certain characters they migth want to know how your style fits their characters and the approval of buyers
@@valentinov901 Yup. I think it'll be my standard answer: "I've been working in the comic book industry (non stop, making a living solely as an artist) for over 15 years and nothing changed. Every time I need to update my portfolio is the same thing. I'm tired". super tired
@@Amelia_PC Honestly its because publishers arn't artists and thus they need a direct comparison honestly sounds like a shit system. Hope your work keeps you going Amelia plus the sheer fact your working on your own IP means your kinda AI proofing your art. AI allows for replication of consistent characters when trained with something like dreambooth. Thats where I feel AI tools will flourish. Individual artists and big studios will be on semi even footing where any artist could train an AI on their style and characters and output panels at extreme speed only limited by their idea and story they've created. Well and honestly you'll probably still need to clean up every panel but the amount of overall time spend once personal skills are trained on the AI and the obviously your own art skills to fine tune I feel AI will create an extremely speed lined way to produce graphic novels and animation. Image animation where you really are done when you have just your key frames.
Imagine if artists were given the freedom to truly thrive. No more worrying about building careers or appealing to sensibilities. No more suffering under this world's overbearing lack of genuine freedom; no more struggling through this shallow state of being that stifles our creative potential. I'll never know a better world. I'll never be able to survive by just making stories, music, games, etc. If I can do anything in this world, I hope I can at least contribute to making it into a place where future people like myself can thrive. All I want for myself is to live humbly and give form to the myriad things in my mind, heart, and soul; in lieu of that, I'll fight for a world where others can have the life I'll never know. Well, anyway, thanks for listening, as it were. ;x
do something else for money and make art in your free time.
@@Narko_Marko Tried that multiple times and it never worked out. Got too many issues in my head and body, I guess. I wouldn't mind at all having a job that also affords me time to compose, but nobody wants me to work.
@@Pensive_Scarlet so what do you do now?
You sell your art or what?
@@Narko_Marko I'm trying to work toward that before I completely run out of what little resources I have left. I will probably just end up on the street dead like most would-be composers unless I can find some patrons or even just occasional donators. I'm pretty sure I have cancer in at least two parts of my body anyway but, you know, it's the US, so I have no way of knowing unless I suddenly get hundreds of thousands of dollars. Kind of hoping whatever it is just eats me alive before I end up homeless, honestly. ;D
@@Pensive_Scarlet idk what to tell you
The bit about “if you can understand an artist and their art, you develop a friendship, and make them happy”
Made me almost cry a little
I struggle a ton with valuing my selfexpression, and get stuck in overly number thinking a lot…
That same assembly line problem applies in loads of fields. A cousin of mine was WAY into cars as a teenager. He bought a hoopty old junker at 15 and spent much of his free time fixing it up so that it was actually a nice car by the time he got his licence. He loved hanging out with his gearhead friends and wrenching on their cars too. It was the one thing he was properly good at and he absolutely loved it, so naturally he went and became an auto mechanic.
After 2 years on the job he was horribly burned out. He'd spend all day patching up unloved car after unloved car, knowing the owners would just continue to neglect them. There were a lot of mind-numbing repetitive procedures and a constant pressure to just get things done faster. And to top it all off his boss was an asshole who wanted to cut every possible corner to maximize profits.
One day he came home from work and plopped down on the couch to space out as usual. Then one of his old friends called him, said he had a problem with his car and asked if he wanted to come over and help. A few years prior he would have jumped at the opportunity to apply his skills, but now he was so tired of wrenching that he declined. That was when he realized that; not only had he landed a job he didn't like, but he had also lost his main hobby.
He tried working at 2 other garages, but kept running into the same soul crushing problems.
Now he's a short haul trucker for a local construction company. It's only tangentially related to his passion, but he is much happier now. In no small part because he got his hobby back.
Its the difference between being a pro and a amateur. A lot of pro work is pretty repetitive-because you need something to work 100% of the time.
I've been practicing and doing art my entire life, and have faced endless gatekeepy art "teachers" telling me, fantasy can't be art, or digital can't be art....you can't be an artist. nothing upsets me more. To the degree that part of my motivation as an artist comes from a place of vengeance. People are now telling me i can't be an artists if i incorporate A.I tools into my work. I feel completely divorced from my "community", can't help but feel they are very invested in keeping things the same, a very elitist and corporate environment where i was never able to fit in in the first place. However, I do realy like your take on it. You strike me as a very thoughtful peson.
humans suck, look at this hell they created. ai and crypto gives us hope
Many, many years ago after listening to my struggles, hopelessness, suffering and the constant torment I was experiencing, a therapist I was seeing at the time looked at me with a very subtle smile full of empathy and said: "You know what...Find people from your own planet." Thank you for this Adam... We may never meet but it feels great to know my planet exists....
This unlocked a core memory for me.
I was 6 years old, first class and in our class, we had colored the clouds blue.
Why?
Because art class was short and coloring the clouds blue was a great time safer because that meant I had both time and space to color _more_ stuff. Our teacher scolded us for coloring the clouds blue. The sky was blue, not the clouds.
That was how it was *supposed* to be.
I hope you understand that I made a lot of blue clouds recently. They represent the *idea* of the sky better than just painting it blue. Just because it is *unrealistic* does not mean it's emotional value is rendered void.
Thank you for taking me back home Adam. I appriciate it.
I used to draw the sun blue, because that's how it looked when I stared into it for too long.
I dont think it's that situation man. I think teacher was assuming you get the clouds wrong and wanted give you advice to improve.
I'm a hobby photographer who hasn't posted anything online in 10 years. Except a photobook for my mom's birthday.
Over time I realized why was doing it. It wasn't for flickr likes or getting featured on 500px. I love photography because of the adventure. It was getting up at 4 in the morning, waiting in the cold for that golden light. Or running after sheep in the Kalahari because I was thrilled with the dust they kicked up. Or sitting under the stars at night waiting for a series of exposures to Finnish up. Strolling by a small stream looking for a composition while the rain drops trickle through the leaves with that fresh smell of wet soil and pine.
It's like two worlds. The photo is a personal expression of myself that I can share with people around me. But the memories and the adventure was mine. Something no AI can give me.
The way you talk about those experiences is very captivating! I love taking my time in a beautiful place to seek out compositions. Good luck and never stop doing it :)
Dear Adam, I had almost the exact same situation as a 7 year old boy in school (Not mentioning that I had a bunch in elementary school). So, we made figures out of paper and they all kinda looked the same because we would all use the same technique of folding, cutting and gluing. But we were given the freedom to decide what faces our figures (or paper puppets) would have (the character overall). I painted Spiderman on it. And since he had wear a mask, I painted him with his mask on (of course). My teacher (she was also a french teacher, how ironic) pointed out the missing facial parts such as the mouth and the nose. I responded that this is Spiderman and he doesn't show his face. And even my classmates came over to confirm that Spiderman wears a mask. Trying to talk about this character with my teacher, unfortunately she still wouldn't understand. Now, she didn't painted over my art, but she found it "strange" enough to go talk with my class teacher. Things went crazy. They had invited my mum to talk about what strange art I do. That I painted people without faces. I had tried to explain to both of my teachers who this character of Spiderman was but they lacked the ability to listen (as you described to be fundamental to empathy) They just knew what looked right to them. And it wasn't the last time I had to deal with something like what I described. I find it horrible how much this still affects me in my early adult years. I very often struggle to accept my own art and literally give up on it every week. My dream is to have an artistic job. Doesn't immediately have to be illustration (though I'd like that very much). Maybe working artistically with kids could the opportunity to give something back.
Anyway. Have a nice day and stay safe. And happy!
wow that really sucks, I'm sorry. If nothing else, it just shows you that sometimes, people are just wrong for no reason. :( I had the worst art teacher in high school. She refused to accept my assignments because she thought my mother was doing them for me (she wasn't) she told me my paintings that conformed to the assignment rules were too small and I had to do extra work, she criticised my techniques telling me I wasn't painting, I was "drawing with paint" (still puzzling over that one) and at the end of high school she gave me a C - barely passing grade even though I did more work, and better than my classmates. Ironically my sister went through her class a few years later and my mother DID do her homework and she got top marks. I think bad art teachers need to collectively get into the bin. I got my revenge though, having made a successful career as a working artist creating what I want to create while she went on to be... a frustrated art teacher. I hope you can get your revenge on your bad art teacher too.
That's hilariously stupid, sorry about those people dude
Usually self sabotage is the biggest threat to anyone who wants to learn a skill in any feild and gets jumpy the second someone who puts no effort in does what they can do in half or little time with zero understanding of the effort that makes the skill satisfying. Instead of panicking - take action and improve, get better, show that your time you invested in your chosen craft was worth all that effort. People do see and know the difference between something with done with skill and appreciate it.
That's sweet. But you do know AI isn't just used to create pretty pictures? It's foundational to CRISPR tech that is (or will) be used to create designer babies. A humanity that is far more intelligent, stronger, beautiful and creative than any normal human being. In our backbreaking strive toward perfection, talent and success we have not turned ourselves into gods but instead replaced ourselves with "gods". I'm not throwing in the towel but I have stopped caring. The future doesn't want or need me and neither do I want to be part of it. Right now this world can burn for all I care.
@@snaphaan5049 So you're throwing in the towel? Okay, fine.
People who compete in "Jumping the highest" or "lifting the heaviest" type events aren't discouraged by the fact that machines have been able to jump (as it were) higher, and certainly lift heavier stuff - neither fans nor athletes care about it because it's not about the actual work done, it's about human achievement. And I usually hate sports as a form of entertainment, but this principle is really powerful- even if we imagine a world where AI can achieve true storytelling and perform actual artistic choices (not merely behave like a copywriter and remix&steal shit from the original datasets), we as humans will care about the creation of our own kin, because that's how we work. That alone will last us centuries.
@@cowbless What humans or humanity are you talking about? This isn't just about machines that's why I specifically mentioned CRISPR tech. You will have little or no use in the coming world where everything is sustained and run by this new designed humanity. As I said, we have started to replace ourselves with something "human" that ill be better, stronger and more intelligent. And also more docile and obedient. I don't hold the same excitement or ecstasy over that prospect like many silicon valley entrepreneurs. The fact is we will end up in a zoo or worse.
@@snaphaan5049 I like you, you seem very intelligent. Do you really think that ordinary normal humanity is done? It's so strange.... I've always imagined different future...but at the same time I can't find any good argument against....
I went from an awe of my favorite artists as to how they could create the impossible to a beginning of understanding their intricacies. I'm still getting there, still working my way up in skill, but I don't fear anymore. I can get better. It's not just straight up impossible.
The best thing about art is getting to make it, something AI can’t offer. Making art changes how your brain works. More people need to have this experience.
The finding yourself again part is the scariest and most amazing thing. Adam you are really a great teacher because your talks and teaching style give people the tools to be more confidently them as an artist. Thanks again for all you do!!!
Well thank you - that means a lot to me to hear :)
Art Dad giving me permission to smoke in a shack in the forest and do art is exactly the kind of lighthearted laugh I needed. Another delightful, insightful video, as always :)
When I was in elementary school my art teacher did something similar to me. She asked us to do a Christmas piece. And I made a fat Santa Claus stuck in a chimney upside down. She told the class that everyone was going on vacation except me for not following the instructions. That I was going to spend all my holidays studying because I had a bad grade on the last day of school. And they all laughed. She was actually making a joke but I didn't know it. In the end I tried to make a quick drawing of Santa with the deeers so that she could approved me and I could pass. Between tears I give her my drawing and I apologized and the bitch told me that it was all a joke. That she was making a joke to me. She hugged me and I started crying. I still remember the feelings of desperation trying to draw something quick between tears and it still annoys me till this day.
what a cuunt. joke my ass, i hate people like that.
Bruh
What's her address 🙂
@@dtm2741 hjahaha she is probably dead by now.
@@dtm2741
Don't. It aint worth it.
I’m an artist, and I was told I shouldn’t pursue art for a lot of my life growing up. That it isn’t a “Real job” by people who have decided for themselves rules on what constitutes a “Real job”, usually labour. I feel this is similar to the people saying online friends aren’t “Real friends” but that’s another topic.
When I was told this, being young, it made me not pursue art for years when growing up, or, try not to, but I’m a naturally very creative person. In fact, my biggest draw to art was, I think of so much all the time, I have a very active mind, characters armour landscapes alien plants strange creatures, just so much, and it annoys me so much when I don’t have the skills to put this on paper for me to keep.
I remember most of them, but, not all, and that’s why it bothers me so much. Not only that, but I would love to show people what I am thinking. What I made.
I’ve become a much better artist in the past few years, and it’s been much more fun actually drawing than I thought it might be many years ago. I feel like this is definitely fitting for me, and if you are reading this as an artist or just a person with an interest in art is seeing this, please don’t let that deter you from exploring. It’s much more special and brilliant than it looks until you start yourself : ) I didn’t expect to feel what I do and I know everyone is different and feelings are subjective but, Try art yourself, regardless of skill level, and you will experience something for yourself, whatever it may be.
I have a very similar mind in that way! People like us are full of stories, we contain whole worlds. It's a beautiful thing, but also sometimes torture if you don't have an outlet for it! I was lucky enough to have people that encouraged me, though. Glad to hear you've found what you love!!!
The thing you said about turning your brain off and truly listening to another person is so true and not only for art.
I swear my mother perceives me as a completely different person than I am because she is never actually listening to my words. Instead she's interpreting anything I say in a way that's easier for her to comprehend from her own mindset and view she built up about me when I was about 5. This is probably pretty common for parents I think. They assume their child must just be an extension of themselves and don't think there could be anything they would have to try to understand because of that.
It takes effort to actually listen to and understand another person and a lot of people don't know that.
Similarly ever since I started posting art online I've realized that most people who decide to tell you what you should be doing don't actually understand what you wanted to do in the first place. They just have their own expectations of what they want to see from "an artist". It's better to ignore them most of the time.
It's fine for someone to critique if you ask for critiques, but nitpicking without warning and trying to push a random person to fit your own vision of what they should do is discouraging.
I had an art teacher like a finger painting I did in 1st grade. It was on one of those 24x36 papers. I smeared out a block for a face, black eyes, riding a swoosh for a surfboard, a swirly wave and an orange sky. She really liked it and told me so. Then I wanted to write it's title on the paper. "A man," I wrote on the bottom in black Crayon. She then screamed at me for doing so. I don't mean like "hey don't do that, there's a better way," but like I had desecrated her own artwork. I was pretty bothered by it, I'm 41 now and I still remember it.
She took the artwork away from me, submitted it some sort of "contest" not sure if it was just the school or county wide and renamed it by putting a card over where I had scribed the real title. She named it "Fox." It won something, I don't remember, because I was more proud of what I had created, not some approval from people I don't know or care about.
This reminded me why I stopped writing. I had assignment to write story called "my first step on another planet". I written story about character experiences on another planet and on rocket she flied ending with dialouge where story name was said. I liked this story and how creative I used title I had to work with. I was proud and felt creative.
I got lowest possible score becouse "key" was writing in 1st person becouse of world "my" in title. They didn't specified that - we were given only title. I was lectured that I shouldn't "try hard" to be unique. By literature teacher.
I just Google this topic and... I found key. It told "it can be written in 1st or 3rd person, have to be consistent". My teacher was wrong. It was state "trying" exam so this score didn't harmed my final grade, but... It harmed something way more important. And I even was "inside" stupid exam key.
You stopped writing because your teacher was a dipshit? Really, if that's true you were going to fail sooner or later regardless of what your teacher said to you. What are you going to do when you are about to publish your book and you're proud of it but then the publisher says it's dog shit and declines? Why should their input have anything to do with what you want to do?
@@CARMENRodriguez-ch7sd it just associated writing with trauma. Think about it once more: teacher saying to depressed kid, in class full of bullies, that this kid shouldn't "try hard" to be unique, creative, that this kid is stupid and should understand "simple assignment". Also, bullies using that teacher words later didn't helped - they seen that I was hurt and they used it.
Everything that happened that day just killed my ability to feel happy, to express myself by writing fiction. It just hurts. I may or may not give up on writing - but I wouldn't be vomiting from stress at thought on this activity.
In another hand: adult critiquing another adult work. My drawing and painting was mixed with mud many times - and I am still doing it and enjoying it. It still gives me joy. And those were way worse words than my teacher's.
Those two kinds of situations cannot be compared. Child's psyche and adult's psyche aren't the same. Teacher saying to kid that they shouldn't be creative is just something that cannot be excused by anything.
I wouldn't have assumed to use 1st person either. Also "don't try hard to be unique" sounds like the exact opposite of what you should do in writing. 😭
I probably would've failed this too.
I just love listening to you, the way you speak, the timbre of your voice, the heart and soul of your delivery.
I had similar experience in high school English class. we would read a book then do a report on it. I would write what I got out of it. the teacher would return it with red marks all over it, "THIS IS NOT WHAT THE AUTHOR WANTED YOU TO GET OUT OF IT", my response was " this is what I got out of it." fell on deaf ears. I managed to pass her class.
lol - that totally makes me think of a joke that the late Ken Robinson told during his Ted Talk ..
A little girl is drawing in class. The teacher approaches her and asks "what are you drawing?"
The little girl replies "I'm drawing god"
The teacher says "but how can you draw god, nobody knows what he looks like?"
To which the girl replies "they will in a minute"
The meaning of art is in the eye of the beholder.
@@AdamDuffArt LOL i fucking luv this , thank you =] , what an amazing quote/joke , holy shit , literally profound af and yet so pithy , im in awe right now srsly , going to be carrying and sharing this for awhile
What is it with English teachers and doing that. It's like they think their interpretation is law must be the author's only intent with the story.
@@iceprism367 like yeah, it's useful to know the author's intent if they made it known, but so much of art is personal. Let people take what is meaningful to them out of it. locking them into one thing and discouraging personal connection is one surefire way to ruin someone's appreciation for art.
I had a digital art professor that once took out my drawing tablet from a computer in his classroom. In front of the other students. Because, I struggled with Illustrator and he wanted to be an a**hole about it.
That guy eventually left (or, he got kicked out by the Board.) However, people like that still exist.
Empathy (or the lack of it) does show to other people. So, remember to be nice and play nice with other people.
Wait.....he took away your input device? That is exceedingly weird.
@@done.6191 Nope. He yanked out my digital drawing tablet out of the classroom computer. I had the tablet with me during the remainder of the class.
He didn't do that again though.
@@creativedoof what a superdick! I can’t fathom his reasoning…”no! You must use a mouse!!!!!!”
@@creativedoof
Exploitation of power. I hate those types of people because that’s my father.
There is often real truth to the saying "those who can't, teach". I've heard endless stories of some petty asshole teacher fucking up their students for years, because they got a high out of it at the moment.
I think an important issue you should think about and talk about is the devaluation of art.
Now with the internet and all kinds of services pushed on us in all forms of directions, where everything is amalgamated and condenced, tons of art accumilated.
An image available with a click of a button or thrown in our faces through a live service, a game or app on the phone. Tons of art, all kinds of old and new art pieces available condensed to folders and digital pixels, information without the threads, the understanding, where it came from, who made it, the process, what it took to get there and what an achievement it is, it´s place in culture, history, our world.
All of the threads and connections are removed and it becomes just another piece among many many others in a hollow digital world of nothingness, layers upon layers without the threads and attachment to history and it´s importance. At every turn art is cheapened and devaulued because of the process and handling, even through the views and rules that are imposed and forced upon us.
Everything and all taken for granted just because they see it as ordinary, something that is EVERYWHERE and just as available and plenty as air or water. That is where we are now and where we are headed even further and further.
It is the wrong perception, a lie and illusion, thanks to the industrialisation, the use of internet and online services in all forms, libraries and pages upon pages on the internet where images are stored, people take it all for granted and it is loosing it´s value.
This is something i been paying attention to for a very long time and what i see is how art and artist are effected by it, how people are changing because of it, the issue is growing and growing, it is real, based on patterns i have been studying for years.
Art is loosing it´s value, people take art for granted, it is just a consumable like everything else, there is always more and plenty of it, but that is not true, it is a skewed perception, it is an illusion and one day it can all be gone.
There are more issues within this that contributes to it, big corporations, policy, politics and ideology plays a part in it all, and it is all having consequences on art and the life of an artist, because it smothers and kills the natural environment for art and an artist in our cultur.
I wanted to express this better, i am usually a very good writer but i am losing my energy and i am getting tired, so even though i did not express it as good i usually do i hope you get the core issue and that you see that it is true, and that it is a big issue that should be taken seriously, it needs to be seen and understood.
Art is taken for granted, the artists are taken for granted, humans are taken for granted and it all has it´s consequences!
Truly wise words pal!
Brilliantly said! While not all people will adopt this ill consumerist mindset, unfortunetly many will (and even are already!). I'm not sure if anything can be done, besides teaching new artists the way art is supposed to be?
I very much understand what you're saying. Many people tend to forget that these "products" that we consume had to be created by an artist who sat down and did the work, but because the internet, media, etc. have monetized and industrialized said products, the soul of the work is diminished. Instead we are left with many artists who feel like a cog in a machine, instead of a unique individual with a creative mind.
It seems that the further we go with corporate cookie cutter approaches like this, the more homogenized everything becomes, until eventually, all creativity disappears. I think the internet and this post-modern society has stifled creativity tremendously and something needs to be done to get humanity back on track to another renaissance, or else I fear we may face extinction... no exaggeration.
@@flamegod7 Well put, that is exactly part of what i am saying, however i think this whole thing is an even bigger problem and there are more branches to it. I do not see much of anyway out of it, we are constantly pushed and ushered in this direction. The only thing i can say is that each individual artist has to make a difference on their own and refuse to bow down and be a part of the very system that destroys them, we have to stand our ground even when there is no food on the table. The truth needs to be known and understood, we need to speak it, we need to show it, we need to bring it to attention whenever we can, even if we do not see ourself being seen or heard. Thank you for your reply and comment.
just like architecture and drafting too,
i see alot of my industry job being send to India or Bulgaria/Romania, clients are getting used to designs being fast, low cost, and on demand. they are interjecting more and more of their bad ideas into design. i really feel like we are losing control. the dynamic is more like Glided Aristocrats and 1800 factory workers than a creative endeavor
That story of the student of yours hit hard, i've been the type of person to love splash art for a long time, but then I started liking different styles... I would feel guilty about it thinking that my future was to be ruined since i had no clear job goal, so i never let myself explore what i wanted. My fire slowly got burned out, and i got a huge at block for around 4 months, i lost a lot of fundamental skill since my head wasn't in the game, my flame got snuffed out and i couldn't even find pieces of art i liked. I started panicking and speed learning fundamentals, none of the information stayed and the amount of stress that bore down broke me into tears at a family gathering. My brother told me: what made you good at art in the first place, it wasn't worry, what made you really good at the violin, even when you use to not give a shit about it. you just practiced and didn't worry. If you know that speeding through lessons don't stick, then stop them, and instead focus on one thing until it sticks down, for example, practice smth very specific for a week, the important thing is consistency, not those 5 hours of grind where your just half assing it and just want everything to be finished. My love of art slowly came back and i started finding what i loved again, I'm going step by step and learning, Health comes before skill. i still have stress, this was pretty recent so art is still liked to idea of stress, but it's slowly chipping away, and that's good.
You've just explained to me why having been an animator for ten years and now trying to enter the world of illustration I'm finding it so hard. I've been a chameleon for so long I have no idea how to be me. But I'm trying. It's TERRIFYING, and it's hard but I'm trying, every day.
and that's all you can do, and it's good. it's so good. keep going.
Adam, you are truly speaking my mind!
I am currently applying for art uni and inside your portfolio you have to show who you are and something that always bothered me was how quick the professors go through the artworks. Of course they have hundreds of paintings to look at, but its so heartbreaking, because how are they supposed to truly listen when they only take a split second to look at your art? Its like starting a conversation and turning away after a few words.
I dont even want to start talking about the horrible wording they use in the "portfolio counseling" sessions. Usually its a bunch of interested people coming together and sharing their art to the professors before applying (for constructive criticism) and the last time the professor started calling my art childish (this art was specifically made for children) and to others he just straight up said that their art is "horrible" and they have no chance at studying at the uni. He did not even take 10 seconds to look at one artwork, he just scrolled through.
Im glad there are still artists and teachers out there who respect others, not like my current experiences.
Wish you all the best Adam, greetings from Germany
I'm glad this message is out there! I've struggled with expectations of the industry myself and didn't walk my artistic journey before I became a mother and don't have the time. But I've also learned that life is not over after your twenties and I can appreciate the journey on its own, without expectations of the destination.
I would like to add tough, that it's not only the industry that's in the way of the artistic journey. The way art is presented online nowadays with social media creates an environment that does the same. Accomplished artists often stagnate at a certain style due to the demands of regular output and satisfying expectations, and seem to stop making the journey. Novices on the other hand, without proper guidance, see what is out there and can't help but imitate the kind of work that is already being appreciated.
Going on your own authentic artistic journey is often too scary and lonely, and it's hard to get the necessary encouragement in this environment. The resources to encourage this seem to be getting less and less, myself having had a very disappointing and discouraging experience with education.
That's why i really love the internet, despite its flaws. I was very lucky to find a group of artists online that were all pushing each other to improve, encouraging each other, giving feedback, and encouraging innovation. I know not everyone can have this, but sometimes, you find beautiful people who leave an indelible mark on you.
best of luck on your own journey!
There used to be figurine painting workshops in the town I grew up in. The figurines were all from molds, but you could choose colours patterns and stuff all yourself.
The people doing the workshop would usually do some detail work like eyes or noses for kids or adults who didn't feel secure enough with a brush for that. That was fine.
But that one time, when I was like 6 or 7 I got a figurine of a cat and wanted to paint it like our recently passed family cat, to preserve her memory. She was a black cat with white socks and a white muzzle. Simple enough. I did all that and it only needed the nose and eyes done to be finished. But the lady who did the workshop that time just took a big brush and drybrushed more white into the face without asking me. It shattered me and I never wanted to go to those workshops again.
So, if I'm asked to give feedback I always ask if a redline or a paintover is something they want. Or if I should stick to verbal/writting critiques.
Digital redlines and paintovers are less permanent, but it's a base level of respect to ask.
Well this was a fortuitous TH-cam recommendation. I started in comics, and illustration, then migrated to video games in the 90s. I have hit burnout a few times, but what always helped were two things: A group of artists to just hang out with, and personal projects to work on. A bunch of us “Industry Professionals”, would gather on Wednesdays, eat Pizza, and share sketchbooks. We encouraged each other’s personal projects (zines and mini comics were things back then). The personal projects were just that, personal. Looking at them, the harder the crunch, the more sketchy or unfinished they became. Still they continued, because that was how you learn new approaches, and techniques. Years later when disability took me out of the job market, I decided I wanted to learn to paint. I got back into Pathfinder and D&D, and the painted illustrations in those books inspired me. I tried it and finishes maybe four paintings. Feeling like I had missed the point or two, it took too long and I just didn’t get a consistent technique. Lacking formal instruction may have been the problem, and TH-cam tutorials were all over the board. My normal B/W sketching was boring, and a large commission in classic comic book style, convinced me I no longer had the energy to do comics any more, especially with the quality I demanded from myself. I decidedI needed som new, downloaded Blender, and decided to learn that. I haven’t been this energized in a long while. I think if one is feeling stale, do a personal project in a new medium far from the one you are working in. New challenges inspire new thinking. As for AI, it’s a tool, and view it as such , even if it resembles the fabled “make art button”, our supervisors joked about back in the 90s. Yes it can make art, but rarely has it been that good. (Hands and eyes,as well as bad perspective).. Thank you for the talk.
You know there are lots of days I'm scared of doing art as im extremely hard on myself for messing up or making a mistake. In fact I'm terrified of failing at it, yet I love art, and being able to express my emotions through it. It's hard for me to express myself as I don't like to talk much, but it's nice to hear from another artist that it's ok to be you and to be yourself which I forget a lot. Thank you for reminding me of what it means to be an artist. It means a lot to feel like my art is valuable in its own way and truly special as its mine
Ai can’t give you the feeling that your own work can, the feeling that you get while making an Art, AI cannot imitate that feeling.
Lol it’s like you didnt even listen
@@Kudagraz I still don't get how he said ties into A.I. isn't A.I. art basically the factory he talks about?
those who generate things with AI never aim for that feeling in the first place. It's like buying things from a shop instead of making it yourself from scratch
@@cccbbbccc5910 buy from artists then.
@@sapphireblue5799 When you get an quick idea in your head, why not use an AI to generate several images of it? Especially if you're going to forget about it tommorow? That's one of the appeals of AI.
One time my art teacher tells us to make self portrait.
She knows me and that I'm nether particularly talented nor did i care that much so she comes to me and says : ,,We all know you aren't good ,just apply yourself ".
Not wanting her to have the last laugh i spend 5 days ever hour i had after i had come back from school into making that portrait. It was by far the most proudest achievement and even today i look at it and think: ,,man ,this is good".
So i show her the portrait during art class the next week and she turns to me and says:
,,This isn't how it's supposed to be "
- Tf do you mean teach , you told me:"Apply yourself ".
I literally applied myself in the way i saw fit and was called off for it .
Ffs .
I totally get the message in this video about self expression.
Hi Adam. In regards to your comments on the art culture becoming manufactured, I feel its too late. If you look back to the 90's, it was the last decade of free artistic expression. Every form of music was being celebrated, created and expressed. Artists pushed boundaries from music, art, games and so many new and exciting things were created. Then the 2000's came and its been dying ever since. Music is completely manufactured and manipulated, large game companies release the same recycled rubbish. Everything is rushed, low quality and repetitive. I don't watch tv or movies now or play the "popular" games. All rubbish.
However, I have noticed small changes. Independent developers are trying to do things their way against corporation interests. Even you, with your course and art, you're a huge inspiration to me. Anthony Jones got me back into art and your talks inspire me to continue. Little things lead to big changes. We just need more. I dream of a day Disney and Hollywood go to far (which they are) and collapse under their own greed and independent developers see a niche' and quality for art, movies and music (among other things) explode to greatness again. Otherwise, we're all heading to a dystopia which is very, very scary.
Every time you post a video I am preparing napkins because I know it will unleash some inner doubts and traumas. At this point you are more like a therapist for me, not just another art youtuber. I thank you deeply
The reason why I became a freelance artist who delves into refining my own styles, is because I was simply gaslighted for more than a decade by many people (without ill means), close people and also art seniors, who only saw one single direction and one single style that would benefit their specific industry and preached that everything was about speed, productivity speed, speed with consistency, high quality + speed, technique speed, organization speed, adaption speed, demand fulfilling speed. Me, a disorientated artist with a handicap (drawing arm and hand disabled since birth) felt overwhelmed by all those pressuring signals around me and one day after years of moving hand over hand from one internship to another, I got tired of my mistreated eternal art assembly-line work and decided to jump in at the deep end as independent illustrator.
And while it is still an ever-lasting existential struggle, I still considered it my best choice of my life mentally, since I met great people - loyal clients, art mutuals and fans alike - who weren't focused on my handicap or its "potential risks of efficiency and lack of working speed "for once, but rather appreciated my craft and style. It felt encouraging and life-reassuring that people find joy in the stuff I do and who said that they like my style. A style that could only flourish just over the last few years when I started my freelance career in earnest. I decided to not hold back with the style I loved anymore as I used to, I decided to give 200% to refine my skills, after many years of trying "to adapt" and only feeling behind in the stuff the mainstream industry was looking for and where already many life-long professionals already filled in the places, while I was also feeling constantly distracted and held back from drawing things that made fun and where I really felt like I was good in it - and I truly wished I would have reached this conclusion much sooner. That it wasn't actually about holding back my strengths or things I'm passionate about, but to find a visual language and artistic identity that make it shines through in the best way. There are more facets to this long still on-going journey and not every aspect of my long search for the right path was something bad or a waste. I even think that without all the experience, I wouldn't have been able to connect the necessary dots to see and identify my own qualities now.
There might have been a time, where I dreamed of becoming a concept artist in the videogame industry, but it was a hard pill for me to swallow that my mindset, my workflow and my physical ability (and limitations), and my personal art style "my brain was coded for", weren't suited for this specific industry, and that it was ok. Never say never, but for now I truly don't see my place there for mentioned reasons and my own artistic values that go in a rather opposite direction.
I accepted about myself that I'm not "fast enough" and stopped to kick myself for it. I started to filter and sort my advices from my environment and messengers more actively, being able to reflect who said what and with what kind of background and experience (Had a former roommate, a well-paid IT engineer who has a generally good heart but also had a lack of empathy and constantly told me that my art had no future and a "secured" job in a big company like his would be the only right way and that I wouldn't have tried it hard enough to find that one suitable job for me within the last decade, at some expenses of my mental health and self-confidence.) I am still grateful for all the different views and insight from other people in a weird way, because it also gives me a good understanding how many non-artists tend to think about artists, for instance. All in all, it is an endless journey where you are often challenged to reflect about your life and art values constantly again and again, be it because of a new technological game changer that turned the art field upside down or because you made further progress as an artist and as a human being with more life experience and knowledge with every new bonds and connections, and after every passing year full of developments and changes.
More power to you!!!! I wish you so much luck and joy
The problem with the 'industry' thing... is that if you want to find solid livable success you won't have to worry about on a daily basis... you have to give up on being an artist and become an asset crafter. The industry does not need more opinions. It does not need more people trying to express themselves... It has too many already. It has dozens of people on every project all trying to conform the project to their own voice... and that never makes a good product.
Its not that the concept artists aren't needed...its that brute force artistic asset creation is what it needs most. It needs people who don't have anything to say, or at least people who want to say what everyone else already wants to.
Being an artist has always been basically identical to being poor... unless you were willing to compromise your voice and supplant it with someone else's.
Opinions and voices are everywhere and for the most part, people just want to _escape_ them.
I think the reason you have to give up the artistic mindset to be a stably employed asset creator, is because your job in that effect, is to give someone else the _ability_ to speak.
I think that's what AI will be. I don't think there is that much value in any sort of divide between people who have natural talent and the ability to express themselves.... and people who want to express themselves just as much or more, but don't the ability to.
The AI may never be able to fully make the exact thing you have in your head, but it might be able to get you closer than you can. And speaking as a person who has always been an artist and has always strived to get that one last bit out of his head... that last nagging detail that just... isn't right.. not because of how its supposed to be... but because its not what I intend it to be... Its not... ME YET. As someone who has developed many artistic skills and various tricks to make things work... I can't help but see the AI as... a form of liberation from the struggle of constant failure. HAving the ability to select a box around a detail and ask the machine to give me 500 new variations and ideas on this one detail (something one of the AIs already does)... it just sounds so... freeing.
I don't know what I want that one hand or cuff to be... but I know what I don't want it to be. I know when I see it that it isn't my vision.
But my ability to create variations is... limited... and so is my time and my patience. I will gladly take a hundred generated opinions that are both skillful and style matching to my own work... over 5 hours of discontent that ultimately results in my severing of the proverbial ear and burning the canvas.
But moreover... imagine... all of the people who have as much inspiration as I do... as you do.... but don't have any of the ability. Imagine them... being able to do that same thing and eventually, for the first time ever, say "yeah, like _that!_" or "Well, maybe more like this one." and they can keep drilling down and regenerating little by little, until its good enough. Because that's all an artist can ever hope for... its not... correct. Its never going to be what you actually wanted... but you can sometimes, only sometimes, get a _good enough._
I think that AI may eventually replace factory art asset craftsmen. Just like automation is already replacing most manual labor. And that is dangerous... but its also inevitable. The possibility for the technology came to exist, there's no way to stop it now, short of our own extinction. You can't put the idea back in the head once its out. But we should instead of worrying about how its going to affect our ability to be borderline-not-technically slave labor for wages... we should be looking ahead to see what new opportunities the consequences of this new technology afford us. Because there will be some. The bespoke hand will never go out of fashion. Concept artists will always have as much of a chance as they do now. Which is to say not much and with extremely stiff competition... but the need for people to just fill an empty void will go down. But lets be fair, their work was never appreciated. Its not there to be appreciated, its there to fill a gap.
The AI won't really change that, but it might actually allow gap fillers... to be more expressive. They'll be able to churn out hundreds of pieces, and choose the ones they like most to submit to fill those gaps... instead of working insanely hard for hours on a single piece or two, and then being rejected anyway. Art is as much about iteration of ideas as it is about trying to create new ideas. Maybe, no probably, more so. AI offers iteration, at low personal cost.
We know what isn't our expression, better than what is. And I'd argue for many of us... its not about how we achieve it. The journey of brush strokes don't matter to us... the idea does. The picture we want to see, is what we care about... not what our hands do. I feel like that opinion is too often derided in the art community... the notion that some how, the labor is more important than the intent.
That's how this artist feels. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the fact that I love the computer sciences as much as the artistic expression of myself and think of them the same way is giving me somehow an invalid opinion. Maybe. Maybe such a thing exists. Maybe I'm the first to ever have a truly completely invalid and without any talking merit opinion. I certainly don't believe I am, but who ever would?
I really like your take on this, and I agree. (except for me, I also love the process of art. It feels nice. but that's just me.) AI has the amazing potential to free us from drudgery. But we also have to find a way to make sure we all succeed, despite lower demand. We as artists and as society just need to work hard to make sure it happens this way! And I believe we can do it!
There is a clear distinction between " art" and "game art", or just any other applicational art professions. Why bother comparing traditional art with those that are currently applied in the industry? In art, your drawings are the final products. In applicational art, your drawings are merely the means to get to the final products. Games and industrial arts are user-oriented. Art is creator-oriented. Thats common sense. What is there to be threatened about?
If you want to empress your own style, nobody in the world is forbidding you to try, but most likely you have to do that alone or you have to go miles to convince a group of people to make a game based on yourself. You cannot just draw one or a few picture and expect people to buy the final product just because it has your style in it. If you are lucky, it might work, but historically games have never relied on individual artistic styles. The most memorable designs in game have been made by technical decisions, not artistic ones.
If you want to bring your individuality to the industries, try making products using your own money. You are totally allowed to do it, just like all the musicians you talked about. You can jsut stay at home and draw what you like. Once in a while companies might notice you and want to apply your style into their games. How likely it would happen? Can ALL your students do that?
I am teaching game art in Uni and I am very sure nobody wants to discourage individual voices. We encourage it but at the same time, we want everyone to be a teamworker, thats a nature of what we are doing.
Its such a childish thing to say that "artist" in the game industry are not artistic enough. Like saying architects are not artistic enough. Like saying web designers are not artistic enough.
They are artistic, but they don't flaunt their drawings. They show off their final products. To be in the game industry regardless of your position, you have to learn the first thing that your ideas don't mean shit. Only "working ideas" are valuable and to find those ideas, a tons others must be made and rejected.
11:05 Wow, this is just plain BEAUTIFUL. And i agree, we can only truly see each other without any judgement or bias
I appreciate how at 4:52 you called that woman who painting over your art “the bitch” because when you first told the story at the beginning I literally screamed at the screen, “Bitch!”
Lol - yeah, she had a whole lotta nerve
I was just having another existential crisis because of AI art and now this upload 💀
people had that too when cameras were invented still artists prevailed
@@Ubreakable-lr2dk But it would be great if the market for digital portrait art were bigger from not having cameras today, considering how many people want to post their faces online there would be a huge demand for portrait artists compared to our current reality
@@Ubreakable-lr2dk Cameras aren't the same thing. How many times must you brainless lot be told this?
*The A.I is actively exploiting the copyrighted work of artists in order to replace them, and the companies are advertising as such.* They are training the machines off of indiscriminately collected works without compensation to the people that made them, in order to eventually let them machines run completely self-contained.
@@gabudaichamuda2545 Saying "How many times must you brainless lot be told this?" is unnecessarily aggressive whether you have a point or not
@@BlissfulBasilisk not at all. these people are actually robots. they fail to get the point and to understand that their idiotic analogies make no sense. it's like talking with someone who is schizophrenic or has the mental fortitude of a child
Something I always make sure to do is to only give critique when asked and within the boundaries of what the person was asking for, otherwise, I look for things I like about the artwork.
This video helped me accept my art, and appreciate the progress I was making in my work, no matter the speed. It also lifted the weight of not being able to continue on a piece I had made a mistake on while making. I’m a bit late, but thank you for that
Bonus horrible art teacher story:
In primary school, we had a a few art teachers. Most of them were pretty nice, but one was infamous for being impatient and ‘heartless.’ In my sixth grade at that school, I had earned a reputation for being a good artist since a lot of the work we had outside of art class still let me draw.
That teacher sent out another teacher to go around asking the oldest classes who were the best artists in that grade (since that school only taught up to 6th, they were looking for the oldest kids). We were supposed to meet up in one of the art rooms every Monday for something. I was excited to show off my artwork and see what the other kids made, but I was SORELY disappointed when I found out that we were just printers for that teacher who wanted to paint over some old boards with other kids’ designs on them. She didn’t let us add any flair whatsoever, just clean up whatever was on that board.
I remember on one of them, we had to paint a tree. She was showing us how to do the roots and branches. When she went to supervise the other kids, I started painting similar to her technique, but adding what I thought was a more natural flow to the branches since the way she taught us looked very stiff and un-branch-like. When she came back, she wiped off some of my paint and just did it herself.
Needless to say I was very upset and confused and I did not return for those ‘art meetings’
I once had a classmate spit on my drawing when I was nine or ten and I got really upset about it. Later in life, I've had teachers draw over my drawings, but that has always been in an academic sense, as you said, and I learned a lot from it
It really hit home for me when you talk about the importance of being yourself, listening (and being heard) and that nobody can express yourself for you. Are we expressing ourselves or are we expressing what we think we should be? Is it your voice or something/someone from the past that's been internalized? There's such a clear difference in the energy and mood between play, practice and producing art.
I used to confuse them and think that there is only producing, everything has to be perfect from the start (even if it's a completely new subject or medium which is ofc unrealistic). This was likely brought on by constant comparison, competition and the expectations of being called talented. Always being in the mindset of producing and perfection is tiring, boring and terrible if you want to improve. It took years to get out of it (still fall back a bit sometimes when I'm not careful) but a few things that has helped me was 🌻to follow my passion 🌻 make drawing time cozy 🌻try to separate play and practice from producing 🌻 spend more time having fun and trying stuff out. A big part for me is also 🌻self care - noticing a clear relationship between the physical and mental well being and the creative output quality.
It's a bit complex regarding how to handle peoples feedback/opinions imho, especially if you're a people pleaser... but if you can step back and look at your artwork without emotional attachment it will be easier to also look at the responses more objectively as well. Is it actual constructive feedback or just an opinion? Would changing my art piece in that way improve it in my own opinion? Do I want to change it? Self inquiry to find out how different stages of your art piece affects how you receive feedback and why. If I receive feedback when I've completed and image I generally try to respect that it's finished and start on a fresh one with the new knowledge in mind.This keeps me from getting stuck in an image (polishing a turd if you will) and instead allows to capture progress, get more paintings done and get that boost of power that comes from recognizing your own progress.
Thanks for another activating talk Adam!
Well said. After Kim Jung Gi passed away and people started making AI art in his style, I quickly realized that it isnt the AI that's making them upset; its the idea of gatekeeping non-artists from creating art. Completely ego-driven behavior since they placed their self-worth and their ability to draw and receive attention. Now that they feel that their special talent isn't so special they're throwing fits and conniptions. They're not using this opportunity to market themselves or to grow. Too blind, deaf, and dumb to see the bigger picture.
I've made similar points on my thoughts about AI on my channel.
I loved listening to you and your thoughts on individual expression. It took me back to a teacher I had decades ago when still in school. I'm not talented artistically, but loved my art class because my teacher was eager to allow us to try whatever we wanted, express what we wanted, and she only stepped in if we had questions. The first day of class she asked me to draw something, anything, she didn't care. I did, and she said, "OK, it looks like you can come up with an idea and show it on the paper, so what do you want to do now?" I explored painting, simple pencil sketching, and abstract work with inks, just because they seemed interesting to me. She was always supportive of the students attempts and never said anything negative about the work, only suggestions on what we might want to try the next time to improve a skill. I left that class and went on to focus heavily on math and science, but I see that class as massively important to teaching creativity and expression and allowing for experimentation, potential failure, and incremental refinement that have been exceedingly important lessons for any field of study. It's great to know there are other artists teaching out there and sharing their ideas with the world. Your contributions go so far beyond just art.
actually reminds me of when i was in high school - one day we had an assignment to make a color wheel - almost everyone did it one certain way that the teacher had shown them but i did it a different way - i got 2 pieces of paper and put a red, blue and green blob of paint in a triangle and put the other piece of paper on top of it and twisted it 360 degrees - made 2 beautiful circles of rainbow colors - was so proud of my work thinking outside the box and seeing it actually come to fruition - turned it in and teacher was not happy - ended up sending me to the office for wasting art supplies
Your talk really reconfirmed my thoughts on AI and the current state of the industry. I really feel AI only removes art jobs in so far as it removes jobs where art fundamentals are used as a skill. I feel this truly scares alot of the industry because alot of people are seeing that while they may have immense skill they arn't artists in the essence that they know how to use those skills to express themselves nor the passion required to emotionally rip ones self apart to create actual art that truly expresses your voice.
Smart artists will use the AI as a tool and the trash ones who charge $3/hour for a 100 hour painting are the tools who dug themselves into a hole by learning to be printing machines.
As an artist I always feel it should speak and mean something to you or attempt to say something you can't put together in words and as long as you're satisfied with it like truly satisfied you should be happy with it and if the world appreciates it you're welcome or thank you
There is certainly a conversation to be had about how the industry treats the artists, and how to bring morecreativity to the process, because this will benefit everyone from the artists to the prople who enjoy the product of their colaborative work.
I decided to take my art seriously this year and I've been getting into more art communities, but I always get this elitist mentality from more experienced artists that keep telling me that i cant learn from youtube artists, or "X" artist is bad don't follow them, or this method is bad... or recently i started taking some advice from feng zhu for beginners to just draw, and i was exited to tell them that I'm going to try out feng zhu's advice on sketching but they instantly shut my excitement down and say "no that's too much don't do" even though feng is an experienced teacher and I would assume he knows what he's talking about.
Its so frustrating trying to be friends with these artists, I just wanted to learn, but they are so judgemental they continuously say that they don't like having art friends because art friends only talk about art... and i just think to myself well yeah... if art is your passion whats wrong with talking about your passion? also they continuously talk bad about artists who draw things they don't like... Its starting to feel draining being around these people and i almost feel like i should rather ditch them and learn on my own because being around all this negativity from these professional local artists isn't very motivating.
Just draw bro... stop listening to other people. Give zero fucks, your life will get better tenfold.
@@UniDeathRaven yeah, ive always thought i needed to get around better artists to get feedback because i cant draw alone in my room forever... but being part of an art community felt more draining than i anticipated, also experienced artists are a lot more negative than i assumed also
@@asyrel6900 Ye, professional artists tend to be egoistic. They believe if they know how to draw, they took god by the balls. Honestly, avoid other artists, for your own mental sake. Also avoid any art schools... waste of money and time. Take your time year by year, don't hurry, you have entire life. Remember, art can be done at any age without losing any mastery unlike other professions.
@@UniDeathRaven I wouldnt say, "avoid other artists", tbh i think is more of "avoid the wrong people". The people that just puts you down and such, ya know the drill. Im an artist and im constantly trying to share good things to other artist and it all just fall onto deaf ears. I like to improve and get better at my art. However i can agree art schools arent... that great, but it was probably my art school that sucked, there must be good ones, good teacher, good people. But as there are good, there are also many more that are bad and selfish and egoistic. And its just.. sad to see that people is that way.
Yeah be careful of these people. For artists, these people see art as a competition and all other artists as people they need to tear down to succeed. They’ll hide job opportunities and refuse to share things they’ve learned or share good resources. They only take. Most professional artists I know are collaborative and willing to share though.
You have trully touched everyone with this brother.
"People are used to not being heard".
The knowing resonates at a fundemental level and that is heartbreaking.
Time to recharge humanity on why you are here
This is a large part of why, despite being "gifted" in art as a child, I never became a professional commercial artist. My purpose in creating art, the meaning and motivation, was to express something visually that I couldn't express in words. A concept, a character or story moment, an emotion, or inner experience that was bursting to get out and be rendered in a form that others could experience in the same intensity that I felt it. Shackling myself to an industry and repurposing (or altering) the technical craft I had honed over the years would have amounted to gutting everything about art that bore my identity and prostituting the remainder. Art was an escape for me. Being a cog in a machine is bad enough; to transform art into just another part of that machine would erase me entirely. So for me, art is "just a hobby." It's the only way it can remain mine.
AI just makes artists more productive. It doesn't replace them. It's like thinking a powered wrench can replace a mechanic.
Your opening truly struck a chord with me, and reminded me of a very similar to an experience in childhood that really stuck with me. I am relearning art very late in life... and rediscovering I always had the passion for it... my earliest days in school, An authority figure, a teacher taking my drawing during "drawing time" discarded this very childish drawing of a tornado I drew with such
enthusiasm, and excitement - and when the teacher received it, she told me to "Draw something nicer." and proceeded to throw away that drawing I made. I even remember exactly what colors I used, for it and how excited it made me feel when I finished to present it to the teacher... and just like that, it was just thrown away. I remember It hurt me a lot, and I felt awful afterwards, like there was no point to it.
Now that I am much older... Part of me wants to revisit that vivid imagery I had as a kid, and embrace that imaginative side with my newfound vigor and more practiced hand.
Your words have been profoundly impactful, in reorienting and reminding me of the important lessons I should have always been paying attention to in my life. Until I listened to your words, there was a lot of anxiety lingering within me around the topic of AI. Thank you for reminding me of what the essence of art really is. I didn't realize how much I needed to hear these words.
a few days ago I had a lil breakdown because I'm in the wrong "fandom" and my followers usually don't really give a damn about my actual art. Most of them just follow me for the occasional muscle art I'm drawing.
And I posted my concerns on twitter (my first mistake I know). While the majority was really nice and tried to help me with tips on how to do things better, there was one individual that said something that honestly did hurt. They said that as soon as you post art, it's just for the consumers. Basically you just draw for an audience. Also telling me that my art is boring and will never get anywhere unless I draw something that tickles the primary se*ual instincts. I'm someone who expresses their feelings, basically my only way of actually expressing them, through art.
Even tho I had like two people reach out to me and saying that this isn't the case, it still stuck with me. Just because it was something I was seeing happening for a long time. Do you have any tips on how to get out of this situation? I want to make art that people would remember and eventually work for wizards of the coast too. But Idk this whole situation kinda destroyed my faith because I've been stuck for like 10 years now.
Haven't had one single success and I'm getting just really depressed over this. Your videos keep my mood up tho, that's for sure.
Sorry for my bad english, greetings from germany.
Also my artstation is Cayy (Cain Zander) in case you want to look at it. ;w ;
My two scents. It's complete BS when people say you have to draw something s3xual or fanart for it to be entertaining. I don't draw smut nor fanart because it doesn't interest me at all, yet I do consider myself relatively succesful as in I draw what I want (my own characters) and I have a decent number of people enjoying what I do on Instagram (16.4k at this moment).
What you're talking about is what I call the "fanart trap". You will gain a following or supporters of whatever you draw. That said, it is quicker to grow if you draw for an already existing fan base aka fanart, but you just have to accept that people are there for the fanart. It's like going to McDonalds for a burger and then you're served pizza; you're not there for pizza, even if the pizza is Michelin Star quality. If you do fanart that's what people stay for and expect.
My advice is to draw what you want to draw. Accept that a bunch of your followers will fall away or be upset. What is most important is that you draw what makes YOU happy and then you'll find the people who are also deriving joy from your personal art. It can be done, but you have to do it unapologetically. Don't cater to something you don't want to do. Don't listen to the nay-sayers or the haters. I checked your Artstation and you're really good! Start drawing what makes you happy. It's never too late. :)
Your art is cool bro! I feel people nowadays don't like authenticity in art. It's sad..
Hey, i just wanna say I had a similar situation at one point, and while I'm still mentally working through it it's really nice to know I'm not alone and other folks are out there.
Your art is also awesome, it's really nice to see
@@LunaCheraArt The fanart trap. You described it perfectly. Yeah I guess I just have to stop drawing fanart and such for a bit. 16 k is a lot! I got 63 on insta xD
Yeah I should really just draw what I want and hope that something good will come of it. If all fails tho there is still the fun with the craft left. :3
thanks for your comment! Hope you'll have a beautiful december and rest of november!
@@corruptqc8334 thank you! Well it's not all people, luckily
Not an artist here , but as an enjoyer of art I've definitely felt those corporate shackles around so many works - be it in video games , music or other forms of art and entertainment.
It's really sad to see so many artists being pigeonholed in such ways that end up restricting them ... the irony of it all is infuriating.
Great talk, hope the ripple gets bigger and I'll try to help by talking about this!
yes yes yes yes! as and artist and an art lover... it fucking sucks to see.
Wow that story about your teacher is insane! I remember it was standard protocol in my chinese art teacher’s studio for him to walk around and paint/draw over the kids’ works on how to “do it correctly”. He’d also compare me (middle school age) with another student “9 months younger but draws better”. I never heard of the “You never touch an student’s work” until now; it’s probably also an asian/traditional studio thing. Thank you for this video!
This is the reason why I was kicked out of art class in high school. As a lifetime artist and someone who has always appreciated art in many different forms. So when I saw the teacher walk up to a student who did not love art as I do, but took the class as an elective and as I see it, a possible chance for them to find the love that art can provide. But the teacher walked up to a student while they were working on their final project for the class and began pointing out flaws their form and the way of creating their piece and began to draw on the person art piece. This is when I told the teacher to shutup. As I was clear with what I said, she wanted to make sure she heard correctly and asked what I said. I stood up and repeated the words I said. I was immediately asked to leave the class and as such took an F on my final art piece, which did not matter based on my grades in the class. But I would have failed the class and been expelled from school if I had to, to stand up for someone trying their best to express themselves in art and wanting to just enjoy it. That teacher could have, as I do not know who that was I stood up for, ruined that persons chance to find love in art and go on to live a life full of it. Just because they were unable to teacher without seeing respect for students who were not artist, to her standard. Fuck anyone who puts another down for being creative and wanting to just enjoy the simple pleasure of being creative.
I know, right???? People seem to think that it's only worth it to practice a craft or learn a skill if you can be THE BEST at it, or somehow make money from it. People used to sing a lot more, you know. It used to just be a thing people did when they wanted to. And that still happens today, but I see a lot more people just refusing to sing because they can't be Ariana Grande. I just think it's so sad. Creativity and joy are part of human nature! You should be allowed to do things that aren't "perfect" if they make you happy.
There are alot of people who see art and other forms of creative expression as something that does not matter, unless it's making them money or making them feel like they are better than someone else and can be used to . So many live their lives for money, fame, and dreams of what someone else has. Art is life! Singing, dancing, and creative expressions of color and form! It's what makes life worth living and IMO the best way for people to share, connect, and be together.... and from what I can tell, that's true meaning and purpose of life.
@@delta911turbo Yes yes yes!!! you get it! :D
"The artist never wanted to make you feel good. He wanted to make you feel."
I've been a creative artist in my own business, making what I have wanted to make for the last 15 odd years. Recently I tried out an "industry job". Not only did they not pay anywhere near enough, they did not respect a single second of my experience and I was not treated as if I know a single thing about the work that's been my career for 15 years. I was treated as a "resource" to throw menial work at. They would ask for my input, and then promptly ignore it. Needless to say, I got out of that quick smart. I will stick to doing what I know.
The invention of gunpowder did not rob the knight of his ability to fight wars.
It just changed ballistics.
Art is the same as with all profession.
Art means skill in old language.
Only true artists will remain.
Those who stay in their old ways, or to become luddites never loved their craft but only themselves seen in that craft.
Selfish is what they are.
This video hits right home, and for me it was my artistically educated father who consistently tried to teach me by roasting everything I did and painting over anything he could lay his hands on. The reason I still draw is probably because my 7 year old self was a spiteful dipshit
Oh man, reading that sent chills down my spine. I'm sorry you had to go through that.
Sounds like Dad had clinical narcissism
I'm sorry you had to go through that, but good on you for continuing to draw.
In my case my mother doesn't know how to paint but my father signed me up for a weekly art class when I was 9 because he saw I liked drawing and wanted me to pursue what I liked. My mother didn't care at what I made in the beginning (we would pick something from magazine clippings and such to draw and did 3 pieces in each medium paster->pencil->charcoal->watercolor etc) when the time came to do oil paintings my mother was like "you're going to paint what I like since I'm paying for your materials". Then when I finished them she made me adjust parts she didn't like at home.
Then there was a contest to draw orchids, I wasn't really interested in joining but she's the type of person that if I didn't go along with what she wanted she'd make life a living hell until she decided to get over it. So I made the damn orchids in pastel and when she came home she was like "you did a shit job on purpose! your going to fix this right now in front of me". That made me feel like shit because I thought I had done a good job and was happy with how it looked. I went to submit my drawing but didn't stay for the event because I was afraid she'd yell at me or smack me for not getting 1,2 or 3rd place. When I went to pick up my piece I had gotten first place and after that I just didn't feel like drawing or sharing my drawings for a long time after. I did eventually get back into it but still don't like sharing what I do to family, her in particular, and I sometimes feel like I let my father down(he left and I don't blame him) because I gave up on it for so long...he really just wanted me to pursue what I liked doing.
@@yeoldegrayCat I feel really sorry for you, I’d probably hate doing any art if this happened to me. I hated doing art for quite some time after I had my first (and last lol) paid commission. It gave me too much stress. Now I’m trying to get back to it by drawing purely what I like and I only show it to few people.
@@RealPillowBfdi That's a good idea. I've heard several artists say you should paint for yourself first and foremost especially with social media these days and people wanting to appeal to the masses and getting likes. I've done a few commissions in the past few years and thankfully they were pretty chill and patient people.
One day recently I realized I spent my life fighting a war with myself - battling my inner voices influenced by family, and then outer voices from the world. That is a never-ending battle. When I recognized what I was doing, I could stop doing it. Peace. Art.
I chose to not be a professional artist because I saw that happening in college. I kept it for myself, as a thing I did for me. I program for the job, I draw and do art and write for me.
That's great to hear. I'm like this as well.
You are spot on, from one art teacher to another... from someone who has wasted his artistic life in the 'industry' you are so completely right about this.
The world of industry kills art completely, kills the individual. And it starts at school.
That story reminds of a recent incident where a security guard drew a smiley face on an artwork at the gallery where he was working because he felt like the painting (which had a blank face) was incomplete. That security guard was fired for his obvious and blatant failure to carry out his assigned duties and prosecuted for defacing property.
Some people just don't have the mental faculties to understand what boundaries are.
Thank you! Fantastic! I support everything you touched upon. I have met my heroes in my life and those are two Art teachers, that like you, opened my inner world without judgment. I have been drawing and painting since I have been 3 years old. Later in my twenties I got a degree, BFA in Graphic Design and Illustration, and started working in top Design firms and Advertising. I could have made a career in these professions, but I opted out the moment I started due to this corporate approach, where money was the success and your individual expression was either ridiculed or discarded. I vowed to myself then that this callous environment will never stop me from pursuing that expression within me that made me grow and explore that inner voice of mine that needed to draw and paint and immerse myself as an Artist. As an older man I have never stopped. I have had a few art shows, I have sold give or take over 200 works of mine to different individuals, created two graphic novels, comix, ( never published ) etc., nothing to write home about BUT more importantly looking back at my work and its journey I can tell you I feel enriched, because I never gave up on what is me. No money or success in the world can replace that!! My work enabled me to counter the challenges in Life that we all face. It helped me to not only listen to myself, but others, it helped me go through the dark times on my journey and express that which I had no words for and more so it has helped me to this day to become a better person. I never conformed. My Nature never allowed me to and I am so grateful I listened to myself! I encourage all Artists out there, like this gentleman, to BE You! Thank you!
I would like to complement on the issue of "Concept". Without justifying whether it is correct or not. In my company I'm the lead artist, and most of the characters are created through my concepts. Two things are quite common here on my team:
- the other artists should do the concepts in my style and not theirs.
- The templates will be modified several times during the process by different people on my team and finally approved by me.
Isn't what they do art in the same way but in a collaborative way? For me Yes is art, colaborative and social art with comercial direction.
as a artist i always love seeing other people's work. and i feel so touched hear "you are the reason i started drawing". when they would ask what they should draw i would say what ever comes to your mind, anything that makes you feel closure or happiness. they would would ask does it matter how it looks. i would say it only matters to you. what makes you happy. i would look at bob ross. how he would just paint. i learned so much from him more then the "teachers" that told me that it needs to look a way they want. i told them it wouldn't be my art then. and kept drawing what i wanted. i was very defensive of my work. it did make a stagnation but some people loved my work because its some thing they never seen before, that every drawing i made had a story, a deep meaning of my struggles, and my joy. i started exploring other methods and learning how to improve but the messages remained the same. my definition of art isnt what is copied from the media but what is copied from your heart. i feel the same way about music. if all the music artists were the same none would be special.
I remember working on a newspaper for our class in 4th grade. I really wanted to do the comic section but so did someone else. Instead of allowing us to work together on it, the teacher had us both make our own comic only to pick one for the newspaper, leaving me left out of the newspaper entirely. I was so upset because I had no part in the newspaper, and some other sections were worked on by multiple students. I felt targeted.
This stifling of creativity and individuality has been intentional. Constant pressures kids are being raised under to fit in, stay in the lines, be more like x. The more uniform the public, the easier to control and the fewer surprises to deal with. I'm glad you're speaking against it. Everyone should in their own way. Humanity needs individuality and you explained many of the reasons at the end of your video. We're not meant to be one of many identical cogs in a machine. We're meant to be human, with all of the intricacies and differences contained in that.
The topic you discuss is within every area right now, not only art and I do hope people wake up to just how stifling, harmful and limiting it is.
Biggest Threat in My Experience
Asian Family / Asian Parents / Asian Wife
It’s Always a Taboo When you say “I Want to be an Artist”
and They Always say “Be a Doctor, Lawyer or Engineer Instead”
Give them the finger and be yourself.
100% lol. 100%
Thank you for this, I feel like you put into words what I've felt as an artist for a long time. I completely stopped doing art for many years, feeling that it was pointless to "compete" in the industry, but art somehow has a way of being so enjoyable, that I ended up making my own kind of Virtual Reality videos that rely on full body tracking, dance, and community. I play "virtual concerts" and just let myself have fun, and art just comes naturally again. If I don't feel like making videos, I don't! Giving myself permission to just be myself made me much healthier as a person and an artist. Thanks again, subscribed and liked!
Very insightful. I've experienced this so much working in the games industry. Theres a lot of pressure of stamping down your creative abilities to keep things in line for production.
Thank you for expressing something I didn't know how to put into words. Since this AI debate got heated, I've been having this unformulated idea like "should artists be commodifying their work/catering to the corporatized market anyway?". I didn't know how to say this without sounding like I thought artists should just accept AI undercutting their value proposition.
I kind of fell out of love with art for a couple of years because of this factory mindset. At the time I thought the only place for my art would be concept art for video games and feng zhu was the primary voice teaching that on youtube. He is a a good teacher but eventually this kind of mindset of "you need to hit this standard to make it, what are you providing for the company, this is super competitive" just became kind of grating and I opted to do other things. Only to eventually I find out I still wanted to do art along, just not the kind of art I was convinced was the only viable option.
I am very happy someone else is talking about this in an even better and more experienced manner. I have been noticing that what are called artists nowadays are treated like someone working on the treadmill, which of course naturally progressed into replacing them with an automated machine - because that is what many became. Another thing is how art is seen in society compared to how it should be. Nowadays I feel like even though art and design is more present around us, still, it is the very small amount of people who appreciate it. For most people it is just another swipe on instagram, or just another banner on the street, or another level dressing in a game. I am not sure if this issue is easy to fix, as it requires people to be widely educated in many different fields beside art in order to appreciate high level art.
And finally, the whole copyright theft that happened, again, just a natural progression of things, as for most of the time people take in art for free, not even considering the artist's effort and way of living in order to produce that artowork, so of course it came to the degree where people take it as 'who cares about what they have to say'. Not approving it at all, however, trying to see how it came to be this way. As you don't see anyone going and taking car patents being stolen around.
I do believe that this hardship happening now will push artists to revisit the way they approach things, as being stuck in the gaming grinder for 6 years did make me rethink my career during covid and made me take another direction which has more meaning in it than just stamping out generic images.
Thanks for the great video and content in general!
I am an animation teacher, in charge of the thesis projects, this has being so eye opening. Thak you
I really like that u alwas leave the last view minutes from a video just with music, thats a nice way to give us time to think on our own about the topic
I always had no confidence in my drawings, because my younger brother always got praised at home for his drawing when he was like 6-7 and I never did, so I assumed that my drawings just sucked, and later one, though I went to an art focused school, I avoided drawing in favor of other mediums, despite actually being able to draw just fine, and enjoying drawing for my own purposes. But even now, though I sell my own art, it's not drawn art, it's sculpture, because I still have those voices of not good enough
You made some many value truths in your talk... I had a similar experience in the 6th grade, and making a ceramic leaf. The teacher came over and said it was decorative and it needed to do something. She took her thumb and push in on the three raised parts of the undulating form, and said "there, now it's an ash tray" - as if I was being schooled that art is not expression but factory work. I was horrified. I think she sensed that, and when another kid was unable to make something, she took my piece and scratched his name into it, and told me to make another one. I think that was my first PTSD moment in life. Fast forward - this week I finished an animated story about a young art that is trapped in a commercial art department, and is so stressed he can't finish his personal art. He starts believing the propaganda you talk about, having to be like everyone else, fit in, don't stand out - he even laments "no one wants to see my art." The reel I made is for our week 9 submission for a storytelling/animation class taught by Pixar artists. They told us to make our protagonist relatable, then to beat them up as much as we could, before they go on a journey and arrive in Act 3 for the payoff... My protagonist has to face challenges and then meets his muse, where she helps him coalesce his life experiences into a new confidence, and focus on his art, his expression. I won't give away the payoff in Act 3, but there are messages in my reel from things I have learned. Artists connect with people by releasing their art into the wild. The word failure is no longer used, or thought. Instead, deep learning replaces failure, the universe is slowing you down, making you humble enough to be open to learn more so you can grow and have more experience/wisdom... You mentioned animation and how everyone has to basically act as "one hand" to make a consistent looking story. I flipped the script several times... 1) I used my images and "environmentals" as antagonists. Like the protagonist, they art styles evolve and change. 2) Animation classically has been about animation art in front of a camera. Instead of creation motion/action in front of the camera, I created a matte image that is over 16,000 wide and I move the "camera" over the image. It creates one of the final scenes that flows, and is an opposite approach to the first Act that is done with pencil sketches and a cold/stark look. And - I used AI software to generate many research efforts for my scenes, in many art styles (using my training in art history, and my time studying in Europe). AI is a set of tools, like an air brush is a tool. In the hands of a storyteller, telling a story drawn from life experience, AI becomes just another tool. Like cars and so many other things in modern life, tools can be used for good, or for bad. As you said, there's a lot more for us to discuss about AI, but that's for another discussion. Thank you for saying all this, I see myself in many of the things you said, and I appreciate you articulating this for teachers, and for all of us. I just started my TH-cam channel this week, and posted Birth Day, my first animation and hope to gain some feedback for my next projects.
That is so upsetting. What a horrible person. I had a sixth grade teacher that stole work from her students. She had a huge cabinet with years of student’s work. She would show the work as examples as she described what to do on the assignment. I thought is was odd that she had so many examples of peoples past work. I did the assignment and really liked what I had done. My father had artistic talent and I was excited to show him what I had done. When it came time to give the projects back to the students, she could not ‘find’ mine. She said that it was lost. It was then that I realized that she had been stealing all those works from students all those years, keeping the ones that she liked. I was enraged and called her out very loudly. I was sent to the principal, but held my ground. I never got my drawing back and distrusted adults after this.
Love you too sir :) , I generally ramp up the speed of videos to get more info quickly but this time I listened it all on pace with you, thank you so much.
Growing up in the late 50’s I had a children’s art teacher do the same thing to me and the tree I drew for her class. What I learned was that I was not very good at art, which later turned out not to be true. The years of practice I lost after being invalidated by this random young woman are many.
i respect that you came back from that, John :)
@@coins_png in a way. Thanks for replying. Music, colors and shapes, these were my very first ways to talk to the world, but language also became strong in grade school. None of which registered with education or employers in the mid 60’s. I graduated music school, learned graphic design on the job by a fluke and finally made a living. After retirement and a health calamity, I tried a good art school/studio nearby, mostly to make up for the fact that I did all my design digitally. Paint and pencil were on the bucket list. It turned out the art teacher in my 1st Grade was wrong.
Great video and a lot of wisdom in it. Thank you.
I'm struck by how many of us relying have our own stories like your of having someone knock our creativity down, especially as children. I passionately believe we are all artists or creatives more broadly - or could be, but that most of us have it kicked out of us as children, and it harms us deeply. Often those of who do get through that and go on to be creatives as adults are the ones most able to get up and carry on after we have been kicked.
People have shared their stories, so here is mine. As a young teen I was seriously into Surrealist art, and especially taken by the use of flat horizon lines in very stark dreamlike scenes. My art teacher hated it though - told me there are no flat horizons in life (he had clearly never been to Kansas or looked out over the sea on a still calm day) and he proceeded to draw hills on my lonely largely empty picture - then he added a figure, then the figures friend and so on until he had taken a picture that was me expressing my feelings with his drawings. It hurt. I'm bloody minded though and have struggled on with my art ever since.
In regard AI I feel some artists understandable fears of the negatives are drowning out the potential positives. I've been investing time and effort in learning how to get AI to work with my own vision and art, and also in the online AI community, and what I have been seeing is a lot of wounded artists using it. People who had the creativity kicked out of them as a child, people who feel they are not good enough to be 'real artists', as well as artists who have not been able to create anything in years because of a disability, or because they found themselves getting by in life doing a job that left no space or energy to create. For the first time in my life, and much to my surprise, I have found myself in a community of people who are mostly keen to learn explore, discover, collaborate and innovate together. I see people saying its really encouraging them to learn to draw and paint (its encouraging me to do traditional drawing again after years of digital) because so many of us are discovering AI doesn't have to be an end in itself - we are importing drawings and paintings and photographs we have done into it to experiment with them, we are learning how to get these AIs to respond to our our vision and intent instead of just accepting what we get, or enjoying simply playing with it and discovering what it inspires us to do as we get surprised by what we get. Some of us are using the results as a basis for doing a physical painting.
Sure there are also those who are not like this, but many in the community are putting time and effort into encouraging others to explore and experiment and push past the media hype and scare stories to see what we, as creative beings, can do with this new technology, and how we can do it in ways that are respectful and considerate of each other, ad of our fellow artists who are not using AI or who really dislike it. I'm old enough to have experienced the impact of digital art on traditional, and the friction between both camps then (having moved from oil painting to digital collage) so I've seen the friction before and felt it first hand - but I have never seen the sort of community I'm starting to see forming in some circles of AI. I genuinely believe that there is a real potential for AI to heal the creative hurts many of us have experienced and to excite people about art (and art history as well) in all its forms. It could be a disaster - if we let it be one. Or we could shape it into an opportunity.
Yes the negatives are there. Those of us who are experienced artists using AI know that and we feel the same worries, but I also see the possibilities and want to find a healthy balance.
I think AI is a bluff of a creative problem, everything else is the real problem. Nice video, man. Thank you.
How so ? Am interested what you think.
@@juostudios6216 The problem is our lack of understanding of our own consciousness and it's potential.
Fuckin beautiful narrative dude! To say that A.I. is a threat to artists is like saying digital image editors (like Photoshop or the one you are using here) is a threat to painters, yet look at what an incredible work of art you created here, and I still know incredible real world painters. It's new and not well understood yet, which always inevitably scares the masses, but to say that it's a threat is to have no creative imagination, which at its heart is anti-art. Thanks for making this video!
The way you described the problem this student of yours have really really resonated with me. I've reach high job position but I cannot think myself as an artist at all... I don't fell I have a voice.. Thank you for sharing your wisdom., talking about subjects that are too often eluded..
When I was in kindergarten my class was given a something to color with crayons. It was some kind of anthropomorphic mouse in christmas themed clothing, it was a white piece of paper with black outlines. There were certain parts that I did not wish to color in because my artistic expression dictated that those areas should be white, so there should be no point in coloring them in. My teacher and another student said the whole thing needs to be colored, to which I said no it should not. My teacher demanded for me to color those sections again and I told them they needed to be white. She got angry and then put a white crayon in my hand hand and commanded me to "color" the blank sections white with the white crayon. Having no choice other than to keep being yelled at I "colored" the white sections with a white crayon, making the picture look stupid and ugly, there were ugly shades of white where there shouldn't have been.
The teacher I had is as exactly you described at 4:44 "a bitch." A person who should have been considered in high regard and authority, the "teacher" just did this to be spiteful, controlling and a shit teacher. A young child doesn't have the confidence or conviction to protest a wrong and which taught me early that the people in authority are not always good people nor make appropriate decisions. Who cares if a child wants to not color a part of a piece of art because they believe it to look better? Fuck that stupid cunt, hope she died/dies alone and miserable. She's not even worth a "You taught me an important lesson about life" trope, she's just a moronic control freak who likes to boss around children.
I feel the companies treat artists like machines not as humans with emotions ...they even expect concept artist to know coding sometimes...recently an employer was saying that everyone should know coding even if they are not into it , becuz its the future ...seems they are against design and creativity .
btwn I am not saying game-devs are bad or anything , I have nothing them or their skills , but not everyone can do coding , OR they dont enjoy it .
Even without AI, whatever a given artist produces will get lost in the sheer volume of content available today. Barrier to entry & distribution has gone to zero, for everyone.
I'm suffering my whole life because of not being a creative person (or being a person at all, i don't have a personality, and i thought i can get one by become a cool artist, but in the end i've only destroyed myself even harder to the point that i'm living as amoeba or vegetable, no, that's can't even be called "living", existing, yes), i can only copying other's works mindlessly, i was born with brain trauma and few areas in my brain doesn't functioning at all, and this saddens me a lot, because i really love arts in every forms, it's one of the best thing humanity ever made, i played many indie-games, listened to hundreds of very talented and wonderful musicians, saw a lot of astounishing and mindblowing anime, but... no matter what i just can't make myself do anything, i'm feeling myself like "i don't want to die, but i don't want to live this hell", only what i want is peace, but i can't find it while i'm alive, by both reason, while i'm alive my mind will never give me a chance to peacefully be in the moment, without endless agony and fear of death, of "HOW SHOULD I SURVIVE IN THIS WORLD IF I CAN'T DO ANYTHING AT ALL?!??", and the fact of our mortality also ruined any ever possible motivation for me to do anything at all (what the point of reaching any of it, if i will be dead after and this all would perish for me as well as my self).
I'm sorry that you are experiencing this. To tell you that I think you have potential would only come off as me not understanding you for not being in your place, because you don't seem to truly believe it.
What you're talking about when mentioning that you can only copy other's works mindlessly sounds like a matter of skill... Maybe you feel angered whenever you're not able to make something similar/emulate the works of others which would cause you to have low self-esteem, and after a while of failing to meet those expectations you just don't see the point of illustrating anything because perfectionism has driven you far from what you really want. You seem to take the end result as more "worthy" than the journey...
I'm just going off on a limb here... If you are unable to change any fixation or at least regulate it... I would recommend writing in a journal anytime a thought bothers or interests you, but then again I can't speak for anyone other than myself.
@@TaikenUchida41 You missing the point, i'm suffering exactly because my work are similar to someone, not the opposite, i want to be myself, but i don't know and understand what is my self, i don't know and understand what i ever want from this life, and i don't have a problems with self-esteem, the problem lies in that i can't survive in this world just by loving myself and doing only enjoyable and good things, which i want to do, this world is impossible to live happily in, endless cycle of surviving until your death, cursed capitalistic dystopian world
@@TaikenUchida41 By your message I understood that you know something about this stuff, so I kindly ask you to read this.
I started doimg art a bit less than a year ago and by this time I've learned quite a bunch of things. I can draw human figures, I can make a shaded portrait of a person and it looks almost as the ref. Basically I've got some skills.
I mostly can draw from reference tho. But I'm bot really trying to create my own art, I'm not trying visualize things I've been imagening cool. The last time I've tried, I stuck on the thing I couldn't been able to draw, so I went back to studying with a thought to come back, once I'm able to draw the thing.
I didn't really have a strong desire to go and create and I was terrified by this thought.
There was a moment of a little break through recently. I got an assignment to illustrate a character from a book as baby, adult and an old person. Being an artist, I decided not to look for random pics in the internet but actually draw it. So I gathered a bunch of refs and started drawing. I took a pose from one ref, took a bunch of haircuts, digested and made my own. And then I've been drawing details from myself or inspired by the references
This thing was very enjoyable to do, ngl. Much better than only doing studies. But I'm still anxious about that fear to go and create.
Sorry for texting a damn essay but I'f you've read till this point, I ask you for an opinion, or an advice.
@@CamelliaFlingert Is it that you believe you have no personality simply because it just so happens that your work is similar to someone else's despite truly liking it? If anything, we can't really make something out of nothing, if originality is part of what troubles you. I think it's something that comes over time as you keep taking things that interest you until eventually you end up making something that reflects yourself very much, even if you're not fully aware of how you work as an individual. If you really do care about your work, you will find a way to live off of it, I'm sure. Try to think of what made you go on that journey in the first place.
If you have already spent years doing nothing but "copying" other's works to fit into their agendas and that stepping away from this would be a financial problem... yes, that is difficult (´≖ _ ≖｀) It's like you're not allowed to follow your interests.
So... what will you do about it?
@@jony_tough I'm only self-taught with a bit of perspective feedback from one person, so I don't think I can give you an advice that would do you justice... but since you ask me for an opinion, I think it's most important to know or at least figure out what kind of vision you have. It could be a goal or just something that drives you into this journey regardless of what the end result might be, whether it's long-term or mid-term.
I like to dedicate some time in areas that I feel need to be worked on (to reach my vision) while having separate sessions every day where I just experiment with whatever I have, to create what comes to my mind. So far, I'm 5 1/2 years into illustration. I would say that progress has been slow and steady (sometimes noticing jumps in growth) and I probably went through a couple of plateaus (periods of no progress), but I would take this with a grain of salt if I were you because without a teacher, you could be developing bad habits that will need to be removed when it comes to the basics.
In my opinion, it's better to do something even if it falls short of your expectations-to dedicate time to create something as best you can no matter how small it is or if you get stuck while making it. You may hate how the results turn out to be, but to religiously stick to those recreational sessions might help you get over the fear. (Sorry, I don't know how many times someone probably told you this.)
May I ask what kind of vision you have?
Well…your art teacher was a real piece of work. You emerged far greater than victorious. Love your rave while you create. 🦋
human art is a subset of art
ai art is also a subset of art
don't listen to the greedy and insecure who gatekeep art
That was a relive to finaly hear a grounded and kind opinion and view on art. i notice it myself in my art study classes, that there is a huge lack of empathy. Or the artistic gate keeping, is so huge. this really hepled me to reflect again.