Process + Article (Consistency vs. Experimentation) (Patreon)

Hey ya'll!

The process stuff is uploaded over here: https://bit.ly/2NybWb8

I've started using Google Drive to upload to since Dropbox has not been working for me.

The topic I wanted to discuss this month is this issue of experimentation vs consistency in art. I used to think this was an easy problem, experimentation led to improvement so experimentation was the most important thing to do even if it sacrificed the quality of individual pieces a bit because at the end of the day each piece would build on the last, and I still think there's a lot of good logic there. Up until recently though I had never even considered the benefits of consistency in my art. I've been doing this long enough to know generally what my tastes are (or so I thought) and yet for the longest time I had never developed much of an individual style, partially because I have trouble expressing myself through art but partially because I was always ready to move on to the next piece and find that next area of improvement.

What I didn't understand is that there is improvement to be had in consistency: a different kind of improvement and one that doesn't read as immeditalely as improvements to something like rendering or perspective. That is, improvements in expression, improvements that only come with doing variations on a theme rather than building an entirely new theme with each piece, improvements with story telling and visual language. Experimentation is so important for a developing artist, but if you're constantly pulling yourself in different directions, you'll never reach as far as you can.

That brings me to the two pieces for this month. I want to be honest with ya'll, I did not have fun making these and nearly withdrew this month's post because of that. I'm really glad I ended up working on them though, because by the end I had realized that a problem was creeping back into my work. You see, back a few months ago, I had suddenly started to have a whole lot of fun with every piece I was doing, even more than usual. I was producing constantly, working full days even when I was supposed to take time off! And slowly this started to sort of fade and it felt like things were becoming work more and more.

What I didn't realize was that I had hit on something those few months ago, a style and a particular method for working that just absolutely clicked with me and because of that I had started to stay consistent with my work and learn new things about my  tastes that I hadn't really even scratched the surface of before. Before long though, I wanted to improve it in my typical way and this is when I realized one of the most important things. See, to learn more I often watch what other people say and do and try to learn from that and you can learn so much that way, but I had been doing this my entire life and have heard and understood a lot of what people have to say when it comes to objective concepts. So learning this way had sort of stagnated for me, even learning from amazing artists who's work I really value it felt like they didn't have much else to say that I hadn't already heard.

So I did some studies, it's what I do when I feel an art block coming on. Studies are relaxing and help to keep me thinking. But while I was working, I realised that I was back to working like I did those months ago, everything was going so easy and the results were exactly what I wanted! What I needed wasn't to add more to what I was thinking about, it was to reduce it. I was able to get those results because I had reduced the number of moving parts I was working with!

It was sort of a eureka moment, but I had already started realizing it when I had decided to work from greyscale to color. By reducing what I have to focus on, I can reach higher highs and even my lowest lows are far higher. That's what consistency does, it reduces the number of things you have to consider when sitting down to work, and instead of experimenting with the entirety of the elements of art you get to focus on other parts like subject and emotion.

It really helped, and right at the end of the month I felt like I was back. I don't know if this is a common struggle for artists but it for me, and I hope if any of ya'll have the same problem this might be able to help you to. Thanks so much for the continued support ya'll. I'll be back in November with another piece. 

Let me know if ya'll like these articles over the process descriptions! I will probably make this first one publicly available to advertise it.