Great Advice - on Motivation and "Wanting" vs. "Doing"

[Intervain]

haha - sounds like something for me... I keep telling myself I'll work on this and that and then the time flies by... my personal fav quote is that of Benjamin Franklin 'Time Enough Always Proves Little Enough' so true... darn I'd better do something then... :scream:

[Rebeccak]

Heh, this is a great kick in the pants for everyone, I think. ;)

[theflash]

Thanks Rebeccak for this article :) It certainly kicked in my pant

[ha-dou-ken]

This awesome! I am guilty of this to an extent ha, Grrr at myself.

[Imortl2]

I. myself, am guilty of this to the xth degree. Only recently have I started to come out of my shell and stop giving excuses as to why my 2d and 3d art are not good enough. I DON'T PRACTICE! I have a job that allows me to sit on my rear end and surf the web all day and I don't take advantage of my time to work on improving my drawing skills. That ends now.

I couldn't have read a better article or picked a better site (cgtalk) to get me motivated. Thank you for whomever posted this.

[Darktwin]

I really needed that slap in the face, I am practicing, but I need to focus more on my goals, catch them and crush them with no remorse. That was a really great read. Thanks for that find. Time to go to work!!

[Silpher]

Concerning this, I would also recommend bobby chiu his movies (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bobby+chiu&search=Search) on youtube.
He talks about motivation, passion, what "it" takes and a lot of other stuff to get the right mindset.
It was a real eyeopener for me.

[Animegedon]

Preach the gospel. Love the speach. I'm surrently working on developing my working knowledge of the human figure, using the Vilppu approach so I can get away from copying and depending on reference if when drawing the figure. although its not as much fun as drawing stylised stuff I know its essential (I guess style comes with time and is easier to develope once the structural foundation has been built., and I'm happy I can find speaches like these to motivate me when ever i'm feeling lazy.

[serguineh]

Well, i don't think that this link can help people living in countries where there is no cg jobs, like me. i have been motivating myself for 2 years now, trying to get a job anywhere in this planet, but after more than 500 job application all over the world, i have came to this conclusion: don't bother yourself if you can't go where the job is, meaning not in my country.

how did i get this conclusion ? very simple. once i applied without saying which country i am living on, in less than 15 minutes i got an invitation for a meeting !! once i told them my location they just stoped emailing me back.

so right now, i sit in front of my pc to do something or learn something new but i can't, all what i have in mind is: will it help me get a job ? than i do nothing since i know it will not help.

the funny part in all this is that for 2 years i have been motivating myself, learning new softs, new techniques, any thing that i see demand for , animation , modeling , texturing, and trying to save money as i can, living with less than 70$ a month, bearly eating, without heating and spending what i can save to by something that can help me learn or improve my practice. I don't think there is motivation more than that, but could it help ? no, all was a lost of time and helth, maybe i have learned something in cg but also i've learned that there is people who are less than others what ever they do, and motivation have nothing to do with it.

[Rebeccak]

serguineh,

Well, of course your location matters. There's a little matter of reality. ;) We can't all have exactly what we want right away - you may need to focus on moving if that's what it takes to realize your dreams of a CG career. Even within the US, you must move to where the jobs are, that's just a fact of life.

This post obviously can't address everyone's geographic limitations or personal circumstances - it's purely about the drive to do well in taking steps toward your goals. If moving to the US or another country is your goal, then that will probably require just as much dedication and investment as learning CG.

[GreenDuckie]

What a wonderful kick in the ass. :D Thanks. I've been 'wanting' to get my portfolio ready to show the animation department at the university and I keep saying that I'll get it...but then it just flakes off. Thanks for that article. It is the best feeling kick in the pants i've had in a long time. :)

[cage3d]

Motivation at it's best. Thank you.

[mjca]

Good read. Thanks for posting.

[Segvoia]

Excellent article and pretty applicable to any goal a person sets for their life.

[Kanga]

Anyone thinking about education in this field should read his tute on that too:)

[ThaNemesis]

I'm currently a student and I will say this article has open my eyes even wider. I fail a class so I'm repeating it now and I always tell myself that sometimes it takes a failure to define your greatness. Meaning I'm no longer taking anything lightly I'm going full force at every project that is thrown at me. With this article it makes me want to spend the week off for Summer vacation modeling. No matter how good it looks I know now that I will get better with practice. Thanks for posting this!

[Shuggs]

Yea. I just fired up Lightwave and pulled out my sketchbook. Definitely a wake up call. I've been slacking these past couple of weeks, but now I'm going to go ahead and stop talking the talk and do what I said I was going to do. :D

Thanks for posting that! I'll be reading it at least twice a day.

[Kinoshi]

im really greatful to read some not all XD of what you wrote. it actully was a kick as everyone stated before me states. im new to this industry, i want to learn so much, i just started at the art institute of fort lauderdale for the bachlors in game art/ design.

i want to learn so much, but i dont know where to start!? i learned photo shop but im still weary on how to make armor shine, make it look so real ya know? like the stuff majority show in this site which is beautiful, i want to create that may i have the honor of asking where to start?

i learned photoshop, i got a wacom, im really good at sketching and drawing, painting but i want to be amazing in digital art. especially since it will or already has become my life. anyone please message me on where i should read, what to do to become a future artist that will make all of the leaders in the game industry proud. eh i guess what i am trying to say the lost generation as many adults would classify me and everyone my age as, to prove them wrong. that games are art, beauty, existince. unlike movies or animations, you live the program you are playing, if the story is rich, the enviroments are breath taking, the meaning to the story in whole is perfection, it will change your life and view on things or atleast make a view stronger.

im so honored to start this career, im a twink, but one day i will be something, i will be in books, i will be someone that will help or cause a change, if i dont reach my goal. then this existance i live will be futile.

i know lame, corny kid trying to become something majority strive for. but why cannt a boy dream? or place a goal. without dreams or goals, then why live?


Sencerely Dante H Aramburo, student of AiFL, x-Marine

p.s. please guide this 18 year old moron to the right direction. i hope to learn from everyone in this site. thank you.

[Kanga]

i want to learn so much, but i dont know where to start!?
Well with a name like Dante I would say you are off to a pretty good start:) . Also you get full marks for posting in an old thread because this indeed gets asked alot.

First off, you can follow a study (sounds like you are) But it is not necessary. Which ever study you follow it will not be enough so you will have to put alot of private effort into your persuit. This is still a free profession which means you can persue it without any qualifications whatsoever. The advantage of this is that anyone can do it, the disadvantage is, that anyone can do it:D . To get work you need to show a body of work that is reasonable and then if you know people you will find employment, have amazing work and you dont need to know anyone. Even if you don't get employed you can still freelance, and with the advent of the interwebs you can even work remotely for any country in the world right from your bedroom! Just make sure you get paid first:lightbulb .

So how do you get amazing?
Before you begin you need to sit down and think about what you want, and how bad you want it. You need to accept the possibility that you may never be great, never be in books, never be a star. You need to accept the possibility that the journey you are about to embark on is the only thing you will get out of the life before you. Just the journey and nothing more. While you are following your dream you will still get your ass handed to you on a plate by people who are brilliant and who work their nuts off. You have to follow this path because you cant do anything else and you have to enjoy it, otherwise you wont last. The rewards at the other end wont be enough to sustain you, you will have to love what you do and commit to it 100%.

So where do I start?
Read the stickies in this forum, take note of the reading lists and read these books till you begin to understand them, then read them again. Many books are available for free download by the university press like Harold Speed.
Join this thread and participate in it
Personal Anatomy & Sketchbook Threads (http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=200)
Keep a weather eye on this site, join it and participate in it
http://conceptart.org/ (http://conceptart.org/)
These are the people who make that amazing art you speak of, as well as the folks here.

If you want to get into games then get a cheap or free copy of 3d software. To begin with you only need a modeller and texturing would be nice but is not necessary in the beginning. In the general discussion forum there is a software sticky about this with all the links and info you need. Remember that the price of the application will in no way influence the quality of your work. Software manufacturers would have you believe otherwise but it is simply not true. Talent and skill can not be bought by owning expensive products.

Do all the beginner tutorials in your 3d app to get to know it. Now you will have to buy either ZBrush or Mudbox to expand your skill. They are not expensive. Do tutorials in one of these to get to know the software. Mix 3d practice with art study and drawing and begin to produce your own work. Once you start getting a bit better follow all the tutorials here:
http://www.poopinmymouth.com/ (http://www.poopinmymouth.com/)

Ok, I think my work is kick ass, now what?
To find out how not great your work is post it on
WIP/Critique: 3D Stills (http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=43)
or
WIP/Critique: Game Art Design (http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=39)
and when you are ready for the final insult
3D Stills (http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=132)
By now you will begin to have an inkling of what the standard requirements are and how great your competition is :).

I survived, now what?
Ok, you have been stabbed, shot, castrated and been called a bounder and a cad! Still after all the battles you have some work left over. You need to make a portfolio website with your contact details on it and keep it updated. Now start posting your work all over the web.

Hope this helps.
3D is the most fun you can have with your pants on.

Cheerio Chris

[ruizone]

I love this forum,I come and join here first, Its style is very good. hehe

[Djampa]

Rebecca, great article here, don't know how I didn't see it before.
A real kick.

Silpher quoted well Bobby Chiu's movies, Bobby has a great motivational work through his painting movies.

Kanga,

Nice what you wrote to Kinoshi, it may be useful to most of the beginners around...

I'm on the business side of the whole thing yet by this moment, it means no direct work art at all, almost no contact with production and so on, just meetings, brainstorms, spreadsheets, deadlines and contracts.
For sure it is better paid than the production side (sometimes *lol*), but also being an investor and entrepreneur like I did for a good time... means... a lof of RISK, a real lot of risk, we all must have courage to accomplish our goals, putting always the motivation on the first plane, that´s the real starting point I think, the ´where to start ?´ begins as ´why to do it ?´ in first place.

I confess that I'm not completely happy at this moment with what I'm doing for living now, I'm happy always but something is out of context somehow, maybe I got tired of so much risk, ups and downs, or not, still didn't figured out exactly, sometimes we need to breath out a little from the roller coaster, and I don't mean a vacation.

My aim currently is to jump from one side to the other *lol*, still figuring out how to do it, but I'm mostly enjoying the process in itself, doing art is by itself a pleasure, fun first of all and above everything a mean to grow up as human being, a path that teaches a lot about ourselves and helps us seeing the world around from different perspectives and with a broader, much wider horizon.
Art was always my passion, I keep drawing or painting wherever and whenever I can, and studying for the rest of my life :)

Was talking to Diego Maia (http://maia3d.blogspot.com/) these days exactly about it, I always get people asking me to give their folios to my clients and partners, sometimes I act as a headhunter for studios, as well sometimes hearing so many who complain about not being able to get a job, some other complaining about the film / game industry and so on... And I thought of myself, if I were to jump to the 'other side' ? , to make art as a living from now on...
We got a nice talking at a lunch and I think he said just the same as the article here, and I got a phrase from him that I feel particularly nice to share here. "Important is to relax, to make your art without pressuring yourself too much for fast results, just doing consistently the artwork every time possible, trying the best to focus, you will naturally grow your skills , get prepared, and eventually end up working with it, with the skills you ever wanted (the minimum at least *lol*), and be well paid for that." I think this matches very much with the thread here.
I hope this post may help others.

My best wishes to everyone here,

And thanks once more and always,

[Rebeccak]

Hey Eduardo, sounds like you're doing some self examination, and I know it's pretty tough to figure out. I think we all glamorize the 'other side' and of course the grass always seems greener on the far end of the pasture - the main thing in this day and age of uncertain economic times is to try to find a balance between what you have to do, and what you want to do. The joy of *not* being a production artist is that the only person you have to please is yourself. You need not worry about deadlines, meeting others' expectations, or satisfying a client when you are just doing art for your own enjoyment and pleasure. I have to remind myself all the time of the pros and cons of what I do for a living. 'You' have to jolt yourself out of daydreaming and really take advantage of what the current situation affords - maybe the job is a drag, but it affords you the money to be able to take creative classes, or travel, or whatever it may be that provides stimulation for your creativity. There are always the pluses and minuses we must contend with - the trick, it seems, is figuring out the pros of the current situation before leaving that behind and not taking advantage of them while they were still possibilities.

Good luck in figuring it all out my friend, and when you know the answer, be sure to write me about it! :)

-R

[serguineh]

As suggested from Djampa I am coming by to share my personal progress, after a year from posting in this thread. at that time I was really depressed about my situation, but thank god I got a job a few months later in Morocco as a character animator for 3d animated series.

And even if it's not what I was looking for, but I knew that it's a beginning, a start that will help me to have experience, improve my skills, and see how is it in the field.

So to everyone who is looking for a job don't loose hope, and try not to waste your time on things that doesn't matter, because when you get a job it becomes difficult to find some time for yourself.

So now I believe that if there is no pain there will be no gain.

I hope that will help somebody.

[Djampa]

Rebecca,

My dear friend, thanks for commenting that.

Yeah, that was pretty much a self exam, I started this year by balancing things out with my associates, so I have more time to focus on my folio and grow skills without forgetting about new ad contracts, and doing what I have to.

You are totally right about the balance of what we `have` to do and what we `want` to do, at these uncertain economic times we have to take care, a lot, this way I'm not giving up of what I have to do, but still effort on what I want.

I've set an objective to be working for someone else, at the games or film industry, rather than keeping my own business as I do now, I've worked before on the 'hard' side as employee and the same way I know the leadership side, I always asked a lot from my own production team, so I know the hard part of both sides.
But at least working at the production side of a good game / film company one can develop the artistic skills and earn some nice money better than behind a desk and phone doing meetings all day ;)
Meeting deadlines of my own job is something, taking care of the deadlines of ten companies to make a client happy (and pay you) is another...

Lets see how I progress along the year and be sure I'll keep you informed. :D
And thanks so much for all the support :)
Your words will benefit more people around as well.
That's a cool feature of a forum like this one.


Halim Serguine,

So great that you posted your progress, I'm sure this will help a lot of beginners that were at the same situation you were back that time.
And from now on, a bright success future awaits you if you never forget that, and if you continuously believe and effort yourself, no pain no gain ;)
But its fun isn't it ? :D
Hope you are enjoying as much as possible, keep sharing your artwork with us.
Success for you !

Happy 2009 everyone !

[Rebeccak]

Hey Eduardo,

Happy to be encouraging :) - it sounds like you know what you're doing and are acting very wisely. Best of luck and stay in touch!

-R

[michael-olszak]

Damn that article is so right!! I read so much familiar things in it.

Just another proof that there are no shortcuts. Practice, practice, practice.... is the key :D:D:D

Thanks a lot for sharing this with us Rebecca.

[zbaby]

I loved this article. Sent to a friend at my school who always babbles, "I have plenty of time to work on my portfolio when I'm done with college." Pretty sure he's going take this as a slap in the face. The article was also a kick in the chin for me I definitely need to make more personal projects for myself.

Thank you for linking :)

[wohlstadter]

I certainly needed this, I'm tired of doing web stuff..as I am right out of school. This really put it into perspective for me. Great article.

[Arthe]

Indeed - thank you for resurrecting this thread. I am quite passionate about drawing, but I am still doing it solely as a hobby. I have been thinking about applying to an art-school, but I also think that I need to improve a bit before I do that. And what is my worst enemy right now - the one obstacle in between me and improving? Laziness. That cursed laziness. :)

[R3N311]

ugh!! i got kick!!

[orjohnson]

Ahh just the kick in the pants I needed.

[aminlatifkar]

I think many of us, Have loved the idea to become artists but few will become, and I think this is the main reason why. So enough of excuses! I think "Van Gogh" is a great example of doing and acting up on great inspiration.

[AsianBorat]

I just created this account to thank you for posting that article.

When I talk to them, online, in person, in the classroom, they try to convey to me in words how much they want to work in games. Yet when I look at their portfolios it's obvious they don't invest more than a couple hours a week on it.
This part in particular struck home for me.

[gone-gone]

That is definitely inspiring. I'm just doing this as a hobby and I feel motivated to work harder on my personal projects. Although, the title of the site does seem a little... excessive.