Sketchbook Manifesto

This week I wanna talk about keeping a sketchbook. Keeping one is very important to your artistic growth. It's something to practice in and to keep track of your progression. I have referred back to old sketchbooks man times and have gotten ideas from them. I have recently in the last year started going back to old practices and carrying my sketchbook every where. Any extra time I get I put it into the sketchbook. Also if you have it in public you can have people check it out maybe get some critiques. When selecting your sketchbook I suggest getting one that is bound like a book and durable. I would also avoid on that is too big. After all it is suppose to be travel size. I personally carry one that is roughly 8x10. When sketching in your book let the creativity fly don't think everything needs to be perfect. This is a sketchbook after all and besides that's what your other paper is for. After you finish one buy another just keep going with them. i have gotten to where i carve a number on the binding of mine for identification. Remember try to draw in it for at least 30 minutes a day this will help so much in your art. And don't be afraid of trying to draw new things that is what your sketchbook is for is practice. Well that's all for this week check out my new blog every week about a "Struggling Artist."

Use Your Resources!

Since I was late last weak I'm posting early this week. And this week we are talking about using your resources. If you are a struggling artist money is always tight so make the best of what you got. If you need art supplies or a drawing table got to garage sales. I've found my drawing table , canvases and other supplies dirt cheap. Also look for sales at the art stores. Hold out for the sales if possible. Now for other resources there is the internet. It maybe your most powerful tool. Go to Youtube,deviant art, digital webbing, etc... All these are valuable tools that will help you. Youtube you can learn just about anything from so use it a lot. Deviant Art and Digital Webbing are great places to connect with artist and maybe land some freelance jobs? Also facebook and twitter are must too. They are great tools for circulating your work and there are lots of pro's on both sites. If your lucky and you ask nicely they may give you some hot pointers to make your art do a 180. But don't abuse them! these guys have jobs and have a million things on their plate so if they don't answer you question the first time give them a few weeks and ask again. Most artist are willing to help out if they see your message and they aren't swamped. I have actually gotten some great tips in my time which I will share some on a later post. Also a library of books is a good thing to have. At first see what your local library has but eventually the good ones you'll want at your finger tips. A few books I recommend are the Will Eisner drawing books, The Wizard Magazine how to draw series ( these are out of print and hard to find search for a good deal don't over pay for these),How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, A bridgman's Anatomy book, and a perspective book. All these are great books and search for them used and get them cheap. Try ebay or Amazon. Remember your a struggling artist and you don't have much money. Also these books apply mostly to comics but they are good for any artist to check out. Also use  reference as much as possible. I use to hate using reference. I felt like I was cheating but now that I'm older i realize how the hell else am I gonna know how to draw something besides looking at it. Draw from life if possible. If you need to draw cereal grab a box. If you need to draw a car take a pic of the car. If you need to draw a woman with big boobies see if you can take a life drawing class or if all else fails ask some friends if you can draw them. My point is use reference if at all possible and eventually somethings you will just know how to draw. Well that's all for this week. Tune in next week for more advise from " A Struggling Artist."

Sacrifices and loneliness of a Struggling Artist

On this late night I'm feeling extra lonely. Being a struggling artist you have to make sacrifices everyday. One big one is juggling money. You may have a day job but art supplies are expensive. Super expensive! Not that some of the cheaper stuff can't work for a while but the better material can really help. Me I look for sales and good buys all the time. I've even lived off Mac and Cheese to buy supplies. Now a none money oriented on is Time! Time is a huge thing and maybe the hardest thing to juggle. There have been many times I have had to stay home from family and friends to work on my craft. I actually think I maybe still single cause I don't have much social life. Like I said BIG sacrifices. Sleep is another thing you will have to give up some of. A friend of mine sleeps less than 4 hours a night and he does comics for a living. There have been days when he hasn't slept at all. On another note not all sacrifices will be for your art. There will come times you will have to sacrifice your art for family, friends, or just events. Which is hard cause if your like me all you want to do is achieve your goal of being a professional artist. And the more time you put in and practice the closer you will be to your goal. I know it's rough to make it in this biz. And it can seem very out of reach. There will be times that you will just feel lost, hopeless, and helpless. But if you hold on to this dream and continue fighting it will happen. Maybe not today, or tomorrow or even a few months from now but someday it will happen. They key is to think of the future and what it will bring. That's all for this week. Tune in next week for my post and hopefully it won't be this late during the week. Till then " This is Jon Fassnacht if you are reading this you are a struggling artist."