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Workshops<br />
13 cOmpeTe wiTh The besT<br />
Don’t just compare yourself to your peers, unless they happen<br />
to be the best in the biz. Being the best in your group of friends<br />
doesn’t mean you’re anywhere near the top of the game.<br />
Always keep an eye on the people at the peak. Learn from<br />
them, get frustrated and inspired by them. But never resent<br />
their success, because they’ve earned the hell out of it.<br />
14 TrusT The imaginaTiOn<br />
This is the “less is more” speech. There’s no need, especially in a sketch, but<br />
also in a more finished drawing or painting, to spell out every little detail.<br />
Sometimes it’s fun as a challenge, but there’s arguably more value in letting<br />
the viewer’s imagination fill in the gaps. It gets them more involved whether<br />
they realise it or not. Leaving parts to the imagination also enables us to flex<br />
some value design muscles, and hopefully elevate the quality of our images.<br />
Let the viewer’s<br />
imagination fill in<br />
the gaps. It gets them<br />
more involved<br />
15 draw what you loVe/know<br />
We all have themes that we gravitate<br />
toward. It’s good to explore those themes<br />
and see how creative you can get with them,<br />
or how beautiful an image you create within<br />
them. Hopefully, those themes are also in<br />
line with what you know. Drawing what you<br />
know is crucial: if we try to fake something,<br />
chances are someone out there knows<br />
better than we do and will see the flaws.<br />
If you draw what you know it’ll elevate your<br />
art immensely. This can apply to fantasy and<br />
sci-fi as well. We just need to find those<br />
aspects we can relate to in some way. I seem<br />
to draw a lot of elves and girls with big cats<br />
(my love of Frazetta shows through there).<br />
16 geT OuT Of yOur way<br />
There’s a tendency to intellectualise every decision, but that’s not where inspiration<br />
comes from. At a certain point we need to turn our brains off and trust in what we know<br />
and what we feel, and let the light of inspiration shine onto the paper… and get out of its<br />
way. We can be our own worst enemy when we try to funnel things through our<br />
conscious mind. Trust instead to sense-memory and instinct. When the studies are put<br />
aside, these are the two factors that can bring life, feeling and funkiness to sketches.<br />
76 August 2017
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