How Best To Use This Blog - To Surmount Plateaus

Plateaus:

How many of you know what "reaching a plateau" means? It means hitting a wall you can't get past in a certain skill. Like weight lifters who advance for awhile and build up say their bench press till they can lift maybe 200 lbs. Then for weeks they can't get past it. That's a plateau. It doesn't mean they are stuck there forever; they just have to change up their routine and need some help from their trainer.

In art, there are so many skills we have to balance in order to become functional and gain control over our pencils, that we often hit frustrating plateaus we can't surmount, or think we can't.

Each artist has different plateaus or problem areas:

That's what this blog is for-to help a few hand-picked individuals who already have natural talent and strengths in certain areas - and to strengthen the things you have trouble with - to get past your plateaus.

People Avoid Fixing Their Problem Skills:

We all hate these plateaus. If we have a certain skill that doesn't come natural to us, we just assume we can't do it, and avoid it, concentrating instead on what is easy. That's why there are so many sketch book doodlers on the internet. But endlessly doodling has the tendency to magnify weaknesses and bad habits, and makes it harder and harder to go back and learn some valuable artistic skill correctly.

Take Advantage Of Criticism.

I am tailoring my critiques to each artist here. If you read everybody's posts and my comments, you'll see that each artist tends to get different comments than other artists. The comments are short and succinct - to the point. On purpose. So you can easily understand them. So if you get the same critique more than 2 or 3 times, you should know to fix that particular problem once and for all. Get rid of it, so you don't have to read the same critique again.


For example, if you hear:

"You are making your details too big and they are eating up the overall big shapes". Then you need to believe it and immediately do the same drawing again and correct that very thing. The solution? Make the details smaller.

or: "You are shrinking the negative spaces within the character. You need more space behind the face." The solution. Draw it again and ADD MORE SPACE BEHIND THE FACE. Then always be thinking about that on every drawing you do-and always check it carefully until it finally sinks in and becomes second nature.

Or: You are drawing too stiff. Don't pile balls on balls. Your curves are too mathematical or mechanical. Solution: Draw more organic shapes.

Or the opposite: You are drawing everything too wobbly. Make your major shapes more solid.

Or: You are arbitrarily changing the drawing you are copying. Solution: Analyze the drawing you are copying with words first, then copy it.

Each person has their own strengths and weaknesses and I am trying to help you banish the stuff that is hardest for you. Take advantage of that and help me do it.

Take The Criticism Literally- Read It Carefully AND DO IT.

I see a lot of people after getting a criticism, just go ahead and redraw a pose, and make the exact same mistake again. The exact one. That tells me you didn't read the critique; or you didn't understand it, or you didn't think about it when you redrew the drawing. This is a self-made plateau.

Some people just read the critique and then don't fix the drawing at all. They just go on to something else, maybe thinking they understand the criticism just from reading it. That won't work. You have to fix the mistake or it won't sink in, and you'll just keep repeating it.

The only way to get past the plateau, is to literally take my words on face value-concentrate on what I said and then purposely DO IT. Don't just draw something the same way you are used to and hope by luck or magic you won't get the same critique back. Because you will.

If you don't understand the words, then ask me to try to rephrase the critique. Especially if English is not your first language.

Things don't change for the better on their own. YOU have to force the changes. You don't want to slow your progress through force of habit.

GO BACK AND REREAD ALL YOUR CRITIQUES:

See if you get the same one from me over and over again. If you do, you know what you have to work on. Write down the critiques in big letters and stick them on the wall in front of you when you draw. Read them and memorize them.

So then forcefully, thoughtfully concentrate on that problem and make it go away. Then you will never have to worry about it again.

MY Rule Of Threes
On a production, here is my rule of threes. If I correct someone's work once, I am calm and very careful and nice about it. I explain how and why to correct it and then expect the artists to do it every time.

MAKE A NOTE OF IT:
The second time I see the same mistake from the same artist (after I had already explained what was wrong) I get a little frustrated because I hate explaining myself again. But I understand that certain concepts don't sink in the first time, so I will re-emphasize the correction and ask that the artists make a big note of it and pin it to their desk, and always read it before handing in another scene.

The Third Time:

If the artist makes the same mistake 3 times in a row, I start to get impatient. If this was a real school, it would mean you failed that assignment. After that I feel like I am being cheated. There are only so many times you can explain the same thing again and again. When it starts to cost me money and patience then I feel like it's an artist being irresponsible and not follwing instructions on purpose.

So again, if you just don't understand the correction or critique - ASK RIGHT AWAY to try to explain it better. Don't hope it will go away on its own. It won't. I'll help you, but you have to make the fixes yourself. I can't do that part for you.

If you read this post, why not comment and say the critique you get most from me, then do an assignment where you really focus on correcting the problem? You'll be happy you did. So will I.

****Oh, and on every post you put up, put your name in the labels, and make a label of what the concept is. So you can find the posts easily later.