Who are you, exactly?
Hmm. My name is Nicholas, and I'm 24 year old dude living north of the Atlanta metro in GA. I'm an artist, and a current art student. Though, I will say on that last part I hope to continue to be a student for a long, long time. Okay, so maybe not a student forever, but I definitely want to strive to always continue learning.
And for prosperity, I've been studying art academically since Fall 2011, but if we're being serious I haven't really, really been studying longer than Spring 2013. So, about a year and a half now I've been trying to put my nose to the grind stone and figure out what it takes to become a professional. Which leads me to my next point.
Why am I making this blog?
Well for starters, I want to catalogue the journey from where I was, where I am now, to becoming a full-fledged professional, i.e. paid, artist, freelance or otherwise.
In this past year and some change, I have done a lot of trekking through the murk to find out how people made the transition from something close to myself, to a professional. If I'm being frank, finding answers has been hell. The biggest points of aid have come from direct human contact (imagine that) at two conferences I managed to go to, Spectrum Fantastic Art Live this past May and Massive Black in Dec.
I want to share resources I have found useful, highlight learning strategies I am trying, deliver some clarity from the unknown, record field reports of my progress as I study, and invite any struggling soul to fight the good fight alongside me.
Baseline: where I am now, where I was, and what I am planning.
Currently? I am enrolled at a University, studying Drawing/Painting. There is one professor who is a staunch realist, and if I'm to be entirely honest, the only one who seems to support my endeavors towards this career. Which is a character designer, illustrator and all things fantastical while maintaining a sense of strong realism.
These pictures should show you the amount of progress I've made in the last year and a half. I've included some from 2012, where I was doing minimal research, had no idea of what kind of people, or info was available and I was literally flopping about on my tablet.
My next blog post will entail more specifics, including time management and the practice regimens I have tried, and the one or two I am going to be using here in the future.
There is so much to learn, but knowing that means nothing if we don't take action.
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