Three Illustrators Shooting the Breeze
Episode #317 | Art by Lee White
From the right way to make master studies to finding mentors to feeding your creative bank account, Jake Parker, Sam Cotterill, and Lee White cover a little bit of everything in this live-recorded episode.
SHOW LINKS
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Make meaningful master studies; choose images that reflect the type of artist you want to become.
If you want mentorship, see what you can offer your potential mentor in return.
Art supplies are an investment (and you don’t need the fanciest tools to make fabulous work!).
Inspiration comes from good input and boredom. Feed your brain with books, great art, and life experiences, and then let it digest and turn this input into something new.
As a beginner, focus on skill. As a careerist, focus on becoming exceptional. At every stage, be exceptional in grit and determination.
SUMMARY
“How should I approach master studies?”
The first step comes before you even begin: choosing the right image to study. Just because an image is famous or good doesn’t mean it will serve you to copy it. Select art that reflects your aspirations: the line quality, the composition, or other elements of style you’d like to incorporate in your own work.
Next, try to break down the artist’s process. (If the artist is living, it never hurts to reach out to them and ask for insight into their method.) Rather than merely copying the image, get inside their head. What was the thought process and physical process that produced this result? Their way of thinking, more than any part of the image, is what you can apply to your own work.
“When am I skilled enough to look for a mentor?”
You can look for a mentor at any skill level. The tricky part is finding one who is willing and able to work with you; many will be too preoccupied with their own projects to take on the responsibility of one-on-one teaching. There are a few ways around this: you could offer to assist them with administrative or studio tasks in exchange for their time, or you could take classes they already offer and use that time to pick their brain.
“How can I afford art supplies?”
If you want to become a professional illustrator, look at art supplies as an investment in your career. You don’t need anything fancy to begin (and even later in your career, it’s amazing what you can do with budget-friendly supplies). Set sales goals for your art to start covering the cost of your supplies, and take advantage of affordable options on Amazon. Remember, once you go pro, art supplies (and even educational and inspirational materials like books) are tax-deductible!
“What can I do when I feel uninspired?”
A lack of inspiration is often a symptom of an underfed creative bank account. To generate good ideas, your brain needs good input; if you’re stumped, it’s time to fill up on books, music, and life experiences that will spark new ideas. Books and audiobooks are especially useful because they require your brain to generate images for the story or topic, activating your imagination. Visiting museums and making master copies can get ideas (and your pencil) moving when you’re drawing a blank. Let yourself be bored; your brain needs downtime to assimilate all you’ve fed it and to start wiring new connections. You’ll be amazed at the ideas you have when you stop bombarding your mind with short-form content and instead allow it to entertain itself.