What Holds Back Beginner Artists – Asking Pros
This year I decided to do something useful at Comic-Con. With so many pros crammed in one room, it was the perfect opportunity to do rapid fire interviews. In the first of this series I ask them what held them back when they were starting out. I’m sure everyone can related and learn from them.
Comic-Con part 2
Comic-Con part 3
Comic-Con part 4
Thanks to all the artists who participated:
Ross Tran
Patrick Ballesteros
Marshall Vandruff
Peter Han
Victor Olazaba
Ron Lemen
Stephen Silver
Chrissie Zullo
Sanford Greene
Howard Shum
Marcelo Matere
Eliza Ivanova
Hai-Na-Nu Saulque
Bobby Chiu
Mike Hayes
Caleb Cleveland
James Douglas
Filed in: Critiques / Q&A • Videos • Vlogs
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What held me back when I was pursuing an art career, and continues to hold me back, is the outside pressure to do art “on the side”. Even when I was in art school, the pressure from family and friends was to get a job, work 40 hours, and then do art in my spare time, with the thought my ‘talent’ (which I don’t have, I just have some skill) would magically get me a job. And then, when I was approached by Marvel and Miramax about my portfolio, the stress if trying to get a good set of artwork to impress the scouts, while working two minimum wage jobs (and also in the days before internet and easy reference) was just too much. I could not make that next step. Even now, 35 years later, I keep getting told to practice my hobby less, spend less time on it. And we all know, drawing for ten minutes a day, three or four days a week, will not let you compete against the people that spend eighteen hours a day honing their craft.
This is EXACTLY the experience I’ve had and now, almost 30 years later, I’ve learned to ignore ALL of the naysayers and do whatever I need to do to improve my skills.
Stan thank you for a sneak peak on the other side it’s really amazing, and helpful. Once again thank you and am a really big fan
A really insightful video. Revealed a lot of my sticking points. Thank you very much.
I’m 51 years old so obviously I didn’t grow up with the internet. The people that grew up with the internet can be ahead of the curve. For people my age, even if we can use the internet, are sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of stuff available to us. At least for me, that has been a daunting factor.