SVS Team

@LauraA I agree with @Lobalyss as far as the girl fox behind the tree and the others running off. I don't think they are needed to tell your story. You have great flow with the foxes in front dancing. Also love the confused look and pose of Will.

@demotlj That's a great question and I can sympathize with your problem. I'm actually talking about that on the podcast we are recording today.

I do have a few routines that I use for art goals. The biggest one that relates to your problem is I alternate technical goals with more satisfying image creation. You know the saying "necessity is the mother of invention", well that really holds true with making a full illustration. Maybe I don't know how to paint a night scene, but if I NEED to paint a night scene, I'll just dive in and try some stuff out. That is where a massive amount of learning takes place.

I have a real problem with the idea of only studying technique. It's boring and not very satisfying. So when I'm studying technique, I try to do exercises that relate to the next image I'm trying to make.

I will add that sometimes you need to take your medicine and do an exercise that is isolated. Like color swatches. But that's a one time thing, just do it and move on. But don't forget to plan the fun painting stuff the same way you plan some technique holes you need to fill. : )

Hope that helps some.

@Whitney-Simms wow thats awesome, don't sell yourself short either, charge that extra $10! So how long does it take you to do one? I'm not sure if i would be able to do an event at a store. I will create a different post to share what I am doing (i don't want to hi-jack your post) but first go at my own dog took about a total of 6 hours or so over the course of 2 days. I also wouldn't print them and ship, I would send them the digital file to print themselves. Or is that bad? My thought would be they could then print it larger or smaller depending on what they wanted to do with it.

@NessIllustration Love that idea! I'll add it to the notes at the bottom.

@Whitney-Simms glad ya liked it! Good luck with your goals!

@Jenna-Jenks Jake and I both use the epson P800. I can't recommend it highly enough. No problems since I've had it. I love it. Get the roller adapter too, it's worth it.

@Jenna-Jenks I don't journal, but I do try to exercise and meditate (briefly) in the mornings. I'm by nature a "morning person". I have a lot of energy and drive in the mornings and need to get both exercise and really creative work done during that period. Over the rest of the day my energy tapers off and around mid afternoon I'm fairly useless. So that is when I answer emails and do other things that don't require huge effort.

I keep a list of projects that I'm working on, but at the top of it all is a "focus" category. I will pull some activity from my projects up and put it in the focus header and that is the only thing I am worried about. This stops me from being overwhelmed by too many different things competing for attention. This works pretty well so far, although I'm always adjusting things as I go.

@Daniel-Grissom Awesome! Glad to hear it's helping both you and the students! : )

@Adolfito-Martinez Glad this video might be helpful. Good luck on those goals! they are good ones!

@Chip-Valecek I go over that whole experience on the next podcast! It's so bizarre and embarrassing!

@Lee-White your looking pretty buff in this image, is this before hot yoga or after?