When you work on a piece of art, in the end, it will never quite be what you'll expect it to be. That may sound derogatory or like I'm saying "you have an awesome piece of art in your mind but it'll come out all poo poo ka-chu like."

I'm more talking about the process as you work on your art.

As you're drawing a piece or doodling on something, at first, it may look pretty awful. Maybe you have the head down but it's not what you thought it should be so you scrap it and try again. This time you work with the body... but no... the body isn't quite what you expect it to be so you scrap it. Soon you get frustrate and you just plain give up on what you were working on.

I've learned, that seeing a piece through to the end will more often then not result in something that you had not quite expected; it'll be something that you like and dig! I know that sounds like a "well duh!" moment but I used to be in the former group.

I used to try to be meticulous and get it right the first time... if the head was off I scrapped it and did it over and over and over and over and over... until the head was perfect or I just gave up (I more often then not just gave up). By doing it this way I never learned anything and eventually I became so frustrated that I gave up on drawing all together. It wasn't till 3yrs later that I decided to try again but this time I decided that I was going to see all my pieces to the end... whether I didn't like how the beginning stages looked or not.

It can be hard to see a piece to the end. Ever drawing I'm confronted with that. The sketches I do I think look pretty awful but instead of throwing them away I finish them. When i look at them I think to myself "yeah, actually, the sketch looks good" then I begin the outline and go "well... the outline looks ok... I guess" then I throw down some flat colors and go "yeah... now it's looking pretty terrible."

I find myself, at that last stage, questioning whether it's worth continuing on or not... but every time I have marched onto the end and every time I have been rewarded.

I've found that depths of colors, shades and highlights can bring the simplest of drawings to life. They can create a mood and they can instill imagination. Just because a drawing is simplistic or rudimentary doesn't mean that it's a bunch of crap. If you're upset with a drawing, instead of scrapping it, try shading it in or add some color to it!

A circle is a simple as you can get... very bland and plain, but with some colors, shadings and highlights... you can bring it to life!

Why am I rambling on about this?

Well so far I've created several doodles that I consider some of the best drawings that I've ever done. They've got life to them... which all my previous ones have lacked. Each one has taught me something artistically new (again something that I have lacked).

And the kicker, each one was one that (at some point) I had considered abandoning. In the past I would have but not now and I'm happy I didn't. Just because you're unsure about what you're currently doodling up doesn't mean you won't be proud of it when it's complete. You'll be amazed what you can do if you see it to the end.

Enjoy the 4th everyone!

As you may or may not have noticed I threw up a poll asking about the featured artwork that I do on my journal. I'm just checking to see if It's still worth the time to do. I really do like to give random people their props for artwork, however; it takes some time to search through the gallery postings to find these pieces.

Sure, I could just randomly select something and throw it in there... but I like to highlight peoples work that effects me. If I see something special in it then perhaps others will too.

What do you guys think, should I continue doing it? Do you have any suggestions? Would you like me to open it up so that you guys can send me a deviation to feature?

Ideas are always welcome!

"VK-67" by ~Mikajima

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"T-head" by ~vs-me

I am currently closed for trades and commissions but do check back often as I hope to open them in the near future.

UPDATE:
Just throwing a note hear to let my trades/kiriban people know that I've not forgotten about them.

Trades - Closed

- on hold

Kiriban - Closed


Commisions - On Hold


Thar She Blows! Dead Whale Explodes: [link]