Steve Garcia

Every one of us has gone through this. Artist burnout and artist block.
Many of my fellow artist types believe these to be one and the same.
I personally believe that they are two very different things all together. But both can have similar methods in how you deal with the both of them.
Now…everyone has their own opinions on the topic. Keep in mind that this is just my own opinion and my own experience with both of these terrible “‘B’s” (burnout and block)

Art block:
“Art block” is the inability to create or be creative.  A loss of inspiration. When the Well of idea’s run dry and everything you put down just feels and looks awful to you.

Even having a pencil/brush in hand can feel alien in some ways.
Things just aren’t clicking. Your mind feels clouded and foggy.
A total loss of focus. And the more you try…the more frustrating and angered you become, at your inability to do anything of quality. In idea as well as execution.

Solutions:

As stated before, we all hit this roadblock. And everyone has their own ways of dealing with it. These are some ways that I personally have found to be extremely effective for me to get over that frustrating obstacle call ‘artist block’.

Since this is largely a *mental* issue, think of your brain as needing a tune up of sorts.
When you do things for so long…often the same way, with the same way of thinking, It’s only a matter of time till you find yourself in a rut.
So stretch yourself. Push your boundaries. Work in another style.
If you’re a painter, work in another medium.
If you work primarily in pencil, switch to a paint medium.
Again..this is only for you. Not for anyone else’s eyes. (unless you want it to be of course).
Draw with the other hand.
Bike on over to a park and fill a sketch book with nothing but 30 second charcoal gestures.Work fast! Nothing finished. Don’t labor over it.
Take advantage of the freedom! Enjoy it and have FUN!
It’s an artistic reset of sorts.

In essence, force your mind to think… differently.

Your brain is a muscle and needs to be flexed and stretched just like any other muscle to grow. To get stronger.
And what better way to do that than to force yourself to work outside of your norms.
And when you do this (or at least when I do it), I always go back to my regular work refreshed, sharp and ready to go! And sometimes, even applying a new technique I discovered within that time of exploration.

Artist Burnout:

Now, “artist burnout” in my way of thinking is an all together different sort of beast. And to me and for me…needs to be approached with an all together different way of thinking then that of the approach for “art block”.
“Artist burnout” is a more serious issue. And pending on the severity of it, it’s a dangerous issue at that.
Artist burnout can be brought on by stress, chronic fatigue, anxiety, and can lead to big time health issues including but not limited to deep depression.
If not treated correctly (or at all), it can also take it’s toll not only on you mentally as well as physically, but also on your relationships and friendships.

While “artist block” is at worst deeply frustrating…”artist burnout” can be paralyzing and toxic. It can eat you from the inside out.

 

Storytime!

Way back, in the early 90’s, when I was a young, brand new animator…I was fresh and full of energy! Ready to tackle anything and everything with a gusto and passion that was absolutely electric.
I was on a project that I was passionate about, and boy oh boy, I was ready and raring to go to work!
And work I did.
This wasn’t my first feature or animation project to work on, but it was definitely one that I felt was far more important than anything I’d worked on previously.
And the whole crew was excited and jazzed to be on it. And we , all of us, attacked it head on.

I have always had a ‘nose to the grindstone’ type of attitude. And it was in full force.
I rarely took breaks. I rarely went to lunch. It was 110% from the moment I stepped in the office.
And then it happened.
Anxiety of falling behind crept in. I kept dwelling on the irrational fear of getting Fired!
So I worked…and worked and worked…..and WORKED!
Getting in super early, working 10-12 hours a day, going home…and then working till the early morning hours.
Until finally I was pulling all nighters…one after the other!
And we weren’t even in the ‘crunch time’ period yet for petes sake!!

And when we did reach ‘crunch time’….I crashed. And I crashed hard.

I remember putting my head down on my animation desk in my apartment…and I felt like I just snapped.
I wouldn’t say that I had a ‘breakdown’ per se, But I do think that I had a collapse of sorts.
I got out of my chair and went and sat on the floor with my back against the wall, heart racing, I was exhausted and just couldn’t do anymore.
Eventually I got back up and sat back at my table. I flipped through my drawings and couldn’t see it.
I couldn’t see the movement.
The last bit of the scene was the easiest to do…But I couldn’t get it right.
A simple head shake and walk out of the room…and I couldn’t do it!
I threw my pencil across the room, and violently ripped up the ENTIRE scene.

I remember talking to my wife that night. She helped me settle down.
And forced me to get some sleep. Which didn’t come easy. As exhausted as I was…I was so so so wound up, that It actually took some time to fall asleep.
But I did. And called in the next day and tried to regroup over the weekend.
Yes, the scene did indeed get done. And yes, I got through ‘crunch’, and we completed the flick.
Which was a wonderful experience!
But I was still…exhausted. Then to top it off, got hit with a deep depression.
“Could I do this? Is this how it will always be? Is this even what I want to do for the rest of my life?”

I was spent. In every way, shape and form.

Solution:
After the film wrapped, I made a decision to take some time off to rest, and I renegotiated my contract so that I could do just that.

And it was glorious. I did absolutely nothing. Didn’t go anywhere near my table.
I got outside.
I took walks. I biked.
Went to coffee shops and wrote in my journals.
Got some needed exercise and even more needed sleep.
Spent important time with my Wife.
I got back to being focused. Felt like I could breathe again.

I got back to living.

When the time came to get back into the studio, I felt much much better.
But was still not all that excited to get back into production.
And then angels stepped in. HA!
The film that I was scheduled to start on…wasn’t quite ready for animators yet.
SO! I was given the option to help out on animation duties on one flick (a terrible one) that was needing help on animation..OR…I could work in viz-dev (visual development) for projects far later down the pipeline.

Needless to say…I jumped at the viz-dev option.
Which was a Godsend for me.

Why?:
This is how this remedy is partially similar to the remedy for ‘art block’.
Viz-dev helped me stretch beyond my comfort zone. Try something new!
And not with the constraints of being in production…but with the freedoms of being in PRE-production.
I did character designs, tons of exploratory storyboards, and yeah…a bit of experimental animation for the characters. On absolutely crazy and different projects!
It was tons of fun!
And helped me ease back into animation for production and remember how awesome being an animator is.

Now, mind you..some people say that if you are going through a burnout..you should just continue to work. I actually heard one artist say, that “even if it’s bad art..you’re still creating art”.
Now that is one school of thought. And I’ve heard that from more than a couple of people.
But I couldn’t disagree more with that.
If you’re facing a severe burnout…I say STOP.
Do nothing. Absolutely nothing art related. At least for a little while.
Your entire system needs a reboot. While an “artist block” is your spirit willing but your mind is weak. A “burnout” is your mind, spirit, body and soul…all of those being weak.
And you need a shutdown.
You need to get back to the other things that make you…YOU.
Art is not the whole sum of who you are. It’s just one part of what I call that ‘soul circle’.
And everything in that circle feeds into everything else in that circle.
Explore your other interests. Spend maximum time with your family and friends.
Hike, sports, parks, bicycling in the park, camping etc etc ETC!
All of those other things feed directly (and indirectly) into your artistic side.

Once you’ve taken that necessary time to detach…then you can gradually get back into it.
You need that clean slate. That refreshed feeling.
That’s what worked for me and still works for me to this day.

“Burnout” is just one of the few major health issues that can come from overworking and pushing yourself beyond your limits.
Please feel free to see my other post “Never trade health for passion“, for yet another example related to this topic . (Yes!! Learn from all of my near death experiences! HA!)

Bottom line is while this problem plagues us all, there are options out there to help you get through them. Hopefully this post can give you encouragement and some examples to help you when you yourself hit that brick wall.

VIVA!!

 Comments, or ways that you have that help you with both of the “terrible ‘B’s”? Let me know! Love to hear them.

NEXT POST: “The Animation Union”. (gonna be a doozy)

I would say, that networking is about just as important as having ‘talent’.
Maybe…even a little MORE so?
I would almost say..that if you can be an effective net-worker, you will have very little trouble being and staying employed in these art entertainment industries.

Now, I have never been a totally outward type of individual. It’s not that I’m socially inept. Or painfully awkward. I can mix and mingle if I need to.
I’m just more of a private type of personality.
Plus I’m a very nose to the grindstone sort of person. I like to be very very focused.
If there’s a project I’m on, man oh man…I’m chaining myself to the animation desk or drawing board and I’m cranking!!!
And that would be fine…..if all it came down to was just doing the work. And trying with all your might to do it well.

But…in many cases. It’s not.

STORYTIME!

When I got into doing concept art for game developers, I took that same hardcore work ethic of ‘nose to the grindstone’ into my concept work as well.
In all honesty, part of it WAS indeed the ‘grind’ mentality. But part of it was also a fear of falling behind.
I’ve never been as ‘fast’ as I’d like to be in doing what I do. And I’m always a bit terrified to not get it to the point where I’m satisfied with, due to the time constraints.
So there’s that.

So, when asked to go to lunch, I’d politely decline and stay in and grind grind grind.
Sure. I’d join them every now and then, but usually I’d opt out. Preferring to get a jump on the work instead.

People just kind of got that from me and while always giving the invite would pretty much expect me to decline.
Fast forward 5 years.
The same art director (whom I’m happy to say has come to be one of my closest of friends), brought me on board at E.A. to work on one of their mobile games.
My mindset was the same. Work work work!
Turning down invites in order to “gitter’ done”!

One day before lunch, my Art director (John) came to me and said, “Hey. Come with me. We need to talk.”
So… We went outside.
He very pointedly stated:
“Dude…a bunch of us are going to lunch. And your f@@@’ing going”.
I was kinda taken aback a little bit.
“Are we going over some work?” I asked

“Nope”. He replied. “We’re just going”.

“Uhh…why exactly?” I asked.

He looked at me and with growing frustration in his voice said: “Dude…. You’re my friend. And I’m just gonna be flat out honest with you. I know you don’t like to break your workflow. I know you’re not a “lunch guy”. But you’ve got to get out every now and then with the crew!

We went back and forth with each other. Both of us growing more and more frustrated and even angry with each other.

I expressed how much of a waste of time these things often are. And most of the time running well over a typical lunch period, and I have TONS of crap to get done.

And then he said (paraphrasing)
“…. Steve. This is your career man! It’s not JUST about the work itself. Yes. The work does speak for itself. BUT…there is also networking! And you don’t do it. And you have to do it! You’re kind of harming yourself by not doing it.”

After a few more rounds…We went back inside. I can’t remember if I went to lunch that day. I probably did.

In the end, my art director friend wasn’t wrong.
“Networking” is important. And I simply wasn’t doing it.
There’s a certain ‘schmoozyness’ about it that rubs me the wrong way. A sort of shallowness to it in some ways I guess, that I’ve never been all that comfortable with.
But, there is validity in it. Right or wrong.

In an earlier post “Self doubt and comparing yourself to others”, I spoke briefly about how you’d be amazed at how many very mediocre artists are working in the game and animation fields.
And that is true.
Not “bad” or talentless people. Not at all. Mainly people that are starting out, or green. But yeah…some that are just not quite *there* yet.
But there they are!
And how do many get to that point, and more importantly what are they doing to STAY at that point?
Networking.

Who you know and get to know in these fields is an important thing.
You are building relationships. Relationships that can and will help you keep employed and stay employed.
People will remember their experience with you. On a personal level.
“Was he/she a cool person? Were they fun to work with.”
As I stated briefly in my post “The Interview”, there is a sort of shallowness to it. But on the flip side, there is some merit to it as well.
These questions they’ll ask themselves internally, will be right there with “are they on time with their work?” And even if the work isn’t top notch quality…more often than not, your chances of  being sought out and getting a gig in the future from the people you’ve networked, are exponentially better.

Keeping it REAL

So yeah. While networking is important, keep in mind that you need to be careful to not come off like a smarmy brown noser. And there are definitely enough of those in these fields.
The ‘Eddie Hascals’. And believe me, no one likes the ‘Eddie Hascals’!!

Keep it real! And be yourself.
Do the “hang out” thing. But don’t go over bored with it. And don’t let it get in the way of the work.  Which it very easily can. Because that work still needs to be done. And one of the questions that will be asked by those people that you’re networking is gonna be: “Does his/her work come in on time?”
The last thing you want is them saying “Yeah. Great person. But they are always late turning in their work.”

So find that balance. And know where to prioritize.
If you CAN find that balance, you’ll go a long way to helping yourself in any of these art fields.

VIVA!!

One of the things I often here from people is:  “I wish I were talented like you”. Or “I wish I could draw, but I’m just not talented.”
When I do hear that, it is like nails on a chalkboard for me.
Do I believe that “Talent” exists?
In short, Yes. I do believe that talent exists.
In it’s purest form, in such prodigies and geniuses like Beethoven, Handel, and of course Mozart who was composing at the age of FIVE!
So yeah, ‘talent’ in its purest definition is indeed a real thing.
But! I do believe that most of us fall into a different category all together.

We’ve shown a passion for art perhaps at a young age.
We diligently copied paintings, comics, and drawings.
How many of us remember those old “Draw me” ads in the back of comic books with a turtle, bear, mouse, and pirate?

One of my very first sketchpads was filled with copied variations of those characters! Along with Spiderman, Batman and Superman of course.

So, while I do believe that “Talent” in Its purest form exists, I believe that few of us are gifted with it.
My belief is that most of us who are artistic in nature are gifted with something else…drive and passion for art, and the hunger to learn.

That last part right there. The “want to learn” is the whole enchilada.

I do believe that most things can be learned. And that includes the arts like painting, drawing, animation, inking, design, etc etc.
And I think that rubs many of my professional friends the wrong way.
Never been entirely sure of why though.
Perhaps it may have to do with believing that we as *artists* all have that rarity of *talent* (in the Mozart realm) that sets us apart from everyone else.
“Talent” as some sort of mystical thing, which only a select and kingly few have.
We all want to be a part of the ‘chosen’, right?
That’s ego my friends.
And that’s possibly why some of my artist pals get rankled. The thought that “anyone can do it”, is a sort of threat to an elite mindset.
But let me clarify something….
CAN anyone do it? (Paint, animate, draw, ink, etc)
Yes. I do believe that.
That said, many CAN’T, and WON’T because they lack the one thing that enables them to do so.

While I believe that most things can indeed be learned, I also believe that it takes not just the love and passion to do it . It also takes something else entirely . Something that may very well be the most important thing of all.

DISCIPLINE.

Discipline to actually sit…and invest the sheer tonnage of hours to develop your art. To improve and seek out ways and avenues to grow!
The discipline to keep from being distracted.
To focus!
Without “Discipline”…you’re sure to flounder.
No matter how much you “Love” it. You won’t go anywhere. You won’t improve. And you’ll get down on yourself and simply stop doing it all together because you won’t see any improvement when you are sitting at the sketch pad, eeking out a drawing.

As I stated before, I always had a love for art. Fed by animation and a more than healthy appetite for comic books!
So I copied those characters. Over and over and over again.
All that copying enabled me to put a portfolio together. And get accepted to my first art school.
Once there…I was given my first introduction to oils.
Now…oils did NOT come easy for me. Not one bit.
Never worked in them before and found them extraordinarily frustrating.
But I put the hours in…
Put the effort in…
Focused.
And learned how to do it.
Was I the best I could be in oils? Hell no.
I just didn’t have the patience for it. Found it so tedious, and time consuming. And I am one of those people that simply bores easily.
So I stopped. And never got any better with the medium.
I didn’t progress in oils like I did with drawing.
But I did learn to do it.

Later, when I went to my second art school, I studied animation. Made the decision that I wanted to pursue that as a career.
Had I ever animated before? Nope.
But I loved animation and knew I could learn it.
The art school was going through some transitions and for a time, we were without animation teachers.
So…I hunkered down. And taught myself the fundamentals. The basics. Gave myself challenges and goals.
Again…putting in the hours. Loooooong hours!!
Learning.
And as a result, I have worked in the animation fields for many years. (as well as an illustrator, concept artist, character designer, for magazines, books and video games.)

I am no Mozart my friends.
I just have that ‘drive’. That want to learn. To learn what I love and to learn to do it as best I can.
Artist Chris Cayco is yet another example of someone with ‘drive’ .
Chris was a car technician. Always drew, but never pursued it on a big scale.
Until he saw an artist working the convention circuit.
He studied him.
Took notes on what they did. How they did it. How they worked the floor, and the methods they used to sell their work.
He put in the effort, worked up some insanely creative prints. And pursued his love.  And now Chris works professionally as an artist, and has for over five years now.

We put up so many barriers for ourselves. Sometimes out of fear.
And sometimes out of laziness.
And many times, a combination of the two.
And then use the convenient scape goat of lack of “talent” as the excuse for our inabilities.

It isn’t about ‘talent’. It’s about time investment and discipline.
If you have that, Then you can be that artist that you know lives within your heart.
The one beating to be set free.
So, put down that smartphone. Get off of facebook. Unplug that playstation.
And stop blaming it on a lack of ‘talent’.
Proficiency lies in where you invest your time.
So…..INVEST WISELY.

VIVA!!

Thoughts or comments? Post em’ or send em’. Love to hear what ya have to say on the matter!

That Line “if you’re good at something never do it for free” is one of the oldest lines in the books. It is also happens to be one of the most true lines in the book.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten into heated arguments with people who are independent publishers on this issue. It is deeply frustrating.
What’s more frustrating and troubling, is how many fellow artists I find myself in debates about this subject as well.

So. Lets break down the bullet points of the so-called “benefits” to working on spec:

First, what is ‘working on spec’?
“Spec” is basically a short form term for any work done on a speculative basis. When a client requests work in which a  fee has not been agreed to from the start OR where there are terms (usually vague) set out where there will be a percentage  upon the success of the publication of work.

With that laid out, lets take a look at some of the so called ‘benefits’ presented from prospective clients :

* “I am giving the artist an opportunity to work in a collaborative project / to gain experience.”

*  “The artist will be able to gain exposure.”

* “The artist will be compensated *upon the success of the book* ( if it’s a novel, or comic production) with a percentage of the sales. Often with the added perk of possibly being on the next project.”

* “To build a resume.”

Ok! So let’s briefly break this down, with my opinions as to why these are NOT ‘benefits’ and do far more harm to you.

For starters, all of these ‘benefits’ are lies. Fed to the artist in a manner that the client is doing the artist a favor of sorts.
They are not.

Let’s get one thing clear, right out of the gate.
They *need* you.

As a major part of selling their project. They need good art. And if they can get that art for FREE? Then dang it, that’s exactly what they’ll try for.
The tragic reason why they try over and over again is because they’ve been highly successful at getting far too many artists to give their work away. All for the lie, of ‘gaining experience’, ‘exposure’ and ‘working on a project’.

Wanting to be a part of the collaborative effort is great. But giving away your work is not the way to be a part of that effort. It isn’t just your work you’re giving away.
It’s your rights to that work.
IF you create a character within that story…you won’t own that character.
Unless you agree to it from the beginning. And most of the time, these clients will have a contract that stipulates that they will own everything. Everything.
So if that character goes on to be a Kazillion dollar character 10 years from now…where does that leave you?
Answer: With nothing.
Nothing but that memory of you wanting so badly to be a part of a collaborative team on a project that you wanted to be on for the benefit of exposure and experience.

Well…you’ve definitely gained ‘experience’. But not the positive experience you were hoping for.

Compensation:

If you’re doing any sort of work for a magazine, book, comic book etc, many times these charlatans will promise a percentage off the back end of their overall sales PENDING the success of the book, or overall sales.
Now I ask you…Do you think any of these individuals are going to be honest about the overall sales figures on their product?
Of course not.
Therefore, you will be paid nothing. Or very little. But what they WILL offer you is the opportunity to be placed on the next project. Because, well…they’ve already taken you for a ride one time. Why not see if you’ll fall for it again, right?

Everything you do in the realm of ‘working on spec’, is a wasted effort.
You waste your creativity.
You waste your intellectual properties.
You waste your energy.
And most importantly…you waste the most valuable thing of all:
Your time.
And your time is valuable! Priceless, actually. Because you don’t get that back.

And all for what? “Exposure”?

Please.

There is yet another consequence that comes when the artist agrees to work on “spec”.
And that is what is called “undervalue”.
When an artist chooses (willingly) to work for free (and let’s face it, that’s what “Spec” is), that same artist is not only choosing to undervalue him/herself, but the entire artistic community.
It sends a clear cut message to clients.
and they understand it loud and clear.
Why do you think that they get away with this “spec” garbage time and time again?

Because too many of my fellow artists have fallen for the lie.

It’s surprising how many times I’m offered an illustration or animation gig with so much enthusiasm and excitement from the client, and at the very end of the speech I’m told that it will be an ‘on spec’ gig.
Uh…..no.
Far too many art job sites unfortunately are seeing more and more clients offering ‘on spec’ projects. (And I’ll have a post on those ‘job sites’ at a later time.)

Keep in mind (and this is very important), that when you undervalue you and your art.
You don’t just undervalue you and your art.
You undervalue the artist community as a whole.
Whether you’re trying to get exposure or wrongly trying to drive the demand (with an extreme low cost), it drives the overall value down in the entire community. Hurting and inadvertently affecting everyone.

There is an ugly ‘flip side’ though. Which is artists going too much to the extreme on the other end and OVER pricing their work. (I’ll have a detailed post on this as well, at a later time)
Especially when you are starting out. So be realistic and flexible.
But by all means …be fair to not just the client..but also to yourself.

So. What to do?
First, realize that you have value.
Your work…..has value!
The hours upon hours of time, blood, sweat and tears that you will put into your projects…..have value!

If you are an artist that wants to do work for a comic book, in this day and age, why invest (waste) all your time working for someone that will own everything, and give you nothing?
Oh right..exposure.
There are tons of people out there wanting to work on a project, or have the same wants as you. Find them. Team up with them. Under a mutual understanding and agreement.
Do the work.
Split costs to keep over all costs of printing down.
Self publish the work.
Do the con circuit and/or sell it online.

This is not entirely new and groundbreaking news here. Which is why I find it so unusual that so many fellow artisans continue…continue to let themselves be taken advantage of.
In this digital age, the artist and the artistic have so so many tools at their disposal. Tools that allow them to take advantage of a whole slew of possibilities!
This being the case, there is absolutely no reason to give your work, give your time, away for free.

We are in this together.
Let us not hinder and cripple each other by believing  in the ridiculous lies of ‘working on spec’.

VIVA!!

(Comments? Questions? Send em’ all up! Love to hear them.)

Hands are some of the most important things for many artists to get a grip on (see what I did there?).
For me, they’ve always been difficult. For some, feet are the issue. Which I’ve always thought strange, because feet….are basically a block with 5 little stubs that really don’t do much.
Hands on the other hand, is a block with five separate appendages that have a life of their own and do tons!
Which is why they are considered (accurately) one of the two most expressive things on the body (eyes being the other).

So….ya gotta learn to do them. At least half way decently.
I hesitate to call this a “Tutorial”. This is just an example of my own approach to hands.
So let’s get into some of the different methods to doing hands!

There are three methods that pop into my mind as far as doing hands:

The “cylinder approach”

Some like the cylinder approach.
As with anything, you have to have an idea of what you want your hand to be doing in the picture. And then you start to ‘build’ it.

Example A”: As you can see, the one constant in ALL of these methods is the pentagon shape. Or curved block shape that serves as the palm/backhand.

Example B: From there, you build onto that block frame with cylinder(esque) shapes serving as the fingers.

Example C: You start to round it out and clean up the drawing. Adding knuckle lines, tension pulls where the fingers separate from each other. Also adding fingernails which gives the needed look of perspective to sell the picture.

Some people like this cylinder approach and do great work with it.
It’s not an approach that I much care for though. Only because I’m not particularly good at making it look and feel organic. Probably just me, but I find it difficult to keep the hands from looking stiff and mechanical. It’s just a far too ‘technical’ way of thinking for my likes.
That’s not to say that it’s a ‘bad’ way. It’s just not the way I personally like and feel comfortable with.

I much more prefer a more organic approach. Relying on a more ‘gestural’ take.

The “Mitten”
One such take is the “mitten” approach.

The “Mitten” approach is simply grouping the majority of fingers, and then fleshing them out as you progress the drawing.
I used this quite a bit when I would animate a scene.

Again, you’re simply just ‘blocking out’ the big shapes for your pose.
Once you’ve got that, you cut back in and start carving out those fingers.
In a way, it is just a way to keep you from feeling like your swallowing a watermelon whole! Making it easier to control by dealing with BIG SHAPES.
As with the ‘cylinder’ approach, the one constant that you are building off from is once again…the block shape that is standing in for the rough palm/backhand.

And from there, again…you are building your fingers (or mitten) from it.
Remember. That in each one of these ways…that the fingers (unlike the toes most of the time) are individual characters all of their own!
With the “mitten” approach, one might want to be tempted to just leave them in that mitten look (all grouped together). And sometimes, you can.
But usually it’s a good idea to offset those fingers from one another.
To separate where you can.
Remember. Hands are story tellers. Communicating.
Those fingers and what they are doing, are doing a lot to *sell* that image.
And people pay attention to them!

So. Being that its often essential to really spread out those fingers for dynamics. I actually do a mixture of both the “mitten” and “gesture” technique.
Both organic and fluid ways that greatly appeal to me.

“Gestural Method”
The “Gestural” approach is simply that. Gestural! You know what you want, and you just rough it in.
Yet even with that ‘gestural’ technique, there is still that implied block shape for the palm/backhand from the wrist that you’re building from. That’s the constant.
For me, that is the most fun method. That said…many times, depending on how fast you work in your gesture, often times you have to really pull back and do a lot of refining when you are tie’ing down that drawing because the rough, while it does well in capturing the essence of that hand and pose, many times proportionally and structurally speaking, it is way off.

Advice for those starting to draw or trying to improve on their hands.

Out of the three routs of drawing indicated here, which is the right one for you?
Well. That depends obviously as to where you are in the learning process. And how comfortable you are in that process.
I think the best rout of the three indicated here, if you are just learning from square one…..the “cylinder” approach would probably be a good way for one to grab hold of the reins and start to get comfortable with the forms in a *piece by piece* basis.

Once you get the feel for the hand and how all the bumps, bends, curves and twists all come together…confident in the cylinder approach. Maybe then you’ll want to see how you feel about the “mitten” or “Gestural” approach to the hand.
Where you can skip some of the more construction ways of doing things in the cylinder method, and just start laying in your shapes quickly.

In any case…we all gotta learn to crawl before we walk. And walk before we run.
So lets get crackin’!! And lets start drawing some hands!!

Questions? Thoughts? Leave em’ in the comments section or email me. Love to hear what y’all think!

VIVA!!

(See previous post for “Interview: part one”)

The Meeting

So!
The time for interviews was over.
We took all three out for lunch. And afterward prepped ourselves for our lead meeting to go over the three fella’s.
When I got back to my desk, The art director gave me a note that “Toby” had written to him expressing thanks for giving him an opportunity to interview. And he also thanked ME for being ‘so nice and making him feel more comfortable and making the process that much easier’ (or something to that nature. )
It was very sweet.

We all got together in late afternoon. Gathered in a room, around a table and the art director asked for our thoughts.
I sat back…I wanted to hear the comments from the others before piping in.
And here’s where the problem of these interviews being largely a ‘personality test’ comes in:

The only one of the three that they were completely unanimous on, was on “Alex”!
Again..keep in mind that “Alex” was fine. His work not the strongest of the three…but his relaxed nature and confidence won them over almost immediately.
While “Toby” and “Chuck”….kinda creeped them all out.
(And I’m not paraphrasing all that much.)

And I expected as much.
Pretty much everyone at the table was fairly young. Even my ‘art director’ was a very young guy..whose first outing as an art director was THIS particular project!
In short…they weren’t seeing the whole picture. And getting lost on the surface issues.
Putting waaaay too much emphasis on the “can I hang out with this guy” mentality.

So around the table we all (including myself) gave a thumbs up to “Alex”.
That was he easiest for the group to *ok*. Mainly because he met all the surface things that seemed to be important to the group.
I gave him a thumbs up because I thought he could grow into the gig.

Up next was “Chuck”.
“Chuck” had the deck slightly stacked against him personality wise.
He was gruff.
He was Tough.
And more than a bit intense.
And for this group of art leads that were of a much *softer* way..
(Heck…the ‘art director’ himself was keen on wearing skinny jeans, bowling shoes and singing ‘Maroon 5’ songs on karaoke night for petes sake!)..Let’s just say old “Chuck” was going to need quite a bit of defending.

Each one of the team took turns talking about “Chucks” personality.
“Too intense”.
Pondering if he had “Anger issues” or a part of a “Militia” .

One of the leads even said that she couldn’t bare to stay that long and cut her session short because he made her uncomfortable.
To which the ‘art director’ chimed in that he himself was worried that “Chuck” was a stalker simply because “Chuck” (logically) looked each of us up to see what OUR work history was.

Silly!

My response was that “Chuck” was the most rounded of the three. He could not only do the job that he was being asked to do..but he could probably even pick up some light animation down the line if asked AND do some avatars (which was also one of the duties of the animators to come up with.)

So…Chuck was a great catch. IF the team could get past their prejudices and all ready made up minds.

I told them that I had no issues with his intense personality. That once he settled in for OUR conversation, he loosened up and it was a fun and good conversation.
They all took notice of the fact that my conversation went a good 15 minutes over our allotted time (while NONE of theirs even lasted the full time.)
They wondered aloud “what in the hell did you two have to talk about for all that time”

I replied:
Art.
Life.
Family.
What he’s into.
What I’M into.

“Chuck” did take some time.
But he got through!

One more to go!!

That left old “Toby”.
And if I thought “Chuck” was going to be difficult..it quickly became clear that “Toby” was going to be equally as difficult.
“Toby” was the quietest and shyest out of the three.
And that was an issue for all of them.
“Would he be able to communicate clearly?”
“Take direction?”
“He seemed overly nervous. Almost shaky”

Etc etc and etc!!
I again sat back and let them all speak so I can see where they were all coming from.
Then when asked my thoughts on him. I leaned forward and said:

“Not only do I think he’s a good candidate…I think he’s the perfect candidate. “

You’d have thought I threw a brick into each one of their faces.
“He’s obviously talented. Yes, he’s shy and quiet…but look at the work he’s doing. His work is bold and confident. Fun and wildly creative. His test for this project is better than most of the stuff that’s been done on this game to this point.”

Some of the crew pointed to his thin industry experience. And one even pointed out that he hadn’t worked in the industry for some time (Which was true).
To which I replied:
“Think about it….what’s the downside? You have an enormously talented guy.  Whose’ been looking for a gig for some time. Probably went through a number of interviews before THIS one. Turned down. Turned down again.
He has a family, so the stakes are high. So of course he’s going into every interview nervous. More nervous than the previous one.
This guy…who is more than willing to relocate himself and his family if he gets a gig. To a whole new State. Whole new surroundings.

You give this guy a chance, and offer him this gig…he’ll not only work his tail off
but he’ll give you some of the best stuff your gonna see for this game. Because he won’t just want to get the job. He’ll want to keep the job and stay put.
For his family.
That’s high motivation people. The highest.

“Toby” was given the green light.

And since he was the one that everyone was most worried about…..Guess who they teamed him up with via the ‘buddy system’.
That’s right.
Yours truly.

I was charged with being a mentor for him in some ways. Since he was most comfortable with me, the team felt I would be a good one to team him up with and bring alongside.
And that was fine.
In the end, all three came on and excelled. Pretty much as perfect as I thought they would be.

The bottom line is….the personality test of the ‘interview’ is fine.
But too much emphasis on it, often times works against the studio and crew.
The trick is to look beyond the surface, find that real individual that lurks beyond the nerves and personality quirks. And be willing to overlook some of the prejudices that you yourself (as the interviewer) brings to the table.

For you (the ‘interviewee’):
*Go into it armed with knowing what this is.
*Know you’re fully capable of doing the work, or you wouldn’t be there.
*Be calm. Be yourself.
*Relax as much as possible. Even admit to nerves when they ask you how your doing in the beginning.. (which they always do.)
*Ask them questions about the production.
*Sell yourself. Because while your work may speak for itself. You still need to speak for yourself and be your own rep!

Don’be afraid of that.

You’re an awesome individual. So make sure everyone is able to see that!

VIVA!!

(Questions? Comments? Send them on over. Love to hear from ya!)