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Is Reference Bad?I feel like I've addressed this before at some point, in some other journal, but I find myself either discussing this with people a lot, or coming across people who on their work proudly claim to have "used no reference."
The biggest problem, and misconception, regarding references is that people feel like it's cheating or that it somehow cheapens their work. While I can understand the sense of accomplishment coming from using no reference to finish a painting or drawing, people who consistently do it are only hurting themselves in the long run. So in short, no, reference isn't bad.
Artists have been using reference since the days of the old masters. They would reference life, whether it be landscapes, objects on a table, or models standing in a studio. They would even reference their own sketches or other people's work in order create convincing paintings.
For some reason, a lot of people today seem to think that in order to be a good artist, they have to be able to do things without
Monthly Genuine Feature #6Hello everybody!
Time goes so fast...it's already half year since we started to show you the best of each month.
I hope you enjoy the Artwork from june!






















:thumb307
The Pitfalls of Speed PaintingI've been meaning to write about this for a while now, but recently a video popped on up Ctrl+Paint about the same topic and it encouraged me to finally talk about it. It's a practice that's been misconstrued and misunderstood for a while now, so I wanted to help people get a proper understanding on the subject.
Speed painting has been something of a fad for 4 or 5 years now, even back when I was first starting digital work. Like many artists out there, I thought, "Sweet, I can do really cool work, really fast!" And like many artists out there, in the back of my head I was probably thinking, "This is easier than learning the normal way!"

Well, here's the main problem in regards to speed painting. Any of those really cool, realistic and well done speed paintings you see are done by professionals who have been painting for years and years. These a
My Deeper Involvement with the Art Community.Many new & interesting things have surfaced in my life online to help me connect with the art community better, and some of these may interest you.
Firstly I've finally setup my Livestream Channel and I have regular painting demonstrations for the community. If you curious about how I create my art and my different approaches, you are more than welcome to join me. Please remember to register yourself and put my channel in your watchlist so that you will get notified via emails whenever i broadcast my live sessions.

Secondly I have my dA chatroom called Artgermination, which dedicated to all Digital Art discussions. It has been running for a few months and it has now become a great place for many great artists to hang out and exchange art tips and knowledge. I am really involved with the chat regardless of my crazy working schedules and I am enjoying it. If you have some burning questions about digital art and th
the myth about talentMany people are under the assumption many of the high profile artists in the digital art community are mainly good because of talent. This is not completely true(in my opinion). What does make them great is the simple fact of constant and regular practice. But if you still like to cling to the word, then talent is just in other words an ambition and motivation. This word,"talent" has been branded with something that you think is something that can only be inherited and if you dont have it you are doomed to fail. Many people has lost potential careers because of this.
well folks let me put that myth to rest because i think anyone with ambition and motivation can learn any tool and any skill.And if you are not learning it, it is because you are not working hard enough on it.its simple as that.The practice will open your eyes and you will develop to see things in different ways, once again this has nothing to do with talent.  Once your understanding of all the levels of art gets wide
To Critique, or not to CritiqueCritique, on any art forum, has always been very welcome in my eyes. There's plenty of praise and nice comments going around, which is always a joy to hear, but it won't make you a better artist. Although I don't always like to hear critique of my work, I know that it is what I need. It prevents me from becoming complacent with my level of ability, and often pushes me to work harder than I would under my own initiative.
However, I recently heard from a group of artists whom I greatly respect, that to critique someone's work who had not asked for critique, was a rude thing to do. If this is the case, then I have been a most despicably rude person.
There are situations in which I understand critique may not be appropriate. Say for example you have an actual gallery show, in an actual building with walls. That is a formal setting in which you may not want me to walk up to your framed artwork... and proceed to point out your shortcomings in front your admiring fans.
Now if we
artists block - BREAK IT!Ah, yes, the time old question, how do I get out of this funk of artist's block... I'm sure we've all come to it, an I'm sure you've asked how to fix it. Here is a little about artists block and how you can overcome it all!
I just don't feel like it... I'm bored this is the easiest part to fix! You're bored, you're tired, it seems like you're repeating yourself and your art just doesn't seem to be of any interest at this point. This is the one big way you can lose touch with your art and never come back to it.
The obvious thing you can do is take a break, and that is perfectly fine. We all come to parts of our lives where something just doesn't seem interesting to us, and we just want to walk away from it for a little while. But the question is, how long do you go? A few days, a week, a month? Really, that depends on the person and how often you already are active in your art.
Do you go take a photo every day or once a week, or even less? Nobody can't tell you how often you shou
Respect the person or respect the artist?***:icontextwallplz: alert but I hope it provides for interesting reading.***
Been reading a lot of DA drama recently. Whereby "Respect the Artist!" Is being flung about in defense those who do not want criticism.
Fact - Critique is commonly understood as fault finding and negative judgement but can also merit recognition and praise. It's a process of evaluation where it can be either positive, negative or both.
"A Criticism is a Critique but not all Critique involves a Criticism."
Going by this logic, I pretty much see every comment regarding a deviation is a critique in my eyes whether it be 'I like this',' 'Love the colours' to 'I don't like it',  'lose the lens flares and learn anatomy.'
So when someone on DA spouts that "critique shouldn't be negative" or "critiques shouldn't be asspats"
I think "WRONG!" :iconwrongplz:
Critiques are written at the discretion of the person giving them. It is their personal opinion, perception and
doubting your art? - DON'T!There are a few questions that seem to be going around dA a lot these last few weeks
:pointr:Is my art even improving?
:pointr:Have I lost my style?
:pointr:Does anybody like what I do?
Among other questions similar to these... the answer is, really, WHO CARES? I know that sounds harsh, but your art is for you, not for them. This is what makes you happy, what you like to do, and what you've fallen in love with. Don't let others deter you from what you do.
Let me explain, we'll start with oh, have I lost my style?. The real question is, have you lost it, or have you added some variety to it. Being an artist isn't about keeping yourself in the same bubble of art forever. If you do horror photography and love it, great... if you side track to some people and portraits of non-horror related styles, that's perfectly fine. It's called broadening what you're already aware of. There is nothing wrong with it. And from what I've heard, as well as what I believe... it's good!
But, what
Taste the RainbowThis feature is for :iconNayan123434:  who suggested I do a feature to celebrate all the colors of the rainbow.
Please enjoy and show these incredible deviants some love!











Thank You!I wanted to put this journal entry up to thank everyone. I've recently received a lot of attention on my photos and other art. There is a lot of people giving amazing feedback and constructive criticism that I really enjoy and can use. That's not to say I don't love the other comments that say how wonderful or beautiful something is too. Appreciate all of it, thanks to everyone who's favorited, commented, viewed, or watched me!
On another note I've been using Get Watchers a lot recently. Lets just say I was amazingly surprised when I came home the other day to see my feedback messages piled up with comments and favorites. If you haven't tried it and want your work to get out there you should try it! My referral link is here if you want to use it. Helps me out and helps you out. If you don't use it I won't complain. (:
I thought I'd throw in some awesome work I've seen whil
Featured Corner #41





Please don't forget to show your feedback because they really deserve it :clap:
24 Hours of llamas 2: Llama shenanigans winners!Announcements
To everyone who participated, we hope you had fun!:happybounce:
:bulletwhite:
:bulletwhite:
:bulletblue:Each member who participated was eligible to win one raffle prize.
:bulletblue: Each member who participated could win more then one attentional prize!(riddles,llama lib, Bonus)
:bulletblue: If you have any thoughts and/or feedback feel free to share, we always enjoy hearing from you guys.
:bulletwhite:
:bulletwhite:
Now the Raffle winners!
:bulletwhite:
:iconArakness: won 100 :points: and 20 llamas!
:bulletwhite:
:iconGoldenSunnyGirl: and :iconsugarbearkitty: won 50 :points: each and 15 llamas each!
:bulletwhite:
:iconaim11:  and :iconshiroimaboroshi: won 25 :points: each and 10 llamas each!
:bulletwhite:
:iconSilkythecat: :iconDaJMeRos: :iconsuneyes14523: :iconxxShades: :iconToxiicLolita:
:iconPrhasE:
:iconHalfInane-HalfMental: :iconalexrashid::iconayesi:  :iconpaperthin-z:
Won 10 :points: e
*VOTING CLOSED* TRUE BLOOD SEASON 5 POSTER CONTEST:spotlight-left:It's voting time!TRUE BLOOD SEASON 5 POSTER CONTEST:spotlight-right:
:star:RULES/HOW TO CAST YOUR VOTES:
:bulletred:1. Voting begins JUNE 11th, 2012 and ends JUNE 24th, 2012. Votes after JUNE 24th will not be counted.
:bulletred:2. Each member/contributor/admin gets 3 votes (to vote for their top three favorite submissions). NO NON-MEMBERS CAN VOTE.
:bulletred:3. You can submit your votes in 2 ways. (a) send us (I-LOVE-TRUE-BLOOD) a note with your 3 favorite pieces listed. or (b) Enter your vote into the comment section underneath this blog. Just click on the word "comments" in blue lettering directly underneath the last paragraph on our homepage VOTING blog.
:bulletred:4. Voting within the comment section of the blog will bring you to a new screen by clicking on the the title of this widget (read more) you should see your name and icon where you can type in your votes for your top three favorites. Finish casting your votes by pressing the blue button "add comment".
:bu
Giveaway Extravaganza! Second winner!UPDATE: got winner of the second kiriban.
That's right! I'm making a BIG giveaway. Never done one before so this should be fun! Let's begin :woohoo:

Get the following pageviews!!
122 222
Prize: A simple vector illustration, single character.
No winner :(
145 555
Prize: A CG illustration, single character, semi-complex bg (depends on how much I like it)
Winner: :iconcrazydoggy:
165 222
And for this ladies and gentlemen, the Grand Prize is... *drums*
An original watercolor for the winner mailed to anywhere in the world!! :faint:
* Decided to lower it since it might tale a while.
Rules:
You MUST be a watcher or you won't get the prize.
Visit my profile
   If you happen to get the winning numbers, take a screenshot and post a comment with the link.
No furries or weird stuff. Male characters are fine but they may end up looking very femenine.

Raffle
1st Prize: 300 :points:
2nd Prize: 200 :points:
3rd Prize: 100 :points:
Wha
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June 11, 2012
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Don't ever tell me this! (or to any other artist.)

:iconsuzanne-helmigh:

I saw something like this pass me by on Facebook, with just the first 10 points.
Together with some others we could name a lot more.
How about you? anything like this ever happened to you?


:bulletred:Things you shouldn't say to an artist.:bulletred:

1:bulletblue: Can you do the artwork for this job for free? It will be a good promotional piece for you. Get you some word to mouth advertising.

2:bulletblue: Mom Look! That painting is just like that picture you downloaded from the internet and got framed for the living room.

3:bulletblue: Wow. You charge THAT much? You make it look so easy.

4:bulletblue: If you don't make it so detailed... Just scribble something down... Can I get it cheaper?

5:bulletblue: If you use that piece you already got and change it a little, can I get it cheaper? You already have done most of it.

6:bulletblue: I can use a Photoshop filter to do that exact same thing.

7:bulletblue: You are lucky... you don't have to work, you just have to sit and paint all day.

8:bulletblue: Can you do the design of my even't invitations? I'll get you in for free. (because every digital painter is also a graphic designer that likes to party.)

9:bulletblue: Wow... you are REALLY good with painting fantasy characters/ robots/ concept art/ illustration/ monsters/ environments/ buildings etc. Can you paint my dog?

10:bulletblue: My son/daughter is 9 years old and is a really good artist just like you.

11:bulletblue: Mh, you're expensive... I'll just have my niece who also has a Wacom paint that for me.

12:bulletblue: If you don't do this work for my (low or no) budget, you completely miss out on the success this indie game project will give you!

13:bulletblue: I need 200 illustrations for the card game I'm developing, I need them in 1 month for 250 dollars. I want it to look like the illustrations done for Magic the gathering. (I get this one REALLY often).

14:bulletblue: That is not as good as your other work, can you do it again? (on a volunteer work.)

15:bulletblue: (you've just painted a: Dragon/ Mountain/ almost naked woman/monster. And you get) You thief! you totally copied Kekai Kotaki/ Feng Zhu/ Craig Mullins/etc. Because Dragons, mountains, half naked women and monsters are copy written by those artists, so you're not allowed to draw them just because they rock and doing so.

16:bulletblue: Oh... you used photo references? You're a cheat.. not a real artist. (yes because real artists never use references ;)...) Anyone who says this, clearly never worked in a game studio or has any idea what the core of illustration/ concepting is...

17:bulletblue: Could you paint that for me just like (insert famous artist name) of who's skills are so good that if you could paint like them you wouldn't be working for this person at all. (I've really got the Dave Rapoza and Kekai Kotaki requests XD)

18:bulletblue: Yes... you're almost there, but it looks a bit caroon-ish or manga-ish.... (Whuh XD)

19:bulletblue: I'd like a night scene, where it's completely dark not eeven candle or moonlight, but everything needs to be visible, bright even because it needs to be printed.

20:bulletblue: Can you paint me a: Pokemon, My little pony, Dragon ball z character, other anime character.
102 Comments
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  • Watching: Top gear.
  • Playing: DIABLO 3!!
  • Drinking: water
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:iconthougrey:
~thougrey Jun 13, 2012  Hobbyist Photographer
People get weirder every day...:)
Reply
:iconsuzanne-helmigh:
=Suzanne-Helmigh Jun 14, 2012  Professional Digital Artist
they do, right...
Reply
:icondanielwachter:
=danielwachter Jun 13, 2012  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Strange beings are out there! xD
Reply
:iconsuzanne-helmigh:
=Suzanne-Helmigh Jun 14, 2012  Professional Digital Artist
strange beings but sadly not rare!
Reply
:iconippotsk:
*ippotsk Jun 13, 2012  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Oh man, I never actually got any of these (except prolly 14 or 18), but I can totally see why no artist would want that said to them. ;;
Reply
:iconsuzanne-helmigh:
=Suzanne-Helmigh Jun 14, 2012  Professional Digital Artist
Most of these things are what you get when you work freelance. So I guess its a freelance thing :P
Reply
:iconippotsk:
*ippotsk Jun 15, 2012  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Ah, I see then...
Yeah, I don't think I'm ready for the real business world of arts yet. All the the responsibilities, dangit. :rofl:
and because i'm still a 10th grader who doesn't know how to arts, haha
Reply
:iconsakura-lies:
~Sakura-lies Jun 12, 2012
I totally want to slap people when they say this kind of thing I get 18 a lot -.-* Pisses me off, especially when I'm trying to adjust to semi-realism.
Reply
:iconsuzanne-helmigh:
=Suzanne-Helmigh Jun 12, 2012  Professional Digital Artist
yeah it can be quite annoying especially when they can't point out which parts exactly look cartoony or manga like to them.
Reply
:iconsakura-lies:
~Sakura-lies Jun 12, 2012
Yes! It's most frustrated for both parties. >.<
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