Patience

When I am limited in my creative time I often find it hard to have patience, especially when I have a clear vision of the end product. The time in between the daily grind that I find to create often feels uninspired if time isn't taken for planning and feeling things out.   Rushing things never helps and only leaves things in chaos to be sorted out later. 

We need time to relax for thoughts and feelings to flow, after all this isn't a number crunch its about expression. If we feel rushed it's a good time to pause and collect our thoughts. Often I find it more productive to use time watching or reading tutorials, as I often find much more streamlined ways of doing things. 

Planning is an important step that I often overlook in the spirit of getting things done, but I find that more time is wasted when there isn't a definite foundation. Sure we can feel out a scene as we go but there are certain things we need to consider first so that we don't waste time later fixing issues.  

Quality is important, having the patience to follow though is key. We should take our time in our creative work, but we shouldn't be lackadaisical. We should continue to work towards completing a project whether we are learning, planing, finding inspiration, or creating. Patience can be found in the love we have for our creation. 

Style

Once we become familiar with our creative craft, we may start to develop a certain style. We may emulate those who inspire us at first but after much experimentation our own personality will show through and we will inevitably do things our own way. Style essentially is our fingerprint that will be recognized by our audience. 

Style should be influenced by our inspirations, but not confined to them. For me I like American comics and Japanese Anime, so I try to incorporate aspects of each in my style. I pick and choose what I like best and try to build upon aspects that spark my creative energy. 

It is a daunting task to try to find your own style, but once you do the work truly feels like your expression and not like your are going by a set of rules. I'm still experimenting with styles as I go but only alter my core style if it feels true to myself. Like with any craft it takes an open mind and lots of hard work to master expression. 

Our style shouldn't be a restraint, always look for better and more productive ways to do things. In digital art I'm constantly finding new and faster ways of doing things that have better results. Mistakes should be a learning experience not a discouragement. Don't be afraid to diversify, experiment, and most of all express your true self. 

Nature

Our basic inspirations come directly from our environment, they can come in many forms from the sky above to the earth below us. When we think about the nature of things around us we begin to form a basis for our designs as we examine and emulate the same processes. Nature often is considered separate from humans but it certainly can effect aspects such as a person's personality.

Art inspired by nature can have different effects on a viewer depending on their own experiences in life. For instance a painting of a quaint farmhouse next to a verdant field may have no effect on someone who grew up in a city, but may be a nostalgic recollection for someone who lived on a farm. A more indirect example of nature's influence would be environmental factors that play in development of characters in a story, or even a style of music that has regional influence.

Nature plays an important role in developing dynamics that we naturally follow, beautiful women will always be an inspiration to me. I didn't wake up one day and decide this but that energy should not go to waste so I focus it into art. We like what we like, it's up to us to use that to create and inspire.

Whether we are painting "happy little trees" or describing a bustling city, nature plays a part in fleshing out scenes. A criminal in a story may be trying to fulfill his basic creature comforts, or a hero may be denying his own for the sake of others, in both sides of the spectrum nature plays a role. The part that is beyond nature is our free will to overcome our programming. We must rise above our own nature, if we let ourselves fall to the whim of nature we will be lost.

Abnormal

When I was a child I often felt out of place among my peers. I would invent solitary games and talk to myself, only in my solitude did I feel at peace. As I grew older my teenage years were still filled with the same love for solitude and a love for imagination, I still felt out of place but it was more of and angry rebellion against the status-quo. I was restless, video games were a distraction I clung to but even then I felt an emptiness that left me disconnected.

I started to realize I was living in a matrix like society full of systems of control that kept people busy and distracted chasing what isn't real. I was told I need to focus and pick a vocation that would pay well so that I could be happy and "live the dream". So I went to college and still had the same restless energy. I took up an interest in culinary arts, and switched schools. For the first time I actually felt that I was doing something that was part of me and not what I was supposed to do. Unfortunately the restless energy came back as the classes went from about the culinary arts to the production of food in terms of profit and business.

More recently after working towards the goal of becoming free of this world, I did a lot of soul searching and found who I call my true-self. I realized that the restless energy that was so eager to be somewhere else is the only part of me that matters. I found peace in creating, specifically visual Art and the only time the restless energy is quelled, is when I am drawing, painting, or designing.

I am speaking from my experience simply to inform others who are searching for something but they don't know what it is yet. Find yourself, don't let anyone tell you who you are, and don't let what you are determine the answer. Don't be afraid to be abnormal the norm is to live a meaningless life, create something, inspire others, dedicate your life to something, and above all care!







Here is a preview of some of the weapons I have been working on for the upcoming game "Strange Galaxy Black Lotus", original designs by Shawn O'Toole.  http://yellowplasma.deviantart.com/