Got My Class Scedual, Woo and Hoo!

Animation, Life Drawing, Mass Media and Society, Health (Required), and Algebra (Also...Required >.<). But still, Animation! Life Drawing!
I am very pleased. :D

Two Years To Go

There is a theory that points out that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become a virtuoso at anything. Sports, music, art, mathematics, you name it. I started practising art many years ago, but in the time between have seen times where even twenty minuets of art practice a day on average was unlikely. My progress crawled to a halt. I have suffered for a few years with the tortuous knowledge that somehow, not where I should be right now, and upon learning this theory, I think I know why.
According to my calculations, I have enough practice hours under my belt that if I practice four hours a day for two more years, I will reach the state of virtuoso with my art. 
Had I not allowed others to get in the way of my practice, I would have arrived there at the age of twenty. Now I am playing catch-up with my peers, and it is not likely that I will ever fully catch up to my own generation of artists, all of whom have reached the virtuoso point long before me and continued to improve.
NEVER allow anyone to get in the way of your dreams. You need to practice, to work, and if you allow destructive individuals into your life, they will steal years of potential from you.
Never give up, never lose hope, and ALWAYS practice.

Selling It – Some Thoughts on Making Art for Money

If you didn’t know already, I make art for money. A lot of the time it’s porn.

Why?

 Because it’s more fun that way.  Also, porn is what gets commissioned 99.999% of the time. It’s what people want. As my mother used to say, “Sex sells.” 

There was a time in my life that this would have upset me. I would have been offended and felt that my artistic integrity was being besmirched. Now I understand differently. For me (I know better than to speak for anyone else, let along another artist on such sensitive subjects) art is about making people happy. A satisfied customer gives me the warm fuzzies.  To that end, porn or any other subject matter is simply a means.

To be honest, making art for money seems more pure to me than any other way I’ve earned it. It seems more to be a matter of getting paid for things I would naturally do, rather than changing my way of living in order to survive. Integrity is being true to you, and this is true to me. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to make a real and permanent go at having this be the only thing I do.

A Bit About The Blog Title

     Some of you may wonder where the title of this blog came from. It’s pretty simple, actually. It’s a reference to the feeling one gets after thoroughly burning themselves out on their passions. I don’t mean burned out as in sick of them. On the contrary, I mean burned up like a candle or fuel is burned. It is to have every bit of yourself thrown into that which you do.

     To Quote George Bernard Shaw:  ”This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy”

These are words worth living by.

     Deliberate practice can turn anyone into a force of nature in any field they may choose. I truly believe this. Yes, it may take ten or more years in some cases, but that is a price worth paying for greatness. However, we are also simply mortal, and so cannot maintain such fervor in every moment of every day.

     Those of us with ADD, Depression, Bipolar, or any other mental condition that causes fluctuations in our attention or our energy can attest that this sort of focus and resolve is especially hard for us.  In my own case, (ADD inattentive type and seasonal depression) the work of living fully results occasionally in a brain that is a burnt out shell and needs to be let alone for a couple of days.  

     I refer to this state, somewhat affectionately, as having a “fried brain”.