Usually I don't write a lot here, I save that for my op ed blog-"I'm Just Sayin'" but I have to say something when I share these two paintings I did this week. First of all, I am an artist. I make 100% of my living right now as an artist-usually it's childrens book illustrations and sometimes I still get to work in animation. The style I work in is cartoony-I am a cartoonist and I love it.
What people don't realize is that to be great or even good at cartoons we artists must learn the basics first, we are real artists. I took anatomy and life drawing after Disney had offered me a job-I could pass the animation test, but I needed to learn the basics. I admit I didn't spend years at art school and have been public about admitting that so people feel like they can tell me that I don't deserve my career and what I hear all the time "you aren't a real artist." I am not sure what they mean by that since again 100% of my living is from art and has been for many years. I also have made money writing for film, television, books, magazines and shorts-that is still art-but I digress.
Last week I did a digital painting using traditional techniques to create a gift for my friend. I took a photo and taped it to my cintiq and then I started drawing, I used pencil first (in Sketchbook) and then I painted in Painter-building color blocks first and then going to detail. It took me 3 days. I like it, but I was nervous about it. I posted it on FB and people gave me really positive feedback, which was awesome, but of course the few people who find it their mission to tell me that I am not a real artist had their two cents too.
"This is great, how come you don't do this instead of those cartoons you do, I didn't know you had talent." from someone in animation who isn't even working in animation as an artist right now and always tells me they don't like my work.
"I didn't know you could paint, why are you doing cartoons?" from another person who also tells me constantly that I am not an artist and yet they don't work as an artist and also worked in animation.
*newsflash animation is primarily cartoons-just saying.
It blows me away! When did it become okay to cut down cartoons? When is is ever okay to cut someone else's work down? Is it jealously, spite, or what? My mother was a fine artist she did oil paintings and watercolor illustrations, when she left my father she went into graphic design. When I got into Disney she was relieved that I wasn't in acting anymore and happy I followed her, but then she said, "but it's not real art." ARRRRGH!! Of course it is. The one time she came to visit me, I took her up to the 3rd floor of the animation building and she was shocked by the development work and she said, "now this is real art, why don't you do this?" As if putting characters on model, making sure the animation worked, doing overlap and drag etc.. wasn't art. SIGH.
In any case, this week I painted two paintings. I painted them. I drew them first and then painted. Yes they are done digitally, but that only saved me the drying. Here is the second one, this is a Westie called Ming who I fell in love with last year. He is mostly white so it took a little less time than the toddler in the picture above, but still it took a long time.
As for cartoons-I LOVE cartoons and all the great cartoonists in the world will tell you that it's a lot harder than it looks, to be able to boil something down to it's simplest form is art in itself. No one would tell Charles Schultz he is not a real artist, or maybe they would.
*Before anyone gets their knickers in a twist I am not saying that I am Charles Schultz, but just using him as an example.
Art comes in many forms, styles, mediums, and anyone who tells anyone else that what they do isn't real art doesn't understand what they are talking about.
It's nice that I finally got some respect from some, but honestly if I didn't have it before I don't really want their respect.
What people don't realize is that to be great or even good at cartoons we artists must learn the basics first, we are real artists. I took anatomy and life drawing after Disney had offered me a job-I could pass the animation test, but I needed to learn the basics. I admit I didn't spend years at art school and have been public about admitting that so people feel like they can tell me that I don't deserve my career and what I hear all the time "you aren't a real artist." I am not sure what they mean by that since again 100% of my living is from art and has been for many years. I also have made money writing for film, television, books, magazines and shorts-that is still art-but I digress.
Last week I did a digital painting using traditional techniques to create a gift for my friend. I took a photo and taped it to my cintiq and then I started drawing, I used pencil first (in Sketchbook) and then I painted in Painter-building color blocks first and then going to detail. It took me 3 days. I like it, but I was nervous about it. I posted it on FB and people gave me really positive feedback, which was awesome, but of course the few people who find it their mission to tell me that I am not a real artist had their two cents too.
"This is great, how come you don't do this instead of those cartoons you do, I didn't know you had talent." from someone in animation who isn't even working in animation as an artist right now and always tells me they don't like my work.
"I didn't know you could paint, why are you doing cartoons?" from another person who also tells me constantly that I am not an artist and yet they don't work as an artist and also worked in animation.
*newsflash animation is primarily cartoons-just saying.
It blows me away! When did it become okay to cut down cartoons? When is is ever okay to cut someone else's work down? Is it jealously, spite, or what? My mother was a fine artist she did oil paintings and watercolor illustrations, when she left my father she went into graphic design. When I got into Disney she was relieved that I wasn't in acting anymore and happy I followed her, but then she said, "but it's not real art." ARRRRGH!! Of course it is. The one time she came to visit me, I took her up to the 3rd floor of the animation building and she was shocked by the development work and she said, "now this is real art, why don't you do this?" As if putting characters on model, making sure the animation worked, doing overlap and drag etc.. wasn't art. SIGH.
In any case, this week I painted two paintings. I painted them. I drew them first and then painted. Yes they are done digitally, but that only saved me the drying. Here is the second one, this is a Westie called Ming who I fell in love with last year. He is mostly white so it took a little less time than the toddler in the picture above, but still it took a long time.
As for cartoons-I LOVE cartoons and all the great cartoonists in the world will tell you that it's a lot harder than it looks, to be able to boil something down to it's simplest form is art in itself. No one would tell Charles Schultz he is not a real artist, or maybe they would.
*Before anyone gets their knickers in a twist I am not saying that I am Charles Schultz, but just using him as an example.
Art comes in many forms, styles, mediums, and anyone who tells anyone else that what they do isn't real art doesn't understand what they are talking about.
It's nice that I finally got some respect from some, but honestly if I didn't have it before I don't really want their respect.
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