"-The greats weren’t great because at birth they could paint, the greats were great because they paint a lot.”
-Macklemore
"Danny whats the secret, Danny I thought you were going to go deep into cool tricks, Danny you told me things I already new, I was looking for something that would help me out, Danny this stuff blows."
The first line above says it all. The lines following the first quote show ignorance in its full glory. Many times I'll come across people learning to draw/animate/storyboard and I always have some students coaxing me to reveal secrets on how artist become so good. I'll say this again and again: There are no secrets, there is no gene that make people better artist than others, there is no epiphany one must have and from that moment they are gods.
How does one get better at catching a baseball, How does one get better at making rice, how does one get better at playing video games, how does one person get better at creating art?
YOU DO IT A LOT. Done, there you go, that is apparently 'the big' secret :) bc nobody knows this. Practicing and repetition will make you better and faster. Completing one student film or 2 assignments in a semester will not cut it. Sure, some people can pick up the trade faster than other students but that does not mean becoming a great artist is out of anyones grasp. There are people at Disney and Pixar who are not natural artists. With their hard work and determination they BECAME great artists.
Thats my little rant of the day. :D
Oh and if you are looking for opportunities to learn, I will share you two links for two online Lectures/workshops I gave a while back. I think the site is still charging for them but once you pay you keep all the material FOR LIFE. True Story.
The first link is: The Art of Visual Storytelling
http://skl.sh/16i3Ze9
This lecture/workshop goes over the fundamentals of visual storytelling and breaks that down to its most basic elements. And by breaking visual storytelling down you gain more insight on how a visual can communicate an emotion. This one if definitely safe for those with no art background.
The second link is: Constructing a Story: advance visual story telling
http://skl.sh/19yLtmt
In this lecture/workshop I go in depth, and go as basic as I possibly can to break down what story really is and what makes good stories into great stories. Even though this has the word advance in the title it really is accessible for all ages and skill levels. After this class I guarantee you will never look at another movie or read a book the same way again.
Enjoy and thanks a lot
