Now I know no matter how I phrase this its going to sound like whine.


I've submitted four pieces.


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Now they all got rejected. Now I've done years of programming, drama and yes art. So I can take a crit and notes. So with the last two I slogged away. I know there is always room for improvement but I also know I am FAR from being a great artist.

That's fine, I've always believed in my work. Its a hard thing to do when you see professional work. I was proud and kept on sloggin in the belief I would get better. I woke up this morning getting ready for work when I relised enough.

I've spent the last week slaving away (when not at work) to make these better, I have spent every free hour I'm not pixeling checking for more C+C. I have became obsessed, all because I realised I hate my work now. I'm not talking about a critical eye or anything but I am no longer proud of my work.

Even after a combined total of around 30 hours on these pieces they are still not good enough, my self esteem (in regards to art) is in the gutter and I still have an empty gallery. And this was something I was doing because I enjoy it?

You know what the worst is, I'll have a shower, go to work and get back home and maybe start all over again or maybe I wont.

There is no point to this post except to maybe just maybe show you what it feels like to yes a "noob".

Hello Kimau,

 

 

 

 

If you have the luxury to have free time, please spend it doing things
that you like.
I assume you like to make art. If that is the case you should enjoy
the progress. I mean DOING the art is the pleasure. Not having
1000 pieces of art in a (art)gallery.
I am sorry for you in case you only take pleasure from an end-
product.  Of course it is nice if after long [enjoyable] hours you
end up with something that is worth looking at.
There are so many artists in the world who make things that
nobody will ever buy.  Should that be a reason for them to
stop making art? From a financial perspective they probably
would be better off doing something else. But luckily they
still WANT to make art because they feel a need or pleasure
of doing it.
 
Do you like the edits/updates better than the original?
Are the changes made to the work making the work better?
I guess you answer: yes I like the latest version more than
the previous version.
How do you think the pieces look after 300 hours of work?
Probably much better.
And from experience I can tell you that every hour spend
is an hour that will pay itself later. How much later?
Well that is different for each person.
As long as you are having fun doing the changes it will
not really matter.
 
It is hard to not to think of the end-product. You want
those hours to pay out immediately.
Apart from doing pixels I paint with oil and acryls.
There is a real benefit when working with pixels.
You can save your work. Do a lot of saves.
After 8 hours or so, take a look at what you had
and what you have made. There probably is a much
better version there. Take a look often to
remind you that quality needs time.
When you have achieved a certain quality you
will be able to make more products with the
same amount of quality in less time.
And then you end up with a lot of pieces
for your gallery.
 
 
I really do like the progress you made on the
pieces you have shown. Maybe they are not
considered master/good/great pieces yet, but please
dear Kimau compare the first girl to the last girl!
You can improve the last even more, but just take
a look at what you have accomplished. That alone
should make you proud.
Did it take 30 hours? Who cares?!?! It is not
important to me. Obviously you care about the hours.
Do you want to do something differently in those 30 hours?
Please go ahead and do something different.
What I can say to you is that the more you practice,
the better you will become. You would be able to
make something decent in one hour instead of 30.
I've been to a lot of art classes and sessions and
saw people who could not draw end up make something
decent after a while. EVERYBODY can make a good piece
if they are willing to put time in it.
It can take a long time but as long as you enjoy
the time it will be worthwhile.
 
Please practice and do not look at the gallery as the
ultimate showcase. There are a lot of other
galleries out there that would not care how
much quality there is in a piece you submit.
If you really want to showcase what you have
made use the other places.
 
 
Suppose your work would have been accepted in the
gallery. It would sit in your gallery and maybe
nobody would favor it. Are you going to write
a message like : 'I have 100 pieces in my gallery
but nobody favors it.'
Another artist in this board can say: 'Well I
received 100 favorites on this piece that took
a month to make. Why aren't 200 people favoring it?'
Everything is relative. Again, what should be
important is the pleasure you get out of
making something.
 
 
I'm sorry if I have overloaded you with these
comments.
This is something that has been bothering me
also in the past when doing oils/acryl and I really
understand what you have experienced.
 
 
Let me again emphasize what I have written before:
I LIKE YOUR PROGRESS!
 
Is this the kind of response that will encourage
you to keep pixeling?
I hope it does!
 
 
Best regards from
 
M.E.

Hello Ceddo,

Yes, it is me. I like to have short lines. I personally think that the text becomes better readable than if everything is on a long line. So indeed I press Enter key in the middle of the sentence. Sorry if that bothers you.

Best regards from

M.E.

Being easily distracted I will first get the niggles off my head.
+ Short lines are easier to read, see line
+ My first piece is me, Claire, and last I checked I wasn't a He so obviously not very successful there.

As for do I like the progress, I'm not so sure the first posted version of Onlooker (girl with helmet) has been my cellphone background for about 3 or so months. When people asked about it I was proud to say it was mine and would show them my other stuff on my phone. I no longer feel that to the piece. I think that's the root of the problem.

I think this was mostly monday morning blues but yes the problem is boiling down to I fell like I'm running around in circles. I do enjoy art but I don't enjoy running around in circles (no one does). I mean I will tell you the truth after all the great C+C I got I google'd trying to fine a normal art community (ie for traditional art and cg works) with the same kind of feel.

So I'm going to take a break from pixeling and leave those pieces as is. I have a line art waiting but I probably will come back for a weekly challenge. I've got out some charcoal and will work on some rough pieces like that cause its fun work. Also my programming is behind, and I have some sewing to be done. ANYWAY!

==== END RAMBLING ====

Thanks. This is a great community but well the Gallery is not a heartening matter. I think in the interest of my health and sanity I will take a break from pixelling and see if I feel like coming back after a week or so.