The only way out is through
I'm completely swamped right now with pet portraits stuff, fantasy art stuff, and what can only be termed "personal stuff".
In reverse order, the "personal stuff" is mainly long e-mails that I owe to people, as well as social gatherings and, um, issues. The pet portrait stuff involves an exciting deal with a boutique in a nearby town, donating a pet portrait to a silent auction, and a pet portrait for a friend. As for fantasy art, I'm still putting the "finishing touches" on last year's Illustration Master Class painting while I'm gearing up for another Illustration Master Class workshop, which requires a lot of preparation if you want to arrive with an excellent idea supported by excellent photo reference and sketches.
Naturally I am striving for excellence, so I am pushing myself hard, looking to tackle a composition that involves a lighting scheme I've never done before, 3 human figures, and a dragon. A DRAGON. I've never been a person to even doodle dragons for fun, but hey, when the concept of Smaug was brought up I just couldn't pass it up. I feel pretty confident in my sketch--which I can only hope isn't a mistake--but I have a lot to do with regards to shooting good photography to back it up. I'm also planning to make a maquette of a town and the dragon itself. Yikes!
I took my friend Nisma's advice and made myself a complete to-do list divided by categories. I added my own flourish of using a different colored pen for each category. That made me feel somewhat better but I quailed at the thought of actually DOING these things. Then, I did. I started with the easiest first, but then I went on to the "hardest" (most dreaded) second. I am feeling better now that I'm tackling it. Onward!
In reverse order, the "personal stuff" is mainly long e-mails that I owe to people, as well as social gatherings and, um, issues. The pet portrait stuff involves an exciting deal with a boutique in a nearby town, donating a pet portrait to a silent auction, and a pet portrait for a friend. As for fantasy art, I'm still putting the "finishing touches" on last year's Illustration Master Class painting while I'm gearing up for another Illustration Master Class workshop, which requires a lot of preparation if you want to arrive with an excellent idea supported by excellent photo reference and sketches.
Naturally I am striving for excellence, so I am pushing myself hard, looking to tackle a composition that involves a lighting scheme I've never done before, 3 human figures, and a dragon. A DRAGON. I've never been a person to even doodle dragons for fun, but hey, when the concept of Smaug was brought up I just couldn't pass it up. I feel pretty confident in my sketch--which I can only hope isn't a mistake--but I have a lot to do with regards to shooting good photography to back it up. I'm also planning to make a maquette of a town and the dragon itself. Yikes!
I took my friend Nisma's advice and made myself a complete to-do list divided by categories. I added my own flourish of using a different colored pen for each category. That made me feel somewhat better but I quailed at the thought of actually DOING these things. Then, I did. I started with the easiest first, but then I went on to the "hardest" (most dreaded) second. I am feeling better now that I'm tackling it. Onward!