The art of progression – why slow growth is so important

The art of progression – why slow growth is so important

At the end of the academic year I have started to develop a better understanding of what it is to progress. I have looked back and reflected on the mistakes I have made and have tried to develop my own thinking as to why certain things have gone a certain way. I have tried to rationalize absolutely everything I have done. That is the only way I can move on from it and focus on the ultimate goal.

Every student or anyone that has a dream or ambition has one ultimate goal and that is success. That may be a little misleading, by success I don't mean ultimate fame and glory and being the best at everything. I mean getting to the level they want to, or more to the point need to be at to be able to achieve what that success. I hope that makes sense.

Growth was, is ,will and always has been a slow and painful process. It needs to be for the process to work in full. These things take time. Why? Because I need to understand and remeber the basics.

Take two tomato plants, the first one has been allowed to mature over time,

The leaves are large and green and the fruit on the plant is red and succulent.

The other one has been fed chemicals to force it to grow, yes some of the leaves are large and green the fruit looks good enough, but if you look closely parts of the plant have not even developed properly there are still unopened flowers leaves that have not fully developed, you get my point.

A better example would be two buildings, the first one has firm foundations these may be traditional art skills or talent, all the bricks have been laid on top of those, which could class as experience, training, learning, understanding and so on. It took time to build but as a result it is Its sturdy and steadfast.

The bad house would start with some traditional art skills/talent but would not build on those so to speak and layers of bricks would be laid on top but they wouldn't be very well thought out. It was a rush job. For a while it may look like a house but eventually the badly laid bricks would give way and it will all come tumbling down, the mess would have to be cleared up and it would have to be built back up again.

The biggest question would be how? Would you build it the proper way or make the same mistakes again knowing that ultimately you would fail at house building.

Or would you do things the right way?

Would you learn from the mistakes you have made in the first year of your degree or make them again in the second when it counts and never succeed at become a great artist?

Its hard to fight against that urge to try and be somewhere right now and let yourself mature and grow and make sure you have all of the basic skills before you try and move on or push yourself a bit further.

The biggest mistake I have made this year is trying to build that house at all.

That is my plan this summer, to learn how to build houses....properly.

Next year I will analyse how and start to apply that knowledge.

This year was not the time to try and build houses. I will keep on fighting, but this time I wont let myself burn out. For the love of  houses.

Breaking free of that "high school" mentality

I would just like to compose a peice of writing for writings sake for once.

I was inspired today after a chat with one of the lecturers. This is my perspective of how things stand from the view of a mature student who came back into the education system 3 years ago.

I dont know if any of you know but I was a pre - millenium highschool graduate. Class of '99. The cream of my teenage years was basically combat trousers and the spice girls.

After a 10 year gap I decided to return to college and I was shocked beyond belief. I had been in sixth form at school and college previously and as I remember back then as soon as year 11 was up you were treated like adults, had to be responsible for yourself and for your own learning, your own life. How things have changed.

It felt like I had got out of a time machine back to the time I was in primary school. It was very different. Suddenly my 16 year olds peers acted like the 12 year olds from back in the day which I found very odd, surley things couldnt have changed that much.

The teachers had changed too. Instead of talking to me like the adult I was, I was reverted back to child status. Bear in mind I was 27 at the time, knew what the real world was like, had children of my own and I didnt like it. How dare they they treat me like a child.

It was only after a particular incident when a teacher told me not to cheek him after stating my own opinion that I complained. Apparently He wasnt aloud to treat me any different because "a students a student" fair enough but I thought hasnt he heard of diversity? you cant treat everyone exactly the same because everyone is different. Obviously not.

My major concern was when parents evening came along. At 27 I had been responsible for my own life for 10 years I just couldnt understand why there would be a parents evening for students who were post 16. It was a joke.  I thought young people should be able to stand on there own two feet.
Why would they though, Our college project briefs told us exactly what to do for the different grades this for a pass, do this and this for a merit and this this and this for a distinction. It does not really encourage three really important skills. This mind set remains. When something has been drilled into your head for so long it sticks and its hard to break free from. It also teaches that there is a smooth narrow path that can be followed to achieve.

Im sure there are many reasons. One of the most bizzarre I have heard is that the world is more complex these days. So young people have been molly coddled and wrapped in cotton wool all there lives, to do what exactly? to prepare them for this more complex world? That just dosent make sense.

I have been talking to some aquaintences as to the reasons they go to university and most have them have said "because its a means to an end" is it? is it really? Do you stop learning after you graduate? Thats the same mentality do this this and this and you will achieve this. In some cases maybe, but unfortunatly the route to sucess isnt that smooth and simple.

I have done some research into the subject and have realised why people can not break free of this high school mentality where you are told exactly what you have to do to achieve this, that and the other.
The molly coddling/ overprotectiveness  has made them lack 3 essential skills.

1. The ability to learn and "self educate".
2. The ability to become independant.
3. The ability to gain experience.

And learning to do these things is no smooth and narrow path upwards to a certain level of achievment. You learn from experience and mistakes and going out there and trying things for yourself.

This diagram is a more accurate representation of the learning process.

Red line = learning. see any smooth uphill curve?

How would one go about breaking free from this mentality?

I call it the learning triangle. Each will help with the other. Learning for yourself will lead to independence and doing things for yourself will lead to experience, which will lead to the knowledge that learning for yourself works. repeat process.

I was subjected to this mentality for luckily only 2 years of my life.  I feel I overlooked this a little I know from life you have up and downs you learn, you go round in circles then you learn you gain knowledge, no matter what way it goes you gain experience. If it goes backwards you still learn. You dont stop learning, ever.

Red line in my own life: Every day I make mistakes and the the next I feel a little closer to achievment. Some days I feel Im not progressing much other times im getting worse, then next day I feel better again, The I see drastic improvment then I stay the same for a bit..... and on it goes on. Forever.

EDIT: just to prove a point I realise I had yet again contradicted myself with what I had wrote. Writing down steps to get rid of the mentality of taking steps?  at least its a method understood by folk in that mentality.

I went backwards a bit there, did you see that? ...and on it goes. Forever.

*Project Have Fun- Final Concept

Well here it is, my Final Concept art for environment and characters.

Project have fun - SPOILERS WIP

I f you dont want to see the final then skip this part it just shows screen shots as im finishing up the project, such things as colour, reflection, and sorting the perspective out.

Project Have Fun - Colour theory

During the final rendering of the comcept art, I thought some of these colours are not working. That said the snake and the main character which are red and green seem to go together really well. This made me think of a music video (strange example I know) but it is the best example I have seen of when colours, contrasting and complementary have been used together and have worked really well.

I compiled a few screen shots. The colours used are blues and oranges in this example.

Link to vid, youtube of course

The point is everything seems to have been considered, the oranges in the wood, costume even the skintones work really well with the blues.

I want to achieve something similar. I  will be using greens and reds though. I know that its not just a case of using green and red anywhere, there are things to consider like colour ratios. Its 50:50 for green and red. 

But what about the orange rolling character? what about the shadows? are all greens opposite to red? 

Another prob.

Lets solve this one... and quickly.

edit: I have made a little colour palette with the colours that will be used together in the final render....

Turns out pinks go with greens also, so lets get some in there, the carpet, browns and oranges can be used alongside red for the wood, lets get on with it.

Project Have fun - composition3

After the incident with the last character it made me realise how much wasted space there was in the composition of the scene. It was there but wasnt really doing anything for the composition.
Another thing was that some characters appeared so insignificant they might as well not be there. See below.

Another issue is the kettle character He sits at the top of the scene again without doing anything, I think its time to say goodbye to him aswell. I believe that the composition will work without them.... lets see shall we.

Colours are not final,

all I have done is cut the top off the composition, and moved he plant/ main character. How about some experiments with light and shadow, to help put the focus back on our main main.

The image should be dark on the ground and lighter as it goes upward, to give that sense of height. Our main man is not the main focus, its shared between him and "cutter"

 

I have moved the door slightly to the left of the image. added some more quick shadow just to give an idea...

I need to make the ground darker and flick stand out a bit more.  

Edit:

Ive added some more shadow highlights

Ive added some beams of light from the hallway, more appropriate shadows, nice idea , they may be in the wrong direction. Another anoying thing is the cutter character... it just looks dead...

Edit: yet another attempt, changed doorway, beams of light, added some more shadow...

 I think adding the shape of the doorway and window has really helpedthe composition, still hate the cutter, its because it dosent go with everything else at this stage because there not real enough.. so time to make it look real.... The next post assuming I dont have anymore problems will be the final.

Project Have fun - " axeing characters"

In the midle of developing the vacuum cleaner character he wasnt going very well espeicially when i put him in the scene. I thought Id place a silhouette of him in the scene to see if I could figure out why he was doing nothing for the composition of the scene.

He covers the doorway which will be the main lightsource, this will highlight him  but steal all of the glory so to speak from our main man. Positioning him elsewhere? not really possible as there is no where for him to go without making the scene look cramped. Crunch time,  I have made the decision to axe him from the scene. Shame really, but nessecary none the less.