2014 to 2015: My Year Making Focused, Time-Efficient Art Pt. 3
Read part 1 and part 2. This is going to be a small entry due to huge amounts of work. :/
Change brush packs often
I know the minute I post this online a lot of people might disagree with me. For sure, it is nice to stick to one brush — the default brush — when doing your studies and learning new things. In that moment you want to cut down the number of variables so you can focus on what is important (the content). However, one should be careful not to solve the same problems in the same way all the time. Changing brush packs constantly refreshes your mind to new ways of fixing old problems, which in turn makes the process of rendering and finishing a painting more challenging, thus, more interesting. I for one am the kind of person that gets bored really quickly when detailing a painting. I`m all about the looseness, the idea, the sketch — so changing brushes for me adds a little bit more spice to the process. Again, this works differently for different people. For example, Peter Mohrbacher says in his Level Up interview that he likes to render things his own way always, because he is worried about keeping up the quality of the work that is being made.
Also, for me at least, when I`m changing brushes I try to “feel” a little bit of how the artist uses that brush and it inspires me to do more art. I know it`s kind of abstract at this point, but think of it as power-ups: every time I use a brush that is being used by an artist I admire, it fills me with joy and confidence and because of that my paintings are better. The brushes themselves don`t really matter that much, it`s the thought behind the action of painting with them.
Now comes the answer to one of the most asked questions ever: what about when doing studies, should I use custom brushes to fasten the process? I would say it depends. I’d ask back: what is your focus? What are you trying to achieve with this study? In his study video, Forrest Imel talks about not wasting your time in little details when you are studying things like design, for example. I very much agree with him. However, if you are studying something like textures or anatomy, you gain much more by sticking with the default round brush and working your way through details with it. I will tell you why. First, because it forces you to think in terms of form instead of in terms of 2D effect. Second, I believe that if you know how to reproduce an effect with a simple brush, making it with a custom brush will be twice as faster because you understand what you are doing in the first place, and that is essential. Lastly, it takes your mind off of settings and you can focus more on the task at hand. Multitasking might be good for doing professional work, but it backfires when studying.
If you are either an eager learner like me or someone completely confident in your skills, in order for us to move forward, we have to focus our attention in one problem and solve it, then go to the next one. Don’t overwhelm yourself trying to figure it all out at once. Give it time.
I hope this helps someone, and see you guys on part 4!
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