General

"Please respect my rights as an artist and creator. Art is my livelihood." From Todd Lockwood's front page, my personal favorite [b]digital painter[/b] and a god of fantasy art as well. Just Saiyan, since I can easily see the debate of "art should be free" and "digital art is worthless" degrading into "a real artist doesn't care about money," since it always does. Also, Paul, that's Todd's site in case you didn't see it before. He's a master of dragons, he does a lot of work for D&D and of course Magic and stuff like that.

EDIT: Nevermind, apparently Todd's site is filtered here... guess it's a glitch, because the filtered word isn't even a word... okay. ToddLockwood.com.

@Ronald63 Well....if you were aiming to insult just me I'm afraid you've done a little more than that. You've just insulted all of the digital artists on this forum haven't you? If you bothered to take a look at any of my galleries, instead of spouting poop right off the bat, you'd have seen that I began purely as a traditional artist. Even here, people who know my work know my traditional work. But if you insist on a sample of something that I can do traditionally: http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2009/347/4/4/Warrior_Mage_sketch_by_KidScribbles.jpg it's funny that you mentioned "picking up a pencil" as pencils are what I'm most familiar with.

@Beginnered While your first comment was extremely moronic, I'm glad Sonia and others were able to set things straight for you. But if I can tell you myself, my art is the only way I'm looking to get an income in the future, be it through the graphic design skills that I'm learning through university, or my illustration skills which are important to have anyway. it's not some half-ass job I'm doing on the side, I may not be the most talented but I can assure you that I'm fully serious. This is for all intents and purposes, my living.

@Everyone: Thanks very much for all your honest opinions on my work. If I could ask you to disregard the subject matter for a second and just look at quality alone when you construct your opinions, that would be fantastic. Doing fantart is just a good way of getting my work out there. I figure if I'm going to do fantart, it may as well of something(s) that's part of my childhood that I love/used to love. But if I'm going to be great at all, I will have to do things that I don't want to do. my father told me that your professional life isn't always about what you want to do, but what has to be done, be if for you or others associated with you. But yes, I do realize that in order for you guys to really see where I'm at, you will also have to see more original work. I will prepare some for the near future for you guys to see. Thanks again.

I lost you, Paul.. of all people.. -Sniffles-

[quote=Beginnered]What you are saying is sometimes true, but my personal opinion is that as an unprofessional artist you should draw drawings for free out of your own will, without outside pressure. Sometimes your costumers will respect you, but sometimes payers might think they deserve what ever comes to their mind, and that's where there's pressure and sometimes even a decrease in the quality of the drawing. Then again, it's not always true, yet it happens and it's not too pleasant.
I had 2 threads I think in the Art section for looking for characters to draw, and since I said I'll draw most if not all, I was pressured and sometimes I was just drawing something pretty quickly just to finish the requests. I wasn't paid for it, but I didn't want to let down people. People weren't very thankful though, and they sometimes just requested again for another drawing with another char, and well.. it basically never ended. Same can go with payment, it's probably the same thing.
I recently just found out the perfect way for me to draw characters : absolutely randomly. Just went through the forums and looked for a character I like, usually I chose something pretty simple or a character that I liked it's equip's colors, and just began drawing it, and then, after finishing it and submitting it to basil, I sent the picture to the character.[/quote]

Sorry, but from personal experience it's not really the same thing The basil art subforum is an extremely inaccurate representation of the art industry. For one thing, basil has an abnormally excessive amount of people requesting with an abnormally high response rate from artists. I don't do requests or commissions on basil for that reason and the work I do for other people are all paid commissions e.g) personal projects, design..etc.. I'm not an in demand artist, but all of my past clients were polite and were very adamant about showing their gratitude. Even when I didn't like what they wanted me to draw that didn't directly decrease the quality of my work, I just had to suck it up, but in the end it would be worth it. I do believe your problem was that you were doing free work and the audience here takes free art work for granted, so obviously your work quality decreased because you knew either way they wouldn't show much gratitude for your work. That's a different type of pressure that deviates from the pressure of maintaining your artistic integrity and trust between client and artist. :[

You do know you will end up getting sued if you sell them because of copy-right issues, unless they original owners of those charters legally say you can sell them.

[quote=Beginnered]That's what I'm saying, it's not really a matter of choice, it just happens.
When you do something a lot of times just to satisfy the costumers, the quality of your artworks may decrease.
I don't think that someone that's not a robot can "produce" artworks without the artworks quality decreasing.[/quote]

I am by no means a professional, but the satisfaction of my clients is very important to me and I'm sure most artists can say the same. If someone is willing to pay us money to produce something for them because they trust our abilities, that is not something to be taken for granted.... A lot of my commissioned works are higher quality than my personal stuff because there is more pressure to polish and refine the piece because it's not for myself, it's for someone else.

[quote=DruidMight]Thanks for the feedback guys! One thing that I really have had a problem with consistently is confidence in my own work. But if I were to begin selling, considering I like to put effort into all my work (around 5 hours worth minimum) what do you think would be a reasonable price to start with? Bear in mind that I'm just starting out, so maybe my commission price should be a little bit cheap. just a little.[/quote]

Well it all depends how much it will be depending on size and quality. Are you going to sell them right off deviant art or are you going to make a website promoting your artwork? Are you going to have a professional printer print out the artwork that people ordered or are you going to print from your printer? Also with size if you are getting it printed from a professional it will all depend on there rates on size.

[quote=Beginnered]Just... stop drawing.

You can get money from working in McDonalds.
You can get money from folding shirts in Gap.

When art is made for money.. it's not art. It's industrial art. It's art with benefits.

Art is pure creativity and joy. Shouldn't have [b]anything[/b] to do with money, only when it's a matter of taking care of your family at the age of 35, per say.[/quote]

Yea, and making him work on those kinds of things instead of what he likes to is the way to go.

OT: You could make some quick bucks I assume, but if I were you I'd start doing that when I'm confident enough.

[quote=Ronald63]Digital painting....so stupid. stop being lazy and pick up a pencil

still good though...lol just wait til u feel comfortable at the artist level your're at[/quote]

... *facepalm*

@DruidMight: Remember how I told you about the artists I look up to? The ones that for some reason see me on an equal level? I think you should look at their work, and perhaps some of their processes in videos. Steve Argyle, Jason Chan, Daarken, Todd Lockwood, Aleksi Briclot and Marko Djurdjevic all have videos floating around online. And it might help out that Todd Lockwood has his roots in traditional, and only recently began to venture into digital, much like you.

I personally think your artwork looks nice enough to sell. :]

Just don't overprice them. <3

[quote=Lanique]oh please, stop talking about things you don't understand[/quote]

ikr? I take statements like that as a serious insult.

[quote=Ronald63]Digital painting....so stupid. stop being lazy and pick up a pencil

still good though...lol just wait til u feel comfortable at the artist level your're at[/quote]

oh please, stop talking about things you don't understand

Quite honestly I'd pay for prints of your traditional work.
Not sure if it's the subject matter that draws me away from your digital stuff.

Personally I would pay for one in a range from $3-$10 dollars for one
-BTW can i request?-

I would buy it. Sell them to me!

I thought you already sold commissions! You are beyond good enough!

@DruidMight
As a person who's loved your drawings since I joined Basil, and basically took up art in part of your influence, I think you need to improve more on your coloring. I don't know what style you're going for, but your lineart is really magnificent and realistic-like, so I'm guessing you want your coloring to turn out the same way. Phoenixlu on deviantart is one of my favorite artists, or alexiuss, or various other digital artists you can learn coloring on. If you're looking to just sell your lineart, I think you're very close. But some of your poses are a bit too stiff, maybe make them flow a bit more before selling those prints. But best of luck!

Lol. DruidMight, I think you have one of the better qualities of art I've seen on basil. You seem to already have gained an audience that may want pieces from you. From when you practice and get better at it, so will your client's reviews of you.

@Beginnered: Art isn't fun when you don't put time and effort into it. It isn't a hobby that'll work if you slave through it, etc etc.

@DruidMight: I'd like to see some if you have any pictures of your work online
don't get me wrong I like what you do
kidding found it

logged in just to say that your work is .

@BadgerDontCare Actually I wasn't really talking about the pokemon drawings specifically for selling, I was talking more about the level I'm at and whether in terms of my digital art and traditional art. Not the content of my work. Thanks for the comment, I appreciate it.
@HoRsEcHoKeR If you've looked through my gallery, you'd find that digital art is actually a recent venture for me, my inclination is always toward traditional art, perhaps always will be, but I feel it's smart to embrace tools available if not just for speed. Again, I really appreciate your comment, honest opinions like yours are what I look for. But if I'm known for anything, it would be for my traditional art. Those are my roots.
@Haishiro I completely agree with what you're saying. I'm still looking for that extra little something that will separate my digital art from the flock. In terms of my traditional art, I'm much further on the path to accomplishing that. Thank you very much!
@Beginnered I don't think you're well acquainted with the industry just yet to be able to say that. I'm a graphic design major at university, and the first thing they teach is that you ALWAYS have to meet a client's brief, and if you want to establish yourself on the professional scene, you must always be concerned about quality, no change that you make is ever minor. But yes, thanks for your opinion anyway.

[quote=LadyVuitton]I think you should really apply for those trading card companies to draw yugioh/pokemon cards your art is so amazing. I feel like a stalker for clicking on your [myself] picture sigh ;x[/quote]

This. Can you do a uber cute pickachu? For me? ;3

do it now!
and.. am i going crazy or something.. i distinctly remember you making this one black and white drawing with skelegons and it was amazing.. or was that not you? because i couldn't find it.. edit: AHAH nevermind here it iss http://www.basilmarket.com/show/screen/150210 <3
anyways! your art is amazing.

[quote=Beginnered]Just... stop drawing.

You can get money from working in McDonalds.
You can get money from folding shirts in Gap.

When art is made for money.. it's not art. It's industrial art. It's art with benefits.

Art is pure creativity and joy. Shouldn't have [b]anything[/b] to do with money, only when it's a matter of taking care of your family at the age of 35, per say.[/quote]

How on earth is 'art with benefits' not valid art? A piece created for a client is just as much a piece of art as a personal painting. I don't even want to try and understand your reasoning behind this.

Paul, you're silly, you were at the level of nabbing commissions a long time ago lol. The fact that you draw pokemon art is actually an advantage because fanart attracts more viewers and from a purely monetary stand point, the fanart route is ideal.

Getting commissioned isn't necessarily about skill tbh, it's more about targeting and attracting the right audience.

You should create art that has a wider audience.

I'd for SURE buy one. Maybe up to 50 bucks? I sure do new a nice detailed youtube background.

I honestly don't think what you've done is worth selling, I can see that you put in a lot of hard work and what you've done is pretty cool
but I have seen so many digital artists and there really are lots of "better" artists or at least more skilled
but as far as selling what you have if someone wants a print sell it to them but keep the price low because after all it just is a print, and that's the problem with digital art there are no "real" or tangible originals, so unless you are doing something absolutely amazing keep prices low and do work on request.

Those look amazing. But you couldn't sell those sadly... what with copyrights and all.

You were ready forever ago, I really admiiire your work, you are one of the top artist that I enjoy on Basil! And I'm not just over stating, go sell!

@FireMonus2 Thanks very much for the encouragement. See that's the thing really...people including my professors say I'm good enough to at least get a little money out of it, but I just feel I'm not quite there yet. It's just a gut feeling but maybe I could disregard it and just start selling just for the experience.
@MissMaylie: Thanks so much! Actually the reason for all that is because in addition to doing original work, I like to twist basic concepts like maple and pkmn into something of my own creation. Sort of like drawing something like the way I see it. I actually think I already know how to colour linearts with photoshop. It's pretty natural really, that's the way I used to do it. Now I can just paint straight on. But yeah, looks like I got more thinking to do. :O

i love your stuff. but if you did less pokemon and maplestory art, and learned to color your awesome and detailed linearts, hands down people would pay for you.
but i dunno, i've never had experience with selling art

Thanks for the feedback guys! One thing that I really have had a problem with consistently is confidence in my own work. But if I were to begin selling, considering I like to put effort into all my work (around 5 hours worth minimum) what do you think would be a reasonable price to start with? Bear in mind that I'm just starting out, so maybe my commission price should be a little bit cheap. just a little.

@lilzara: Lololol y u so modest? I freaking love your stuff fo' srs.

yes, you're amazing ;A; if people pay for my ...notveryguhd stuff, they'd definitely pay for your amazing ones n0n

Those are amazing! = O

Not the biggest fan of the DBZ one, but still very nice.

I want one of those as a massive poster....

Well I definitely think you're good enough to do commissions if that's what you were wondering O: I'd pay some money for one sometime actually if you're interested.