SHE WENT TO ART SCHOOL?? look I'm not great, but you'd think going to art school she would improve just purely based on how much you HAVE to draw to make it through??I dunno. Argh. ><
Amelia Blank, December 28, 2016, 04:00:43 pm
I can say from experience that, depending on the school you go to and the programs you take, you can get an art degree without being all that good.
I think Terra's cartoon work is sort of telling to her philosophy as an artist. Like, it's usually very easy to tell someone who draws in a less than realistic style because they want to explore things like expression or exaggeration versus someone who draws in a cartoony style because they think it's easier than drawing realistically. Ms. Snover very handily falls into the latter category: Her cartoons are very similar to her more realistic attempts at art, just with less detail to them. Like, if you look at her portfolio there are a lot of cut corners in her work.
KingKalamari, December 28, 2016, 05:04:38 pm
I suppose that's true. I mean I have no real training and have learned cutting corners because techinique is my weak point so I'm not much better?I dunno. Its super frustrating. At least I'm better than her????
Amelia Blank, December 28, 2016, 09:24:55 pm
I wouldn't worry too much abut it: There's absolutely nothing wrong with being self-taught or doing stylized drawings or anything like that. Working within a non-realiztic style is a perfectly valid choice when it comes to art, it's just that you have to remember that it has certain principles you need to understand in order to produce something that looks good. Terra...Doesn't seem to understand this.
Pretty much all of her cartoon drawings (And most of her drawings in general) show a lack of understanding of some of the basic principles of cartooning and as a result end up looking really bland and unappealing as a result. Things like line of action, expression and how she chooses to simplify anatomy are all done with little regard to how they fit into the final product. Not to mention that there are a lot of times where she uses Photoshop effects to try and replicate lighting without an understanding as to how lighting works. It all seems to be done in a really slap-dash manner.
Which sort of brings me to my main thesis about Terra's work as a whole and how it relates back to her adventures on Kickstarter: It's a consistent case of wanting the recognition of being an artist without putting the actual work into it. She expects the reward before she puts in the actual effort which is not how things work.
I've been taking some classes taught by a working comics creator and during the first lesson of each of his courses he's always imparted the same thing onto everyone in the course: Talent is bullshit. Art is a skill that you develop and work on and that anyone can be a great artist if they're willing to put the work in and make a conscious effort to improve themselves. And what I get from Terra Snover is that she does not want to develop as an artist, she wants people to pay her for her stuff now and maybe that will motivate her into doing the work later.
To your concerns about your own work: I've seen your stuff in the sketch thread and I honestly wouldn't worry about falling into the trap of Terra Snover: So long as you're putting the effort into the work you do, regardless of how stylized it is or who your teacher is, and are making a conscious effort to improve and grow as an artist you're doing a lot more than Terra Snover.
I just want to conclude this by saying that I do not want to make it seem like I consider myself god-king super artist supreme or anything: I just make silly comics for fun in my spare time with aspirations to maybe be able to do something professionally some day if I keep working at it. But I think that's sort of what irritates me so much about Terra and people like her: We're doing kind of the same thing but she has delusions that she is owed money for having a hobby.
