Studying Films, Power of Compounding, Holy Miniatures Batman! + more

Hey Past-me,

At some point you’re gonna be in a rut.

You’re gonna feel like an imposter.

You’re gonna know what you don’t know and realise that mountain you’ve been climbing is WAY F*CKING HIGHER THAN I THOUGHT!

But it’s cool.

You’ll get there.

Just put one foot in front of the other and just keeeeeep going…

Yup…that it’s it.

Nice and steady.

You’re almost there.

What’s in the stash today:

Solution to the dreaded ‘art block’:

Jackie Droujko’s new video came out today, where she talks about painting film studies every day for a week.

It’s a great exercise, especially when you’re feeling rusty.

It allows you to fill up that empty space in your brain (due to art block) and download well-crafted choices by other artists!

Check out a site like https://film-grab.com/, pick a few shots, and break them down, focusing on the specific elements you want to study:

1. Cinematography

2. Composition

3. Color

4. Light

5. Texture

6. Shape

7. Stylization

And more!

Be sure to take time and reflect after each piece identify any parts that helped unlock something for you or challenged you in a particular way, and see how you can improve on your choices in the next round.

Tip on compounding effort:

No more zero days.

The main idea is about recognizing the amazing effect of compounding.

Here are the rules:

• Rule 1: No more zero days (11:58pm speed sketch)

• Rule 2: Be grateful to the 3 you’s (past/present/future)

• Rule 3: Forgive yourself (cause shit’s hard)

• Rule 4: Exercise and books (take care of your meat-mech and evolve)

I don’t exactly remember where I heard it first, but this tip comes from the internet from one internet stranger to another on trying to get where you’re going.

The internet is filled with gems like this of humans just being kind to one another.

Hope this one helps you like its helped me.

A-HA! Quote of the week

I’m almost two decades into my art journey, and I still feel like I’m just getting started.

Not that I’m bout to drop an Oscar winner (yet), but…

that I’m still in school and I got a long way to go…

and I don’t know if I can afford tuition… 

and man I’m hungry, what should I eat for dinner?…

and wait what time is it? Ah shit I’m late for clas—

—it feels like that.

I haven’t reached the goal I set for myself when I first started my journey yet.

But I’m okay with that, cause I feel like I’m headed in the right direction and the winds are givin me hints on where to go.

It’s taken me longer than I hoped, but it humbles me. It helps me recognize just how steep that mountain truly is. And how much easier it is with the right mindset, resources, and support system necessary to climb it.

I’ve spent thousands of dollars and hours inside/outside of art school to help level up my craft, but the one thing that was never included in my art fundamentals instruction was about how to design my mind. And design it in a way that allows me the opportunity to achieve those ridiculous ambitions!

The book talks about embodying the identity of whomever is required of the task. Spider-verse immediately comes to mind. Not just in craft, but in character.

It’s what Miles tries to do.

He emulates Spider-Man until he embraces himself.

He needed to get in touch with his future self.

So that’s where my journey is at these days.

I am not where I want to be yet, but I’m trying to embody the behaviors and the habits of the person I think I need to be to keep my word.

I’m trying to wear the mask until it fits.

Scrollstoppers on my feeds

1. I’d never seen these before! TheSpaceshipper shared some amazing Back to the Future Part II Concept art pieces by John Bell.

2. Ludo Iochem shares photos of miniatures from BATMAN (1989).

3. Ajay Arunan’s working on an animated love letter project for Cyberpunk 2077. Look at this madness!

4. Alariko shared this piece background piece. Specifically loved the linework and the warmth. Instant bookmark.

5. Lightsoul’s one hue study of blue. No, that’s not orange. It’s literally just blue. Go ahead, color-pick it. See? Wild.

How to prep for a long drawing:

Proko dropped this gem the other day on preparing for a long drawing by simply trying to understand it in as many layers as possible.

The final drawing is the performance.

But the studies are the practice and exploration of the subject.

Here he specifically goes over these fours steps:

1. Proportion - have markers for alignment and increase accuracy

2. Gesture - capture overall movement and flow of the pose

3. Value - simplify and abstract values and design them to enhance focal points

4. Anatomy - refresh your knowledge of anatomy and make note of movement

Check out the full 2-hour+ stream here.

(WATCH THE WHOLE DAMN THING. worth it.)

Hope this leg of the climb wasn’t too bad this week. Hang in there.

Talk to you soon,

—Future-you

Hey! How was this week’s newsletter? Hit reply and lemme know 😬

Just a heads up, I’m working on a couple things that could be helpful:

• Join the waitlist for YouTube Hidden Art School. I’ve collected 100+ YouTube channels and specific videos that have helped me fill in knowledge gaps (from my underwhelming art school experience 😭).

• Looking for a community of artists to grow alongside? Fill out this form and I’ll send you an invite to our Discord server!

• Join the waitlist for Production-Ready Artist. Coming out of art school, I felt underprepared for a fast-paced production environment. After working on 100s of episodes of Action Animation cartoons, I’ve learned tools and processes to help me keep up and keep my head on straight. I’m building a course to teach you everything I know!

Lea