Been absent...
Sep. 10th, 2009 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
persona_systemI can paint a flower and microscopic dots on a squirmy kids face, but I can't paint our own damn fingernails. :D
Anyway, you might have noticed the uncharacteristic lack of journal updates and comments. Part of that is spending so much time spazzing over a new fandom (District 9), part of it is dedicating more time to communities on LJ and the Subeta forums, part of it is journal burnout and talking to people over AIM rather than through comments, and a BIG part of it is us trying to dedicate more time to our art. Once upon a time we spent hours a day drawing. Now we often don't manage hours a week. I suppose our job factors in, because we do get a good bit of creative burnout going on with that.
Mostly I think there's been a lot of problems holding us back, in terms of art. Probably the first was our moving to Texas five years ago. That caused a period of... non-development, really, where some of us were using art as both an emotional release, but also as an escape. I think how our main fronters viewed art really tainted our overall perceptions of it, because those negative emotions were projected so heavily into our work.
Another issue we have to address is our lack of formal training, and a lack of communication with artists at and above our skill level. (Obviously we all have varying skill levels and strengths, but in general the artists of the group are about equal.) Our friends on dA were either much younger than us and essentially fanboys and girls, or our age and not as skilled. This isn't a strike against them, or something bad. It's just how it is. But it's stifling. Our main artists are all competitive in art, in an indirect way. I think focusing more on technical skills will help us break out of this rut.
The biggest thing holding us back has been stress and depression, but that's something we have to address among ourselves.
Anyway, this is all very rambling and boring, I'm sure. I'm not going to promise we'll be commenting more or anything like that. We're still reading, on all of our services. I'll be including a bit more personal discussion at our LJ that doesn't need to be posted on DW or IJ.
-Ender
Anyway, you might have noticed the uncharacteristic lack of journal updates and comments. Part of that is spending so much time spazzing over a new fandom (District 9), part of it is dedicating more time to communities on LJ and the Subeta forums, part of it is journal burnout and talking to people over AIM rather than through comments, and a BIG part of it is us trying to dedicate more time to our art. Once upon a time we spent hours a day drawing. Now we often don't manage hours a week. I suppose our job factors in, because we do get a good bit of creative burnout going on with that.
Mostly I think there's been a lot of problems holding us back, in terms of art. Probably the first was our moving to Texas five years ago. That caused a period of... non-development, really, where some of us were using art as both an emotional release, but also as an escape. I think how our main fronters viewed art really tainted our overall perceptions of it, because those negative emotions were projected so heavily into our work.
Another issue we have to address is our lack of formal training, and a lack of communication with artists at and above our skill level. (Obviously we all have varying skill levels and strengths, but in general the artists of the group are about equal.) Our friends on dA were either much younger than us and essentially fanboys and girls, or our age and not as skilled. This isn't a strike against them, or something bad. It's just how it is. But it's stifling. Our main artists are all competitive in art, in an indirect way. I think focusing more on technical skills will help us break out of this rut.
The biggest thing holding us back has been stress and depression, but that's something we have to address among ourselves.
Anyway, this is all very rambling and boring, I'm sure. I'm not going to promise we'll be commenting more or anything like that. We're still reading, on all of our services. I'll be including a bit more personal discussion at our LJ that doesn't need to be posted on DW or IJ.
-Ender
