justin owens A sketchblog

Inspiration, dental bills and school

My drawing has really slowed down these past few weeks, I’ve been working a lot more in my sketchbooks, but I haven’t been producing much in the way of finished works. I think this really shows in my daily drawings. Just about a month ago I had a tooth injury that required emergency attention. The dental bills have been swiftly piling up since then. Last Friday I finally had the offending tooth removed, I feel I’m now on the road to recovery.

Between the pain, dental visits and needing to work to pay for all this, I haven’t had much energy for anything fun. I’ve also fallen behind on my design work, something I plan to rectify.

School starts in just a few weeks, I wish it was starting tomorrow! I’m taking four classes this semester and I’m excited by each one. I have an animal drawing class, a character design class, a lip sync animation class and a digital clothed figure drawing class. Take note; I’m an animation (3d) major, yet I have three drawing classes. Why? Because it turns out that’s where my passion is. It also turns out that many of the instructors and department heads encourage animators to pursue these types of classes as it can really help. Sweet.

Some months ago I finally started using a feed reader. I do not read news. Instead I subscribe to art blogs that inspire me. I have a few links of inspiration on my sidebar here and have thought about updating it with the new artists I’m following, but the list is ridiculous now. Instead I think I’ll put a link to the shared google reader feed I created. I’m also thinking that from time to time I’ll write up a post about a particular artist or art book.

I keep having this issue of comparing my work to these artists I follow and how much better their work is than mine. And then I remember that they have been working professionally at this for years, and I’ve only really gotten started. So I’ll go through this cycle daily. I find art that inspires me and motivates me to draw. I draw, but my work falls short of the inspiration. I feel discouraged. I remember that I just need to keep practicing and I’ll get there. Rinse and repeat.