RussianBlues In reply to a-real-weasel [2018-07-01 03:09:20 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad you enjoy it

I don't take commissions through dA anymore and I don't take points, sorry! For commission info see my website www.ghostlygrizzly.com

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DonaldMoore909 In reply to MonocerosArts [2018-04-27 14:13:05 +0000 UTC]

They're just being opinionated. You have to start somewhere and its almost impossible to make up something new and original since there is so much out there. Your teacher might not like Disney and to test that try to do something else by someone and see if they don't like that. If they do you got your answer. I'm not an artist and what I do to relax is shown on my sight. I have been following DA for years before joining and got many ideas from others for my work and they have been well accepted by fellow DA's. Don't let them get to you and do what makes you happy and in time you might come up with your own style?

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MonocerosArts In reply to DonaldMoore909 [2018-04-30 17:43:57 +0000 UTC]

I think most of it is association, to be honest. They associate anothrophormic animals with Disney. I did an etching with rats and a Fox in a similar style, and they didn’t flag that as Disney, but it was also a very different medium. I’ve compared my animals’ anatomy with Disney, and they’re nothing alike, so I think I’ll just keep doing what I do and my style will either develop on its own or they’ll learn to accept that not every animal with a facial expression is Disney.

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RussianBlues In reply to MonocerosArts [2018-01-04 21:50:04 +0000 UTC]

Well, I don't really have any "illustration" classes per-se, because I'm in product design. But saying it's bad that your style reminds them of Disney is absurd. If that's the case, there are a TON of popular artists today that remind me of Disney, is she dismissing their work too? And what about Renaissance artists that all used similar styles and techniques?

I read the description of your (beautiful!) drawing and I totally agree, you shouldn't be a one-trick-pony. You should be talented enough to cover a wide range of styles and techniques because you can get a wider audience (just put your stronger pieces in a portfolio though, but that's another conversation!). Experimenting with different styles, mediums, and ideas helps you find what you're comfortable with, and is a good way to find your style.

And while a lot of people associate anthro animals with Disney, anthro animals have been around for thousands of years. I think it depends on other aspects that make something "Disney-esque", such as flat, bold colors with soft shading. But Disney doesn't own that, there are plenty of other animation companies, comic artists, and illustrators that do similar work. I think your professor needs to get out more and look at different media, not everything is Disney!

This got kinda rambly, sorry But I would tell your professor you respectfully disagree. You don't have to take their advice, especially because I personally think they're wrong on pretty much every point lol. 

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MonocerosArts In reply to RussianBlues [2018-01-07 18:05:57 +0000 UTC]

This is kind of long, so if you don't want to read it all, that's okay!

I'm sorry: I guess I'm a little confused on what illustration is. It's been grounded into me that illustration is anything other than graphic design and fine art, but I can see how that's not the case. Honestly, it wasn't until this professor that my idea of illustration became so confused. My school doesn't even have much in the way of illustration classes. There's a single class called "Illustration," but the work I've seen students produce in it is so... lame... that I'm not sure I want to do what they teach in there. Then again, it could be a perfectly fine class, and maybe the students are just too "fine art" to understand it. I don't know. I honestly don't understand what kind of logic this particular professor runs on. She doesn't like illustration that focuses on characters, so I'll bet that yes, she would dismiss those artists you mentioned. She only likes illustrations that look like "fine art" paintings, such as full scenes with lots of detail and a strong narrative behind them. She detests spot illustrations. I once showed her an artist's work on here, a very successful artist, mind you, and she said really, really nasty things about it that weren't true. Said it was "kitschy" and "cliche" and overall made the artist out to be a pointless artist. She also dislikes fantasy art and anthropomorphized animals. She openly stated that anthropomorphized animals are cliche, and that fantasy artwork MUST always have a narrative. She said that if a piece of artwork is not depicting real world subject matter, then it must have a narrative. I don't know where she gets that idea, because, sure, narratives a great (I like narratives), but you can have a perfectly strong piece of artwork depicting a fantasy creature or anthropomorphized animal that serves no purpose other than to be enjoyable. Isn't that what fine art is? Art made for the sake of enjoyment? Just because something doesn't depict real-world subject matter doesn't mean it needs to prove itself in some other way.

And it's funny that you mention Renaissance artists, because the only student in the class who stuck up for me mentioned that exact thing. She never really answered him, though. She just sort of sidestepped his question with something along the lines of "that was then, this is now," and "that was 'fine art,' and this is illustration." Of course, anyone can see that those are massive rationalizations to justify an attitude which doesn't make sense, but we decided it was best to just let her believe what she wants.

One of the students mentioned that (in his eyes, at least) the best illustrators have a signature style. I didn't argue with him because the classroom was getting too heated for my liking, but I think he forgets that his idea of "best" is not everyone else's idea of "best," and that, no, actually a lot of very successful illustrators work in a variety of styles. Yes, their own style usually shines through, but they don't limit themselves to only one way of drawing/painting a person or animal or something else. For example, the famous illustrator Wesley Dennis worked in so many different styles that sometimes you can't tell his works are by the same person. Does that make him a bad illustrator? No! It means he was smart and molded his artwork to fit the requirements of the books he was illustrating. That's called marketing and being flexible.

I do tend to work with soft shading and bold colors in my cartoon-like illustrations, but I definitely don't use flat colors, unless a particular area calls for it. I look at the way the base colors actually work in the subject matter than I'm drawing. I also don't stylize anatomy the way Disney does. I could go on about the differences between my work and Disney, but I don't think you want to hear me ramble about me. I wonder if because she and most of the other classmates (with the exception of the guy who stood up for me, go figure), are aiming to be fine artists (artists who paint pictures to hang in galleries), that maybe they're just unfamiliar with animation and illustration. They claim not to be, but their actions don't live up to it. I was a little insulted in my midpoint check when they told me that I was "not serious enough" and needed to "look at professional fine artists' work." Just because I don't want to be a fine artist doesn't mean I'm not serious, and if they expect me to become a fine artist by looking at fine artists' work, maybe they should study different animation styles, because they clearly don't know much about them if they think they all look like Disney. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person there who appreciates all forms of art as equally valid, provided it's successful in what it means to be.

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RussianBlues In reply to Hodari12 [2017-10-20 15:12:42 +0000 UTC]

I don't do commissions through points anymore.

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RussianBlues In reply to The-Huntress-20 [2017-05-01 03:28:54 +0000 UTC]

Sure, note me details!

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RussianBlues In reply to Icedog-McMuffin [2017-04-24 13:45:25 +0000 UTC]

Hey there! Of course I remember you, I remember your fursona.

It's been okay, university has been a little stressful but still chugging along lol. How about you?

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Icedog-McMuffin In reply to RussianBlues [2017-04-26 04:15:39 +0000 UTC]

ah alright ^^

and aa alright !! goodluck with ur classes omg
im ok, thanks!

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