Art Progression: Freedom!

So I'm testing that crazy idea of artistic freedom. I usually take commissions from IMVU to supplement my nonexistent income, but as of late it's been bringing me down. I just can't feel the enthusiasm that I used to have about it, and I think that's down to my ability to express myself freely and not be burdened by the business side of it all. When trying to sell anything you have to sort of know your audience and where you can more easily market yourself, and how. From my personal experience in the IMVU art community (which is to say this isn't 100% correct, but it's merely my observations mixed with opinions) I've noticed the following things:

Note: None of these things are negative, or am I stating them in a bad way. They're purely observational.

* IMVU is a large community and in such a large community it is important to make yourself known, and put yourself out there making a connection with customers to encourage repeat business and recommendation. It's often that it isn't the most talented artists who get more business, but those with the most prominent presence. Networking is key.

* Themes like kawaii, scene, glamour, hipster, and alternative usually sell better than most themes, but overall there is a focus on beauty defined in the commercial sense with a gravitation towards typical Caucasian features (i.e. straight hair, slim noses, blue/green eyes).

* With art theft being a major problem among the community people aren't as eager to pay for art they aren't familiar with, or can't see proof of. As an add on to this, there is a sort of paranoia over art theft that causes people to be overly cautious of anything they may see as theft, being stolen, and etc.

Now when I make art for IMVU things like this are ravaging through my head and it makes it very hard for me to create something nice that I enjoy. To combat this I completely tossed off the chain, and said I'm going to be selfish and spend time making things I find pretty or I find interesting and I started with a piece called bird.


With bird I wanted to establish I was free (thus the name) and decided to try out some new techniques from a YouTube video I'd been looking at for portrait help since that's mostly what I draw. One of the things I'd learned was that the focus shouldn't be on detailing, but it should be on accuracy. I focus a lot on minute details, but never on overall accuracy so I wanted to make a change with that and started with trying this one out. The facial ref I used was a picture of Allison Harvard (creepy Chan <3 she was so robbed of a victory) and kept progressing from there.

I chose Allison Harvard for the softer facial features she has and the sort of bunny like look she has with her teeth. My focus wasn't to create an Allison Harvard replica, but rather to test my accuracy rather than my detailing, and though it was a pain I could see the fruits of my labor pouring through.

Eventually I did a bit more detailing to refine the face, and at this point my tablet stopped working, and the message of 'it's more accuracy than detailing' really hit home. I couldn't depend on the pressure sensitivity to allow me to make tiny minute lashes like I usually do so I had to use a brush on low opacity to make the shape, and I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. It definitely took a few tries to get the lashes presentable, but it was something definitely worth doing if for nothing else, but the knowledge it instilled. You've gotta bump your head to learn I suppose.

I've stuck to my idea of not making her a beautiful beauty, but I do want her to embody that sort of free spirit that I want her to have. A few fellow IMVU'ers mentioned that she looked sort of nature-y so I decided to take her on the nature route by including trees, flowers, and of course feathers. The beautiful thing I'm loving so far is that she doesn't have to make sense. She's just an expression of my feelings and emotions. I don't feel like I have to explain the reasoning behing my feathers nor the white afro. Its a good feeling.

As I move farther through this process I hope to do more art similar to this, so I can get my feelings, thoughts, and even dreams I have out into the real world to express their beauty. Till then I'm gonna keep working and hopefully one day be able to inspire someone else how life and other's have inspired me. Hopefully I'll finish this up soon and be able to update the progression here, so someone else can look through it at a later date. Till then I'm gonna keep drawing, and waiting patiently for some things to arrive in the mail so I'll have a more fashion oriented post up. Here's hoping the post runs quick <3