I love that you took the time to write about your personal journey arriving at the work you do today. I've been told that there are certain people who just have Concept Art brain, you look through their sketchbooks, and it's like a window into these weird odd worlds. Then there are others who just enjoy studies in and of themselves. I think the sort of art that you surround yourself with can also influence what winds up filling up your portfolio. I think, whatever approach you take it's important that you discover what it is that fuels your creative urges. What are your greatest, deepest, and all-encompassing interests. When I started taking my work more seriously, my teachers told me that if I wanted to be an illustrator than I would need to separate all of my studies out of my portfolio and fill it with things that were clearly images depicting stories. For me, stories and narratives were what made picture making so interesting. That's kind of what has led me to the portfolio that I have today and the kind of work that I always chase. https://www.alanatedmon.net/ If you're curious!
In 2015-2017 I just dove into Schoolism work, drawing nonstop and trying to do all of the classes. I started understanding that just being able to draw wasn't enough if I wanted to create the type of work that I was passionate about, I would also need to understand values, composition, and color in order to put together the right body of work. I started taking illustration classes in private schools, but I was worried that those classes weren't teaching me how to build a career. Most of the students were just aiming to get a good grade and move on; so I asked around and learned about the Illustration Academy or nowadays it's called The Visual Arts Passage. I began taking illustration classes there with multiple mentors, including Edward Kinsella, Sterling Hundley, Lake Hurwitz, and a few Blizzard artists as well; Jon Neimeister! While taking these courses, I was always reaching out to art directors at 'The Big 5', the big publishing houses that most people think of when it comes to books.
From there I worked to chat with artists regularly, people who would take the time to meet up a few times a week and discuss art and the projects that we were currently working on. It was important to me that even outside of class, I was thinking about art and avoiding creating my own tunnel vision or echo channel. I've reached a spot that I'm not altogether satisfied with; 70% of the art that I do is paid work for clients, which I've found online. The rest of the time I continue to chase my own personal pieces and continue sending work to ADs, hoping to break into the industry proper one day!
Screencap From Youtube Video
