Quote: Michelangelo

If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.
-Michelangelo

Website Spotlight: ConceptArt.org

Website Spotlight
conceptart.org

"We are a web community of artists who are here for one purpose. We want to help each other learn about art, provide the best place to showcase work, further our art educations, and to meet other artists from around the world.  We are a community funded from within, and with the support of our sponsors and professionals on the site."

ConceptArt.org is one of those sites that I find a bit daunting at first, there seems to be so much going on that you don't know where to start.  The forums alone are worth frequenting the site for.  You can find many many talented artist willing to give a word or two of advice, or you can simply spend hours soaking in other peoples great work.  On top of that there are the galleries and links to other learning opportunities such as Massive Black or The Illustration Acadamy and you have one great artists resource.  I could go on but I think you would be better served by just heading on over there and checking it out for yourself.

 

http://www.conceptart.org

Quote: Edgar Degas

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.
-Edgar Degas

Personal Post: A brief history

      My history with art goes back to my childhood and it is probably not unique.  As a kid I loved to draw and I loved comics.  For a time I was certain that I would grow up to be a comic book artist.  As I got older though various pressures asserted themselves and the dream was abandoned.  I got it into my head that I needed to be a computer programmer so I pursued that route.  Now all these years later I am a computer programmer and but an especially happy one.  Over the last few years the old dream of being an artist has appeared to remind me of my first passion.  I've decided that I need to follow that passion and see where it leads me.  It might be that I will be able to work out some sort of programmer / artist hybrid career where programming is my bread and butter and art is a hobby or secondary source of income.  It may mean a total career change.  In any event I am committing myself to finding out.

    So why this blog?  The purpose of this blog is two fold.  One is to provide the impetus to myself to be in an art mindset everyday and to be sketching every day.  Two is to provide others out there who are just starting down their own path resources that I have found and perhaps companionship of a sort.  People are afraid to put their mistakes and crappy work out there for others to learn from.  I have decided to suck it up and put it out there.  If you are just starting out you are not alone.  Those mistakes you are making?  You are not the only one to make them.  Your drawing looks like crap?  Well take heart, so does mine :D.  Together we might be able to learn more than we could alone.

Welcome to The Pencil Effect

Welcome to The Pencil Effect. This blog is intended to be a place for people who are learning to draw or paint to find help, inspiration and resources to see them on their way to becoming the artist they want to be. I will post articles, thoughts, art, and reviews that I have come across that have helped me and will hopefully help you. I am just at the beginning of this journey myself so I guess if you are looking for advice from a successful industry professional this might not be what your are looking for. That is not to say you won't be able to find those people through this blog, just that the voice of this blog is not one of them. If however you are an amateur looking to find what other amateurs are doing and what is helping them and how they are progressing then welcome.