Perseverance is mandatory

I've been drawing and painting for over 10 years now and while I am quite confident at the easel, I am still fully aware of the fact that being an artist is lifetime commitment. Some of the work I do turns out really well, other things seem like a disaster. Over the years, I've overcome the urge to bring myself down whenever I see errors or flaws. They are just lessons to be learned and things to remember the next time I resolve similar problems. Mastery doesn't come over night. It takes years and years of practice.

In other fields like design and lettering, it's no different. I'm fairly new at lettering so there's a long path to be followed towards mastery. Here's a drawing to remind myself. I'm putting this in a category called artists advice, because it is mainly advice I try to give the artist in me, while other artists may find it useful too.

(Click the image for a large view)

Now sketch!

This is the kind of sketchbook I take with me to create thumbnail sketches when painting a model from life, or when I'm painting outside. Thumbnail sketches are a great, quick way to help me when I'm not absolutely sure about the composition I want for a painting.

So I bought this little can of gold model building paint from Revell. I used to have those paints as a kid as I was quite fond of model building so this brings back some great memories. The paint is enamel paint, which is quickly dry to the touch, and it's great to give objects a glossy look. The downside is that you have to apply it in pretty thick layers, and one layer may not be enough.

I gave this sketchbook 2 layers.
It looks great, don't you think?

 

See the yellow ochre stains? I'm really a painter! I had some great fun with this as it's combining painting with lettering!