Talent or Hard Work?

He is talented. She is very talented. How many times do we hear this?  This term is used for people who excel at anything, whether it's sports, music or other examples I can't think of at the moment.  Well, I'd like to talk about this term being used as often as it is when it comes to illustrators, whether it's about 2D, 3D, concept art, all the way to traditional.  We see artists being labeled this term all too often, and I believe people are making a mistake when they say or write this.

The artists who are that good are at that level because they work their asses off.  They study and paint at a rapid pace, far more than others.  Illustration for me is certainly a skill that you can improve on the more you do, and I'd like to believe this applies to anything else.  10,000 of practice to become a master in your profession.  This quote that's overused makes a lot of sense.  I say this for people getting into the business or simply fans of these artists.  It's a backhanded compliment.  You don't have to take my word for it, you just have to take my word when I say that I've heard and read interviews of people far better than I state this.

Doesn't matter how good you are, everyone needs to work their ass off to succeed.

I'm not saying talent is irrelevant.  There are freaks out there that have incredible talent.  Tesla, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Musk are all freaks of nature when it comes to their fields.  But you can bet that they've worked their asses and engross their lives into their field.  Look at Romario or Ronaldinho for Brazil, incredible talents that could have been much better if they had a better work ethic despite being freaks of nature when it comes to football.  Now look at Cristiano Ronaldo, whose won every title for two of the biggest clubs in the world.  He doesn't drink and is the first in training and works his ass off given by many interviews of football players who have played with him.  What's my point?  That even talented people need to work their asses off. 

European Trip - Backpacking

in 6 days, I will be going to Europe on a 13 days vacation with one of my best friends.  It's my first vacation in 2 years, and I can't wait for it.  Lisbon, Portugal to Barcelona, Spain to Copenhagen, Denmark to Munich, Germany and finish it off at Amsterdam, Netherlands. How do I feel about it you ask?

I wish I could dance like this magician

This should be a great time to relax and be away from computers.  I use a PC at work along with my Macbook, and use my iMac and my Macbook at home.  On top of this, I'll get to see new places, & meet new people.  I'm bringing my shitty old camera that has a decent lens with me, having recently bought a 2nd battery & 2 extra memory cards.  As an illustrator, I should have a lot of new content and references to use for future illustrations.  I will also be able to imagine more when I paint, hopefully due to being at drastically different settings than the one I live in.

So I urge fellow hard-working creatives, get your fucking ass out of the chair and go to a completely different place to enjoy yourself the earliest you can.  You need it, as I need to insert my ideologies forcibly onto you even though you're not asking for it at all.  In all seriousness, I hope and think I'll have a great time and urge others to go on some crazy/relaxing adventures of their own. :)

Speed Painting 25: The World Cup 2014

If you have been living under a rock that's living under another rock, you may have missed that the World Cup has started in June. It's located in Brazil this year, Russia in 4 years, and the slaves of Qatar are ensuring that stadiums are ready 8 years from now. Before I start going on a rant that the entire population of two people that will ever read about this post on the Qatar bid, let me just try and get past the ADHD to get to the point. I love football (or sawker as the only two countries on the planet like to call it) and decided to make a speed painting about it. I created a bunch of characters and added a bit of flavor to the story to attempt to make it interesting to watch.

This is just a note after you watch the video. I had Suarez sketched up 1 day before a certain incident happened. If you would like to know what my thought process was in regards to the speed painting, head to either my youtube video and read the description, or go to the videos section of my website. I wanted to try something different as I sometimes do and instead of copying and pasting the entire description on my blog, I would instead talk a bit about the project from a different angle.

Football is my passion. You take the work I do professionally (illustration, design), and you get 1/2 things I'm most passionate about. Hopefully that passion translates in a fun 5+ minute youtube videos for the two people that watch the video! I don't want my massive following to be disappointed.