Sierra K Rose wrote:You need to learn how to learn! That's the real secret.
Ah the conversation continues.
I would only change this idea to "You need to learn how
YOU learn." The learning process can differ widely. Going through the process of making my first film I keep bumping into my learning edge which I enjoy.
Some people go through many exercises to develop their skills before they do a film. I did this in learning to draw for about 3 years, but I used my own project characters for the exercises so I'd know what my questions really are. I've used lots of different methods to become intimate with drawing movement: rotoscoping, models, reference, memory...it all has been very useful.
The one thing I can say about learning that we all share in common is this: You need to be interested in something before your true self will be willing to learn it! You can't learn something if it bores you any more than you can try and memorize the license plates of every car that passes by! Well, there are some savants who CAN, but they're functionally paralysed in normal society. I am interested (and therefore in the right frame of mind necessary to learn) by truly understanding the usefulness of a particular skill - knowing how it can be directly applied towards achieving a particular effect that I want -- but I still have to know what I want! It's not enough to have this FEELING of grave importance attached with whatever it is you think you want to study... It's when you UNDERSTAND that there is this PROBLEM that is making things difficult for you, and that you need to find a SOLUTION for it! Sometimes you will have to study the problem, and usually that means that you're not getting the effect you want! Find how things have gone astray from your intentions. See if your own own intentions have gone astray (or never existed in the first place)! Narrow it down to something you can understand... it may take weeks or even months to overcome it. There are those that will try and ward you off from figuring it out, and deem it as irreconcilably illogical. It will remain that way if you listen to them!
I also absorb information like a sponge when I'm on wikipedia as well, if only because I'm always on the lookout for good story material. Sometimes I learn a little about the way the world works and it helps me in designing my own worlds. My awe and wonder about how mysterious the world can be is replaced by an awe and wonder for how simply it all works! I also learn not to take these intricacies for granted and to some degree, they influence my work. The more I understand about the way things work, the easier it is to make decisions that aren't driven by pure randomness. The reward for my studies are that things start to fall into place a lot easier, as long as I step back and allow it to happen.
Sierra K Rose wrote:I was warned that I would get burned out with my idea if I used my film characters but this but really has proven to be great for me and seems to pull me through periods of discouragement because I am drawn by the story I want to tell (ha ha instead of the the story I want to tell being drawn by me.
Don't force yourself to draw subject matter that bores you. That will burn you out faster than anything! Drawing should always be a rewarding experience, so always make sure that whenever you draw, there's something in it for you. I may draw simple geometric primitives rather often, but it's rewarding for me because I recognize how every subject I draw is made up of these shapes, and that drawing a car or a plane or a boat or a person is really just the same exercise, with the primitives arranged to occupy space in the same manner as my subject. I also do not pursue jobs that do not interest me in the slightest. If it is not a comic book I want to read, an film I'd want to watch, a game I want to play, then it's a project that is doomed from the start and I will not motivate myself towards pursuing such a futile endeavour! It's at that point that I must redefine the core idea of the story that drives the project. To make it a story worth telling, a story I would like to see presented in its final form. When you want to practise with your characters, treat it as an opportunity to get to know them, to see how they would react in various situations. They might surprise you!
