Visual Development Portfolio Vol.1: Getting Started

Hullo all!

It's no secret that, for years now, my dream job is to become a Visual Development artist.

One of the things I need to overcome, which coincidentally seems to be the biggest hurdle, is putting together a portfolio. I currently have one on Behance, but given my specific direction, I feel that I need to create a new one.

And so I figured I would do some spec work for my portfolio. "Spec" is a term I learned off studying Advertising. It also applies in portfolio creation where, instead of placing work you've already created for clients or classes, you create an entirely new piece of work on a hypothetical, what-if-I-got-to-work-on-this-project type of basis. 

I've long been a fan of thesis portfolios of illustration and visual development majors. And I'm taking my cue off of them. 

The idea for my own portfolio came on pretty quickly, and I've made many a sketch creating the characters in my sketchbook. But now it's time to start putting it all together into a few pages. 

Now, I have a tendency to want to reveal everything all at once, because I want there to be a grand reveal of "Hey! Look what I managed to put together!" I figured, that if I do that, I can make a grand entrance and it's done in one go. And on the flip side, if it takes me forever to create everything and the desire fizzles out, no one ever need know that a grand idea existed that just never came to fruition. 

But no, I'm not going to let that happen this time. This time, everything comes true. So, I decided to share a little bit of my progress as soon as I make it. 

So here is the first piece that I've completed! A character lineup of my take on the Grimm's fairy tale: Maid Maleen (which I have temporarily titled "Maid Mari" given my personal take on it)! :)

Stay tuned for more! :)

Tuttah,

Mishie

Inadequacy.

Hullo All,

When I wrote about how Dreams are Hard, one of the things I failed to mention was my fear of inadequacy. 

Sometimes when I hop around the internet looking for inspiration, the most common thought I have in my head is: "Oh, I don't know how to do that. My skill level is way below par."

Most recently, I was scrolling through the blog of Brittney Lee, Griselda Sastrawinata and Mall Lucidine. I love their art styles so much and one trait of their art styles that I have always loved is the texture they have in their work. 

Mermaid Lagoon by Brittney Lee

White Floties by Griselda Sastrawinata

Merrily, Merrily by Mall Licudine

Now, I know for a fact that they (at least, Brittney and Griselda) do this on Photoshop. Yet, for the life of me, I can't figure out how they are able to flawlessly remove outlines from their work--or even what brush they're using to achieve that texture. 

Whenever I see artwork and technique that stumps me, I end up Googling everything-- "How to achieve sketchy look in Photoshop" or whatever ridiculous keywords I think will help me find the answer. And when after hours of searching I still end up with nothing, I slump my head on my keyboard and think, "I am inadequate. I have no talent."

I realize that I beat myself up this way. I try to think so much and so frequently about why artists are able to do things that I can't. I grumble whenever I take four hours to do a piece that seems like it should only take thirty minutes to do. 

This tendency to compare and impatience is a major flaw in my fight for my dreams. 

And now I believe more than ever--and this was obvious to me in the beginning but I refused to believe that there wasn't any shortcuts--that I just have to suck it up and learn it slowly. Maybe I'll stumble into the answers I'm searching for, and develop the skills that I have been dying to attain. 

In the meantime, I am doing Vlogtober on my YouTube channel! Vlogtober is an annual thing that I do where I make videos for every day in October. Most artists are doing Inktober though. 

Anyway, wish me luck,

Mishie

The Risk of Weeping

Hullo All,

Determined to get the ball rolling with my path to Visual Development (like spiritual enlightenment), I've decided to take on some art challenges to hone my skills.

So, I turned to the Internet for ideas and came up with these awesome prompts/challenges for artists.

Challenge #1: Make a book cover for your favorite classic novel. 

Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

While not really a classic novel, this novella really means a lot to me. When I first read it in senior year, the story is so meaningful and full of explorations about life, humanity and love.

"One runs the risk of weeping, if one lets himself be tamed."

Back then, we had been given a project to make a project of any sort inspired by The Little Prince.  I had made a journal, sketch, scrap book. I chose my favorite quotes, made illustrations and then essays about why those quotes meant a lot to me. I put a lot of heart and of myself into that work that year. The best works were displayed in the school lobby for the whole school to see. My work was not one of those displayed. But, to my surprise, when we got our works back from our teacher, he had slipped in a little note saying that he had really wanted to display my work in the lobby, but thought that my personal thoughts that I shared with him in my project might not be something I'd be comfortable sharing. I treasured his consideration and it meant more to me than having my work displayed. It just showed how much this book has affected me. 

Since then, I've also come up with a few The Little Prince inspired projects. In college, I used the idea to create a Writer's Manual for my Narrative class. I always get high grades when I am inspired by this, because it always triggers passion from me. 

What books have inspired you?

Tuttah,

Mishie

Dreams are Hard.

Hullo All,

Dreams are Hard.

Actually, let me correct myself. Dreaming is easy. Achieving those dreams is what's hard. 

It's sometimes too easy to dream. Technically and subconsciously speaking, dreams already let you live out what you desperately want in life. You are the person you want to be, doing the things you want to do, or experiencing things that you couldn't even believe you could go through in your waking life. It's an amazingly triumphant and ecstatic feeling--which is what makes waking so painful. That blissful feeling you get in that dream slips away really fast, and you get up in the morning, reeling at what it could be like, and what really is just doesn't hold up in comparison. 

Personally speaking, I don't mean this to apply to every aspect of my life. In many ways, I know that I am happier than I ever was. A few years ago, everything I am living now was figuratively and literally thousands of miles away. I had to live vicariously through the dream fulfillment of other people. 

People I knew, like Rainbowholic, was living in her dream country and working toward doing what she loved doing as her main profession. Other people simply blogged about what made them happy and what they did in their every day life and suddenly that is what they did to earn income. 

Anyone that knows me beyond as an acquaintance probably already knows that I would love to be a Visual Development Artist. But then again, the same people may also know that I want to write, whether for page or screen. To do either or both would be bliss and I realize, that I want to do is to tell stories. 

What made me decide to want to pursue visual development then? 

Well, from childhood to adulthood I have always enjoyed stories. The stories I loved the most are those that let me feel the stories from all the senses imaginable. It wasn't just Disney that taught me to dream; so did Harry Potter, Hey Arnold, anime, Final Fantasy, The Little Prince--and all these wonderful stories that taught me about life through different worlds. They taught me to be happy, sad, frustrated, angry, anxious and scared. I not only experienced these stories, but met so many wonderful people and had many real world experiences through them. 

Harry Potter helped me meet my very best friends. I've had so many laughs and emotional moments with them. Referencing these stories helped make sense of the real life experiences we were having and helped us through different challenges. The same goes with other stories.

What I would like, no, what I would love is to be able to do this for others. Drawing and writing are skills I have been given so that I could really communicate the same magic with many people. This is what I dream to do in my life. 

And now, call it a Quarter Life Crisis or what have you, I am experiencing a frustration. Now more than ever, I want to start reaching my goal. Dreams let you so easily imagine what it is already like to be in that state that you desire, but experiencing the grind to reach the top is the biggest struggle I've ever faced. Lately, it has been stressing me out physically and emotionally--even spiritually. Days go by where I would get up in the morning and think, "Why can't I just be there already?"

I have spent many late nights, wide awake and thinking about how hard it is to be where I am now and what could already be. Every morning, I heave a sigh and suck it up. 

But the hardest thing about dreams is not doing anything about it. The more time I spend heaving sighs and sucking it up, the more time I spend not doing anything to reach my dream, the more time I spend not living it. 

So, for the past few days I have been trying to pick myself up. And as an added spice of destiny, it was another magical wizard from an amazing story that gave me the inspiration to turn my dream into reality. 

I am beginning with the end in mind. That is what the Merlin Method states. 

I can see the end. And now, I'm going to power through to get to it. 

This is the moment where I break out of my routine. Everything from here on end will have a purpose, exactly like everything in storytelling and visual development. 

I am going to get there. Watch me transfigure dreams into reality like BAMF wizard. 

- MishieWishie