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stalk — BECAUSE SHE'S A F**KING ROCKSTAR!!!
Published: 2012-08-25 13:09:43 +0000 UTC; Views: 5274; Favourites: 221; Downloads: 0
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Description
Young spin on Cruella De Vil done for the group where the topic this round is:Week 34 (08/13 - 08/26) - Any Disney Villain
I've been in a huge art slump lately that has nothing to do with artblock and everything to do with me just being very dissatisfied wtih my output and quality. I'm sure every single artist out there has experienced this at one point or another and if you haven't well then you're just not trying hard enough.
Anyway, for this topic I sketched up a bunch of roughs, none of which I was happy with or felt caught the vibe of a young, reckless, and rather punk rock Cruella from maybe her teenage years. So I just started stabbing at an 11x17 inch board and this is what the end result was. Not the vision in my head but at least I'm satisfied to have been able to get something out on paper that didn't involve a deadline or other pressure. Just something for fun, and it felt good.
I'm very behind on all the most recent topics over at the group but with the catch up week coming soon I hope to rectify that as the folks over there are doing some amazing work and I have to knuckle up and start doing something as well.
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Comments: 45
Stellar work! Funk or not, this is a great piece. I love the pose. You've managed to hold onto just enough of the Disney style to make the character instantly recognizable, but still feel fresh. Love the homage to the dalmations in the background as well!
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Thanks so much for that great comment! I didn't conciously try to make it look Disneyesque but we'll just call it a happy accident.
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I know that feel, man. Some days I look at what I'm drawing and think, "Man, I'm making some awesome progress!" Others I look at what I'm drawing and think, "Shit! It's all SHIT!"
But that is definitely an interesting take on Cruella. Very different, and yet I can definitely see the original germ of the idea of the original. I could see this one in 30-40 years becoming the cruel and evil thing that wants to kill hundreds of puppies for a coat.
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Yeah, she's a bit modern for a lady that lived a while ago but for this I wanted a weird Warholian meets today's fashion type of vibe.
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very awesome take on a young Cruella (love her pose and hair) killer background to ^^*
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Thanks! I was surprised when I Googled her for ref that there weren't that many young takes on this crazy character.
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Gah... screw DA... I should be allowed to favorite this more than once!!
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I've come to a (temporary) conclusion that when that feeling creeps up, it's because drawing has become like a miserable day job. You don't really like what you're doing, but you have to do it, because--and then it hits you that you DON'T have to do it, and that's what spawns the thought of quitting. And what is the main reason we hate our day jobs? Because we have to spend our time doing something that we don't want to do, be it because it's not intellectually stimulating or enjoyable in any way. To put it simply: drawing ceases to be fun and feels like work.
The solution was offered to me by one of the commenters in my last journal--create a symbol of your happiness. I translate that to mean stop drawing what you think you want to draw and draw something that really will make you smile, because drawing is supposed to be fun (dammit!).
And on that note, I don't know if it was therapeutic for you or not but it does look like you had fun with this. It looks just as I'd expect a young Cruella to look; the original character definitely looks like someone who did a lot of dirt (and drugs) in her past which suits the rock and roll theme you have going on here. Loving the marker work especially on the skin and the dalmatian spots filling out the background are a nice touch.
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It's some of that but not much, after all art as a means of making a living is always going to end up with at least one project or day of creating that will be you working on something you don't want to. I came to terms with that long before any of this funk hit me. Of course unless you control every single little aspect of your property that may change but you will still have to worry about the business aspect, marketing, promotion, etc.
But I digress.
It's more about pushing oneself in the arena of creation, trying to learn a new technique or tool, being aware of past failures in order to create something more to the vision in your mind's eye. Not being satisfied and striving for better but I've overshot that I think. I've pulled a Dark Helmet from Spaceballs and gone plaid.
Everything I do when I touch pencil to paper feels wrong and lazy and complacent the moment I lift the pencil up. Still, I know I have to power through and finish and I'm left feeling, regardless of what the public feels as they usually tend to really enjoy my work, like I didn't do anywhere near the best I could've on something.
I had a fellow artist tell me that sometimes you have to live with the "good enough" mentality. I think that's just a cop out. Yet I find myself having to swallow that and move on from piece to piece. Otherwise I would never finish anything. But then I look on the stands and what folks put up online and the below par stuff (and yes, even in something as subjective as art that is a thing especially in a commercial market like comic books or conceptual design) makes me feels stupid for wanting to try harder be better when I could just be "good enough" and do what they do.
It's all just a vicious psychosis in the end and the fact I'm aware of it doesn't help. What does is doing stuff like this where, no, what I wanted didn't come through in the final piece but I was able to just push through it and do something rather than freeze up at the starting line and not do anything which is where I've been lately. I can look at this, see where I failed and where I can improve and know that the next time I attempt this what I can do to make sure that piece will blow this one out of the water.
Sorry to bend your digital ear so much here, Jonathan. But I appreciate you commenting and your kind words of support.
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And on the note of that 'good enough' aspect you mentioned, I see where that comes from, and I've been feeling it. Heck, I've been taking that approach to a lot of my commission work, mainly because (perhaps unfortunately) it works. I could push myself, but often it seems like pushing myself has the opposite effect. Works I put a lot of effort into, try things new with, they tend to fall by the wayside, and it's only when I stop thinking about it and stop trying to do better and just relax when I seem to crank out stuff that actually appeals to people.
I think it boils down to not trying to push yourself to improve, but understanding that once you let go of whatever negativity you're associating with your work (speaking generally now), improvement will happen automatically as long as you keep going. The most popular illustration I ever posted to deviantART was something I drew on a whim without planning it, and the feedback on it was a huge surprise. I keep telling myself it shouldn't have been a surprise. I should have understood and expected that it would impress many people, but it was a surprise. I first thought that was a problem, a failure on my part to 'get' why this works while that doesn't. But then it all made sense--just relax. Breathe. Don't worry about it, just do what comes naturally, and do it with a positive outlook. Because art IS subjective and trying to paint it as anything different will just stress you out.
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I think we're hitting it from two different extremes. For me it's not so much about the public's reaction to my work as my own. It's hard to explain-I didn't have a lot of support growing up with my art. Everything I did, I was always told I could do better. I think that really messed up my wiring so everything I do I feel like I could do better even if everyone in the world loves it.
Even though you're supposed to be your own worst critic, I think for me it's gone to an unhealthy point that stumps my creativity rather than nutures it. Admitting that I have that problem is part of it and trying to find a more accepting common ground while not totally going into the "good enough" mentality is where my battle lies.
Of course if art didn't come with a little pain of growth then it wouldn't be as much fun.
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Hey, you don't become a writer without learning to appreciate reading. 
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Thanks, man. I do appreciate it. It's just hard to do sometimes because I know folks are busy, as am I, and I know that sometimes the things I harp on aren't the norm so it can be difficult for folks to relate to or even understand what I'm talking about. I bite me tongue so much when it comes to what I see and read online dealing with art and the comics industry because in the end I'm just a small, insignificant part of it-if I could even be so bold as to say that. Sometimes it seems that no matter what you say, even if you mean well, all you do is hurt people's feelings or come off sounding a certain way you never meant to sound.
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I saw this pic and was like "Whoa, it's like Cruella De Ville, but really hot!"
Then I read and see it IS Cruella De Ville!
Now I am confused XD
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Confusion is good for the soul!
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As you probably know, I feel very much the same way with my own work: I have such a strong vision of what I see in my mind's eye and where I want to go with my art, but my hands seem almost incapable of accomplishing it. Sure, I can make excuses that I just got married and moved and had a lot of other things on my mind, but my motivation has evaporated.
In a way, having Baltimore Comic-Con coming up in two weeks is good for me: It forces me to do work, and make quick decisions. One of my many issues is my tendency to rummage all possibilities and then.......inertia. I get so caught up with "Is this TRULY the best way to go with this pic?" that I stop and nothing happens. I become unhappy and give up mid-stroke; always with "What- If?" in the back of my mind.
Know what's been working me through this issue? Something that was suggested (I think by you) when Stimulate:Create was still active- re-drawing old works. Nothing crazy, I traced the old work and then tightened up what wasn't working for me. Just doing that- I saw the progression I made and it got the juices flowing. It may work- who knows.
By the way, love the skin tones. I need to be brave with color like that.
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I feel ya on the points of what you see in your head is always going to be much better than what you finally put down on paper and the overthinking it all. I miss the days of just going with the flow and not getting caught up in sweating the details so much. It's like a perfectionist trying to work with a total slob now. No fun. Not so much a technical problem as finding my voice again. Getting my happiness with my art back. Or what passes for happiness in my neck of the creative woods.
Thanks for the tip, Nick, and the kind words! Attack that art!
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Honestly....with consistent output, we'll both get there. 
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I know that feeling very, very well. I guess it's just something you have to endure as an artist.
And for this drawing, it's super lovely. Her pose may seem a slight bit impossible to stand like, but hell, that doesn't matter. Her outfit is superb and I somehow fell in love with the background.~Just, awesome work!
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Yup, a wise friend and fellow artist once told me that an artist suffers most before periods of growth. Doesn't make it any easier but it is what it is.
Thanks!
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