Avoid Social Media if you want to get better

As a newbie getting your feet wet into the concept art is never before easier with so much information and resources out on the web. But at the same time, it can be overwhelming, anxiety triggering, and damn right confusing with all the information circulating on the net.  What can you do you might ask. I think it is best to stay away or cut down on all the social media like Facebook, Instagram and art forums.  It’s a huge distraction and will give you a reason to procrastinate. You may think you are simply “collecting inspirations" from other artists. 

In the end, you will just waste a bunch of time collecting things that you will not ever use anyway. There is a bubble happening with concept art, where a lot of the contents look the same nowadays. You can’t tell who’s work is who. There are a few artists’ work that really stand out, and a lot of younger artists like to copy their styles. But when a professional look at your work, they will know right away you are only doing derivative work of the original source. 

That is a dead give away that you are new and you don’t have your own voice. That will not land you work. You may get lucky from time to time, but in the long run, your calling card will be your uniqueness of your work. So you have to stand out and find your own voice. To do that, you have to dig deep and objectively look at what you like to do and keep doing that and take it to a whole new level or direction that has not been done before. It is not about being the best artist in the world, it is about creating something unique that reflect who you are. One way to not get there is by looking at other artists all the time and copy their styles or jumping on trends. Everyone is different and unique in our their own ways, so dig deeper and keep refining your own brand identity.