Art is a language. You have to be exposed to it, analyze it, break it down and understand it if you want to create it. The best way to become a better artist is to challenge yourself and surround yourself with good examples and creative people. It takes work and energy. It isn’t necessarily something that you are born with, and it’s not something you can come up with in a vacuum. You have to open your mind up and let the ideas in.
Think about what it was like for artists in the past… Johann Sebastian Bach had to travel two weeks by foot to attend school. The artistic treasures of the world belonged to royalty and the upper classes- the average person had no access to it. Education was something that was reserved for the special few who could afford it, or the ones who could find a rich patron to finance their education.
Flash forward to today. We live in an era that provides tremendous opportunities to artists. The internet brings the entirety of human culture to us with the click of a mouse. We can interact with creative people on social media and learn from them by following their progress and reading their posts. Our work can be instantly distributed to the whole world for free over YouTube or Instagram. Artists can communicate directly with their audience and the audience can feed back to the artist in real time.
We should be living through a golden age of creativity, right? Well, why aren’t we?
The problem with modern day artistic culture is that people take it for granted. We’re surrounded by images, music, film, performance, architecture, in dozens of different media- websites, YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, video games, television, cell phones, computers… the list goes on and on. People have become so immersed in art that they don’t value it. Imagine telling Bach that he could sit down at his desk and instantly access the greatest music from the past 400 years. What would that mean to him? Does it mean the same thing to you?
If you’re an animator, cartoonist or illustrator, the internet is awash in great reference material. How much time do you spend exposing yourself to new ways of expressing yourself? How often do you set aside time to break down reference to learn how it works? Which artists’ works have you studied carefully to try to understand and assimilate the things that made them great?
Be honest. How much do you use the internet to become a better artist, and how much do you use it to tweet pictures of your lunch or share kitten memes? The internet is the greatest thing to happen to culture in the whole history of mankind, but how much do we appreciate it and utilize it to move us and our art forward?
There are schools that teach animation and charge a hundred thousand dollars for a degree. There are archives that collect films and artwork, but they’re a thousand miles or more away from you. You might as well be back in the 1700s walking two weeks to school and not having access to art unless you are part of the upper classes.
What if you could become a part of a community of artists that is using the internet to create a new way of learning about art? Would you take advantage of that opportunity?
Every day of the week, Animation Resources gives you good, solid reference and inspiration. Every one of those things are reasons why you should be a member of our organization. We’ve told you about our podcasts, e-books and downloadable animated films. Obviously, there are a lot of great perks for being a member. But there’s an even better reason to join…
You should be a member because Animation Resources is the only organization that is using the power of the internet to create a culture of education, sharing and growth for artists involved in this field.
That should be enough, shouldn’t it? It’s just as important for working professionals as it is for students. When learning and growth stops, so does creativity. It’s not just about inventing. It’s also about reinventing yourself. If you stop doing that, don’t be surprised if the art form moves on and you’re left in the dust.
Animation Resources isn’t taking the potential of the internet for granted. And we aren’t charging you a hundred thousand dollars to take advantage of our knowledge base. We want to do a lot more. We want to bring our archive database to you. But we can’t do that unless artists pull together and all pitch in to support the organization that supports them. Lately, I’ve heard several artists say, “I’ll join your group when you have everything up on your site for downloading.” That totally misses the point of what Animation Resources is providing. We can go on tweeting our lunch and sharing kitten memes, or we can harness the power of the internet as a community. Self study and artistic growth is a process, not a destination.
Everyone talks about going back to the “golden age” of animation. Even though we share old animation with our members, Animation Resources doesn’t want to go backwards. We want to use the experience of the past and the technology of the present to create an future that surpasses everything that came before. Isn’t that what you want too? Then why aren’t you a member of our community?
It’s up to you. Don’t take it for granted.
Back To School Days At Animation Resources
Fall is time to join Animation Resources as a student member. Annual dues for full time students and educators is discounted. It’s the biggest bargain in animation at only $70 a year. Animation School is great, but it doesn’t give you everything you need to become a professional animator. You need to invest in self-study to be successful in this highly competitive field. That’s exactly what Animation Resources can help you do if you become a member. Each day we’ll be highlighting more reasons why you should join Animation Resources. Bookmark us and check back every day.
There’s no better way to feed your creativity than to be a member of Animation Resources. Every other month, we share a Reference Pack that is chock full of downloadable e-books and still framable videos designed to expand your horizons and blow your mind, as well as educational podcasts and seminars. It’s easy to join. Just click on this link and you can sign up right now online.
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/
FREE SAMPLES!
Not Convinced Yet? Check out this SAMPLE REFERENCE PACK! It will give you a taste of what Animation Resources members get to download every other month!
JOIN NOW! https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/
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It’s 30 years later now, but I still think about the things Grim talked about. Grim never put himself in a stylistic box. He worked in every style and never stopped learning.
