[Mega Muffin]

Hi, I'm considering going into art after high school. I'm a junior right now and we have been doing still lifes in art class all quarter. I think I'm doing a pretty good job, but I've been scouring the web finding something to compare it too and found nothing. I was wondering if you guys could post some of your high school art or something. I want to know how I am doing compared to other ppl so I know what kind of an art school I can get in to. We've been using charcoal so anything in that median would be extra helpful. Or, if you just know of a website with high school portfolio work on it that would be good to. Sorry for not really sticking to the forum topic but I don't know of any better art forums that could help me out.

Thanks.

[Insane_Panda]

http://bnet.org/rbsd/mid/adams/gallery/julart/jularthm.htm

Well, not exactly high school art, But its from last year (7th grade) when I was still 13. Hope this helps

[atomicmonkey]

Most artists hate the work they did in high school and wouldn't dare put it online (if they even still have it). There's only a few people out there who were doing things right in high school in the first place, lol.

Don't compare yourself to high school work... look at the best and work towards that. I was probably the best painter in my class in high school, then I got to college and I realized everyone else there was like me - we all sucked.

I'm guessing you'll find plenty of still life work over at wetcanvas.com. Conceptart.org has a fantastic life painting thread in their life drawing section, there's some really nice still life work in there.

Take a look at some great work, and try to understand how they do it.

You mentioned you're using charcoal. One thing I think I remember struggling with when doing tonal still life work is getting the values correct between different coloured objects. For example, the light-dark values on a bananna are completely lighter overall than the light-dark values on say, a plum. While the bananna in light may a very light value (light yellow colour), the plum in light would already have a pretty dark value because its local colour is a dark purple. Colour is value, so keep that in mind.

Just keep drawing


BTW - get some work online and post it, there's plenty of people here and on other forums with much more experience and knowledge than high school folk, and they can give you some great critique and advice. They can also give you portfolio advice for whatever art school you may apply to.

[Insane_Panda]

I've always had problems with using charcoal, not with values, but with actually using the charcoal itself. How do you go about using a charcoal stick? Whenever I attempt to use it I can't get a thin or light enough stroke, although I've never had this problem with pencils

[jinnseng]

I've been working with charcoal in my drawing class exclusively for the past few months. It's a very give and take type of way to draw. Most people in my class were used to using graphite. I find graphite to be such an exact type of way to draw. You lay the lines down exactly how you like. Atleast thats how I see it. With charcaol its all a building up, and building down process. You put things down lightly and then build up your tones. You erase ALOT to get your lines exactly how you want, because charcaol tends to have really soft edges. So thats what I meant by give and take media. Your first lines you put down will be altered by what you take away. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but its how I look at it.

[The Insane Lemur]

I guess I have something to say about this since im in highschool, forget your in highschool, and just work toward painting best. It saddens me that highschool work sucks so much ussually and i think it mostly has to do with expectations from the teachers. In my art class which I simply dick around in ill see very medicore stuff made and get praised to the max. lots of people considered best painters in my highschool ussually paint very flat uninspired badly drawn stuff. I dont know how i rank cause i havent gone to colledge yet, but i guess thats why i go to these boards, to get better. oh yeah im a junior to, cool.

[spooge demon]

I got a "D" in high school art. Pandas work is Waaay better than what I was doing at the same age.

Not everyone progresses at the same rate or at the same time. There were professional illustrators at art center that started with me. Talk about a hopeless feeling- sitting next to Michelangelo when I didn't know which end of the pencil to use. But they did not get much better, because they were fat and happy (and improvement becomes harder as you move along). I am making a living now with artwork, against many peoples predictions.

So on one hand don't sweat it, but don't compare yourself with your peers either, only the best work you can find. If you look at your peers, you might get a little complacent, "oh, looks like I'm doin OK..." Bad Idea.

What counts in the long run, and I mean over many many years, is doing it every day and thinking about what you are doing. You will find that the people who do well do this. People who get distracted or who are not fascinated by learning and are only focused on outputs fall by the wayside eventually.

Look at a more important indicator- what is your level of commitment and drive? What is your best guess about what this level will be over the next 20 years? This will be a much better predictor of eventual success than your technical skill right now.

[Naeem]

hey mega. im a junior in high school, and would be in art, but my schedule doesnt permit it. no elective classes this year. but hey, here's my art:

http://annisahmad.freeprohost.com/about.html

same place as u r my friend its very hard seeing these really good artists and just seeing the big gap between u and that artist. but hey, i've only been doing digital painting since the february of this year, and these artists have alot of years under their belts. the way i think it is that if u keep on doing it, and really love doing it, it'll be no problem. just give urself time, and practice, and u'll be better. i don't compare my work with anyone in school, but only with people like spooge, capt. flush garden, ryan church, george hull and so on. i look at the images of these people sometimes, and i wonder how they painted them. i try to find their brush strokes, and sometimes for learning purposes, i replicate their images, by using one of their images as a reference. i can't say im good, no not yet, but i know im not horrifically bad, lol. it just takes time, thats really it. u have to be patient. and like spooge said, u have to have the determination. and u must paint everyday. personally, i try not to let a day go by before i've done a speedpainting. if it does go by, and i ahvent had time to go on the computer (like lately with school and all), i sit down at night, and do a bunch of sketches in my sketchbook. just dont let a day go to waste where u dont do anything. well thats my opinion.

by the way if u want to see sketches from my sketchbook, u'd have to contact me through PM because i dont have the sketches online...

[Insane_Panda]

Spooge is right, even if someone is as great as michelangelo when they are 10 years old, if they hate art or are too lazy to do anything then they won't get anywhere with it. I only started drawing the way I did now after spending my days drawing and reading about art.

I've gotten a little lazy though, and haven't been doing anything substantial for a couple of months. Thats one of the reasons I registered here, to get back on track with my artwork

[The Insane Lemur]

spooge is right. Haha,my first post kinda made me sound like an ***hole. we are doing clay in there right now, i paint alot though, trying to get good with watercolors, always finding new problems with myself and trying to move on as much as possible. I think the problem with many people is no motivation. I dont know what it is with them, but I have been working as hard as I can with painting since last year. I think I may have come far. I know I havent come near far enough. I know now for a fact that anyone who cant draw a line could be as good as me in a year as long as they work hard and want to paint as best as possible. I know that cause that was me who couldn't draw a line, but I still have so long to go its not even funny. Off to work on my skills some more

[Insane_Panda]

Completely off topic: Insane Pandas are WAAAAAY better than Insane Lemurs