Amy Denise
Hi, I'm Amy Denise, a digital artist, surface designer, and sometimes painter. Thank you for being here with me on this creative journey. I hope you enjoy reading these posts!
Happy New Year! Who’s ready for 2024?
As creatives, we often want to set new art goals each year. The driving force is often less about the creative process and more about building a stronger portfolio and getting more clients. That is all great stuff to aim for. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to keep the pressure of those goals from stifling your creativity. I will share my goals and some things to remember when setting yours, which will hopefully help you remember to create for the sake of creating.
So here’s what’s up for Amy Denise this year.
It’s nothing major, just more of the same but better. I know that doesn’t sound very exciting, but if you are an artist, you may want to consider how exciting that can be.
What I’m talking about is more practice and improvement. As an artist, your process and style are constantly changing. We may not notice it until we post a year-over-year comparison, but it’s happening. There are tiny changes and improvements every time we practice. Even when we create “bad” art, we improve and find our style. We are learning what we enjoy, techniques we prefer, and working out our flow. Hopefully, this improvement will add some new pieces to my portfolio. Possibly replacing older pieces that no longer fit the style of work I want to create.
What is calling out to you? Did you create anything in 2023 that you want to do more of? Did you see something you have always wanted to try but haven’t allowed yourself because it doesn’t pay the bills right now? Make some time for creative play in 2024.
Many of us dislike creating ugly work, so it’s easy to slide back into something that feels good, familiar, and easy when a new practice becomes a little too difficult.
Sometimes, we don’t try it because we feel we can’t afford it. It may be a style we think is cool or want to try out, but when it takes away from creating the work that pays the bills, we are reluctant to take the time.
The challenge is to push through those blocks and give it a try. It’s only going to get better with practice. Obviously, if it’s something you don’t enjoy, don’t do it. But if there is a creative practice that keeps calling you back, maybe it’s time to see it through.
I plan on working on my 3D art and character illustration. Character illustration is an area that I constantly move in and out of. I’ve always wanted to be good at it, but I don’t allow myself the patience it takes. I’m constantly dipping a toe, as though it’s an ice-cold pool of water, and I’m afraid just to jump in. This year, I’m taking the plunge. I’m just going straight-up cannonball and adding it to my regular art practice.
Last year, I started with a daily drawing practice. This lasted about a month. Once I got further into learning Nomad and Blender, the daily drawing practice was no longer my priority.
Around August, I put a 3D practice on my habit tracker as a daily task. This meant I would practice in Blender or Nomad for at least a few minutes daily.
In 2024, I want this to be more of a character illustration and 3D art practice. I will add them to my habit tracker starting on alternate days and see how that goes. So, one day will be character illustration practice, and the next day will be 3D art.
Do your best to show up. If you’re not feeling it one day, just do some warm-ups. If it’s a drawing practice and you aren’t feeling up to it that day, literally fill the page with circles. This warm-up is great practice. If you are done after that, then be done. Often, it will lead you to more, but not always, and that’s totally okay.
So if you have read my last blog post on setting art goals for the new year, you will know that this year for me
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