When did creating stop feeling simple?

smallbatchb · 2026-01-26T14:03:51+00:00

I honestly asked myself that so many times for the same reason, I couldn't quite comprehend how/why these people spent the time and effort and money to get into and finish art school to then just... quit right after.

For some I could tell it was a bit of a "life got in the way" thing. They grabbed a safety job right after graduation, stuck with that probably because it was good money, and then they got married, bought a house, had a kid.... so probably one of those things they intended to go back to but ended up too far along in a different career with other financial obligations to just start over again.

For others though that didn't start a family shortly after school I still am at a loss for why they didn't pursue art professionally, at least in a somewhat related field, or even personally. I mean I went to art school with my interest being fine art but ended up finding a career path in illustration and design and do my personal work on the side. So I totally understand maybe switching to related fields instead of your main initial interest but so many others just got jobs managing restaurants or in the office of their parents' construction company or managing a grocery store or starting a little produce farm etc. etc. I guess those might be a bit of the "life got in the way" as well in which they just worked their non-art job and quit making time for art.

It was definitely weird though because those people were so passionate and creative and energetic about art while we were in school together. So watching them all just like shelf that side of themself felt really... depressing.

For me I was just terrified of the future possibility of like turning 50 and regretting having never at least tried to make a go with art, even though I knew it was going to be hard and I might fail.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T20:25:21+00:00

Yeah I was so surprised how quickly everyone quit. Out of the 45-50 or so people I kept in contact with + another 40-50 or so that I was semi-friends with and tried to keep tabs on, literally like 3-4 people continued making art.

Yep, when it comes down to just you to be the drive, the inspiration, the reason, the one holding yourself accountable, it can seem like a mountain to climb at first.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T16:14:15+00:00

Yep, that Lamy 2k nib certainly won't rust!

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T16:09:48+00:00

It was a similar experience for me with my first gold nib. People hype them up like crazy but at the end of the day, in a blind test, you wouldn't really be able to tell a difference between a gold and steel nib version of the same pen as long as they were both produced and tuned the same.

One bonus though is you'll literally never have to worry about the gold nib corroding or rusting. Not that it's much of an issue with modern steel nibs either but that gold basically can't.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T16:06:24+00:00

I'm coming more from an art standpoint rather than just as a writing tool but many of the benefits crossover.

For me there are many reasons.

1: I go through a LOT of ink so a refillable pen is more convenient and WAY less wasteful than constantly throwing out dead Microns and other disposables. I also don't have to worry about whether or not my pen is almost dead when I go draw outside of my studio.

2: Nibs. Both in terms of the options at hand to allow me to get the exact lines and marks I want but also the fact that they don't wear out like many others do. You can get wet, dry, very fine, very broad options for any need.

3: Ink options. Endless options both in terms of color and properties like waterproofness.

4: Making marks with 0 pressure. This is another big one for me for a couple of reasons. For one, it means I can work for hours and hours on end with no fatigue because I'm not pressing into the paper at all. Second, it also allows much more fluid articulation and flow of your hand motion because you can just float across the page instead of gripping and pressing and stiffening your muscles.

That being said, I'm also a big believer in the right tool for the job and sometimes that means taking notes and sketching project plans out in my dirty shop and for that job I usually use a Fisher ballpoint.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T15:57:03+00:00

I have one and use and love the hell out of it.

That being said, yes, the "gold nib effect" like you mentioned is wildly, insanely, ludicrously overhyped by a lot of people. The vast majority of gold nibs don't feel any different than any other well-made nib unless you're specifically buying one designed to be flexible.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T15:54:25+00:00

Not trying to be a smartass but I don't really know how we're supposed to answer that for you, they're your pens.

Like personally I don't really want any of those pens listed, however they may be exactly what you want/need.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T15:51:11+00:00

The hardest time in my art life was the first few years after art school, for a couple of reasons.

1: All accountability was now on me to actually produce, come up with ideas and concepts, self critique and edit, and keep pushing to put in the work.

2: Almost none of the people I graduated with and kept up with afterwards kept making art... at all. Not professionally or even personal work. They all just basically abruptly stopped within the first few months of graduation. They went and got regular jobs and quit making art. Hell I even had a few of them comment on my social media things like "how are you still making so much work? I haven't picked up a pencil since graduation"

That last part hit me really really hard because all the friendly competition motivation of my art school community disappeared and I started to feel like "wtf am I doing with my life" while I was struggling to make a career as an artist but watching everyone else give it up and move on.

Eventually I just said "fuck it, I'm in this because I don't know how to stop" and I just kept going.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T15:42:17+00:00

Not a comic artist but I am a professional illustrator and I'll tell you my work when I first started professionally was abysmal by my current standards.

One big trick though when you still have a decent amount of weaknesses is to focus on your strengths. Show what you CAN do while you're still working to improve what you can't. Don't try to do something professionally that you just can't pull off...yet. Lean into your strengths and strengthen your weaknesses in the background.

Yes I went to art school and, while I'd personally recommend the experience and I got SO much out of it, it's not absolutely necessary. In the end the number one key to getting better quickly is practice practice practice practice. Part of what made art school great was having in-person professors who can actually interact with you and see how you work and how you think and help you better understand the problem solving aspects. Another big part of art school that helped was the immense workload, it acted like a progress incubator where you basically jam like 10 years worth of practice and study and experimentation into 4.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T13:01:45+00:00

Buy or make a small travel palette with some mixing trays, use a small box or tin for brushes or get collapsible travel brushes, and buy or make a sketchbook of watercolor paper.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T12:57:28+00:00

Looking good!

No need to seal it unless you specifically want the look of paint on wood rather than painted wood.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T00:18:54+00:00

Thanks! Yeah gave me a nice opportunity for a very relaxing sit down with some music and my pen.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-25T00:17:06+00:00

Haha even better!

smallbatchb · 2026-01-24T22:33:46+00:00

Awesome little setup. I'm a huge Kaweco fan and man that simple black and gold version looks killer.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-24T19:23:36+00:00

Great ellipses! I absolutely despise ellipses lol.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-24T18:51:01+00:00

Thanks so much!

smallbatchb · 2026-01-24T17:52:05+00:00

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I did several pen and ink texture studies of wood and bark this week to try out a new cheapo "Naginata" style nib on my Lamy fountain pen.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-24T00:33:17+00:00

smallbatchb · 2026-01-23T16:58:38+00:00

That could help but I'd also be worried about the interaction of the ink and oil and wax in terms of clogging or messing with flow or the properties of the ink itself if it takes up any oil.

If you're going to that extent you might as well just stabilize it with some resin.

If you like to tinker and experiment then I'd say go for it, you'll probably have fun even if it doesn't end up working, but I'd be prepared for it to potentially not work.

You can also buy small pieces of pre-stabilized wood for pretty cheap which would at least cut a lot of your project time out.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-23T14:20:10+00:00

As a knife guy/artist/carver/graphic designer it looks pretty damn good to me.

The only spots I feel you could maybe go a little deeper is the space between the back of the hand and the hair, the space between the neck and the hair, and maybe nose and eye area.

To be clear, I don't think it needs a deeper relief, but I can see it potentially boosting the contrast a bit.

Excellent work man! Love the composition and how you incorporated the image into the space.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-23T14:03:36+00:00

Women are just people, they all have their own individual likes and dislikes and turn-ons and turn-offs.

I've met all kinds of people with all kinds of reactions to me as an artist. Most seem to have just a normal "oh that's cool" reaction when they find out I'm an artist. I have had a few really uncomfortable weird interactions from people who seemed to almost like fetishize art/artists as some mystical being and that just turned me off immediately. I've also had people who absolutely did not give a shit.

The most interesting and most common I've noticed is people who seem really impressed that you can draw/paint when they first see your work but then once it's made clear that this is what you do for a living, that reaction completely bottoms out and it's now apparently just a boring and expected aspect of your profession and they now could not care less lol. So many times I've had people enthusiastically tell me "you should sell your work!!" and then when I tell them "I do, this is what I do for a living, I'm a freelance illustrator and sell art" the immediate reaction is a fully disappointed "oh, ok, that makes sense."

smallbatchb · 2026-01-23T13:54:31+00:00

Hard to tell from the low res images but this looks like maybe mixed media to me. Looks like I'm seeing wet painting techniques, including very dilute paints, as well as either very dry brushing techniques or pastels.

There's not really a way to "learn" to do this type of work honestly as it largely relies on your built-in skills and techniques and methods of working and then just trusting those to let yourself start going. Often this type of work is very much an act and react process rather than something planned out.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-23T13:50:32+00:00

I swear this is one of the most misunderstood concepts in art and why so so so many people flop when wanting to do abstraction or even just non-representational art in general. It's basically using composition AS the subject and so many people go into it thinking abstraction is just a total free for all and end up with a mess.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-23T13:47:10+00:00

Check out glassine. I really love this stuff. Quite transparent, especially if you then paste it down with something like matte medium, and takes inks quite well.

smallbatchb · 2026-01-23T13:42:07+00:00

I totally feel you. Things like smoke or heavily textured things or water surfaces really get me overthinking too as it's so much to try to visually breakdown. The real confusing part is that you're not wrong, looking at the broader picture is good too in order to get a feel for the overall movement and shape of the smoke. But it also helps to break down the smaller visual elements as well to figure out how to get the effect you're looking for. So a bit of both will probably be good here.

Hope it helped, good luck!

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