Project-Based Practice

With the depth of art and all its intricacies, how the heck should one practice?

To that I introduce the concept of, "Project-Based Practice".

When I think back to the things I've studied back in school, the only ones that have been retained until now are those that etched themselves in my long-term memory, or have been info that I've been applying until now.

The quadratic formula from my Math class? Never applied afterwards.

Prepositions, adverbs, and grammar from my English class? Still applying until now.

What doesn't get applied consistently slowly fades away.

When applying this to art then, think of a project/artwork that you want to do.

You wanna paint a face? Start practicing the things related to the face depending on your skill level.

If you're good at rendering but bad at the distance between the parts of the face, then your practice could be drawing a mouth and nose in relation to each other.
If you're bad at drawing eyes, then draw eyes until you get used to them.
If you want the overall proportions to look okay, perhaps your practice could be drawing the head with simple forms first.

The artwork that you want to do serves as the guiding point for the practice that you should do.

What if, however, you still feel overwhelmed by the artwork that you want to do?

2 options

Lower the difficulty of the artwork you want to do. If you feel that a face is too overwhelming, paint an eye first and consider that as completed.
Tackle the artwork part by part depending on your skill level as mentioned above.

I hope this helps you feel less overwhelmed about what to do. Of course, this is just one way of practicing. If you feel that you have a better way to practice, by all means, please do so! Find the kind of practice that resonates the most with you :)

"Craft Your Concept"

I remember seeing JK Molina's twitter post which had this image in it:

An artist’s unfair advantage right here.

When I think about it, it really talks about the saying, "A picture paints a thousand words".

And it's true.

If a visual's idea is clear, you can probably grasp its essence in under 5 seconds compared to a wall of text or a zoom call.

However, I actually think you can extend this even to your words.

If you don't have an image, you can still rely on your reader's imagination.

To do this, I'd like to introduce the term, "Concept Crafting".

Concept Crafting is crafting ideas into tangible mental objects.

For example:

Analogy Engine
Frequency Lift
Emotional Pendulum
Artist's Lens

Hell, even James Clear has one: Atomic Habits.

You may not immediately understand the concept, but you at least have a mental object in your mind that starts the understanding of these concepts.

When you start with crafting a concept, it allows you to:

Paint something that visualizes this concept into fruition
Create a concept name that you can make into your own intellectual property
Start adding language to your world

However, what this relies on first and foremost is the idea behind it, in order to naturally find a related object that can be used as a visual aid.

Atomic Habits is built upon the idea of compounding small habits.
Emotional Pendulum is built upon the idea of returning your emotions back to neutral after experiencing the highs and lows.
Artist's Lens is built upon the idea of actively observing artworks that a person likes using their own lens.

In closing, as you work on your offers/courses/services, try applying the skill of concept crafting into them. It may just help your persuade your customers easier and faster, and allow them to integrate with your world :)

"Xiventale's Origin"

The name "Xiventale" came about back in 2016 as a homage to two artists.

During this time, I was busy playing a rhythm-game called Cytus which had a song called "Storia". It was one of the final songs that I tried to get at least a score of 900,000 and above just to get that A ranking.

And oh boy did it feel fucking good when I finally got it.

Actual screenshot of my score!

Around this same time, I remember wanting to start an art account since I really wanted to learn how to draw. Of course, I wanted to have a cool artist name.

I don't quite remember the details now but I do remember looking to "Storia" for some inspiration. Initially, I believe I saw the artwork with "Storia" and thought it was cool. But I still couldn't find a name.

So, I looked towards the artists who made the song: "Xi" and "Sakuzyo". Because of how much "Storia" impacted me with how the song took me through a journey (both a painful and rewarding one), I felt that the elements of my artist name would originate from this.

I too wanted to make stories, both from a writing standpoint and a visual standpoint.

I think initially I tried combining Xi or Sakuzyo or Storia into something cool but nothing really stood out. So, I started going through their music.

Eventually, I stumbled upon Sakuzyo's song, "Wonderwing".

I remember falling in love with the song just because of how fun it felt as I was listening to it, especially at 1:10 when the build up to the violin (or viola) riff starts to hit.

Hell, each instrument got their own solo to be honest. It was a BANGER.

Because I couldn't really use "Wonderwing" as a name to combine, eventually I landed upon using Sakuzyo's album instead, "L'aventale".

You can kinda already see where this goes haha. As a homage to both artists who made the song, "Storia" which I really really enjoyed, and because their music took me through a journey which I also wanted to do as an artist, I combined "Xi" and "L'aventale" to eventually make it "Xiventale".

Fast forward 9 years later, do I regret still using "Xiventale" as my name?

Hell nah. Though it does come with its complications like how to pronounce it (it's "See-ven-teyl" btw not "Shee-ven-teyl"), that's okay. For me, it still contains the essence of the kind of artist I wanted to be in this journey.

So, if you ever want to come up with an artist name, it's up to you how you want to go about it.

You can use your real name, or you can do something like I did which was coming up with a name from references. What's most important is the essence behind the name.

Whether it contains numbers or weird combinations, it matters less than what the name means to you.

Tried Storia again after like, 9 years of not opening Cytus. Did pretty well I'd say :)

P.S. Thank you so much for reading!

If ever you feel called to, here are 2 ways I can help you:

Should you ever need help on improving on your art or building a business, perhaps you could try having a 1-on-1 sesh with me.'
If you like the art you see in my Art Journey and want me to paint an artwork, then you may check here on how to commission me for an artwork.

Beyond Technique: The Artist’s True Advantage