[Sara Gómez Woolley]

@rkim2395

Long distance illustrator:
I think your point regarding passion and fan art is a very good one. If you are passionate about something it will come through in your work. However I’d argue in really good fan it is very obviously the VOICE of one artist, singing the SONG of another one. SO theres is no doubt whose voice or in who’s style it is. The work is something fresh and new.

Freaking out:
Though the author of this article is years ahead of you in his career development, in many ways I would think the anxiety resonates with artists at all career points. Perhaps it may be more in terms of “How will this crisis effect me when I am first starting out?” At any rate, I found it resonated for me.

However I also really like the concept that there is opportunity in this. Opportunity to make something out of the solo time. I have to say thought, like you I find myself wavering between buying this… and discounting it as naive. But I am really trying to embrace this more positive view.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Sara Gómez Woolley.

[Sara Gómez Woolley]

@jnavarro @jbradford @rkim2395 and ALL of you…

I had a similar reaction to you all. I had my art supplies out. And they just sat there. For days while I melted.

In the past week and a half I’ve wavered between freaking out, to a feeling of what’s the point. I’m feeling way more myself this week, naturally I tend to be an optimist, but that doesn’t mean that I’m OK … I mean everything is totally uncertain and scary, how the hell would anyone sane be ok?

That article isn’t meant to sugar coat the truth or to reassure you. I can’t do that. The one thing I got out of it and why I asked that you read it, was a perspective that I found helpful. A different lens to see this current tragedy through, one not promoted on CNN. We as creatives are luckier than most in this situation. Our creative work requires space to think. If we can clear some of the anxiety from blocking us, we still have our creative centers, and space to create. A truly wonderful thing right now.

Sent from my solo isolation space vehicle to yours.

Prof.

[Sara Gómez Woolley]

@jbradford @jnavarro

Yes… There’s a learning curve. SO impressed with all of your adaptability!

[Sara Gómez Woolley]

@lancewebley

Good insights on the “long distance illustrator” podcast. I personally am divided on fan art. On the one hand it is no your original idea. I’m always more interested in an original idea. BUT, if you can do something new and unique with a character and capitalize on an existing fan base to build your careers that definitely makes it worth it.

Regarding “Freaking Out” by Patrick LaMontagne, it is interesting to have that reaction. Your normal life is stressful. This is a tragedy but it also is weirdly simplifying life. Now you might have less money, but you do have more time. I’m in a similar boat. As you know i both freelance and teach… now I’m basically trapped in the studio.

You say “My biggest concern is that we don’t know if this will end in a good way or have a worse outcome.” Well yes… the unpredictability and uncertainty is the hardest part. BUT we can put strategies in place to help us manages our lives a little bit so that this can at least be a productive isolation and keep us all sane. What can YOU do to make yourself lass lazy? More able to make the most of this time?

[Sara Gómez Woolley]

Savannah-

You say:

I tend to ask, “How long is this going to last for?”, “Do we really know a lot about this virus?”, “Is there anything about this situation the media is not telling us?” Needless to say, I always think about the worst-case scenarios.

I think we all are. Also we are all looking at how this effects us personally. Im thinking the fact that this is now the world you are all about to graduate into has GOT to be something you are all worried about. This is NOT selfish. This is natural.

I agree…

We just need to to a break, and breathe. Especially during this situation where people are panicking, we gave to stop for a minute, breathe, and relax. If we can all do this, it would be a lot easier.

There has never been a more important moment for self care.

[Henry Zeng]

After reading “Freaking Out” I felt a bit more optimistic about the future, despite what is happening right now. I agree with Patrick’s point about accepting what is happening and hopefully grow from this experience. I think through this experience I have found a good balance between work and leisure which is something I will hopefully continue.

In this blog Patrick talks about whipping out many editorials about the current situation. In contrast Jen Bartel and Nico Delort speaks about not having to draw about the news or whatnot. I found this kind of strange since this seems like a good opportunity to some work out. Patrick also contradicts this idea by stating that whipping out editorials could dilute his idea pool.

[Henry Zeng]

While he says it’s “selfish”, I believe it’s a valid thing to worry about as an artist because our works might be put on hold.

Savannah –
This is such a weird feeling of basically putting your life on hold and not having a way of fixing the problem. Only time will tell what the result of the pandemic will be but all we can do for now is wait for the storm to pass.

Lance/Rachel –
Yeah it was weird the first time I heard that you could put fan art in your portfolio. For the longest time I thought artists only put original work into their portfolios but I guess fan art is just another avenue for you to showcase your style and storytelling.

[Jennifer Chung]

The Long Distance Illustrator:
What stood out to me was what Jen and Jonathan said. Twitter is a great way to make friendships but it’s also scary because you need to be careful of what you say. However, when Jen spoke her mind it gave her more job opportunities. And I think it’s good to be true to yourself because being personal online makes people feel that you are human. Be an artist who shows their personality online and who speaks their mind feel that they have a responsibility to show support like for example if you were gay, people expect you to post gay rights art but there are other ways to support a community. I feel that this statement is true, it sucks to have responsibility on what you believe and expect your fans or the media to have you post art about it when you can support it through other ways. I also feel for Jen when she said that it’s scary to speak your mind to the public because when I was asked a question in class on “what is my style?”, I realized my style is based on emotions and connecting my art to the audience. I always jot down my concept in my notebook and they are usually an animation based on people who have a disability or who have gone through trauma. Some people might get offended by the word “disability” or they don’t support gay rights. But if this is how I speak to my audience I shouldn’t be afraid.

Freaking Out:
At the begging of the article, I felt the same way Patrick felt when the school shut down. I had so many questions. I couldn’t sleep because my mind wouldn’t stop worrying. I did relax a bit after the online class started. It was great seeing my professors and classmates. I think most people view what Partick is viewing because we are all worried however, I think this is a great opportunity, to stop and rest your mind a bit at home. Start doing some projects you said you were going to do, learn something new, get organized but at the same time it’s all a mess but we can all get through it.

[Jennifer Chung]

@jnavarro I feel the same when I come up with a concept I feel that someone already has done a similar concept. I have yet to not post anything on Instagram on my art because I’m afraid people might judge or not get a lot of attention.

[Andre Green]

I just finish reading the “Freak Out” article, from what I got from that article he was explaining 2 case sceanairos, Castastrophizing which he said ” I will always jump to the worst possible outcome in any situation I find threatening.” And Polarized Thinking which is the mindset that things are all bad or all good. Through all the craziness we are experiencing in the world, sometimes we need to sit down, relax and use art as a way to take our mind off the worlds problems. He let us know in the article that we all are going through struggles and we don’t let these problems and struggles stop us from achieving our goals in life to be happy.

[Yuhang Wang]

Referring to Long Distance Illustrator. When it comes to your career choice people have different opinions and I believe everyone who wants to become a concept artist, comic artist or illustration related, must fall in love with it. But New York City is kind to ruin our life and because of its economic system, often time I feel we are forced to learn something that’s not interested to us. I heard many times there’re many animations, game design opportunities on the west side. According to my own experiences, 80% of my courses are related to advertisement and I do not fully enjoy. Even people graduated from SVA are having the pressure of looking for jobs that you are interested in. Some take disadvantages of that and some leave here looking for what they want. I am having a hard time making a decision about that but what I am doing now is trying to teach myself lessons that I am interested in. By saying that, fanart is the only way I can represent myself since animation courses are limited. I found myself doing better and enjoy making animation/modeling of anime/movie that I loved and feel depression and less energy of doing class projects.

[Yuhang Wang]

Referring to Freaking Out. Somehow I am Patrick’s type of person who is being Catastrophizing all the time. Even though I look chill all the time. I think a lot about my future, what will I become, who will be my wife, how am I going to find a job in this situation in New York, etc. I have been imagining if there’s the end of the world, what could that be? Zombies? The nuclear weapon causes environment dying? All that sudden I decided to play videogames/keep doing the favorite piece of animation. Here’s what I thought: I don’t know what exactly is going to happen tomorrow or next year or future. Why waste time worrying about something that might not even be the problem at that time? I agree we all need some sort of pressure to push ourselves to become better. But I decided to enjoy every day as possible as I can. Everyone has the right to decided how to spend their days. Life is hard and I chose not to be hard to myself.