[email protected] (Nicholas Phillips)
17 articles on The Learning Curves
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Getting Started and Planning for Success
Who are you, exactly? Hmm. My name is Nicholas, and I'm 24 year old dude living north of the Atlanta metro in GA. I'm an artist, and a current art student. Though, I will say on that last part I hope to continue to be a student for a long, long time. Okay, so maybe not a student forever, but I definitely want to strive to always continue learning. And for pr
Making The Time
As promised in my last entry I want to take some time to highlight my efforts in time management and study materials and give you the nitty gritty of what's been working versus what has not. Before I get into that though, I want to take a moment aside and make it crystal clear to you that I really don't believe success will come from just what you're willing
Being an intermediate, and looking to the future
Alright, you've dedicated the past year, two years to really developing your skill set. You've got a firm grasp of the basics and maybe even sold a couple pieces of your artwork. You don’t suck, but you are not gainfully employed entirely off your art. To make matters more confusing, your artistic development has started looking like peaks and valleys. If th
Following through, and Social media
*I’m going to keep updates once week, at least for this month as I try to get some big stuff off my plate. * For now, I’ll share with you a work in progress I've been piddling on after viewing a lot of YouTube videos and reading about using the smudge tool in Photoshop. Also, I took some time to start thumb nailing on my Fourth of July getaway/delivering com
A new place, a model's face, and the great ant waste.
First off, Sorry for the late post everyone. I'm officially moved into my new place with my roommates, minus some small errands (slaying the once dormant ant lineage that ruled our laundry room for far too long), but 99.8% of my stuff is here, and I'm functionally setup. Enough, at least, to write this post finally. I want to try a new format for my post, si
A full plate and stopping.
Yo, Time flies when you’re not looking. So much keeps happening! Lots to say and yet I can’t quite seem to say enough. Loot of the Week: Iain McCaig- Visual Storytelling DVD’s on Gnomon. So far, I’ve finished the first part of four, and I have to say I am hooked. The first part of the series focuses on making key frames, or illustrating key moments in a stor
Loot and community challenges
Loot of the Week: Swatches- Clint Cleary’s YouTube channel isn't jammed packed with videos but the content and delivery of what is there is pretty top notch. He just released a video on making images for Magic the gathering cards, and I felt it was very insightful. I strongly recommend subscribing to his channel and watching what he does have up. Draw or Die
If you're going through hell.
Keep Going. I've been hesitating to write another blog post until I felt sure I had something positive or rewarding to share. I realized I was procrastinating, and worrying about silly things. I probably could have shared multiple updates on the projects I've been doing over my absence. I've been in school struggling with a full load which I've gone ahead an
New Year, 2015, The Solution. Part 1.
I named this blog “The Solution”, and maybe I should change it to a solution. Regardless, this post isn't a list of resolutions I’m going to try to keep. It is more about addressing my problems through a retrospective look on my last year, and working through a solution to fix those problems by 2016. That’s the goal anyway. And be prepared, it’s probably a 2
New Year, 2015, The Solution. Part 2
Last post I spoke about how I felt 2014 went for me and what I learned. Now it is time for me to focus on the road ahead. It’s going to be an extremely busy, decked out to the max, rush to the finish kind of 5 months or so till May. The tail of end of May is Spectrum Fantastic Art Live, and I made the decision about a month, maybe 2, ago to have a table show
Studio Tour and Learning Curves Youtube Launch!
You asked for it, so here we go! This is the first time I've made a video like this so please keep that in mind, and any suggestions are always welcome! I hope to make more in the future now that I have a dedicated channel to the Learning Curves blog! This is the motivational quote by Dave Rapoza framed on my wall, “First off, what we fear doing most is usua
Lewis LaRosa artist highlight.
Lewis LaRosa is a phenominal artist, and I am very glad I could attend this event. He was very generous with his time, thoughts, and feedback. Where others may have avoided talking about missing the mark, he was extremely upfront and honest about hard knocks, and mistakes. I have nothing but mad respect for the man and his work. I want to say what you are ab
"Sir Neculai, The Forlorn" Process
Hey guys, Today is going to be a short post about how I painted one of my most recent illustrations. Sir Neculai, The Forlorn Concept Like all my paintings, it starts with a simple idea. For this, I wanted to paint a knight, specifically a pathfinder campaign character I had made. I started with rough sketches, wondering what he might look like and why. 1. S
Spring Harvest, Spectrum, and the Sunshine ahead
A lot has happened since Feb. 17th, my last blog post. Isn't that always the case? I can't even begin to tell you everything that's happened let alone any fraction of what's raced through my mind. I'll begin with what I decided was most important when 2015 began and go from there. In January I submitted to the Spectrum juried annual, as a part of a 'blood' p
My First Week at Watt's Atelier
As of this previous Saturday, I finished my first week at Watt’s Atelier in Encinitas, CA. A lot of my friends and family know that one, if not the only, reason I recently relocated this past July to San Diego, CA was to attend this school. To tell you I knew this school would be what I have found it is, before I moved, would be a lie. I came here on a notio
Watts Atelier 2019 Boot camp
I choose to do the sample MTG style brief, "Inspiring Angel". After reading the description, I tried to come up with reasons why she was inspiring or how she might inspire. This thumbnail shows the angel being the rallying hero the viewer would look up to. Thrusting up through the heavens, "Onward to victory!", she'd yell, as a beacon in the dark. This thumb
Watts Illustration BootCamp 2020
Art Assignment 2: The Wizard and The Dragon Description: Illustrate a scene in which a wizard type character is fighting a Dragon in an epic battle. The Wizard and Dragon should be your own designs. The location and time period is your choice. Feel free to explore a cross genre theme. For example Wildwest/Fantasy, or Sci-Fi/Fantasy. The designs of the charac