Art Advice Archive #2 (follow-up)

Oh hey! It's the same question-asker from the first entry of this relatively new series! (link to the previous post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/art-advice-1-44121725 )
Their follow-up was less directly a question, but I still felt I could maybe help out some more - so here's a short overview of what their follow-up reply touched on:

QUESTION: (excerpt)

"...I don't spend much time on Art Station but from what I have  observed, many of the amazing images are great but I still struggle to  think of:
-did they do line art?
-what was their inspiration?
-how long will it take to draw something like this?
- how much can a push my weak ass PC to draw this?
- how can I study such precise anatomy, shading, textures?

"...."

"... I started to think... This might not be the best career choice for me... So I took a break.

some time past and I thought, "I'll give digital art another chance!" I'd  been watching speed painting, online classes, year old streams on shade  levels, human anatomy, animal anatomy, how to draw textured skin, which  softwares are best for digital art on a low budget... etc... and I've  now got a better, less empty view of what this career is all about...."
- Deviantart User


ANSWER:

Man, art is tricky, but the question about career choice doesnt have to be such a tricky question! It all boils down to this: Can you enjoy drawing even when it is "work"?  

If yes, then it's just a matter of time, and keeping at it until you are getting paid for what you do! Plenty of people don't do the transition from hobbyist to professional, simply because they don't enjoy making art as "work". Skill and technique are secondary - Those come with time spent, and things learnt - anyone can sit down and learn how to draw a tree, how muscles work, how to shade fur etc. Some people learn faster than others, some need guidance, others can do their own learning - but not everyone wants to do art as a career - you can't fake enjoyement ! So if you come to a moment where you decide to simply see how far you can go with art - then you have your answer - art is a career option for you because you would like it to be!

And I could maybe clear some stuff up concerning your questions on those Art station type artworks!

-lineart depends! Some styles are more obvious than others, ( https://www.artstation.com/artwork/eemG6 <-obviously uses lineart) and yes sometimes people will do lineart even if the result ends up looking like it's purely painted shapes - But every artist has their own tricks and methods to their art process. Some are more comfortable sketching with shapes instead of lines, other need to have clear line-bases before putting in any color/shading, and others might totally mix it up with every new piece.

You sometimes find artists include the previous stages of the artwork too: 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0V1Y5 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0JQ4E 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ybeBD3 

-inspiration, you can actually go to individual artists' pages and get a rough estimate of their inspiration sources if you click through their "likes" section! But if you are wondering about smth like their "main inspiration", you'd have to ask them directly, if they even have one - because the longer you create art, the more artists you see, and the more inspirations you'll get! The concept of having 1 singular source of learning, is more common with studying "old masters" like when you'd be an apprentice to a classical painter, you'd learn only from this 1 painting master. Nowadays with online connectivity, you have access to so many more artists' work.

-How long? depends again. If you're asking for the time spent on art pieces, it'll sometime be 2 hours, other times 30 hours. And if you mean "how long to learn to draw like that" it once again depends - some artists decide in their 20's to get into art, and spend just 1 year intensely learning and practicing, and get a job within the next. Others start young and have spent a decade learning parallel to their growth as a person. You can ask 10 different artists and get 10 different answers. Some will take breaks for a year, others will do intense months of studying to improve, others take it easy and just draw whenever they feel like it etcetc. 

As a sidenote, I myself have been drawing since 2008 when I was 10-11, but I only started to get thoughts of "going professional" in 2016. So that's 8 years of just drawing as a hobby, which means I sometimes only drew once a month for example - and those years were then followed by 4 more years of looking into what to learn, what to study, how to improve etc. I just turned 23 and I'm still not exactly doing the type of jobs I want to - but I hope to get there within the next year or two!

-Well if your PC has issues with drawing programs, and you do intend to make this your career, it'd be a "career investment" to get a new PC ;3 but as long as you dont have lag when you're drawing, the only main thing to worry about is sudden crashes. Which just means you'll have to make a habit out of saving often. Other than that, complex looking illustrations aren't necessarily that heavy on your computer. There are ways to draw without using that much energy ( usually a question of how many different layers you are using - you technically could use only 1, if you're doing digital paintings )

- how to study precise anatomy, texture etc : Bit by bit! You gotta start somewhere, there are books, videos, classes - on plenty of art related fundamentals, and you can start anytime to look into learning. You can start with things you already enjoy drawing - do you enjoy drawing the eyes whenever you draw a creature? Then google some image references of different animal eyes and compare how accurate your drawings are and what you might be missing! 

There sadly aren't any quick tricks and shortcuts to learning , this is a process that is equal in work digital and traditional, no matter the medium. A sculptor will need to learn anatomy, just as much as a digital artist and a painter. 

But if it's any help, here's a piece of mine from 2009 https://sta.sh/0mwvgi0uiv1  and here's my artwork now https://www.deviantart.com/remarin/art/Lycanthrope-Human-860308375 it took a while, but remember, I didn't start to think seriously about practicing until 4 years ago.

I'm glad to hear you're getting back into art! Though don't hesitate to take breaks if you're starting to feel demotivated, it can be healthy to give yourself time to breathe when things start feeling stressful. Sometimes they simply are necessary for your growth!