An update on my attempts to better learn composition

Hi, patrons!  I hope all is going well. If anyone wants to get anything of their chest, go ahead and plop it down in the comments! I'm interested in how allzyall are doing.

As for me, composition stuff is really going pretty well. There's always this point in trying to learn something where I look at the uphill slope ahead and there is just much wailing and gnashing of teeth and it's hard to get started. I have some big fear of failure AND success.

However, it is something I very much want to do so I take my weeping and gnashing ass up the mountainside, rending my  garments all the way.

A lot of my studies are just referring to my books, lectures, etc. so there's not a terrible lot to show. I've managed to shift my brain into taking visual language into account while I work, which is the biggest step. From then on out it's a lot of trial and error and really, using my intuition after taking in a lot of theory.

Because art is a language it's like learning correct French after speaking bunk French for years. Which is tricky! It's tricky and it's exhausting, especially on sub par sleep.

Something I'm still learning to get a handle on is when and where to push either to the more realistic or more interesting, compositionally. Because I like to fool around with illustrative stylistic elements rather than, essentially, create my own Ansel Adams or other photo realistic works, the world is wide open. It's tricky. It's just tricky!

I could stand to be less of Franz Kafka (neurotic and severely doubtful) and I'd probably move along faster. Personality flaws are difficult to uproot.

But Kafka is remembered fondly and so I can be also. I just have to keep on Making.

On that note, the really funny thing about all of this AI nonsense, which is largely terrible for artists, is that I see the normals falling for really flawed computer-generated art and I'm like: Well if that crap can pass maybe I can bluff my way through art after all!

Mind you, I don't mean that I just want to slack off and stop improving myself, but it takes the sting out of mistakes and failures. I'm not quite so terrified.

I could ramble on forever but I'll leave other thoughts for another time.

Live well, my babies!