Links roundup

Design Sponge - biz ladies how to avoid burnout
Interesting article aimed at 'Creative Entrepreneurs' about avoiding burn out


Smashing Magazine - Common client difficulties or turning all clients into dream clients
 Aimed at web designers, but the problems are the same for most commission work

ArtOrder - Marketing yourself (3 part series)
Some ideas on marketing - mainly for fantasy/ sci fi artists and some of the articles are geared towards conventions/ fairs (in person marketing)


Lifehack - 20 quick tips for better time management
Short, succinct tips for time management. You may have heard them before, but always good to reassess when things aren't working.

Thoughts on commissioning artwork - an artist's perspective

I read a short snippet today on a game development blog, and the long and short of it was that they believed hiring 2D artists was difficult. I read this once. Then reread it. I read some of the comments. There were comments about freebie artists and people that worked for royalties, so I've got a feeling that this blog was by either amateurs or people with naive view points on the worth of an artist. Of course I could be completely wrong and they had just dealt with a few difficult artists. Shock, horror! Me suggesting artists can be fickle!? But it's true, we're human - some are better than others with dealing with the business sides of the art world. You get fantastic artists who work to deadline with contracts, email on time, are always professional ... and then you have others who are not so great, or even great 80% of the time.

I read this, and I thought to myself why would they be having such a difficult time? So from an artist's point of view, here's a few things I look for when considering a commission:

• Simple courtesies such as addressing the email to me, the artist. If I get an email with just 'Hi' or 'to the artist', my first question is whether this person is trolling for quotes and is doing a copy and paste. I always like to give the benefit of the doubt - maybe they are intimidated, maybe they want to appear formal, I don't know... I just prefer requests to come with simple politeness :)
• Tell me who you are. If you are doing work for an online site and it's up, tell me about it - give me a link - I will go and look
• Be specific as to what you want. Have a clear list of the kind of work you want, what rights you are expecting, sizes, deadlines, styles and budget. Think of it like buying a house or a car. If you came up to me and said, "I want to buy a house, what's it going to cost?"... and that's all you said, I couldn't give you an accurate cost. I'd say something like "Prices start from X, and go up to Y. What's your budget or what do you have in mind?"
  
  I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm trying to work out whether I can do you a deal, whether I can fit you in, whether I've got what you need. If you can't tell me what you want, there's probably going to be a lot of vague figures, or larger figures so the client doesn't try to use my quote for a one bedroom flat next to a railway line for an 8 bedroom mansion.
• If you have a deadline - say it up front. Many artists have secondary jobs/ commitments. It's like putting a rush job on something that's already been scheduled. An artist may have to delay someone else's work, forgo something in their social life or work insane hours to get stuff done.
• Consider the prices of things on the artist's website. Look at similar artists and their prices. If they say their going rate is X and you ask for a discount, expect the artist to ignore you or reply with a 'thanks, but no thanks'. Remember, for many artists, commissions are their bread and butter. If someone said to you 'I know you earn X an hour, but I expect you to work for me for free or %50 off' what would you say?
• Size doesn't always matter. 50 artworks at 200 x 200 pixes is just as much effort, if not more than a single painting which is 1000 pixels by 800 pixels. Think of it like cupcakes. 50 cupcakes as compared to 1 cake - both take effort, both have different challenges. And painting individual pieces means you quite often have to work at 2-3 times the intended size.
• Consider the artwork in the artist's gallery. If you want a Michael Whelan painting, and they draw like Picasso, chances are both the artist and the commissioner will walk away with something they don't like
• Expect to sign a contract. Even for small pieces an artist will probably write something up which tells both parties what the expectations are.
• Graphics are great ways to communicate. Talking in pictures often makes working out quotes that much easier. However that being said, understand that pictures have usage rights too and an artist won't be allowed to copy something exactly if the copyright belongs to someone else.

I'm sure there is more that I can add, but that looks like enough of a start. Anyone got other things to add?

Giving a critique to an artist

Sometimes you'll get requests for critiques, or even have someone give you one (whether you want it or not). So I thought I'd write a quick post on my thoughts about painting critiques (giving and receiving).

• The first point of etiquette - don't offer a critique if the artist has specifically said 'no critiques'. It's the quickest way to get added to that artist's dislike list. There are many reasons why an artist may not want a critique: it may have been done as a commission and they were working to spec or within tight deadlines, it may have been an experiment/ speedpaint/ never intended as a refined, finished piece, or they may just be having a crappy day and don't want someone to point out all the flaws they already can see in their own piece. And yes, artists do critique their own pieces - they don't always need someone else telling them what they can clearly see!
• Even when an artist has asked for a critique, don't take it to heart if the artist goes off their rocker at you (sadly I have seen all out flame wars start over critiques). If it's in a forum specifically designed for critiquing (complete with levels such as 'don't hold back' or 'be gentle') then it's easier to define what the artist is looking for. But when it's on a personal blog or in an open forum, maybe see if they do this kind of thing a lot and how they take feedback. Some people aren't really asking for a critique and will take it badly - even when you are kind.
• When you give a critique, do it with the intention of helping them improve. Offer suggestions, ask questions as to why they painted something in a particular way, point out areas that need to be worked on. There's a term called the 'hamburger critique' - basically it's about always following a negative with a positive (the negative being the meat between the two pieces of bun).
• Ask before doing a paintover or a redline - there can be some legal and ethical questions when someone else adds their 'hand' to a painting. And some artists just don't like redlines (personally, I think they are great as I think visually)
• Watch the language. You can tell someone that you dislike an area of the painting, or something looks wrong without being mean. State the problem, keep emotional words out of it. 'The leg looks horrible' has a vastly different meaning to 'There's a problem with the character's leg - I think it may be because...". 
• Words can hurt. Try to avoid words like ugly, horrible, crap ... you get the picture. These are emotive words - the kind that if you were talking to the artist in person would have them in tears, or punching your lights out :) If you can't say it to them in person, then maybe you shouldn't say it online.
• Just because you offer a critique, don't expect the artist to heed your advice. There may be reasons why they did something in a particular way or with a particular colour - and considering it's their painting, they have the right to ignore your advice. Even if they don't use it, they may think about your comments for a future painting - so your words are important even if they don't appear to be acted upon.
• It's alright to ask about the concept, but just remember that it's an interpretation. The artist is not asking for example whether you think Morgan Le Fay was a goddess, fairy or chick with really cool clothes. The painting is their vision and just because it doesn't gel with your interpretation doesn't make it bad. However, you could ask about whether the colour scheme or costumes were influenced by a particular school of thought. Sometimes concept can influence colour choices, textures and symbols, and can help reinforce questionable areas of a painting.
• Don't critique the subject matter - if you think that all angels should be painted with white wings, that's not a critique - that's a personal opinion. It doesn't help the artist. But if you think that white wings would better help reinforce that the angel is a pure being then that is a critique.
•  Be careful if you are comparing an artist to another artist. It can come across as you suggesting the artist is a copycat. Of course there are some cases where the artist has taken influence - but mostly they tend to mention it (either in comments about inspiration or favourite authors). And there are cases where both artists have unwittingly worked from the same stock image or just had very similar ideas.
• Read the comments the artist has posted with the painting - and read the context of where it's posted. Telling the artist they need to work on the hands when they've stated in their own comments they need to work on the hands tells the artist you can't read!
• Be familiar with painting terms - especially with digital art. Calling something a paintover when it's a painting is about the highest form of insult you can manage. Photo manipulation, paintover, 3D render and digital painting are all completely different techniques. It can be seen as a backhanded compliment if you think a painting looks like a photo, but more often than not it insinuates the artist has cheated in some method or used what could be seen as short cuts.
• If there are lots of responses already, at least have a quick flick through to see whether what you've got to say has already been said. Sure, saying the same thing will reinforce the issue, but telling someone three times that their lighting is off just gets annoying after the first few times
• It's also alright to disagree with comments by others. A critique is subjective.
• And as mother always said, if you've got nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.

9 Free Photoshop brush resources

I was trawling for some specific brushes for photoshop. Here are 9 interesting sites

Free Photoshop brushes, textures and patterns
With over 5000 brush collections, 200+ patterns and nearly 200 textures, the collections are sourced from all over the web. Search by keyword, or look at the tag collections.

Brush King
Focusing on brushes, the collection includes over 7000 brush sets, with an easy to navigate set of categories. It also has a nice selection of general photoshop tutorials.


Quality Photoshop Brushes
While not all of these brushes are free in every single way, the collection focuses on quality rather than being a collection of everything. Features a user rating system, search and browse by tag functions, and if you go to the blog, you'll find some QBrush specially created brush sets.

In Obscuro - resources by Nela Dunato
Ok this is a collection of resources by one artist, but I really like her brushes. Her tutorials are nice and simple, focusing more to web design than art, but with brushes, textures and some lovely basic web templates, this is a site worth dropping by.

Get Brushes

GetBrushes.com is free Adobe Photoshop brushes directory, featuring handpicked collection of the best brushes for Photoshop on the net, all free to download and use.

Here you’ll find PS brushes for every style and taste, ranging from always popular decay & grunge brushes, over abstract and tech, to gothic, coffee spills, hair, or fractal inspired brushes for photoshop. Have a look around.. and, well, have fun (Blurb from the website)

 PS Brushes
 This site, while the site and content don't jump out and make you want to download the brush set because of all the glittery pages, I really like the interface that shows you the detail of the brush on screen. The brushes are sorted by category, and while there's only a small number of brushes online (500), this is a site that I hope increases in size and use.

 Brusheezy
Featuring a large collection of brushes, patterns, textures, PSD files, actions, shapes, styles and gradients, this is a one stop location for all things photoshop.

I did find the site a little slow to use, but it may have been my internet connection at the time.

My Photoshop Brushes
A nice collection of brushes, patterns, custom shapes, styles and gradients. The tutorial on creating your own custom brush is nice and simple to follow.

Photoshop Free Brushes

More brushes, this contains some different collections I didn't see on the other sites. The only thing that would make this nicer was if the liceses were displayed with the brushes, rather than having to go to the brush maker's website for usage details.





Images are copyright their respective owners. I did grabs of the images in order to more easily define the sites. When using brushes/ resources from online, please read the licenses/ image usage policies.

Taming the RSS Feed (December EMG Zine)

I love learning and I'm always eager to improve the way that I do things. This is probably a good thing considering my core field is technology! However like a lot of people I am often time poor. Some of it is through disorganisation and bad time management (hey, I never said I was perfect!), but other times there are just so many competing tasks that things fall off the wagon.

I’ve found that if I really want to do something, I have to build it into my daily routines – make it like brushing my teeth or making the bed. And if I make it something that doesn’t take much time at all, it’s easy to move around if necessary, but more importantly is easy to fit in. One such thing I’ve found increasingly useful has been spending 10-20 minutes each day flicking through my RSS feeds.

Art supplies for the part time painter (EMG Zine November)

Don't have time to go to the art shop? What can you get from your every day supermarket/ grocery store, newsagency or shops that you regularly visit that you can use as tools? Many of you are probably already using these or have heard of the techniques described, but I thought I'd collect a 'shopping list' of supplies!

Of course you are not going to find artist quality paints, or sable paint brushes, but there are plenty of things that you can add to your artist toolbox that are cheap, available from general shops, and can extend out your toolset or allow you to experiment, particularly if you don't have time (or money) to visit the art shop.

Some interesting articles

At the moment I'm on a bit of hiatus from the art business, well at least commission work. But while I'm having a bit of down time, I'm refocusing on skilling up and getting together some portfolio pieces. That's not to say that I won't take on work that interests me and I have time for, and I won't be abandonning this blog as I continue to look for interesting articles, things to try and talk about my experiences in improving productivity, juggling things and improving my art.




How to clear you inbox when you're drowning
One of my favourite blogs, this article contains some great ideas on taming the inbox. A lot of the ideas aren't new, but it's always a good reminder.

"The beauty of an empty inbox is a thing to behold. It is calming, peaceful and wonderful.
An inbox that is overflowing with actions, urgent calls for responses, stuff to read … it’s chaos, it’s stressful, it’s overwhelming". (From the article)

How to design for your worst client - You
Not really a 'productivity' related article, but I found it a nice piece on designing your website. Maybe a few of the things mentioned may help you save time in the long run. While aimed at web designers, I think the content is relevant for anyone that relies on the internet as a business.

"In this article we’ll examine the barriers that hinder designing for yourself and reveal 10 rules to help you create the best design for yourself. Together we’ll squash that dark side in all of us." (From the article)

Perfectionism isn't bad in the long term
 An interesting discussion on perfectionism and excellence, and how perfectionism can prevent you from getting stuff done.

"The best ideas come from unusual sources. And some of the best productivity ideas I’ve come across lately come from a now-dead, 2500 year-old Chinese philosopher. Lao-Tzu, founder of Taoism may not be remembered for lifehacking, but with a few modifications, some of his ideas will help you get things done." (From the blog)

How to learn to let go and love it
An article about learning to turn over work for your business to someone else.

" Are you a control freak? I think we all are at times, some more than others. Over the course of the last few years, as my business has slowly grown, I have learned that a big key to success is learning to let go and not freak the hell out about it. If you find yourself freaking out at the thought of letting someone else do work for your business without you looking over their shoulder, then this post is definitely for you." (From the article)

Image courtesy: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Time Boxing the part time painter

I find it hard splitting my focus sometimes. I get so many competing tasks, so many different groups of people wanting different things from me, that there are days that I feel I'm not doing any work effectively.

Time Boxing is a technique that has been around for a while, probably has different names, but is most often referred to in the software development sphere. I thought I'd talk about it as it's a very simple but effective technique that can be applied to anything that you need to manage - particularly when you're shifting your mindset significantly.

Remaining arty when you don't have time (EMG Zine September)

Time is a precious commodity when you are a busy person. The more crazy you life, the less time you seem to have. And even when you get time, sometimes the last thing you feel like doing is painting, paperwork or marketing. There will be times when you have to choose, have to cut back, have to be realistic about how much you can do.

Meditation and the part time painter (EMG Zine)

I’m the first to admit being a stress bunny. Some days I thrive on it, other days it near wrecks me. In my everyday life there came a point where I needed to sit back and start learning how to relax. One of the relaxation tools I learnt was meditation. I’m not great at it, I get distracted easily, and I don’t do it anywhere near as regularly as I should. However I did find that a nice side effect of relaxation and meditation was the improvement to my creativity.

Links Shout out - Pattern Tap

"Pattern Tap is here to satisfy and encourage the inspiration needs of my interface design peers and peeps. We aspire to be the one stop pattern shop for your next inspiration need." (from the website)

Split by functionality, this is like a scrap book of design elements. Navigation, backgrounds, buttons, lists, icons, headers, tables etc, there are about 45 categories to browse through. Great for when you are trawling for inpiration, trends, or just really awesome designs to ooh and ahhh over! 

http://patterntap.com/

Links Shout out - Phoenix online graphics editor

Anyway, always the hoarder of cool links, there has been an increase in the number of online image editors available and this is one of them. It can be integrated to some online image galleries like Flickr, Facebook and Picasa, plus there are a stack of tutorials. It has a number of advanced features like layers and cloning tools. Of course it's no Photoshop, but if you're on the road and don't have access to anything but the internet, this kind of tool could be invaluable.

Phoenix online graphics editor

As always, make sure you read the terms and conditions on the site.

Links Shout out - The Beautiful Necessity

I like pretty sites. I like sites that have variety around their focus. The Beautiful Necessity is a site that looks at The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and features links to everything from sales of the original paintings, products and artwork inspired by the movement, costume design, films and tv, artists and a whole series of articles that may inspire, or just move you to drool :)

http://thebeautifulnecessity.blogspot.com/

How to prioritise competing tasks

In a previous column, I briefly mentioned working smarter, not harder. One of the things that I find difficult to manage at times is what to do first. You get so many things on your plate, you only have so many hours in the day, yet you are expected to complete everything NOW! When you have conflicting commitments and you can’t really drop them, how do you work out what to do first, and what to push to the bottom of the list?

First and foremost, have some way of keeping track of everything you have to do. There’s nothing worse than finding an email you forgot to answer... a year or two later. I’m guilty of that, in fact I know I’ve got a couple of way overdue tasks on my list! This is my way of working things out.

• Paid work should always come first! If you are a professional, you need to treat your paying customers like gold. They are your bread and butter. Being slow is ok, as long as you keep communications open and tell them you’re going to be slow. But never take money and renege on your contract or sale. It’s going to be hell on your reputation, and nothing travels faster than bad news!
• If you have two tasks of equal importance and one’s been in your in-tray longer, that’s the one that probably deserves your attention first. However, if it’s hanging around for ages – like months - maybe you should reconsider doing that task at all.
• The job that pays more bills is the one with the highest priority. Being an artist is important to me, but my day job pays all the niggly things like my mortgage and for food– so I’m not going to screw up that because I was up all hours painting! (Says the girl up til midnight painting on a ‘school night’ *ahem*).
• If a task seems too hard or you know that you are never going to get to it, you are entitled to boot it out the door. Don’t keep it on the list, there is seriously no point.
• If a task looks like it’s going to suck the life out of you and take forever, see if you can break it down into smaller tasks. An hour of sketching is a little more manageable than having to draw 50 line art pieces.
• Stuff you’ve bartered for should be treated the same as paid work. No one hates another artist who receives a trade and reneges on their promise. It’s just not cool. Don’t do it.
• Do fun tasks after you’ve done the ‘work’ stuff. Use it as a proverbial carrot (or in my case chocolate). If you do all the fun stuff first, you’re only left with boring, tedious things that will seem to take forever and ever and ever and.... so try and organise your tasks using this theory.
• Do 5 minute jobs NOW! Don’t procrastinate. Knock them over and get them out of the way.
• Be able to live with your decisions. Recognise that in order to do things well, you have to focus on one thing at a time!

And above all, learn to live with the fact that there are only so many hours in the day, only so much work one poor little trooper can do before they keel over, and that you are not in fact a superhero that can do 12 things at the one time. It just isn’t possible! As much as we would like it to be!

If you are interested in tools to help organise yourself a bit better, here’s a previous post I made on creating and using todo lists
http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/2008/03/organisation-1-todo-lists-and-part-time.html

Link shout-out - I Draw Girls

Links shout-out! A great collection of digital tutorials/ walk throughs that don't just focus on drawing women (despite the name). Even though this is mostly centred around fantasy & games art, there's plenty for any digital painter. There are zombies, ninjas, mecha, life drawing sessions, studies of old masters, free brushes, backgrounds and architecture. Worth losing yourself for a couple of hours. Check it out!

http://idrawgirls.blogspot.com/

5 online photo editors

Digital editing doesn't require expensive software. You don't even need to be home to access you desktop editor. Simply hook into the Internet and have a look at the 5 best online image editors (according to Lifehacker readers)

http://lifehacker.com/5307419/five-best-online-image-editors

What should you do when you need to take a break (EMG Zine May)

Working two careers can be exhausting. Sometimes you just need to step away from one to keep your sanity. It might be that your day job has taken over your life and you barely have time to cook dinner, let alone paint. It could be that you are a full time artist, and you find yourself doing more business and marketing tasks than painting and you need time to create new products. There could be family commitments, illness or injury.

Whatever the reason, how should you go about the process of cutting back on some of your commitments?

I've had to do this several times as my work peaks and recedes. Some months can be very cruisy, while others I have maybe an hour to myself all day. I still keep on working both jobs, however the balance is definitely skewed towards the day job at the moment!

So where to start?
1. Identify the 'dead wood' you can trim from your life
2. Ease back on commitments you can't get rid of, or don't want to drop i.e.simplify your life!
3. Work smarter

What should you look at getting rid of first?

• Things you hate. You know the tasks I'm talking about. They are the ones that you drag your heels on, avoid answering emails to, put in the 'too hard' basket. They suck the creativity right out of you. They bore you. They feel like work. If you're doing work like this, and have very little time to call your own, you will burn out.
• Things that don't make any money or you are doing for free. If you can't do the job, someone else can. And if it's free, unless you are doing it for your own reasons it is unimportant. If it was truly important, they'd be paying you!
• Things that are not cost or time effective. If you spend 10 hours making something, then sell it for a few dollars, then you are selling yourself short ... especially if your time is limited. Your time is a valuable commodity!
  

How to ease back on commitments and not disappear entirely

• Maintain an online presence somehow. Whether you use a blog, twitter, facebook, or mailing list, make sure you don't disappear of the face of the earth for 6 months at a time
• Finish the things that you've started or reschedule them. It's bad business to turn around on a client and say 'that painting I'm halfway through, well can't do it' if you really can still finish it. Reputation is still king when it comes to business.
• Prepare people for the change or give them alternate contact points. If you're closing down your shops, try and give people warning, or at least tell them you can still ship products, and give them a contact point.
• Try and ease back on things, one thing at a time rather than all in one hit. Sometimes this is unavoidable, but if things are gradually getting more and more hectic, you can try and start cutting back one thing at a time
  

How to work smarter?

This is for another column, but essentially it comes down to:

• Know thyself. Know your limitations, habits and strengths and work to them
• Learn to say 'NO' and to prioritise your tasks
• Value your time and energy
• Try not to over commit!

Shoutout - Smashing Magazine

Another shout-out to a great illustration and inspiration resource: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/. This site showcases talent, design tutorials, ideas for being a more efficient designer/ artist/ illustrator and a host of free resources. Beware, you may get sucked in for hours!

Jack of All Trades (EMG Zine April)

There's an old saying about being a jack of all trades and a master of none. While this saying is often about someone who never perfects anything, but rather can do lots of things adequately, from an artistic point of view there are many reasons why you may want to be a little more adaptable and flexible when it comes to subject matter and style.

So which is best? Being a specialist with a particular artistic bent, or being a generalist who can do lots of things, but doesn't specialise in any one thing? Here are some thoughts on the matter:

• "I never ever get bored with painting pink fairies with monarch butterfly wings".
  
  Being a specialist can be boring. If you have to paint the same thing, the same colour scheme, the same style ALL THE TIME, life can get a bit dull. Of course, if you are passionate about your speciality then it can be a never-ending exploration of something you adore. Kind of like chocolate or trashy romances. Some people could live their lives never eating another kind of sweet, or read anything else and that's ok.
  


• "Hey, aren't you that girl who paints the weird dancing turnips?"
  
  Is that really how you want people to remember you? And is that really what you want to get commissions for, for the rest of your life? As a specialist you can be pigeonholed. You can be defined by a particular moment in time -- much the same way an actor gets typecast. If you love dancing vegetables, then great, you won't have a problem, but if you don't, it can be very hard to escape from people's expectations.
  


• "Who are you again?"
  
  If you don't specialise, you can get lost in the crowd. Imagine yourself a bird of paradise amongst a bunch of pigeons -- You want and need to be noticed. Being memorable (for good reasons) is a way to build a fan base and get sales/ work.
  
  If you have many different skills and subjects that you can paint (competently), you open yourself to a greater variety of projects.
  


• "Why don't you ask her? She's the queen of painting purple unicorns!”
  
  Being a master in a particular field immediately makes you an expert whose advice is sought. This can be good and bad -- depends on if you are happy to answer questions, or even defend your position as an expert. There are a number of digital artists that are expert painters that essentially have to provide work in progress shots to 'prove' their method.
  


• "I have no brand!"
  
  Having many skills and doing many themes can make it difficult to 'brand' yourself. How do you want yourself to be known if you don't have something that stands out as representing 'you the artist'? As a specialist, your speciality is your 'brand'.
  


• "How dare you paint a space monkey? You're supposed to paint mermaids!"
  
  If you are a specialist, you can have violent reactions from fans when you don't paint what they expect. You'd be amazed at comments from so called fans when you change your style or your media. It doesn't matter what the reasons are, if you have a fan base for a particular reason, you do something different and you are bound to tick someone off!
  Sometimes specialisation only has a small fan base. You may be brilliant at what you do, but if there are only three people in the world who love your stuff, unless they are willing to be your patrons, you may need to broaden your artistic field.

So what is the best approach? Generalist or specialist? Well, it really comes down to a few things.

• You have to paint what you love or connect with. Whether it's a style, colour or subject. Things that have meaning to you, or you enjoy painting, generally come out better than something you loathe and struggle to paint.


• Know thyself. If you love to paint the same kinds of paintings, go for it. If you get bored with the same paintbrush between one painting and the next, you might be happier doing a bit of illustration, a bit of design work, and selling products as well.


• Skills regardless of specialisation are important. Without skills, you lose credibility.Finally, people grow and change. You might specialise in one thing for ten years, and then abruptly change and do something different. And that’s ok too!

Do I Really Paint Like That? The Artistic Post-mortem (EMG Zine March)

Even if your time is limited, there is one part of any project which is critical to help you improve. Whether you spend five minutes or a week, doing an artistic 'post-mortem' on completed works is a good habit to get into.

So what do I mean by this? Well, at my day job, we have what's called a 'post implementation review' -- it's where a bunch of people get together and dissect how the project went. Sometimes it's full of people patting each other on the back; other times it's full of people pointing fingers and burning effigies.

An artistic 'post mortem', for me, is where you apply the same principles to a completed piece of work and reflect on what went right, what went wrong, and more importantly, where the opportunities for improvement are. We don't always need a bunch of critics to tell us what is good or bad. One of the most important things an artist can learn is how to be critical of your own work. To help you become more reflective about your own work, try asking yourself some of these questions the next time you finish a painting:

1. What one thing would I do again?
   
   This can be something as simple as using a particular color, waiting for a wash to dry, or using a particular stock photographer. Sometimes the smallest thing that works can lead to a brilliant new style or technique.
   


2. What is one thing I'd never do the same way?
   
   Everyone makes mistakes. Some are small, some are huge. Even if something is successful, you might decide for example that you never ever, and I mean never, choose to paint a picture with more than five roses in it.
   


3. What one thing did I do in the piece that I could improve on for the next one?
   
   Be critical. If you took a shortcut like placed someone's hand behind their back, or relied too heavily on one photo reference, aim to paint at least a few fingers or sketch a hand. Don't get stuck and never improve. Everyone can improve.
   


4. If I could do the piece in a different medium, what would it be and why?
   
   Sometimes when you finish a piece, although it was a success, you feel that it may have turned out differently if you'd made a different choice in media. Would a pencil sketch be better as a digital painting, should you have used oils instead of watercolours, or would a photo have been more effective?
   


5. If I had twice as long to do this piece, how could I have improved it?
   
   Time is always a factor. When you are doing this part time, sometimes you have a limited window in which to complete work. Even if you paint full time, you might have several project on the go at once. When you are finished, work out what you rushed through, what you slaved over, and see where you skimped.
   


6. What part did I take the longest on, and could I have been quicker?
   
   You can get bogged down in the details. That 8 hours you spent painting fur -- will it actually be noticed when the piece is printed out as a greeting card? Practice speed painting to improve your abilities to render image quicker and more effectively.
   

The key to asking questions about your own work is to work out what you need to do to improve. It's not about beating yourself down, comparing yourself against others, or giving yourself a complex. It's about learning to take off the rose coloured glasses and see your work as it is. If you can't see you own strengths and weaknesses, you can't necessarily take criticism, and you certainly can't improve or grow.