A ''Thank You'' Message to You...

"You won't get better until you pick up that pencil and use it. :3" ~ 

"Hearing "I can't draw" all the time that I have ended up getting tired of it. Everyone can draw, everyone has their own style. Even a line on a  paper is art, just some splats on a music paper is also art. Art is what so meets the eye, there are no "correct" way draw, you just let your inspiration go through the pencil and let it out on the paper." ~ 

"Anyone who believes in this stamp is doomed when it comes to art. If you  can't believe in your own ability to get better and give up when things  get tough then you'll never move forward.

One of the worst things you can do is compare yourself to someone completely out of your current range of abilities. Start at the bottom and build up and NEVER be afraid to make a few mistakes along the way. Mistakes are one of the greatest teaching tools out there." ~ 

"Haha, I dunno about that! When I was a young(er) artist, a lot of people  told me I sucked, and would nitpick just quite exactly what it was I sucked at. I took it all with a grain of salt, but at the same time I took it seriously. If someone said the head of my character was lopsided, or if his chest looked wonky, then I'd have an idea of what to  improve on! 

And look at me now :3!" ~ 

"Indeed I do, It's just nice to get feedback from others when you post things. Nobody ever said I was bad,people just don't say anything at all.It's nice to at least hear a "good job" on this, or a "work on this"  sort of thing. Stuff that actually helps improve artistic ability. I don't upload to DA often just because I don't get any helpful feed back,  so I keep my stuff in my personal circles. Thanks for the concern/support, it's good to hear!" ~  and the responses:

"If you want comments that will actually improve your abilities, you're looking in the wrong place. Deviantart is full of asspats, can't get a legitimate critique (you're lucky if you can get a comment that's longer  than 3 words) to save your life." ~ 

"also I'd like to mention that, you're really young and your skills will be improving with the past of the time. Of course, that if you keep practicing... a LOT.

Don't worry, seeing by your gallery you have  good skills, you just need to take some tips and learn some drawing techniques.... I suggest drawing, painting, illustration and maybe comic  classes, all of them, it doesn't matter how good you become you will always find something new to learn and you will always have something to  improve.

Literature is really good btw, you may want to look after groups here on DA, most people here are anime fans, so if there's not cute drawings to see, they won't be interested... for literature enthusiasts you will have to look more deep here!

Good luck and don't give up!" ~ 

"That is so true We weren't born artists. Heck, I can start drawing right now, but I don't like it myself " ~ 

"So true. "Talent" is 99% elbow grease." ~ 

"This.

I also hate it when people are talking about "having the gift" or things like that. Being good at drawing is only hard work." ~

"Life isn't about "winning". It's about being yourself and learning to like yourself the way you are. When you do, people will like you better. Nothing to do with bad luck. You are making some of these things happen by being down on yourself and by hating the people around you. When you start growing up and being a little less self-centered, things will go better for you.

Try volunteering, to help people who are far worse off than you (maybe homeless kids?). It will change your perspective. Also, try making friends with shy girls. They can be a lot better friends than the conceited popular ones."~ RE

"Know what your problem is bud? You have a negative attitude about yourself, try changing that to a more positive one by saying to yourself I can Do this I can Win this I will win this, and the thing is you keep trying and trying until you get it right, NEVER EVER GIVE UP.

I was once your age a long time ago and I had a negative attitude about myself but you know what kept me going, I refused to give up, Luck? I don't generally believe in luck, you either got to be at the right place at the right moment or otherwise you're going to miss out, You are a young man and you have a long life ahead you, you still have many obstacle to overcome, you know you overcome obstacles? CONFIDENCE, my son.

Being confident, know that you can do that you have never done in your life. you know when I was a young boy I wanted to fly a helicopter, and when I got older I joined the U.S Army trained as a Helicopter mechanic And I got me a little stick time on a helicopter. I hope this helps ya out bud, and if ya didn't have bad luck you wouldn't have no luck at all don't ya think. Just remember think positive and you might get positive results" ~ Tom Dickas

"Carl,

1) Don’t lose the lesson when you lose in life.
To me this meant that I needed to understand what it meant to lose something, how that makes me fell and GROW from that experience. I use to sit and moan and cry why this happen, but I never thought about how to keep it from happening again and I would make the same mistakes. Or I acted poorly and lost the respect of others around me by the way I took the loss.
2) Great Love and Great Achievement, Requires Great Risk.

This is something I say to myself every day now, because I never took chances when I was young. I didn’t want to get hurt or become embarrassed in front of others. So I sat and watched everyone else get what they wanted and I thought to myself, ‘they have such great luck’. BUT it wasn’t luck; they were taking a chance for what they wanted. Some had luck, yes, like the ones I talked about above, who know have the messed up lives, but the others that were like me, were taking chances for what they wanted. Over time, I changed my outlook on life, I started to take chances – take risk and I found that the greater the risk I took the greater the payout. Yes, at times I failed, but when I did, I went back to life principal #1, DON’T LOSE THE LESSON. I would think about what I did and try again.

Carl, You’re first line said Girls like to choose other guys over you. I am going to lay some money on the line and say, I doubt you asked them out or if you did and they said no, you didn’t ask again. Then they went out with another guy and you feel like it is bad luck. I bet this just happened to you within the last week ?! I was always the same way, I am a ‘nice guy’ and as we are always told, ‘nice guys finish last’. I am telling you it doesn’t have to be that way. I started to take changes in my late 30’s and I took a “BIG RISK” and found the most perfect woman in the world. I would still be sitting at home playing Playstation if I didn’t make some big life changes.

I have applied the same principal in all areas of my life. If I ‘need’ something, I ask for it. If I ‘want’ something, I work for it. AND I look at my life today; wife, child, home, good job, happiness and I am content! I am a better person for working for what I want, not having it handed to me. I am happy and I show it. I listen to my friends who had everything handed to them when they were young and they are not happy, they would tell you that and best of all, they now look at me and are jealous of my life. 

Carl, Don’t worry about what other have. YOU make the difference in your life. Take Risks in Love and Life and don’t lose the lessons when you have set backs. Do this and contact me when your 30 and tell me how everything turned out. I have a feeling you will be just fine." ~ Mark