Do you need to draw EVERY day? - Work fast and focused.

How many hours per day should you spend drawing? How to stay focused on your goals, and still make time for the other important things in your life.

Games I've worked on -
Fortnite (Environment concept art)
Overwatch (Environment concept art + Sprays artwork)
League of Legends (Character design + Environment concept art)
Diablo 3 (Character design + Environment concept art)
Hearthstone (Illustration)
Burning Crusade(Character design + Environment concept art)
Wrath of the Lich King (Character design + Environment concept art)
Indivisible (Environment concept art)
Final Fight Streetwise (Voice Acting + Character Design + World Design + Cutscene Direction + Co writer on script)
He Man GBA (Pixel Art)
Terminator 3 GBA (Art Direction + Pixel Art)
Terminator 3 (Art Direction + Pixel art)
CannonBallers (Character + World design)
Ikeda: The Scrap Hunter (Programming + Art + Design)
Goblins and Gnomes (Concept Art)

Books available-
Twilight Monk Secrets of Kung Fulio (2020) - Illustrated Novel
World Of Twilight Monk Vol 1 (2019) Art Book
The Man and the Moonken (2019) - Illustrated Novella
The Beast of Tuksa (2018) - Illustrated Novella
Twilight Monk (2012) - 2 Graphic Novels
Nova Colony (2009) - 1 Graphic Novel
CreeD (1993-2007) - Comic Book Series
Ghost Rider (2000) - Comic Book Series
The Fuzz (1997) - Comic Book

[CATELlegend]

Be the best of them all? Man, be better than you were yesterday. Just stop looking at others work. You are you. You have your time and your style. You are unique.

[dernxo]

"You are what you do everyday"
Me: I am a cry

[SamReevesWrites]

I am 49 and have focused on art only for a few months. An artist friend recently told me that I might have 10 good years ahead--5 to learn and 5 to work. I reminded him my dad lived to be 80 and Dad's mother was 95. Maybe my friend assumed I would want to retire? So, okay, yes, I wish I had discovered art when I was twenty. But back then, living in an area where 'culture' was limited to beer drinkin' and deer huntin', a career in art was not even a consideration. "Well, lookie there! Sam thinks he's going to be one of those fancy artistes! Ha-ha!" So, I spent a few decades mistaking myself for a writer. (Don't ask me why that was more like a 'real job, ' but in my mind it was.) Writing was a decision I made on a whim, and then it became my hope to rescue me from the 9-to-5 rat race. I loved reading, but I never loved writing. (Although I told myself I did.) And I never saw any success. Why? Because I found every reason not to do it. (It's amazing how much housework I got done.) Now that I sketch and paint, I spend most of my day practicing, trying to improve. I go to bed thinking (joyfully) about lines and brush strokes--I am practicing in my head. I wake up wanting to get to the canvas as soon as possible. When I am out, every few minutes I will see something new and think, "I would love to paint that." These kinds of feelings never happened with writing. What I am trying to say is that we need to learn the difference in 'wanting to write' and 'wanting to have written' (and the same for painting or any other art we dubiously claim to pursue). We need to be honest with ourselves. Giving up our hobby, what we are 'supposed to do with our lives' feels like hollowing out your soul. But if we don't let go of that fear, we lock ourselves in a prison of misplaced devotion. Believe me--something else will come along, and if it's the right fit, you won't miss what came before. Let it go if it isn't you. It wasn't wasted time. It is just one of the stages you needed to go through to get to who you really are. Like Edison said, "I didn't fail a thousand times. The lightbulb was an invention that required a thousand steps."

[robostain_]

I'm almost 30 and I've been an "aspiring" artist for 12 years now. Shit.

[Dmitry]

Short answer - yes, you need to practice daily to improve your skill.
It’s applicable to a lot of activities

[toastyjins]

This video really opened my eyes to draw more. I’m one of those ppl who play A LOT of video games or stay on my phone all day when I have free time. I always look at other successful artists and I feel discouraged but I knew why. I wouldn’t practice. The most I would draw is 30 mins lately. I think it’s time to set the phone down and put my time into art. ( still gonna play video games and watch anime but not as much anymore )

[Sky-deoy]

I believe sacrificing everything for anything will just lead to burn out. I can't relate to anyone being so passionate about something that they can sacrifice all else. I don't agree with you in that I don't want to sacrifice my social life and working on my mental health for anything. My friends are incredibly important and essential to me. It's been tough and it's the first years I I've able to have a good circle of people who care about me and don't hurt me so I wouldn't trade that for anything. Having a complicated childhood did bring me closer to art but it was really damaging. I have to fight myself everyday to be ok and do anything. if I would have had the ability to overwork myself for art to the point of isolation like I wanted to a couple of years ago I have a feeling my mental health would have gotten worse instead. That's just one consequence. Burnout is no laughing matter. It's been a year where I haven't been enjoying or doing art because of the pressure of the unreachable and high expectations I placed on myself when I decided I wanted art to be my job. And I'm just a young artist yet.
I'm glad your way seems to have worked for you and you're happy about it but It worries me to see young artists thinking the way to be successful at art is to sacrifice your social life, put aside your mental health and work until you burnout. Older artists have the duty of looking out for the younger ones in the community. There's not just one path to sucess. With all respect, that's the way I feel, hope it doesn't come off too harsh. Thanks for the video regardless.

[ThinkThankDelete]

i rarely comment on videos, but this really hit home for me. ive stopped playing video games and have been focusing on creating a beat and digital art piece everyday for the past 52 days now and i've already noticed a huge improvement. it's always been a struggle for me to be consistent which is why i think it's extremely important to create everyday and put it out there whether you think its good or not. not to mention how crucial it is to surround yourself with people who have similar goals as you.

i've noticed all of the artists i admire have an insane work ethic and are obsessed with their craft. even though it may be unhealthy at times, it's worth it if you truly love doing it.

i don't know why but creating art really is therapy. shooting for 90 days, so we'll see how it goes. thanks again

[TrentKaniuga]

I want to clarify some comments made in the video. "You don't need to be a mega successful artist. But IF YOU DO WANT THAT, you will need to sacrifice a LOT to get there. If you want to be happy and healthy, you don't need to be a mega successful artist."
8:32 - "You only have to draw for as much as required to meet
your goal." But you should know that to work on the worlds biggest
games, you will have to make big sacrifices.

[ltgoonie]

ive been drawing a lot over the past 3 months and i can say for myself that i've improved a lot more, since i'm trying to do more things

[ElJoreto]

I wonder how many of us watching Trent's videos are 30+ years old and have given up almost all hope at some point. But just cling to that tiny bit of hope that keeps bringing us back to talk about these topics.
I personally gave up on concept art right after I turned 30 and faced a personal issue that pretty much permanently cut a lot of great opportunities. I gave up on my life long dream of being a concept artist, but a tiny spark kept the smallest fire inside me going, so I refused to give up on art as a whole. So even though I no longer want to be part of the big entertainment industry (movies and videogames) I still strive to inspire people, even if they never get to know my name. As long as an image I helped bring to this world sparked any kind of inspiration in their lives.
I hope many of us "older" people get to do whatever keeps our souls burning bright. I wish everyone luck in their own personal journey, and I thank Mr. Kaniuga for being the shiniest beacon of hope for us "stray artists" :D

[JPdrrraws]

Thank you, Trent. Length of the video was welcomed. I'm 32 with family and I still pursue my art passion. Working in the art field and freelancer for 4 years now. There is a lot where to grow!!! This still bite me! What helped me a lot is to sit down alone and write everything what do you think is your role, purpose, of life for you. Ask the right questions about your life and your self. This was one of my major twist. I can recommend everyone to do the same. There are tools how to do it online everywhere these days.

[MosaicSplash]

I like hearing this. I feel too often I hear people say “take a break you work too hard” but I know for my goals I need to work a lot harder and I want to be encouraged to do that! (with breaks and stretches to avoid injury of course!)

[inkfree]

The honesty is extremely refreshing. Thank you.

[Macacos]

I’m not an aspiring artist. I did study art, then became a designer and I work in the tech world, leading a team that mostly designs software interfaces. I draw on my spare time, occasionally, way below the level I wish I could attain. Also, I’m almost 47 but I must say, this video was absolutely inspiring. “Death will find you”. Period, that’s it. Decide what you want to do until then.

[Daniel-qiqv]

The way you talk to your audience is the thing I love most about your videos you don't sugarcoat for shit. Art is hard as fuck and it requires an unholy amount of time and dedication. if you are not committed then you already failed. Keep up the great vibes ma dude cheers.

[Starksyt]

this is actually some quality advice. I need to go all in from now on even if I think It's not worth it all the hard work I put in will be because in the end, raising your skills, pursuing your goals, living through the good/bad times, and actually enjoying what you do more than anything else is more important than working somewhere you know you won't be happy doing whatever it is you're doing. It's time to change from aspiring-working artist to just working artist and leave it at that. Thank you for the video

[nefipena]

Man, just found your channel a couple days ago, and your words, your advices, ruthless and honest, talks to me very in a very deep way, with so many issues going on inside and out of my head, thanks for sharing

[aryanmrd]

your tutorials are just what I missed in my art career, thank you so much for sharing them.

[Hynotama]

I think a lot of people don't realize what it means to turn your hobby into your work. Drawing for work is stressful, it comes with deadlines and requirements. It opposes creativity itself. It's nowhere near the same as drawing for passion.