a question for all aspie artists out there- please help

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Thanks, I'm glad you liked the work.

I have indeed done some book illustration. Some of those illustrations were for my own short stories, but there were also some for other writers. Luckily I was able to do all the negotiating etc online so there was no problem with the social phobia. There are actually one or two more recent book covers to add to that gallery, I must really get the site updated.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked the work.

I have indeed done some book illustration. Some of those illustrations were for my own short stories, but there were also some for other writers. Luckily I was able to do all the negotiating etc online so there was no problem with the social phobia. There are actually one or two more recent book covers to add to that gallery, I must really get the site updated.

Ye I know what you mean by procrastination. Most of my class are huge procrastinators yet they still manage to work quickly. I also have a habit of over complicate things which just adds to the confusion.
I added another thread to get opinions on a painting I am working on. It's the first work of my own that I am undertaking that is not for a college brief. I am a bit lost due to my tendency to over complicate things.

Ha! nobody overcomplicates paintings as much as I do I have a proper Aspergers obsession with detail - I'm constantly fighting the urge to add more details LOL. I'm the same when I'm writing stories or composing music

It's unreal. I don't even plan to be so detailed, it just happens. How long have you been a practicing artist? I never know when to stop with rendering. I think I may stick to just one material because otherwise I would spend absolutely ages trying to get it perfect. I don't know how much my obsession for detail is but it is definitely holds me back.

I left art college in the 80's and have been working professionally as an artist on and off since then. Though TBH I was a bit of a child prodigy and could sculpt realistically even at the age of eight, so I've been an artist all my life! (I'm 50 now so that would be 40+ years of art)

These days I prefer to teach art to actually doing it as that is easier for me - I can just tell people what to do then let them do the work LOL.

So there is hope for me yet. Hopefully I can make it as far as you have. All I want is to be able to survive doing what I have a keen interest in.

Biggest piece of advice I can give you is to be realistic and remember that you have Aspergers.

If you are anything like me you will have a tendency to want to please people too much, this leads to me telling them a pice of work can be done quickly. Very often I would estimate maybe three days to do a job, because I knew that technically that was how long it should take. In reality it would take more like two weeks because of my Aspergers. This would stress me out because I was unable to keep my promise to the clients. And I would get upset that I was incapable of finishing in three days when I knew it was possible - reinforcing my poor self image of myself as a professional artist.

So when people ask how long an illustration will take, be honest - with yourself as well as with them. If they question the timeframe, tell them you are busy (makes you look good too since being busy means you are popular) just don't tell them you will be busy procrastinating

If you can avoid letting the job stress you out too much, and accept that you might not make a huge amount of money, then I'm sure you will get to where I am now. I don't care if I'm poor so long as I'm happy

Very true. All of it. Thanks for the advise.

Also, being autistic can be an advantage. There is a big art scene now called "outsider art".

Have you tried music to help you concentrate? I work in Photoshop for hours at a time and usually only spend a little time in research, more if the commission is more complicated, for instance if it involves armor.

what's outsider art? I do listen to music. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. It has gotten a little easier since I started the thread so I guess it is something that I'll have to keep working on

Outsider art is art done by people outside the art scene, like the mentally ill or people that built elaborate things in their garage that no one found out about until they died.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art

I'm also into pop surrealism, sometimes called lowbrow art:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowbrow_% ... ovement%29

The outsider art is interesting. I'm not sure if I fall into that category as I am trying to be trained in common classical illustrative practices. But still I can relate having spent a short time in a psychiatric ward and spending time with mentally ill people.

Outsider art is art made by people who don''t know anything about the history of art, and they never studied art at all.

I would hesitate to define it too rigidly, it's just creative people who work outside the art scene. Maybe they read about art history, maybe not.