Practice Makes Perfect - Strength and Weakness

You have done your subject matter research for both inspiration and technical skills. Now comes the time to put all this effort to the test and go for it. Whether it be drawing, 3D modeling, music / audio, programming etc. Whatever your interest is,  just do it. Take the learning and apply it! Don't give up.

The first attempts may not be great but look objectively and see what is wrong. Even better is to have an "authority" critique your work. Have a mentor or instructor do an honest critique. Find a professional industry group on LinkedIn and post your work for feedback. Compare your work to the pro's whose work is online; refer to your inspirational research.

Remember to work at what you are not good at. Our default / safe strategy is to do what we know. You will not get better if you do not work on your weaknesses. Find what you are not good at and practice until you get better. That will make you a more well rounded and quality artist in the end. Practice makes perfect. The more you practice the easier it gets.

Becoming a Subject Matter Expert Part III: Technical Aspects

OK. Will assume you now know who are the top people are in the area you want to pursue. Next step is to look into what hardware and software is needed for the job. Do you have a firm grasp of these tools. Are there any special techniques that will give you what you want more quickly.

Having classes teaching you the basics is essential but you need to go further. What resources are there to teach you more? Search for online tutorials or books that go deeper. Sift through YouTube. Do Google searches on subject matter / technique. Find forums / user-groups that ask the right questions and give good answers. See if the experts you discovered have created resources or are pointing you in a certain direction. Use industry related sites to see how the technology is changing and what is now being used. Read reviews on books / people who supply information and specify the sites and resources that give you maximum info with minimal fluff. Start bookmarking the the best sites you find.

 If you can afford it there may be some tutorial sites that provide a wide amount of info for a monthly charge in multiple disciplines. Try these three as a start; http://www.lynda.com/, http://www.vtc.com/index.php, http://www.totaltraining.com/. Seek out which ones are the best and give them a go.

More to come.