Illustration – The Art of David Stankowicz

A New Year and New Beginning

A fresh start to invigorate an artistic career

Hope you all are enjoying the new year!

Even though we are already just about a month in, I wanted to talk a bit about my game plan going forward with my artwork and this website. Much like every year, I have big plans and aspirations on what I want to accomplish. While I’ve fallen short in the past on many of those goals, I’m hopeful that this year I will change all that.

The year has already started off on a good note. At the beginning of the month, I began a new job as a full time Graphic Designer! I’ve been clamoring a good long while for a creative position like that, so those closest to me will know that a huge weight that I’ve been carrying has been lifted off my shoulders. I quite enjoy graphic design and I’m really liking the job so far, but if you’ve been following me for any amount of time then you’ll know that this isn’t the final destination for my career. My dream is to be able to make a living off my illustrations and character designs. This new job is a great leap in the right direction but I still hunger for that full time illustrator role.

That is one minor downside to this new job. Since it is full time, it has taken a lot of the time away from me working on new and current illustration projects. I’m now in a position where I have to use what ever time I have each day and week to work on artwork as best I can. That means that now there will probably be even longer periods of inactivity both here on my site and the few social media pages I use (which I still hate by the way). I am still drawing and creating whenever I can. If you don’t see or hear from me for a while, just know I’m working on things that are taking longer now that I have limited time throughout the week. The big takeaway here is that I will still be drawing and illustrating because I enjoy it too much and I still want to share my characters and stories with the world. Graphic design is nice, but I still want to be a full time illustrator, so I am continuing to reach for that.

I am still drawing and creating whenever I can

One of the things I hope will strengthen that effort is the way I intend to use this website. I may have stated this before, but I want this site to be the the central hub for all things related to my artwork. In the past I was only really using it as a portfolio site with galleries of some of my better original work and nothing more. Recently, though, I have begun to add other ways to broaden how you view and interact with the website. One of them is the inclusion of this blog, where you can hear news, info, and updates straight from the horses mouth with no limitations. That was a great idea as I now have a way to speak my mind and let you all know what is happening with my artwork in a more direct fashion. The other change I made even more recent is the ability to support my art by selling prints of illustrations, commissioned work, and individual donations. As a goal to make this a one stop shop for anything with my artwork, it just made sense to make these options available here versus using another site like Etsy, Redbubble, Ko-fi, and etc. There is another idea I have planned to try and I’ll be announcing what that is very soon. Stay tuned…

So that is where things are at right now. The year has just begun, and while there have been some big changes already, some things have stayed the same. My desire and passion to keep creating colorful and appealing characters/illustrations has and will never waver. I’m also continuing the development of my comic starring my characters Potato & Bimm so that I can finish it by the end of this year, which is very exciting! Many exciting possibilities that I am optimistic can become a reality. My time has become more scarce now, but all that means is that I need to become more focused than ever before. The visions and goals I’ve set for myself are right in front of me, and to reach them all I have to do is…

Keep Moving Forward!

January 27, 2022January 27, 2022 by DStankowicz Categories: comics, Deep Thoughts, IllustrationTags: 2022, art, DavidDraws, drawing, dstankowiczart, goals, illustration, keep moving forward, newyear, website

A Time to be Thankful

As I sit here I find that many things have changed in the world. While those around me are improving, growing, and moving on with their lives, I see myself in the same place. A state of limbo I feel somewhat stuck in perpetually. However, despite that, I choose to be positive and grateful for what I have. It is incredibly easy to be cynical and bitter about the things we don’t have (I admittedly have done this), but it takes a stronger will to appreciate all that is right in front of you.

I know that while my family may get on my nerves quite often (and honestly, whose doesn’t?), they are always there for me and have my back no matter what. And my close circle of friends has been amazing. I am who I am because of all of them and I wouldn’t have that any other way.

There has been an unexpected surprise this year though. I’ve started building great rapport with a community of likeminded artists on Instagram. That is extremely unexpected considering my disdain for all social media. It’s a great feeling to be a part of a small group of artists who support each other. Their kindness and support has helped me keep up a positive mindset about the future. I am very thankful for them.

I’m not a writer, so many of these blog posts come as a struggle to me. But I felt the need show my appreciation for all the people and things in my life. I am grateful for all of them, no matter how small. So I hope you all enjoyed this Thanksgiving holiday weekend and ate boatloads of turkey and stuffing.

Thank you for all your support. Even if its just stopping by to give a look at some of the art and share it to someone else, it helps so much for an artist like me trying to get his feet off the ground.

In case you didn’t have enough, here is some left over turkey as a thank you.

Keep Moving Forward

November 29, 2021November 29, 2021 by DStankowicz Categories: Deep Thoughts, IllustrationTags: art, deep, drawing, dstankowiczart, grateful, holiday, keep moving forward, thankful, Thanksgiving, Thoughts, turkey

Don’t Look for Your Style

An artist needs to have their own style, but I think it’s crucial they don’t try to find it.

Every artist has a style that is uniquely their own. Just look and any famous creator’s work. You can tell who created it simply by the style of the work. A Glen Keane drawing is easily distinguishable from a J. Scott Campbell drawing. Each one is amazing, but with different styles that are attached to that artist. You can tell what is a Stanley “Artgerm” Lau illustration simply by the style he uses. What is so great is that no two artist have the same style. Or at least, they shouldn’t. I’ll get in to that in a bit. One thing I’ve learned though is that if you are struggling to find your own style, it is best not to focus heavily on figuring it out. Instead, you need to let your style find you.

How do let your style find you? Well, you do it by simply creating. That seems too simple, But allow me to explain further. If you are an artist or trying to become one, chances are you have some that you admire. Take a handful of those artists and analyze the parts of their work that you’d like to emulate. Maybe one draws great hands and another shows facial expressions well. Combine all these aspects and meld them into what you make. The fun is that you can experiment at this stage. Play around with different things and find something that works well for you. Truth be told, It’s how I developed my style. I took inspiration from artists that I admire and molded all those different ideas and techniques into something that I felt was unique to me. That may not work for everyone but it definitely helped me starting out. I experimented with many different approaches and even had a anime feel for a time (yikes!) I figured out what I liked and ditched the aspects that just felt off to me.

Let your style find you.

Don’t take this concept too far however. It can be very tempting to just copy verbatim a very appealing style of an already established artist. Its important to be your own artist and not just a carbon copy of another. There is already a Tom Bancroft. Don’t be another version of him. Play around and have fun with the process. You’ll know when you find that one style that fits you because it will just click. Not everyone is going to like your style either, which is a tough pill to swallow. I constantly struggle with that to this day. Every artist wants the entire world to like what they do, but that isn’t realistic. You can’t please all the people all of the time. So don’t stress on that or else it will eat you alive. Just create what you enjoy and those likeminded people with hopefully come one day.

So the moral here is to not beat yourself up while developing your style. Try to let it come naturally. Consume many different types of content, gather inspiration, and utilize that in your drawings. I’m not saying it’s an easy process, but it is a rewarding one. Just keep at it and don’t give up. Let your style find you.