Till one day on my second course, a transfer student came in. Hell he looked like a townie (a townie is what rockers,mettalers,goths etc call someone that listens to Garage music and dress it) he became hardcore mettaler later on lol. Little did I know of his talents till one break he pulled out a picture (a comic tyle illustration done in markers) and I caught a glimps... omg! I thought to myself "this guy is... goood! >__<;;"

It wasnt like me, to have someone in the same class that equaled and slapped everything I had done up to... lol I kept thinking "Bastard... Bastard... !!!"

Laying low I decided to keep quiet, often I talked to one of my mates saying how good this guy was and how he outclasses everything I can do lol then he reassured me that he liked the guys artwork but mine so much more lol I wanted to grab his hairy leg and throw him into the moon

So one day a couple of days in when the transfer student arrived, I pulled out my sketchpad out of bordem and to sketch... ok ok I deliberately took it out! but it got his attention as planned lol but it began from there, he looked at artwork and I looked at his work. The start of a new friendship and rivalry X3

Our drawing styles were different, mine were thin and bland while his lines were thick and shaded much like MAD infact he was inspired by Joe Mad. So it began I wanted to keep up and improve my own drawings, giving it more life! more character! more feeling! lol and without knowing it, I somehow merged bits of his drawing style into myown.

So because of him I wanted to get better and I did, the quality of my work has improved because of this rivalry he would at times ask "so... draw anything new?" and I would show him a drawing I did over the weekend after a few good comments from him and me thinking "woo yeah!" he pulls out 2 really good pics of his lol

It didnt end with the art, our rivalry spread into our College work, presentations, hell even our paper work was the same style (which was printouts that were cut to size and stuck down on A3 size artpads that we had drawn black 2mm guide lines on to make it look presentable. An most expensive and time cosuming work lol) I would do a cool looking layout on MSpowerpoint n he would copy and vise versa lol

Everyday was a challenge, Got to do better or just as good as this man! and we became top of the class lol

*sigh* well all things must come to an end and College days didnt last long, our paths are split as we ventured to different University... now after a year It hit me, my work standards have gone sloppy, I've noone to keep up with, noone to share and compare work, noone to share the same interest in. There was this one guy that did really good game character illustraions, but he works alot and hardly draws :/ and then I see all these amazing people on the net Julie Dillon, Bomu etc but not ones I can interact with, the fire isnt there anymore.. just me alone in my own race in my own pace

I learned that having a rival isn't a bad thing, it gave me a boost as I put all my effort to complete with. Now im all alone and its getting boring.

lol well there's my story, forum was kinda quiet so i thought i post something long, probably too long for anyone to read Xp

if its just me i put it off and dont finish stuff

for rivals - just about everyone i know is better lol

I met a guy online a few years back after he submitted a piece of Guest work to my website (Monte Christo is his handle, if u wanna check out the piece) and although his style and subject matters were different to mine, he seemed really competent with his pencil! He also had an encouraging personality and was always giving me advice on stuff, which was good and yeah, I've competed with him on a few occasions and without the competition, I wouldn't have produced the same results.

And I know what you mean about having to know them personally Shirai. Seeing great works on the web can inspire, but having a friend who's equal or better than you will always push your limits. And I think the fact you can chat and compare notes in person will help keep interest too.

Saying that, I dont actually have anyone to discuss my art with- Well, no one who's better or equal to me! Hehe, I hate to sound boastful, but it's been the same story my whole life! Although I can see I have a long way to go when I compare myself to my other art idols such as comic artists and character designers.
So.. Yeah, I'm in the same situation as you Shirai!

But, I am continuing to create since I've got ambitions to improve and have ideas I 'need' to illustrate! At the moment I'm keeping busy with a 2004 Calendar picture for October, which I'm involved with, with a bunch of people on the "Anime Artists UK" mailing list. This is cool since there's 12 people each illustrating one month and we can discuss our progress and we all want to calendar to look good so everyone's giving it 100% since we dont wanna let the side down.