Here's my CV:
-I quit high school because I can't find interest in it, game & anime are more interesting that time unfortunately.
-I quit guitar after less than a year of practicing 5-10 hours a day because I can't see a noticeable improvement and opportunity in it.
-I quit vocal singing lesson because I didn't get what I expected from the lesson and I don't have an appropriate environment to practice it at home.
-I quit basketball because I'm sucks so bad and can't find place to practice what I want in a daily basis.
-I quit go to gym because well...I quit basketball lol.
-I almost dropped out from college because it's getting in the way for me to explore my things lol. Well I ended up graduated from college anyway.

True enough that the world doesn't reward quitters, but I think it's important to find what is worth to not quit on to by spending time to explore things that interests you the most...even when it makes you look like a dumb loser for a while.

2. Hard work is way too underrated.
All the time I hear people saying "Work smarter, not harder". I think it doesn't work anymore. I mean...with internet, almost all people already smart enough to work smart.
I believe to progress fast and reach a new level we need hard work and it's not replaceable.

I know that I start way too late in art, my first artwork is not brilliant, and dozen of people are already have some mad skills...That's why to catch up with all of that, I need to work way harder than most people.
As far as I can remember, I've been working every single day for years. I have no weekend for sure but that's just a little price that I need to pay to get what I want. It's not a big deal for me.
For every "You're so talented!" I got, I always wanna say "No I'm not, I might just work ten times harder than you."

If you think you're not improving enough, try to double or triple up your effort and just forget about TV shows, drama, anime, game, etc. But still, get enough sleep.

3. Good art is about expression.
I believe good art is all about expression of our true self. Technique helps but it's not everything. As I focus on what I want to create, improvement just come naturally because I always give my best in every piece I create.

I think too many people try hard to draw what's popular, studying anatomy, pose, skeletons, and stuffs but neglecting what they really wanna create.
Just be honest. Do you really wanna draw that NSFW fanart? Skeletons? Classic art pose? Value study? No? Then I think you shouldn't spend all your drawing time just for that. Make time to express your true calling.

4. The easiest way to get ahead from competition right now is by creating original art.
Fanart is only showing illustration skill where as original art show everything from illustration, character design, concept art, and uniqueness.
By only doing fanart, the competition to get a gig or noticed was with the whole Pixiv godlike artists...it's crazy just to imagine that.

Aside from that, from what I see in the current market condition, the raise of startups and indie developers will open more opportunities for artists. And surely what they need to find was artists who is capable to help them to create new stuffs.

I also believe that the real value of original art was it's fully yours, so anybody who is interested in it was interested in you rather than just because of the hype from the series.
As long as you keep drawing them it will always alive and grow into something more awesome.

In the entrepreneurial aspect, by creating original art you own the artwork plus the other intellectual properties such as character design, story, etc. The potential by owning that intellectual properties is just huge, you can create and legally sell almost anything with it. While in the other hand, selling fanart will always fall into the gray zone because you only own half of the copyright.

Popular anime/game come and go so a certain fanart will become obsolete over time. Not everyone as excited to Kagerou Project, Angel Beats, and Charlotte as much as they do before.
So it will probably happen too with the current Overwatch, Re:Zero, Mystic Messenger, and some other series.
But still, it's not a bad idea to express your excitement in it, take advantage of the hype to get some exposure, and maybe selling some stuffs if you really want to do that. Just remember that it diminishes over the time.

5. You need to be able to show up even when nobody supports you.
People can't always support you but it doesn't mean that they don't care. It's just that they have their own life that they need to take care of.
They're busy with their own dream and that's fine. It shouldn't be a reason to quit what you do.

6. Sometimes saving money means that you're losing money.
The most precious currency is our time. You can't get it back after you lose it. So losing some bucks to buy drawing tablet instead of using mouse will save you ton of money because you will improve much faster.
Spend some bucks to purchase a decent computer or software is also work if you think it can help you. If it helps you to make more money or saving your time, it's a good deal.

I'm saying this because I see a saving syndrome where some people don't want to spend anything and stick to free stuffs.
Sticking to use mouse with MS Paint in a half broken laptop won't get you anywhere in art. Trust me.
Just do anything to get the money if you didn't have it instead of try hard to use that crappy tools.

Go poor for couple months, go to work on M*D...just do something about it.
Do everything you can and then spend it on what's important instead of getting PS4, 3DS, iphone, or other fancy stuffs.

7. Art takes time before it can give you some income.
Unlike other fields that can give you income right away. Art takes time...probably until you're good enough.
The consequences of this is you need a cushion until your art is matured enough.

My cushion was some cash to keep me alive poorly for couple years and my bachelor degree in IT (the only reason I finish my college was for this reason).
With that, I can keep alive while pursuing art and if it's just didn't work or I'm running out of cash, I will use my degree to find a job.

I'm especially really careful about this because I have no parents anymore to fallback to. Money is about life and death now.
Just don't be too crazy. If you have nothing and still pushing through your art, moreover if you're just started...you'll be in trouble for sure. It's much wiser to prepare things beforehand.
It helps to relieve your mind so that you can really focus on pursuing your art. Hence a faster progress.

What's next?

So what's my third year is all about? Well, it will be quite different than the previous 2 years.
The previous years were pretty much focusing on drawing. My third year and forward will be more about expanding my skillset and creating new stuffs.

Here's some things that I'll do:

• Start writing the story for my original series.
• I'll complete my studio so that I can use it for music production too then start learning to compose some musics. I'll upload what I create in some places for sure, it's like starting a new DeviantArt account but in music, so excited ^^
• Create enough artworks for my original artbook. Currently I have 11, I'd like to have at least 30 or more if possible.