Just do it over and over again. For years I felt shame over two things. My lackluster second language skills, and my inibility to improve at any hobby. I still consider myself lackluster in most things, but I did get better at what I never stopped doing. Sure I didn't learn the piano, but I did teach myself how to code mods for the game I like. Sure I never got good at drawing maps, but I did teach myself to tell stories with them and improve my use of other languages. If what you are doing right now can have any positive effect for you, keep at it. If I wasn't such a self critical and harsh person with myself, mabye I would have been way better by now, but it least I didn't drop every single interest just cause I wasn't good enough.

    Gabaghoul
    Indeed I've been in this situation. I've tried to learn to draw. I've managed to draw every day for a month and then I've just dropped it.
    It is pain. It is suffering. There's no other words for it. Maybe I'm too old for picking up new stuff, but as I am complete zero at drawing, it is pure torture seeing what I can do and realising however away it is from what I want to do.
    Thinking that I have to suffer that for years, I just couldn't take it and dropped it three months ago. I'm thinking about trying again, and I wonder if all the skills I've picked during that single month 12 weeks ago and I have to start with pure zero again.
    Really can't help you here. None of the moticational video I've saw helped me either - it only made me angier. It looks like either you have the willpower to suffer through this stuff or you don't. I don't. I can only hope you have what it takes to force yourself into it.

        Fantasy Thank you, I think I know what you mean, I will try to look for art that inspires me and see what I could try to change in my art to keep me going at it.

        Lumeinshin Thanks! I know I should finish stuff more. I don't have many finished drawings to show, and the ones I do have are a bit rushed. I feel like I need to train my patience maybe.
        I'd love to do something for the site! I think I need something to motivate me to get it finished, my biggest fear is to not have things done in time or something. I only have done 2 comissions wich I finished on the day they were comissioned but since I don't have much time lately I fear I won't get to it in time. But if you still feel interested I would be more than happy to do something for you!

        I will also link something here later today with all my drawings and Animations, animationwise I don't have a lot and none are good.... but I'll still show what I have.
        Here's the link, there is a lot, and I mean a LOT missing, I will keep adding to it tomorrow.
        https://k00.fr/w29fwjtb

        SorbianSwitzerland
        I actually have a problem where there is so much I want to do at the same time I never know when its too much. I have uni so I get home and have to work on stuff for that plus I have work. And when I have time off I want to read or do something that doesnt make me feel like Im garbage like drawing, but after I realize I didnt draw at all I feel bad :/ . I'll do my best to try and spend my time drawing.

        Ross_R
        I know exactly how that feels, whenever I feel down Ill watch a video on how to draw better or something and when I try it I feel like it does nothing. Or I watch a video of someone who went throught the same but they were miles better than me in the first place so it makes me feel worse.
        But we have to keep going otherwise we Will regret it later, but its hard sometimes. Its hard to get in the right mindset and that's just what we need

                I've got a few slightly conflicting pieces of advice. Disclaimer: I'm not an artist, but I write and I think some of this is transferable between all creative arts.

                1. Do a little bit every day, no matter what. Even if it's just a slight bit of shading, or just a line or two, you must always touch your work.
                  There's a few reasons for doing this. First, no matter how shit your day, no matter how terrible anything goes or how empty you feel, you've made a small bit of progress over the previous day. Second, it sows the seeds of discipline and helps break the expectation that you can only create when the inspiration strikes. Of course, you'll always be way more productive when the inspiration DOES hit, but it prevents you from being crippled when you're "not in the mood" or lack motivation. As someone else said on another thread, feelings are temporary. Third, with all those little bits of progress, a month or sometime later you'll look at it and surprise yourself with how much has been added to it over that time. I usually find that a fairly pleasant feeling, and it helps contribute to my motivation.

                2. Step away from your work. Read a book, play some games, hang out with your friends, have some nice food, pick up a new hobby, etc. Actively develop your life beyond your creative work.
                  When you're stuck in a rut like this and you worry about not being able to create, your worry will make it even harder. Getting away from your work isn't enough, you have to mentally put it down for a while. But that's not usually possible because it'll haunt the back of your brain, and then you'll feel bad about not drawing. Picking up a new activity, like maybe signing up for a weekly sports activity, helps to hold your attention and fill your mental space.

                3. Apportion your time. Be very intentional about what you're going to get done each day. Actively make the decision that "today, I will use my time after uni work to read XYZ".
                  Determine how much time you have for the day and then divvy it up as makes sense to you. You mention that you've got uni commitments and many things you want to do, right? By making the intention clear to yourself, it helps mitigate that feeling of having "wasted time not drawing". Because now, it's not that you messed up by not drawing, it's that drawing is just not on today's agenda.
                  In the end, we only have 24 hours a day, and it's really really tough pursuing creative work while dealing with the rest of life's commitments. It's always so time-consuming. But we make our sacrifices to pursue our passions. So it goes.

                Now, these all sound somewhat contradictory. How can I do a bit everyday but also step away from my work? How can I allocate my already rationed time to my present interests and ALSO add more things to do? How can I do a bit everyday when I already have so little time? Madness!

                It's a bit of an ebb and flow thing. I have my writing document up permanently on my computer, and I try to get in at least a sentence everyday, or edit a previous portion if I can't, or just note down some potential ideas. Some days I'm really productive and chunk out 1000 words, other days I'm lucky to get 3 words out. But it grows.
                Meanwhile, earlier this year I signed up for a pole dance class. I've always been very sedentary and not athletic, so this was a pretty big challenge for me. But it's just one day a week, so it's not too much, and conveniently serves as good exercise and safeguard my health a little. From this class, I've made friends, learnt a fair bit of stuff and pushed myself quite a bit. But just as importantly, it's come to occupy an amount of brainspace that would otherwise have been brooding about my creative work. And in some strange way, it's helped to revitalise me somewhat. Even though I lose out that one evening every week where I could otherwise be writing/gaming/reading, it injects energy into my system and makes the rest more enjoyable.
                As for number 3, I have around 3-4 hours each evening to allocate between my interests, so I determine each day how I want to spread it out. To be sure, I've not been able to play some stuff that I had wanted. I got Remnant 2 and wanted to beat the game in full (ie, on highest difficulty). But after beating the main game once, I've not had the time for it. I don't lament that exactly, because even though I would like to continue playing it, I know I've allocated my time to something that I deem more important, and by definition, it's worth it. Hm, I guess number 3 should specify priority management.
                Also, don't freak out or flagellate yourself if you can't quite stick to your plans. Some days I allocate more time to writing, some days less. Some days I allocate a lot of time to writing, but can't write shit, so I decide "okay, abort and do something else". It's fine to change your plans, as long as you had your plans to begin with.

                Obviously, pick and choose whichever advice makes sense to you. Whatever sounds dumb to you, don't do it.
                Lastly, your art looks pretty good to me! I looked through your folder and I think your posework is quite decent.

                  agoraoptera hang out with your friends

                  Lost me with this sentence. Im kissing I read all of that, thanks a lot for the advice and Im really happy you liked my art :] , I try to go to the gym at least like 3 times a week, I feel like my biggest problem is not knowing what to draw, I mingle too much on it and think about how uncreative I am. I just don't know how to fix that, I get on my tablet to draw and get immediatly tired of it and of looking at the screen with the canvas white and nothing I draw when I think of something looks good I sometimes try to keep at it for like an hour or so but get too pissed off and stop. This has been happening for more than a year.

                      Lumeinshin changed the title to Art Motivation/Advice Thread .

                      Gabaghoul
                      Gym's good! Out of curiosity, do you have a fitness/strength target in mind, or is your goal there to maintain your general health?
                      I'm not sure how you can deal with not knowing what to draw, but here's some possible threads you might want to consider:

                      1. Practise copying some art you like
                      2. Select a theme to constrain yourself and then draw X number of things within that theme. Eg, humans in life, architecture, things in the night, anything from a show you like, animals.
                      3. When you think of something that looks good, set yourself a time limit of maybe 40 minutes. But after that time limit, stop, consider what you've made, decide then and there whether you want to continue for another 40 minutes or to stop (whether for the day or completely).
                      4. As others have mentioned above, try some radically different styles.
                      5. Take it slow. Very slow. When I was younger, I tried to do NaNoWriMo, which was a challenge to do a 50k word novel in a month. I succeeded, but I was burnt out for about two years. It sucked and felt like I was never going to be able to write again. I didn't write a shred of fiction for those two years. But eventually I got better. Some things are necessarily functions of time.

                      19 can feel like you should already be mastering stuff, but you do still have a good amount of time. One of my friends only picked up drawing at 28, and he's gotten pretty good at it since.

                          agoraoptera
                          Sorry for the late reply, I wrote but I lost all my progress because I accidentally closed the tab.
                          But basically I go to the gym to look good, and, due to a health problem I have they told me I had to do some exercise. I had lost a lot of weight last year and I got anemia. Im feeling much better now thankfully.
                          Thanks for the advice as always I've started doing what you told me by choosing something to do each day when I have free time.
                          I need to look back on my drawings from last year and ask how I cranked them out like that so fast because I genuinely forgot how I did it. Thanks again, I'll keep uploading stuff on the koofr archive and such maybe I'll show off more here. Thanks again btw <3

                              Gabaghoul
                              No worries, I lost all the progress on my introduction post because the server rolled back shortly after I posted it heh. And it took me a couple days to get back to this because wow life has been a huge pain in the ass.

                              Good to hear that you're feeling better after your anemia! Happy for you mate, and it's especially nice because you seized your health with your own effort.

                              Gabaghoul I need to look back on my drawings from last year and ask how I cranked them out like that so fast because I genuinely forgot how I did it.
                              God yes, that was me when I was in puberty. I was so prolific and churned out so much material. Of course, most of it was not good, but the volume itself was quite something.

                              Don't hesitate to share your stuff whenever~ This is after all a forum for your hobbies (tm).

                                  (FYI I couldn't be bothered to read the whole thread so I apologise in advance if there's anything that's already been discussed or brought up in here)

                                  Do something other than your regular endless routines. Lifting weights at the gym over and over again will for example not sprout something new in you, (at least it doesn't for me when im at the gym). Find some creative work you like, get invested in something that is equally as creative as drawing. Id say watch cartoons, series or anime that you like; maybe read something you like aswell. Theres always stuff like acid and LSD too.
                                  Thats my two cents on the matter.

                                    Honestly? Just keep studying and drawing from life if your plan is to improve vastly in a short amount of time, it's clear that you are indeed improving overtime, even if progress may seem slow to you. Also, don't feel afraid to branch out and try new ways of drawing cartoons, hell, try looking at some cartoonists you admire and see if you can mimic their art style well. If your plan is to work in the animation industry, then being able to soak up the stylings of another artist should be something you should try and work towards.

                                    And as always, lots and lots of practice makes perfect.

                                      Twix
                                      I know what you're trying to mean and you are right in a way, its been a good while ive had time to watch series but usually when I liked something I would hyperfixate and draw the characters over and over.

                                      Atom
                                      thanks, I'll try again. <3

                                      Commander Grausam
                                      Are you asking me? if so Im not really sure I actually had a teacher for a while from late2018- early2020, Im also kinda lost in that regard since I don't have a proper path to follow anymore. however if I could actually go through with things I would choose this : https://kit.co/ManuMercurial
                                      (You can find the books easily online, I wish you better luck than me, please do go for it)

                                            7 days later

                                            Gabaghoul
                                            These are great, man. You have a really good sense of motion and depth. I've felt like amongst younger artists a lot of people lack dynamic movement or positioning in your art but the fact you can break out of derivative habits like that speaks well to your artistic ability.

                                            On that note, I'm currently a student in Character Animation (although I work in technical, not hand drawn, which I'm assuming is what you aspire to do) and I do fully understand your struggle. In the years before I'd decided to pursue career artistry I was in a major dry spell in terms of my relationship with art. I think the whole wakeup call for me was seeing the emergence of indie IPs being acquired by larger studios and/or my peers self publish to moderate success. The whole thing that really keeps me inspired is the desire for innovation and experimentation in contemporary techniques, especially under harder limitations. I think you'll find that challenging yourself will help you realize where you truly struggle and give you a much stronger drive to work into specific aspects of your work. I'd start with graphing out absurd angles/compositions as a means of really trying your own knowledge and skill; you'll likely find you know where you need to be.

                                                Tolo
                                                Thank you this made me really happy, I think it's true I haven't been getting out of my comfort zone in a long time, I'll do whatever I can to get better, I'm tired of doing nothing.
                                                Thanks a lot for the advice.<333
                                                Also I hope you can achieve all your goals too and that maybe sometime in the future we can work together.
                                                Btw, do you have any plan you follow? For learning art and animation?
                                                Thanks a lot again!

                                                • Tolo replied to this.

                                                    Gabaghoul Btw, do you have any plan you follow? For learning art and animation?

                                                    For learning? Sure. I think the most helpful thing about learning animation for me has been realizing that on a technical level, illustrating comics as well as animation are fundamentally the same. My old animation teacher had given us a book about writing comics
                                                    https://archive.org/details/UnderstandingComicsTheInvisibleArtByScottMcCloud/
                                                    This was an essential read, it was also very enlightening.

                                                    I have an email exchange with someone who had worked on the Simpsons, I asked her for some advice on curating a portfolio for art school and getting into animation. If you want, I could send that to you as well.

                                                        Tolo
                                                        that would be nice I would appreciate it! Thanks a lot for the advice

                                                          10 days later

                                                          Commander Grausam I used to be a bit of a drawfag, but I didnt stick with it. If you are into digital painting (or want to be) I have posted some channels I used to watch that might be of some help to you!
                                                          Regardless, i'd say just focus on getting whatever you want to draw 'done', regardless of whether you are 100% happy with it, because you mostly wont be

                                                          Kienan Lafferty, I watched all his tutorials back in the day (all the ones i remember clicking on are 5+ years old 😢. Great if you want to have someone entertaining to listen to talk about his experience and tips n tricks

                                                          https://www.youtube.com/@KienanLafferty/videos
                                                          Marc Brunet, I used to watch him, he released a basics video last year that might be handy

                                                          David Revoy, A nice French man who uses krita and linux so if you're after free stuff hes good to look at, linked a video on his drawing on linux vid, just check out the channel for other bits. Hes also on the fediverse as this username: davidrevoy@framapiaf.org

                                                            6 days later

                                                            What bothers me is advices that tell you "just draw what you want to draw". How can one do it? I would, of course, be incredibly motivated to draw what I actually want to draw, but I simply can't stand looking at the result. I love my characters, for example. I want to draw them, truly. But I just do not have the strength to see how they would come out if I were to draw them. I know how they should look, I see them in my head, and seeing whatever I am actually able to picture on paper is unbearable.

                                                              3 months later

                                                              I'm sure many of you have seen this already, but Pewdiepie has been drawing daily and improved a ton. Its worth seeing this video and his prior one if you're apprehensive about drawing yourself.

                                                              Ross_R I always have been the same way, a real visceral level of disgust for the things i would draw. Thats just what happens when you set your standards and expectations high. You wont be able to meet them until you put in the time to practising.
                                                              People say to try not to delete the stuff you do early on, but i'd say feel free to delete most of it. If you do find one that you drew like at the time, keep that one in a folder somewhere. You should then have a reference for how far you've come if you manage to keep each one you like. Just try not to look at something you liked the next day and delete it 😅
                                                              I had to reimage my machine, but even so I hadnt drawn in a few years so I dont have anything to show really... Maybe i'll do some stuff sometime

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