Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

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Blane Doyle
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Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#1 Post by Blane Doyle »

I was originally going to post this in the Art section, but after a while I felt it may have a better purpose here. Others may have similar problems toward other things.

When I try something new, I am normally able to be patient enough to learn how to do it. This is usually because I've had experience with something in the same feild, and for me that ticks a response in my brain similar to "hey, you could do that, that means you may get the hang of this, keep going to see if you can". I know that "hey, I did something slightly like this so I can master anything even remotely similar yaaaay" is now how things work. I've learned from that mistake in the past. But I find having experience, even tangential experience, helps me along because it makes me more patient. And in learning anything, patience is absolutely necessary.

For example, I find that because I've been writing creatively since elementary school, trying new genres and forms of writing comes easier to me as I have far more patience due to past experience. I think something along the lines of "hey, I can write pretty good third person stuff. Maybe, if I keep practicing and work really hard and read enough for reference, I may be able to write decent first person as well given time" and that manages to push me forward until I actually manage to improve and pump out something halfway decent, which then just inspires me to improve further overall.

Unlike, say... drawing.

I have 0 patience for drawing... I drew when it was necessary in school, which wasn't often as my art classes consisted of abstract art and sculpting clay, so now that I am trying to teach myself as an adult...

I see how horrible my art is and rage quit to pout in a corner. And I'm not trying to put myself down when I say my art is horrible, I mean it is objectively horrible. And I'm trying, really I am, it's just... incredibly frustrating to realize that since I'm a complete beginner to drawing I'm going to improve very slowly at first. I'm not going to be able to pick up something similar and work hard to improve it with my past skills because I have NONE. I have nothing to build on!

I am so used to having at least one small spring board to work with that jumping straight in... may actually be intimidating me into being more impatient than I normally am.

So I ask this: How can one build up their patience to try something completely new to them in an area where they have absolutely no experience without wanting to rage quit into the sun after a few hours aside from forcing oneself to do it despite their impatience?

TL;DR- The above sentence.

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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#2 Post by Endorphin »

Hmmm... maybe taking classes would help you?
For example, bigger cities offer life drawing classes which you can visit regularly.
What helps me is having a habit app on my smartphone--this way I always have an overview (currently environments, colour thumbnails and skulls).
It really helps when it's just a natural part of your routine instead of something you have to force yourself to.

Also, it helps to build basic knowledge first instead of wanting to create a masterpiece right from the beginning.
For example, when copying/analysing a picture (be it from the masters or just some pictures you like), you don't have to reproduce it in full detail. You can instead analyse the composition, the gestures, colours in them separately so that in the end you get a feeling for what works and why.
I really like >this book on composition< because you concentrate only on it, without worrying about rendering that one stone in the background or something. Nobody needs to see your practice sheets.

It's probably also up to what you enjoy. You don't have to draw faces, learning to draw animals is basically the same--you learn to split up shapes and reproduce values. Learn how to draw, not how to draw this special something--learning drawing is "just" learning how to see, to analyse. The motive's up to you, so you don't have to force yourself to draw something just because it is advised when you actually detest it.

And don't forget--have fun!
It's something you decided to do because you want to, it's a hobby, a pleasure.
You don't have to stick to a super strict routine, you can swap some elements as long as you still practise.
When I'm sick of figure drawing, I start with loose environment sketches to relax or make sketches to Skyrim faces to see how the cheekbones change in different settings. :'D
Memes (e.g. colour challenges) might also be a nice change.

Last but not least, >Proko< (good tutorials, by the way) said something rather nice:
it might takes ten years to get really good at it, but this years would pass anyway. This way, you're at least spending them perfecting something you love doing.

You seem to have a lot of discipline, I'm sure you'll succeed--just don't be to hard on yourself, okay, hun? :>

- En.

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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#3 Post by Sapphi »

Blane Doyle wrote: How can one build up their patience to try something completely new to them in an area where they have absolutely no experience without wanting to rage quit into the sun after a few hours aside from forcing oneself to do it despite their impatience?
Do you think it has something to do with perfectionism? I've noted this tendency in myself many times and I think it stems from my childhood mantra of "Whatever I do, whether I have practice at it or it is completely new to me, it must be better than all the other kids by a noticeable degree!" I think I even felt worthless when I couldn't perfectly grasp a new concept immediately.

So I want to say that even though I began drawing at a young age and so it has always been one of my strengths, I feel this way in other areas, like math and programming: "Other people are smarter/better/faster than me at this so why should I even humiliate myself by trying? I should go practice doing that thing they are incapable of doing so that I can feel smug and superior about my own skills."

In some cases this reaction can be helpful (for instance, specializing in one or two fields can be more fulfilling, ultimately, than living as a jack-of-all-trades) but at other times it can cause you to close yourself off to new and fun experiences.

I'm not really sure how I handle this myself, other than constantly trying to remind myself "Listen, your name is not Mary Sue, it's not realistic that you could just magically be good at every single thing you do in life with 0 hours of practice! Stop trying to jump right to the results and start enjoying the process!" :P
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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#4 Post by LeonGuisti »

Sapphi wrote:In some cases this reaction can be helpful (for instance, specializing in one or two fields can be more fulfilling, ultimately, than living as a jack-of-all-trades) but at other times it can cause you to close yourself off to new and fun experiences.

I'm not really sure how I handle this myself, other than constantly trying to remind myself "Listen, your name is not Mary Sue, it's not realistic that you could just magically be good at every single thing you do in life with 0 hours of practice! Stop trying to jump right to the results and start enjoying the process!" :P
This. Oh my god, this.

I've been so held up my entire life trying to do everything that I end up doing everything to an elementary degree. I can read sheet music but I can't play more than a few notes on any instrument. I can draw something here and there but it isn't by any means a masterpiece. Hell, I can even speak a few different languages but can't get beyond basic conversation. It's extremely frustrating when you do this to yourself and if you haven't gotten to that point yet, I strongly suggest you reconsider your focus. Eventually you begin to doubt anything and everything that you do. Suddenly it's okay to learn a little about something and eventually give up. It makes you very cultured, for sure, but you're by no means happy. At least, I know I'm not.

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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#5 Post by Blane Doyle »

@Endorphin Thank you so much for those links and the advice! I think they will be incredibly helpful to me. I am not sure if I can take any classes close to where I am, but everything else you suggested is easily doable (and I am not sure why I did not think of them before... huh).

@Sapphi Perfectionism does have something to do with it, I think. I can accept major flaws in other's work, but my own? I am scathingly negative about any faults I find. I think mine stems from "You got an A-? Well, if you tried HARDER it could have been an A+, but that's ok I guess". It made me feel like unless it was perfect, it just wasn't good enough and I shouldn't even bother half the time because... well, everyone else is better than me and if I can't be perfect now I can't catch up to them. (I'm slowly beginning to get past that... sort of)

Your Mary Sue analogy was pretty uplifting, to be honest. It's very true! When I think about it... maybe I'm trying to teach myself the wrong way. You mention enjoying the process, and that is one thing I am not enjoying... perhaps if I try a different process, a different way of learning, I may be able to enjoy myself more even if I am going at the same pace. After all, not everyone learns the same way. Some learn strictly by doing, others only learn visually or audibly, and others learn in a variety of ways. Some have to follow things step by step while others like to play with the rules a little. Perhaps I am trying to learn in a way that doesn't lend to my learning strengths.

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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#6 Post by Sapphi »

Blane Doyle wrote: @Sapphi Perfectionism does have something to do with it, I think. I can accept major flaws in other's work, but my own? I am scathingly negative about any faults I find. I think mine stems from "You got an A-? Well, if you tried HARDER it could have been an A+, but that's ok I guess". It made me feel like unless it was perfect, it just wasn't good enough and I shouldn't even bother half the time because... well, everyone else is better than me and if I can't be perfect now I can't catch up to them. (I'm slowly beginning to get past that... sort of)
For me I think it started in the classroom when I was very young, before letter grades were really meaningful. For some reason I wasn't good at making friends (was a pretty shy kid), but the teacher always praised me when I did something she liked. It felt good to be noticed and appreciated, so I started to see other kids who were doing well as competition. I didn't want to lose my precious source of self-worth. And then my parents took my good marks for granted and yes, raised their eyebrows at A- too. I always felt like I wasn't allowed to make mistakes while learning new things. I don't think I'll ever be able recover fully from that mindset, either... I've been learning a new task at work and have to will myself not to cry every time my coworkers correct me for my small mistakes! I know it's really stupid and irrational to be angry at myself for little stuff like that, but it's like this basic reaction that I can't seem to reason myself out of.
Blane Doyle wrote: When I think about it... maybe I'm trying to teach myself the wrong way. You mention enjoying the process, and that is one thing I am not enjoying... perhaps if I try a different process, a different way of learning, I may be able to enjoy myself more even if I am going at the same pace.
Hm, that's something I never thought about, but is probably good to explore. I've found that I usually have the most fun when I'm allowed to make a lot of trial-and-error as I learn, and focus on one small area at a time so that I don't get burned out by the "big picture".
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by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride
and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past."
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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#7 Post by LVUER »

We all hates learning... (well, there are people who loves learning and punishment) but we all love results. When learning something entirely new, be sure that reward yourself once in a time and make sure you reap the result of your hard training from time to time.

When I first learn English (I hate it at that time, now I love it), I use it to play Chrono Trigger, an English RPG. So I didn't really feel bored since because of my hard work, I can play awesome game!
"Double the princesses, quadruple the fun!" - Haken Browning (SRW-OG Endless Frontier)

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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#8 Post by Obscura »

I have heard many who've lamented their lack of drawing skills heartily recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Sid ... 1585429201

You might want to take a look.
Coming Out On Top - An Adult Gay Dating Sim
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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#9 Post by dramspringfeald »

How can one build up their patience to try something completely new to them in an area where they have absolutely no experience without wanting to rage quit into the sun after a few hours aside from forcing oneself to do it despite their impatience?

How I Do everything else.... Just do it. I suck at Writing, Coding, art and All manner of everything else. SO I Just do it until it's passable and repeat.
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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#10 Post by Fairy Godfeather »

I'm in a similar boat. I have absolutely no patience at all for drawing, or learning how to draw.

I do actually love colouring in, but I'm not very good at it, and I hate having to work out where light and shadows need to go. But sometimes I colour in things for fun. I have a friend who draws for me sometimes and I love fiddling with her drawings. I've also had fun tracing over images.

I thought of getting a tablet in the hope that it would magically turn me into an artist. I admit, I live in a fantasy world there because it's not going to happen.

Partially I'm a perfectionist. My art looks absolutely hideous to me. I can't even draw nice looking stick figures. Part of it is that my sister was always the artistic one, her drawings were great. Part of it was I loved art, right up until I was 12 and moved up to secondary school, and the art teacher there beat the love of art out of me until I just gave up trying.

There's no fun in practing art for me. No joy in drawing. My art is horrible, RAGEQUIT indeed. I just don't have the perseverance for it. Some of it's my very short attention span.

Anyway I'm just saying I feel what you're saying and I'm also avidly reading this topic. And I really admire that you are actually trying and striving to be better and you're looking for solutions.

One of the things I do is I look at my favourite webcomics. I look at the art on the first pages, and then the current art, and in some of them the difference is huge.

Anyway thanks for making this topic. I hope you manage to find a method that works for you.

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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#11 Post by nyaatrap »

Logic.
Collect all knowledge available, then assemble to what I want, what I need, What I should, create theories from it, then follow it.
Think anything go under calculation. If things don't go, then it's just a problem of theories. Just amend them or dump them. It's just a problem of theories, so I don't need to get too emotional on it. Rather than spending meaningless time of regretting on it, start collecting more data, then think, just work.

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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#12 Post by Lesleigh63 »

I don't think you're going to become good at art if you don't actually like doing art. I always loved doing art, but I didn't become happy with how my art turned out until I was in my 20s and I haven't stopped learning or putting time into it after that. If you do like doing art, keep plugging away at it and aim to have each picture you do be better than the last one you did. If you don't like doing art it's best to try and team up with an artist or use the freely available art.
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Re: Patience trying something 100% new... how do you get it?

#13 Post by Kami »

I agree with Lesleigh63! That is the main point of being good at something.

I just love looking at other people art and I admire how good they are at it, but when it comes to me doing it... Let's say I just can’t deal with the thought of how boring it is! You have to spend hours and hours on one small picture! Insane...

However, when I started programming, I instantly loved it! It is something that drives me every day of my life. I think about programming, I do it and I am good at it, simply because I love it. The skill comes with time and the wish to dedicate that time comes with passion.

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