Frustration

[Artemis Gale]

I put this thread in this section since it pertains to artwork.
I'm sorry if it doesn't not belong.

Anyway...

Right now I am working on drawing. At the moment just to get the hang of of it once again since I would like to eventually do a VN.

I keep getting sooo frustrated though. I know what I'm drawing does not look bad, but it doesn't really look good to me either. I'm sure pretty much everyone who draws feels this way at one point or another. How do you overcome that? Is it easier to just take a break and be all "I'll come back to this later."? Or do you just power through it?

I've tried the coming back and trying again later and it really doesn't seem to work for me sadly.
I'm thinking I may just need to power through and spend a lot of time being disappointed with my drawings.

And sorry that one of my first posts sounds so whiny, maybe it's too late here to really think about drawing and I should head to bed. xD

[ScottySeng]

An artist never really finishes his work, he merely abandons it.
Paul Valery

I'm an artist, but I know my limits. I know if I spend days trying to draw every pencil tip blade of grass, my artwork will never be done.
I think taking breaks is a good idea. It helps to reset your eyesight. Somethings after staring at the same artwork for extended periods of time, your ability to analyze goes down.
A mix of pushing through and breaks (You have to find your own mix of the two) is good for art.

Well, you should be proud of your work. I think being depressed, getting negative (non-constructive) criticism, having your artwork destroyed or stolen, and yourself are roadblocks to art.
If you put yourself down too much, you'll just abandon it.

It sounds like a need for support if you ask me. I'm kind of going through the same thing as well. I'm not great drawing manga style (Just recently started), and when I look at the stuff I draw, I get depressed, especially when I compare it to the realistic faces I draw (Realistic is easier for me). I know it's because I haven't practiced enough on that style, but the depression sticks.

Artists are usually introverts and so the depression sticks. My best advice is to motivated to draw. And get sleep. Something I need more of.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

I put this thread in this section since it pertains to artwork.
I'm sorry if it doesn't not belong.

Anyway...

Right now I am working on drawing. At the moment just to get the hang of of it once again since I would like to eventually do a VN.

I keep getting sooo frustrated though. I know what I'm drawing does not look bad, but it doesn't really look good to me either. I'm sure pretty much everyone who draws feels this way at one point or another. How do you overcome that? Is it easier to just take a break and be all "I'll come back to this later."? Or do you just power through it?

I've tried the coming back and trying again later and it really doesn't seem to work for me sadly.
I'm thinking I may just need to power through and spend a lot of time being disappointed with my drawings.

And sorry that one of my first posts sounds so whiny, maybe it's too late here to really think about drawing and I should head to bed. xD

It's a Zen thing.

Simply put, you must come to peace with the fact that your art will never be perfect. At the same time, you must continue to strive for perfection, because the end result will be better if you do.

And honestly, if your art was perfect, if any artist ever achieved perfection . . . well, they'd stop making art wouldn't they? The fact that a perfect image never flows from your fingertips is what keeps drawing you back for another attempt.

But again, you'll never achieve it. You'll never be perfect. Da Vinci never made a perfect piece of art. Neither did Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Raphael, Monet, Manet, Picasso, Van Gogh - none of them. They all died without achieving perfection.

So chill out, you're in good company. All you can do is keep drawing and keep trying to make the next piece of art better than the last. So power on through. There is such a thing as procrastinating because you know you won't achieve perfection, but hopefully my advice has gotten you over that.

You should relax and realize you don't have to show your bad art to anyone - only your good art. Someone asked Blizzard Entertainment one time why they never made bad games, and Blizzard's reply was "We make bad games all the time. We just don't release them."

[Artemis Gale]

@Scotty;;
I'm still trying to get a hold on my limits.
I honestly don't have much else to do in a day, so I spend a lot of time on my computer.
And one of the things I like to do is draw, but it seems like every time I pick up my pen I can't do anything past a small doodle before having that. 'WTF is that' and completely deleting the picture.

I agree with being introverted and the depression sticking. It may be one of the reasons I decided to take a chance and post. Hoping that the small spark of contact outside my home could help calm me down. My husband is supportive, but he's not so artsy and all he has to say is that it looks good. Which only drives me more nuts sometimes. As for now I think I shall try to get some sleep and try again in the morning once I'm rested.


@WhiteRabbit;;
I agree that I will never achieve perfection. It's not perfection that I am waiting for. I just, I guess I feel it's not the best I can do. Which I need to learn to just let that go. You're right, I need to make my peace with the fact that I won't be perfect.

I'm glad that you were both simply put, nice about this when you posted. It makes me glad to have joined this forum.
Tomorrow I plan to finish something. Whether it be a sketch, or lineart or more. I'm just gonna make myself complete something, even if it looks terrible to me. And I am known to procrastinate, I need to stop that. Especially in this case since I really do want to grow as an artist in any way, shape, or form.

I guess for me it's felt like a really long time since I've gotten to show off anything because I feel that it's just all bad. So I'm going to try to work on getting over that. And push through until I draw something that I like.

[YonYonYon]

I love that feeling when I finish drawing. You know... happy, refreshing feeling of relief, what mean 'everything is over'. So, to feel it again, I keep drawing. Even if sometimes I fall into desperation...
Maybe you need to look at your drawing from more positive angle?

[Fawn]

Don't let emotions get in the way of your skill. If you feel that you're not doing the best you can do, challenge yourself. Push yourself. Do some research, learn stuff.

People don't get anywhere by moping and doing nothing because something is "hard" (which unfortunately is quite common). Study what made other artists great and use that to your advantage. When it comes down to it it's nothing but dedication and the will to learn.

[15385bic]

HAH! i know what you mean - i look at my stuff all the time thinking "OMG - ....i cant get it right." and (i swear the colouringlinearting usually is pretty lousy) and people usually tell me thats it looks good =_='

i think we generally are harder on ourselves >_>

[Rin]

I just got the same problem. I imagined a image in which the character's characteristic is expressed perfectly and such. But after finished coloring it turned into a crap... Someone said it's too good already, I was just so hard on myself but other who are more straightforward pointed the bitter truth which stabbed on my pride painfully since I worked sooooo hard for it, though I feel the same with them -crap- ;_;
Seriously I got stressed right away and was thinking of quitting being an artist as well as drop the current project. I spent a whole night went emo in a corner lol >_>
And yea that was a horrible nightmare. The cause probably doesn't sounds that serious but if you put everything - enthusiasm, heart.... - on it, so a bitter comment would absolutely depressed you to who-know-where.

My friends helped me out of the negative thoughts. They told me everything they could think of, even to blame me due to my idiocy. A friend who is quite mature told me that they shouldn't need to persuade me anymore; that's pretty enough and the decision is always mine; If only I can stand up after a failure, else just quit already since I don't have the true fondness with Art; Being negative is nothing other than just be a brat who wants other 's support.

I was so stubborn at first but after a fully, healthy sleep; took a relaxing shower and poured some tea, I've decided to -practicing- instead of quitting.
I created a sketchbook thread and asked for requests. I have a new feeling when sketching for other as a request, as well as practicing my skill. I feel like my all love with Art came back at once. I feel very very happy when someone thank me for done the request -though it's pretty much an etiquette, but I still feel energized whenever I saw one :p Silly, huh? -

I'm still continue practicing with pleasure, no pressure. I hope I'll become a decent artist as I dream of if I keep accept challenging with problem, either hardy or easily.

And sorry, I just caught in the mood and was continuing to ramble on about silly thingy. xD However I do wish it'll somehow gives you motivation and inspiration to continue the way you already chosen. : )

Rin.

[Artemis Gale]

You were all very helpful. Last night I was able to get a good night's sleep and I think I'm up to the challenge of drawing again today, even if all I end up doing is silly little sketches. I'm gonna try to be more positive and push away the negative thoughts. I used to love drawing a lot, even when anything I drew looked dreadful, so I'm gonna try to focus on that.

And I have thought of doing a sketchbook, although I'm not sure if I would yet feel comfortable taking requests. Although it would probably help me challenge myself. I will have to think about this for a little while.

Don't worry Rin, I love the rambling, and it inspired me a lot. Good luck as you work towards being a better artist. ^^

[ScottySeng]

Good morning, and I'm glad to see you've woken up and you're trying drawing again.

Yeah, I myself have had that feeling when I draw an anime face and it comes out all butchered looking, but hey, it's a start.
I keep a visual journal (draw and write what happened in your day and maybe ideas that come out of your head.

Another thing is to not compare yourself to pro artists, it's okay to use them as reference though.
I remember in my art class there was a old woman, 60ish I think, and she drew like a pro.
When I sat next to her, I got depressed thinking why my art didn't look as good, even though it's obvious that she had a lot more experience than me.
Another guy in my art class tried so hard to draw realistically, but he wasn't good at it. However, his drawings ended up looking abstract in a good way. His drawings resembled Picasso's style, and as artists, we supported him because his artwork looked beautiful as abstract art.

I think good feedback helps. Sure, the "It's good" are okay, but they don't help you build as an artists. The "It sucks" comments (Especially when people don't say why) are worse, as they stick to you since we're mostly introverted (I have not yet met an extroverted artist, but maybe there's a few out there).
I can't forget the day when in my college art class a girl walks up to me and tells me, "You know why your artwork never gets done? You never do anything in class!" to my face...It made no sense because I was drawing in the class more than her, but hey, people have their own opinions I guess.
I'm a really passive person, so I let the comment go, but it still sticks on the back of my head.

I wish you the best of luck, and hope everyone here grows a bit as an artist.

[Auro-Cyanide]

Yep, that's all pretty normal and it's the nature of the beast. I've always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with art, but I have never been able to give it up. Everyone can learn to draw, but only artists stick to it long enough to do it.

I've had days where I couldn't even draw a standard head on face and it feels like I've learnt absolutely nothing in all those years of practice. Sometimes I push through it, look at references and simply try harder. Other times I really just need to have a break and so I walk away and go do something that reminds me why I love art so much, like reading books or comic and playing games.

[Deji]

It happens to everybody all the time.
Whenever I get frustrated or blocked with a drawing, I rage/whine and take a break. If it doesn't work and I just can't get anything right, I leave it and do something else instead, hoping that when I come back I'll figure out what's wrong and be able to get it right (or at least realize everything sucks and have enough drive to just start over).

Warming up with sketches or studies helps a lot, since sometimes your hand and your brain are just not "connected" very well (so to speak) and you need to get the connections right before you tackle what you want to do (: (if that makes sense xD)
My personal favorites to warm up when I'm stuck (or I'm plain hating whatever I'm working on) are to draw a quick fanart of something I like or to draw somebody else's character, so I don't have to think about the drawing too much. It's quick and it makes you (or somebody you drew fanart for) happy quickly! ^^

If you're still stuck and can't draw anything, then make a study. Copy a drawing from an artist you like, spend sometime doodling with Posemaniacs, speedpaint a photograph you found on the internet (I like doing eyes, flowers and skirts), try drawing your hand, or just draw something that's lying on your desk (I have doodles on every sketchbook I've owned during the past few years depicting my tea mug, my eraser and/or my pencil case xD). That will warm you up, help you learn a few things in the process and hopefully motivate you to get back to draw!

[Artemis Gale]

Thank you for the ideas on warming up. I hate to warm up the same way all the time before I do any drawing and so I love that you gave quite a few ideas. =]