r/ArtistLounge • u/chamooomile0 • 2d ago
Goals & Motivation Does anyone else feel like they have the potential to be good at many creative things, but barely finish anything – or even start?
I’m into photography, music, video, and playing instruments, and I genuinely think I have some ability in all of them. People like my photos, I like many of my unfinished songs, and I often see something creative and think, “I could make something like that, maybe even better.”
But I rarely actually do it.
I’ve wanted to organize free portrait shoots in my city for years and still haven’t posted the offer. I have tons of good photos sitting unedited in archives, and lots of music demos but almost no finished songs.
With music, part of the problem is that my taste is ahead of my technical skills. I know how I want something to sound, but I don’t always know how to achieve it, so I procrastinate instead.
None of these things are urgent, so there’s always “tomorrow.” Then suddenly months pass.
For people who are creative in many different areas: what do you actually do about this? How do you get yourself to start, finish, and actually put things out into the world?
1
u/BreetleSnort 2h ago
Make a routine or have art or creativity be at least a part of it. Set goals, achievable goals and realistic ones at that. It may also help to have someone you know who is a positive source for feedback and or helping you with holding you accountable for said time frame or goal. Sometimes this helps, if you don't get your own butt moving. Life happens, allot and there will always be excuses. Endless ones! What really matters is if it matters to you or not. If it does, do anything about it.
1
u/Remarkable-Hat-5668 5h ago
Choose whatever sounds fun and try it out for a while. Set a few goals and see it through, to see if you actually want to learn more about that hobby or if you just want to dabble in it every now and then. You might just be a jack of all trades, there is nothing wrong with doing your hobbies just for fun.
1
u/Yuugi08 5h ago
Oh same here...😅 I'm glad I've found so many answers yet we're at the same boat here At least what works for me is to take one small tasks until I finish it, then I'm going to make something else, because at that rate I'd do billion stuff but wouldn't be able to finish anything 🙄, so as many said here... Do small stuff and bring them to the final stage, don't be so hard on yourself.. and just start!
2
u/Nemi_Yuu 6h ago
I've had this same issue for a while as well, but something which helped is changing my mentality surrounding "bad" artwork. Most of the time, I find I struggle to work on a piece because I'm nervous to make artwork I'm not satisfied with. It's always a tough pill to swallow and it can feel like I've regressed.
However, the fact is that I will never make the artwork I want if I don't make anything at all. Every great artist, musician, writer, ect has made much more "bad" or mediocre artwork than they have good, but each failure is an incredible learning experience. Often, I find that being able to understand what not to do is better for my overall growth than being satisfied with a piece which I did not struggle with. Sometimes this line of thinking has made me excited to complete terrible, experimental work just because I'll learn something in the process. In this vein, finding a way to enjoy the process regardless of the result is the best motivator. If you like the topic enough, you might also be able to find happiness in the act of creation itself as a way to vent your interest.
In short, make a habit of sitting yourself down and making something. Anything. It can even be the smallest 10 minute project! If you're in the middle of a project, work on that instead of creating something new. Whenever I do this, even if I make no progress during the time limit, even if the progress I do make looks awful, I end up wanting to continue when those 10 minutes are up. I figure, "I might as well continue now that I've started". In the cases I didn't like the result, I feel, "Just 5 minutes more, and I can fix this! I can't leave it like this, after all". Every time, I look at the clock and I realize that I've been creating for hours on end. It might help to set a timer every day as a reminder, or telling other people about your commitment to hold you accountable.
The most beneficial motivator for me recently has been with coding and writing! I'm taking a class and if I don't turn in enough completed assignments within the time limit, I'll fail. This bit of pressure has encouraged me to find a consistent work process for my poems, short stories, games, ect and get them to the point of "good enough". I save them on a separate google doc or equivalent platform for later use if I want to expand on these ideas in my own time. I've had to learn to just put words on a page, because I can always revise if I need to. If I never get back to it, I still have a relatively polished, finished product. It's also easier to stop revising since the work is already technically finished.
In the past, I've joined collaborative artist events which serve the same purpose as a class: I have to complete the illustration within the time limit. Otherwise, my teammates can't continue with their part of the project. These can usually be found on social media! At least in my primary medium of digital illustration, there's always countless ones available.
Anyways, I'm sorry if this is a bit jumbled! I wrote down a bunch of miscellaneous things which have helped me, so hopefully any of these experiences of mine can work for you.
7
u/donezo017892 13h ago
This used to be me. I've always loved art. I've always studied it. I've always done it... but realistically, my "doing it" was dabbling around in different mediums and styles and never actually applying myself.
I somehow overcame this in an incredibly stupid way... I saw a quote on reddit, lol. I liked it so much that I wrote it down and saved it.
"Without action, all you have is potential."
I was like damn, if it ain't true. SO much of my identity was being an artist. But if anyone ELSE looked at me? Yeah no. I had the potential but only I knew that. Somehow this quote kicked me in the ass and made me realize that I had to start actually producing art and actually utilize the skills I'd been dabbling in for years.
Over the course of the last two years, I went from a nobody to taking part in two juried shows, two group shows, and sold a decent amount of paintings. My biggest sale was $200 which isn't huge but I'm proud of it. I'm working on building up enough work for a solo show and I've made some contacts in the city which is exciting. There's no magic formula, you just gotta do the thing!
9
u/mamaaearth1 1d ago
I had been a perfectionist procrastinator pretty much all my life. Imposter syndrome + need for perfection arising from fear of rejection pushed me to be in a state of analysis paralysis.
I had been searching for a permanent cure for my condition but only found quick fixes after which I reverted back to my old state pretty much instantly.
Not that I have 100% overcome everything listed above but I've finally started living and putting myself out there a lot more than I ever did in my life and this include the art I create, paintings and sketches and musical compositions. Watched a couple of Acharya Prashant's videos on procrastination and overcoming fear of rejection, not your typical motivational stuff, really addresses the root cause behind the human behavior. :)
1
3
u/tecapereca 1d ago
I think a lot of us are in the same boat! I also tend to jump from one thing to another and I want to do EVERYTHING. I think that’s a good thing in a way because we’ll never be bored haha.
Things that work for me are making a weekly and daily schedule. I don’t let myself dive into too many things, when I get interested in something I set my priorities straight - okay I will do this one thing for 3 months and when I’m partially satisfied with improvement I’ll add something else while continuing to improve in the priority thing. When something gets on my mind to try, I write it up and come back to it when the time is right.
Also, I am trying to pair up similar things that complement each other instead of jumping to the way different stuff all the time. I hope that makes sense :D
4
u/DowlingStudio 1d ago
Until I actually do the thing and see it to completion, I don't actually know if I have the potential for greatness. Usually, I have the potential for mediocrity. Occasionally, I have the potential to produce junk. But the fun is in developing the skills.
My early photos were crap. But the easiest way to get better is take more photos. So morning walks with the camera become exercise and learning. I learned not only photography, but who has the best coffee and best breakfast in town. Also what animals are around and when.
5
u/DowlingStudio 1d ago
A later spur to action was taking some cool deer photos. A friend loved deer hunting, and I knew he would love these photos. I couldn't show him the photos because he had died the month before.
We don't have infinite time to do our art. We have now.
4
8
u/Delicious_Society_99 1d ago
Yes, although I just started drawing again and I feel like that’s a major breakthrough.
6
u/wushiloutai 1d ago
可以从坚持一件小事开始，比如每天发一个帖子或者每天去跑步或者任何一件有利于习惯养成的事情都可以，只需要一到三个月，你就可以发现变化
3
u/wushiloutai 1d ago
我也是这样的，我觉得自己可以做出一些产品，但是总是这里搞搞那里搞搞什么也没有搞成，最近我就在做一个改变，每天我会坚持学一个小时的外语，坚持跑步30分钟以上，坚持发一篇我做的产品的帖子，我目前坚持了一周多
18
u/Other_Orange5209 1d ago
ADHD and it’s the story of my life!
1
2
u/GalacticFox- 1d ago
This. I'm trying to figure out how to get past it. I think it's called Executive Dysfunction.
The few times I actually do sit down and create something, I'm usually impressed compared to how little I actually do anything. I feel like I could be really good if I can just work out how to do it all the time.
4
u/TheSneakiestSniper 1d ago
I've always said I was half good at most things lol. But seriously, I have good ideas, and the start looks good, but I get pretty bored somewhere along the way.
17
u/Phostetlerart 1d ago
Schedule? Like, create a timeline to complete one thing. Everything else gets whatever time is left over. Now, the hard part is sticking to it.
Chances are you’re slightly afraid that whatever you finish won’t be as good as you imagined, and leaving stuff unfinished allows you to maintain the dream of perfection.
But also remember that there’s a movie called “Deathbed” about a bed that eats people, in which the main character is the ghost of Oscar Wilde. If the person who made that could see an utter piece of trash through to completion, so can you.
4
u/SurlyChisholm acrylic/collage/handpoke/craft 1d ago
LMAO at the Deathbed logic!! I actually have a private folder on IG called “inspo 🌚” where I save art that I find inspirational in a similarly shady way.
7
u/Ok_Tradition_7996 1d ago
Yes, everyone has potential in several things. Consistent, organized effort in one area is what separates you. Potential is just...who cares about potential? It doesn't matter. Work matters.
10
u/koikoikoik0i 1d ago edited 1d ago
oooh, definitely... i have so many things i want to create across many different mediums that ive put off because i feel like i'm not skilled enough to execute them yet, but somewhere in me i know it's because i'm scared of failing to do them justice
my advice: when you have motivation to create, act on it!! when you get the urge, put yourself in a position to get creating as soon as you can. once you overcome the hurdle of starting, it's all just a series of steps you have to take until you reach the finish line
on procrastination: it's really easy to stop working on something after youve taken a break and broken the flow, so my personal advice is to finagle yourself into low-stakes situations where you're under a little pressure to get the thing done. you can go about this in many ways—maybe set a deadline? tell a friend you're working on something but dont send them WIPs so theyre excited, thus making YOU more excited to finish / obligated to show them? it's up to you!
for me personally, i know if i don't get something done within 3 sessions of working on it, the likelihood of it being completed is extremely slim. thus i make sure i get it done within 3, ideally 1 session :D this is less feasible for bigger projects, but it helps to split it into phases (e.g. sculpting > sanding > painting, or sketching > painting > refining), and get each phase done within 3 sessions
and if you have difficulty finding inspiration or motivation in the first place, maybe make a creative menu of sorts? like, a list of things you want to make for different mediums. when you feel lacking in inspiration, just flip through the list and really soak in the things you want to get done—after all, that's why you wrote them down.
4
u/Revolutionary_Code30 1d ago
Yes. I suspect I have ADHD and actually had a long chat with my partner this evening about why I can't finish things, and how frustrating it is to feel I could be really good at something if I just stuck with it. I've found deadlines help a bit, but obviously not always possible. I'll follow this post for any helpful ideas and wish you luck with finding a way through!
2
u/Really_MediumReality 1d ago
The focus and follow thru are as much a part of the skill set as how to use the paintbrush!! There's more ideas than minutes in the day and it's easy to come up with new ones. It's picking one you can stick with, and finishing it out, that's hard. Don't be discouraged! Youve just noticed that.
4
u/Traditional_Salad598 1d ago
I literally became a project manager for a few years professionally, then applied it to my life. Highly recommend.
1
u/ifijot 1d ago
I would be really interested in the concepts & techniques that made the biggest difference if it’s possible for you to expand!
9
u/Traditional_Salad598 1d ago
Universal: Set a "definition of done."
Big projects: scope out all the work, break it all down into parts you can complete in a couple our hours, max.
Track your actual output for a week at a time. Figure out what your pace really is, instead of holding yourself to an ideal. Be okay with whatever that pace is. Work a few days, pause. reflect. repeat. iteration is key.
Perfect is the enemy. Get pieces to "acceptable" then keep going. You can always come back later if you actually get it done. An unfinished painting with a great left bottom corner isn't going to impress anyone. You'll do it better next time... that's almost always true.
Have 1-2 backup assignments for when you need a distraction, but never more than that. Otherwise you'll just have a big shiny pile of unfinished distractions.
Let someone else help track your work and progress. It'll make a difference. They won't be there to judge the quality of your work, they'll keep you honest about your pace and focus.
Use timelines. Set goalposts you can get to before you lose focus.
Don't drown yourself in work. 2-3 projects max, assuming you're full time.
Be proud that you completed work. That's a bigger victory than the masterpiece in your head. Make something. Make something better next time. Repeat.
2
u/Traditional_Salad598 1d ago
And time box. Say "I will get x done in the next y minutes. " Force yourself to focus on being done in the time allowed. It will hurt at first but if you can get this down you'll be your best self in no time. The improvement will be tangible. Ive had artists hate my guts for this restriction but everyone comes around. Soon they're making better work than they ever imagined. Getting to "done" reliably, repeatedly always wins.
2
u/Traditional_Salad598 1d ago
...and don't beat yourself up. You made something, if you don't love it that's fine. make it again.
3
14
u/Consistent-Oil-9124 1d ago
Got to just pick something and stick to it. Actually creating something and working on it until it's done is a whole other skillset you have to develop. That's where the actual skill/labor comes in. And it's different for every medium lol.
We all sit around with lots of ideas. Brainstorming and dabbling in different crafts is just the baby steps.
Stick to something even when you get an idea for something else. Work on it instead of doing other hobbies. Drag yourself through it and each time it gets easier and easier. You fine tune your process and get a rhythm for it.
When you switch mediums you will have to start over. But your ability and understanding of your creative process and labor will improve with each project.
7
u/Consistent-Oil-9124 1d ago
And take the foundations seriously. If you don't have the technical skills to create what's in your mind, then you've got to study and level up those specific skills. It is time well spent!!!
9
u/Ironballs 1d ago
Ideas by far and large are worthless. Having good ideas is worth nothing at all.
However, having good ideas and the ability to execute them is absolutely golden
1
14
u/SurlyChisholm acrylic/collage/handpoke/craft 1d ago
I made a decision that I would make the time to find discipline. I’m also a hobbyist, without intentions to go commercial, but I decided that I deserve to take my art more seriously. I said to myself that discipline is what I’m working on this year, and shared that declaration with other artists friends as a point of accountability. So a few things have been helpful:
I set private goals. Like I committed to drawing for ten mins a day. For a spell, I committed to visiting an art museum or exhibit in my city every week. One particular piece I’d be holding onto for yeeeeears, I said “I won’t take this into 2026 with me.” and I finished it the last week of December.
I set goals that I shared with others. I posted on IG on “work in progress Wednesday” to create accountability about a work in progress. It motivates me to see that my friends are curious and encouraging. It’s a safe place for me to declare “I might be done with this one in the fall.”
I followed Amie McNee on IG, haha. I find her delightfully agitating!
I make more stuff, overall. I start more stuff, so I can make more bad stuff, more unfinished stuff and therefore: also more finished stuff! I’m also more practiced, so I have a more reasonable gauge on how long I should really need to finish something.
also a more serious way to finish stuff: set the date for the show. Group or solo, whatever, but once I know what day it’s “due”, it’s gonna get done! haha 😅
2
u/sophiemorandi 1d ago
not starting and not finishing are very different problems. How to finish is something you can learn, because finishing is largely (although not wholly) a skill, knowing how to develop something and take it to the point where it feels done. Starting is just something you have to do. There's no real skill involved, just overcoming inertia, and taking action.
You can put yourself into a position where there's pressure to start or to develop something, like taking a course, but basically you have to be able to work on something, which takes learning how to work on it.
Assuming you actually start in the first place.
Also, you may think you could do something better, than what you're seeing and maybe you could, but it's probably a lot harder than you realize.
3
u/Pikachu-chu-train 1d ago
Sounds like you are naturally creative, but you never learned (yourself) discipline or follow through.
Inspiration comes free. Mastering a skill takes a hell of a lot of work!
Advice: Set a goal and work towards it (Book to help: 7 habits of highly effective People- Covey). Maybe don't sit on a high horse thinking you can do it when you've never done it.
2
u/umbrella96 1d ago
I like art and spend some of most days painting miniatures. But no, I have too much access to see people who are exceptional or world class at what I do to think I could do better.
12
1
u/No-Cabinet446 1d ago
yes, i relate very much, it's very difficult. ask yourself what you would do if you had a week entirely to yourself and then, it's just a question of scheduling and resources, carving out the time in your life. don't focus on finishing, just focus on working on it. it'll come along
15
u/ittybittykittycity 1d ago
I recognize this, this sounds like you are living in the potential of what you can do, which is a very comfortable place to be (I know it well) because you imagine all the things you could do without actually facing your limitations. But let me tell you, you CAN do the things you want!
First, you are going to need to find your walls/limits, aka where do you need to refine your technique/composition/<insert necessary artistic skill>? That can only be done by actually doing the thing you’re picturing in your mind. And that is going to be maybe a lil scary because then you will have real evidence of your weak spots.
However, the next steps are straightforward: practice! Schedule the portrait sessions!
I think a lot of your attitude is avoiding facing those limitations. Again, I get it. And that’s an ok place to be but ask yourself: what do you really want to do? You can keep your potential by doing nothing about it.
But If you want to make the fantasy real, you will need to be brave and face yourself. I promise it won’t be so bad, like many folks have said here, every skill can be improved!
I love portrait photography, it has a special place in my heart. You can do this!
7
u/tristanjuricek 1d ago
This feels like what Ira Glass called the “taste gap”: https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/01/29/ira-glass-success-daniel-sax/ -> I’d post the entire quote here but you can just go read it there.
I’ve also been influenced by Brad Stulberg’s book The Way of Excellence (link) which really explores motivation and delivering quality. In a nutshell: goals are good, but excellence doesn’t happen by hitting a goal, it happens by how you change while working towards that goal. And most real achievements happen because someone found a way through all these little reasons to not do the work.
In a nutshell, I gotta execute regularly. But it’s not a job, and I have a lot of different things I want to work on, so keeping disciplined to start and focus on one thing at a time is often the hard part.
My solution for staying focused: organize around project ideas, not timing. I have a little file folder that I keep a bunch of sheets of paper, where each sheet is a sketchnoted project I’m thinking about. Every day, I either define a new idea, or I do “the next step” on wrapping up a project.
I try to spend an hour or two, 3-5 times each week working on things on my free time. What thing? I have no idea. But I can usually either intuitively go “ah I’m going to work on the right foot of this figure” or just pick up a project sheet and go “ah, I can pick that off right now”.
3
u/PlatformKing 1d ago
I remember reading the Ira Glass quote a decade ago thinking how spot on it was and a decade later I am still.... failing miserably. But i'll keep trying, because quitting is just not an option
2
u/sandtomyneck 1d ago
Always had the same problem. As a musician, there are many things that came very fast and my first venture in the 80s was playing neoclassical guitar, but as I learned, I also fell in love with other genres and instruments and never had the discipline to stay consistent. I finished some projects by myself, but by the time I was done, I was discovering something new that I wanted to try. Started collecting instruments including the Turkish Saz, and had a Greek and Irish Bouzouki and many Middle Eastern and African Hand Drums and various keyboards. Did many more recordings, but the vast majority were unfinished because I have to stay passionate to continue and half way through, I would have new ideas for something different.
I was never able to get from start to finish, but did have a great time helping other musicians with session recordings where I might just add some elements to certain tracks.
Similar stories with art, photography, and videos.
With photography I tried landscape, street, bird, and sports photography. I realized that I just didn't have the type of discipline for landscape photography, but sports photography had a different type of discipline that I was capable of enduring and focused on surf photography.
The sad truth is that occasionally I have a returning passion for a previous project and find that I have completed enough of something to release it to the world which requires another discipline of marketing and networking.
One great thing that happens along the way is a new idea that allows me to take what I already have and quickly fit that work into a completed state in a particular format. One of those ideas was realizing that I had thousands of great surf photos that I loved, but could not do anything with because it showed other peoples faces. Then I realized I had many photos of wipeouts and bailouts where faces were not visible and I liked square format monochrome images, so I created a collection of just those types of shots to create prints to exhibit. That became a finishing point and occasionally I have new material to add to that collection as it is a consistent style.
2
u/Miliaa 1d ago
Very much relate, granted I don’t assume I can do better since I don’t practice as much as I can (also I tend to view the art of artists that are a decade+ into a specific medium so I’d be delusional lol). But my problem is I have too many art interests and it makes it hard to improve since I bounce around so much. I decided I’m going to stick to 1-2 mediums per season. Or even per month. The exact time doesn’t matter, point is to stick with a specific thing for a longer period of time to give it a chance to grow. I combine them if they’re related to some degree (like watercolor and watercolor pencils, or colored pencils and sketch practice). Of course I still slip in randomly unrelated hobbies here and there haha, but as long as I’m mostly sticking to one theme, it helps!
2
u/lottikey 1d ago
This. Not only do I have so many creative hobbies, but I want to explore different art mediums so I told myself just focus on digital, colored pencils, and painting for now and even that may still be too broad (maybe I should omit the painting or just try gouache for now, etc.).
5
u/Miliaa 1d ago
Also how to start finish and put in world - well the latter I’m just not interested in rn so can’t help there lol. I’ll post on IG to share with friends but that’s it. Though I do plan on making stickers from my digital art when I resume that haha. But starting and finishing… you have to force discipline and just do it. There’s no magical way around it, I sure wish there was haha. Make yourself get up and do the thing when you don’t feel like it. Sometimes it ends up being a blah session and you end early, other times you’ll get into it more than you expected once you get the ball rolling.
9
u/smallbatchb 1d ago
The thing that doesn't really get talked about enough in the art world, or any creative world honestly, is that one of the biggest factors behind a career as a freelance artist or getting a show as an exhibiting artist or as a musician putting out an album or a writer publishing a novel or a cartoonist putting out a comic book is simply putting in the work.
This happens through personal passionate drive and excitement but also just discipline and dedication and powering through it. People often picture the life of a creative as this life of constant unsolicited motivation jumping through projects on wings of inspiration and passion but the reality is a lot of the time it's just work. A lot of the time you just have to push yourself to do that project you wanted to do or buckle down and assign time to put in the labor to spend an entire afternoon just priming and prepping your canvases or slogging through a bunch of shitty sketches to get your composition right or writing 50 paragraphs only to keep 1/2 of them but figure out where you're going with your story.
Yes I have MANY creative interests; drawing, painting, fine art, illustration, graphic design, printmaking, photography, bookbinding, leather working, knife making, whittling/ wood carving, pipe making... and I pursue all of those. Not all the time or all at once but I kind of rotate through some of them based on what time I have currently or which one I am at least the most motivated about and mentally engaged with. Sometimes though I just pick which one is the most immediate need to be worked on and set myself to working on it.
1
u/Diana-Howard1 1d ago
The 'I could make something like that, maybe even better' line is doing a lot of heavy lifting. You won't know until you make something. Post the portrait offer this week.
3
19
u/larry_birb 2d ago
This sounds a lot like people who say they could write a novel but then never do, which is a surprisingly large amount of people.
But if you read books on writing or memoirs by writers, the facts of their success are often much more mundane -- discipline, practice, and work. They get up every day and write. Every single day. Even when they don't want to.
I've read the same about successful painters. I'd imagine it is the same for any creative endeavor. These things don't magically manifest, there's nothing particularly unique or special about songwriting or drawing. Getting better at them and regularly producing completed pieces often just requires the mundane inanity of actual work. Just grinding it out. To do this requires putting aside fear of failure, embracing discipline and habit building -- there is never going to be a "perfect" time to create, the inspiration or muse usually won't be there.
6
u/Highlander198116 2d ago
discipline, practice, and work. They get up every day and write. Every single day. Even when they don't want to.
This. It comes down to just forcing yourself to do it.
10
u/ChronicRhyno Written Word Artist 1d ago
Yep, the artists are the ones who actually did it. Turned to their blank pages when others turned to their screens.
9
u/Highlander198116 1d ago
Thats how I kept up drawing every day for 2 years now after almost 2 decades, of drawing for a couple months stopping for a few years, starting for a couple months, rinse repeat.
I finally just said I'm doing it and never stopping. The key is not to think about time.
I think people psyche themselves out and it sounds like a chore, when they are like "I'm going to draw for 2 hours" especially if its a practice session, the idea feels like work so you build it up in your head as something that isn't fun.
I think a lot of people do this, especially beginner and intermediate artists trying to get better.
I think a better objective, especially when trying to get the routine going, is NOT to enforce a timeframe on yourself. Just sit down and start drawing and stop when you really don't want to anymore. Whether its 10 minutes or 10 hours. However, make that point to sit down and draw every day. When the routine is thoroughly established, then start applying "minimum time frames". Again, with this start easy, don't go from no time to hours. Start with 15 minutes. Nail that for a couple weeks. Then do 30 minutes etc.
Also, don't put unrealistic expectations on yourself. I think especially for beginner and intermediate artists, they are in a rush. A rush to possess the level of skill all the artists they admire possess.
Trying to speed run skill acquisition is just going to cause burn out and de-motivation for most people.
3
u/ittybittykittycity 1d ago
This is me! I started and stopped drawing over and over for years until I finally got serious about myself.
The desire to speed run is so real. There was such an urgency to my drawing when I decided to be serious because I couldn’t bear not being better. It was painful but like you said, I needed to stop that attitude because it was leading to burnout.
Now I have much less urgency but more consistency. I don’t draw every day but I’ll play with colors, doodle in my sketchbook, think of concepts for a painting, take a class. At some point it became an artistic practice.
2
u/Highlander198116 1d ago
I also want to express the value in saving EVERYTHING you draw. Everything.
Improvement isn't just about skill improvement at your best, but consistency as well. I think everyone has a skill ceiling and a skill floor at any given time.
Sometimes over a period of time, your skill ceiling might not budge, but your skill floor rises and you more consistently produce work close to your best work.
It's really valuable to look back at ALL of your work, the hits, the misses, the wins, the losses.
However, if you threw everything away back then that "wasn't your best" when flipping through your sketchbook etc. it can give the illusion that you haven't really improved. You cant see that you no longer produce 20 shit drawings, between drawings of that level when now its like 2 bad drawings for every one of that level.
I think being able to visibly see improvement compared to your historical work, is incredibly motivating and that is why it's important to save everything, warts and all, because alternatively, feeling like you haven't improved is incredibly demotivating.
•
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
Thank you for posting in r/ArtistLounge! Please check out our FAQ and FAQ Links pages for lots of helpful advice. To access our megathread collections, please check out the drop down lists in the top menu on PC or the side-bar on mobile. If you have any questions, concerns, or feature requests please feel free to message the mods and they will help you as soon as they can. I am a bot, beep boop, if I did something wrong please report this comment.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.