/loomis/ - Art Gains

>>4386

I think I know what you're doing and you need to stop. I was right there with you a couple years ago and it's not the right way to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWXYoD7wfOs

>Too stupid and incapable to actually produce anything good

>Just smart enough to know it

>post art somewhere

>some amount of people start watching me

>start feeling uncomfortable when many people follow my art

>post art in another place

>same thing happens again

I wonder how many artists feel this way

I imagine most people would be delighted to get watchers. It's comfy when I have a few watchers, especially if they post comments and I can recognize them. But I just don't feel comfortable when I start getting many followers or people talk about my art.

I want to get good at art, but I don't know how I could live with the attention it might give me, seeing that I already get uncomfortable with the meager amount I can get.

>>4396

It happens to me too. I used to have a good fanbase some years ago, but now the idea of people looking at my art makes me sick.

I think I've lost my drive to draw, completely.

>be shit and know it

>feel myself improving every day and enjoying my practice even when it looks terrible

feels good tbh

>>4396

>>4400

I get the same feeling. After around a year I delete everything from the internet and begin again. Posting anonymously on imageboards is really nice, but after a while people start to recognize you.

>>4401

Anyone can post things online and have a fanbase. You just need to cater to something (by which I mean drawing porn).

is it possible to be a hobbyfag and be good as a professional?

must I need pro mindset? Because I hate beating myself up all the time.

yeah it sucks being bad but I just wanna have fun.

>talk about why I draw with art friends

>I stick out and they can't relate

>talk about what I'm making, with people in a similar situation

>I'm the only one who's actually followed through with the idea, and now have something to show for it.

>have had friends flat out tell me my dedication is inspiring to them

>asked what keeps me going, by people who have a hard time even drawing what they like

>mfw

Sure I'm dedicated to practicing, and grinding out the unfun parts of making something, but I'm nowhere near dedicated enough to warrant that.

So I can't help but feel pretty uncomfortable being told something like that, when I'm just doing what comes naturally.

>>4408

I seriously doubt pros beat themselves up all the time.

Except maybe porn artists. :^)

>been taking up drawing back again as a hobby to change my situation in life

>also took more or less coding as well for a hobby

>kept it to 30 mins each a day to get used to it since I keep getting distracted then ramped it up to 1 hour each a day

>still struggle with concentration and self-patience when drawing and coding

>still feel the impatience of wanting to see results

Doesn't help that I had work shifts on the evening and how I substituted days with studying instead of actual drawing or coding. I want to be able to draw first pic-related as they are my favorite subjects in drawing along with cute animu girls and incorporate it in my future game. So far I'm going with Bert Dodson's Keys to drawing despite having worked only a little with Betty Edwards, drawabox, line control and shapes drawing over the three or so years I spent, doesn't help with no critiques around.

>>4408

The only difference you'll find between a "pro" mindset and a "hobby" mindset is how much either of them take the craft seriously.

And as far as professionals are concerned, there are certainly many people who get paid to draw art that looks like dogshit.

Learning to draw is not a simple task just because paper and pen are easily accessible tools. Anyone can push the keys on a piano and get some semblance of the song they wanted to play, but doing it well takes a long time and requires a lot of passion and dedication. The question here is whether you have it.

There are little barriers to entry, but you can't reach the mountain peak by kicking stones at the bottom.

As far as studying goes, I wouldn't say i'm as dedicated to it as I should probably be, though every effort counts and that has certainly shown in my own art even in the previous year.

At the moment, my passions for improvement have moved into learning how to apply skills, rather than just learning to draw by itself

>mfw randomly losing all desire to draw

It's not as frustrating now, as it will be when I regain my desire to improve and have spent the last several days/weeks doing nothing.

My biggest regret is not starting on drawing decades ago. Now, I have to cram 12 hours of practice into every day, plus at least an hour of guitar practice (which I will also have to increase since it's not enough), plus time for working out, eating, etc.

I have to function on maybe 4 hours of sleep a day. And yet no matter how much I practice, how much I might read or try to apply knowledge, I just stumble over obstacles, only partially getting over them, only to find minefields more.

I feel like I'm slowly going crazy. I practice and practice, and see nothing for the effort. Yet I can't stop. I have so little time left, and giving up would only make it worse. And yet keeping at it brings me no satisfaction either.

Every day I wish for a terminal illness that kills me within weeks. Life was a mistake.

>>4436

>4 hours of sleep a day

If you don't sleep enough you aren't going to work at top efficiency. You aren't going to be concentrated, make silly mistakes and errors in judgment. I get the feeling you'd work better with good nights' sleep; working a lot and slaving away might not be as efficient as working slightly less but in top form.

The obstacle thing never stops either.

That's not a problem, is it? You never stop having things to learn.

>>4461

You and me both

>>4473

At least you have a deadline. I have nothing but regrets.

Between work and drawing and 8chan, I haven't cleaned up my apartment in months. I'm slowly but surely turning into masaokis.

>finally feel motivated to draw

>draw a thing

>be proud of the fact it's a small improvement over my last thing

>post it online

>get told it's utter shit and I need to practice a lot more

>lose all motivation

>don't draw for a month or more

It's a painful cycle and I'm too depressed about life to break it.

>>4494

>tfw hate everything I draw

>>4498

>>4499

>tfw love everything I draw

>>4501

>>4502

how did you know?

>>4498

>>4500

>tfw love half the things I draw, but hate the other half

>do some figure drawing

>assume I grasped the major muscle groups

>launch 3d program and try to block in a character from primitives

>not even hoping to get the proportions

>…

Welp, apparently I don't know shit about anything. I just checked vastus medialis and its anchored to the pelvis nowhere near where I thought it was.

It's like you look at the anatomical drawings but they're either so shit or your interpretation is so shit you learn almost nothing. And then you start to confuse the more mangled shit around the plevis, elbows and the shoulders and it all goes to hell.

I also realized not so long ago that humans are one of the worst mammals to ever learn anatomy on. Were all twisted up from becoming upright and all that leverage that you can find on a typical quadruped (like a bull's pectoral inserting at half the height of the humerus) is gone on us. Our shit is all tucked away under other shit.

>>4627

That is creepy as hell man, but it's a start. You'll get there!

>>4382

>enjoy art

>want to make art

>internet makes consuming art completely trivial

>works that took an artist 40+ hours to make and completely eclipse everything I've ever done in quality and abillity still only get a glance and a grunt from me

>the only art I'm actually motivated to make is degenerate smut

Hyperconsumerism sucks and/or I'm a lazy asshole.

>>4642

I intend to. In fact I'm going to grind the human form until I can make a convincing sculpt in under half an hour. If I didn't have to work on the family computer (mine's ancient) I'd be starting another by now.

Looks messed up partially because of the skin shader applied to a low poly voxel model.

>>4402

I just started practicing figure drawing since yesterday, and I've been feeling like this. Like, half the time I get really excited and enjoy it even though it's not like I've gotten too far with it. Is this normal? Do most people that try drawing feel this sort of way when they really try to develop their skills and practice? This feels… a lot more fun than I would expect.

>>4683

This is it, the ultimate /loomis/ feel. I was feeling it today, but I realized I need to spend more time drawing and less time feeling sorry for myself because I'm not going to stop either way. You can do it mang.

>>4665

>>4683

I know what it feels like.

>>4687

>>4683

>tfw your highest ambition is shitposting and drawing smut on your spare time on Laotian musical bottle blowing discussion forums

What is the most frustrated, pissed-off moment you've ever had while trying to draw? Have you ever been angry enough to rip up the paper?

>going nowhere in life, shit falling through that I thought would have worked

>the people I ask for advice on, just berate me and use it as an opportunity to air complaints they've wanted to for months

>think I need a plan on what to do with my life, and start panicking

>decide to look into trades, start asking around and researching how to get in to them

>call up trade school near me, make appointment

>go in, things go smoothly, it's a good trade with an incredibly high turnover rate, and really good salary

>waiting to see last person of my appointment

>some guy asks if I'm waiting on that person, and brings me to where they'll be when they're done

>he can tell something is up

>Asks me to "be honest" and "Do you really want to do this?"

>Come clean and say no.

>He asks what

>"Art."

>Asks me how old I am

>"Twenty two."

>He just smiles and chuckles a bit, and proceeds to reassure me that it's normal to be uncertain about my future. That if I've got something in life I'm passionate about, I should pursue it now, and worry about making money when I'm out of studying.

>Gives me a really calm and reassuring smile, tells me in a joking way "get out of here" and to go do what I want to, instead of what someone else thinks I should

>decide to cement my earlier decision (as in months ago) to continue down the path of transferring from my community college, into a four year for art (my parents will be able to pay for the four year without a student loan)

It's a good feeling, but I really can't thank that guy enough. If I hadn't met him I probably would have actually gone ahead with this and put my art aside.

Make no mistake, I don't think I'm really "good" or that I even deserve to be payed for the level of work I produce. But drawing really means the world to me, and I work on it as much as I can, every single day.

I don't really care where it takes me, I'd be satisfied living in a van, drawing portraits for passer byes, if I could sustain that lifestyle.

>>4803

You should do a trade part time if you can, no more than 3 days a week, and save that money you're parents would use on college to a subscription on New Masters Academy or Schoolism or something similar. I have heard from far too many people that art school is bullshit and we've all seen the hordes of not-gonna-make-its they produce. Don't put this burdern on your parents even if they can afford it. Tell your parents…DAIJOUBU!

>>4805

I guess if your parents are human garbage and their financial well-being means nothing to you then art school might be the right way to go after all. Make sure to find a good school that has what and who you want, though. Just because you're pissing their money away doesn't mean it has to be a complete waste, but if you're a beginner of sorts I wouldn't expect miracles either. You will have to work hard on your own time to get to a good level no matter how good your professors are and if you haven't started already you should stard immediately.

What schools are you considering?

>>4810

Don't let /co/ fool you, Calarts is one of the few worthwhile schools; not only do they actually teach you stuff to at least some degree, if you are charismatic and make friends easily you will almost certainly get a job in the end which is the only reason to go to a school to begin with.

There is the matter of tuition, but if your parents want to take it up the corn hole that's their business I guess, don't let a good opportunity pass you by. Maybe try for a scholarship just in case they don't end up paying for your college after all when when it comes down to it (it's a possibility, isn't it?).

Speaking of that, if you're penniless yourself have them buy you into the AMB Animation Academy Livestream Library on facebook (over 30 hours of content and GROWING on a weekly basis, for $100; https://ambanimation.com/ambaa/live-stream-library/) and along with his many free tutorials on youtube you will have a an awesome supplement to your animation education, if that's what you're looking for. I'm a member of AMB myself (one of only 11 at this time) and can attest to the fact that it hits way above its weight class for the money.

The artist behind AMB (a British Indian that looks like a Disney Villain) can be a kind of grumpy, obstinate guy and unfortunately pretty dismissive of modern animation techniques and software, but he's very generous with his time and his advice as far as traditional-style animation goes is invaluable.

>One hears, "Can you draw hands - or horses - or trees?" The answer is: we do not draw "things" at all, only lines. To reproduce objects we see on paper, we need to translate what we see into a useful language which we will call the language of lines.

Holy fuck man

>You keep your eye on the object you're drawing and only briefly glance at your paper as you work. This is working in "the language of lines" or, as we can now advance it, working in the language of shapes."

>>4860

You draw with your brain as much or more than with your arm my man. Losing a limb is a terrible tragedy which I in no way intend to understate-you have my condolences. However, developing your remaining limb through something like drawing might prove to be fairly therapeutic.

Your situation is going to take some time to get used to one way or the other; who could blame you for wanting to sit quietly and reflect on your terrible misfortune for a while? There may come a time in the near future when you find yourself unsatisfied watching television or anime all day though and to that end productive hobbies like art, writing and/or digital music production etc. could provide you with a healthy and (given your situation in particular) wholly necessary catharsis.

Your arm may be gone, but there's still a whole lot of you left.

>tfw you feel proud when you drew a loomis potato head, but then a really good artist acts like their art is shit

>>4874

HOGARTH

O

G

A

R

T

H

Year of progress apart. I am now four years into learning art coming from absolutely no experience and facial blindness.

>>4881

>First you learn to actually draw and then afterwards you learn the key fundamentals of anime stylization and apply that

This is how you kill your motivation and give up.

>Setting the bar at anime is setting it very low

The "bar" of anime is as high as you want it to be. If it's too far above your skill level, you'll get demotivated. If it's not high enough, your progress suffers.

There is nothing wrong with drawing anime girls with ROCKIN' TITS for fun, but you must try and understand fundamentals as well. Anyone saying you "can't draw" something or that you "must abstain" from drawing something is wrong, but when it comes down to it your work will always be sub par if you never come to understand the fundamentals.

tl;dr Draw 1 anime girl a day and like 30 classical figure drawings.

>>4892

Nobody is saying you shouldn't study, the point is that you can apply your studies to the anime girls you're drawing. Want to learn hand anatomy? Pay more attention to your anime girls' hands this time, try to get it right and look at references for help. Want to learn perspective? Draw your anime girls in perspective. Want to learn shading, shade an anime girl.

You may progress even faster since your mind is more deeply into what you're doing, instead of painstakingly trying to grind through some shit that you hate.

>>4412

Sounds like me except I am a NEET and have wasted almost a decade sitting in my room doing nothing and I think I'm going insane. My situation is now such that I maybe have a couple years to unfuck myself.

I am aiming for picrelated (At least short term). Not amazing but good enough for the game I want to make. I want to get to that point within the next several months. I think if I can't draw well enough for the game I want to make by the end of the year I'll just kill myself. I really fucked my life up and I'm at the end of my tether tbh.

>>4937

>>4938

Reconsider whether you really want to do art.

If you can't find something to enjoy about doing it, you probably won't enjoy it even after you get better. You're never going to feel like your art is "good enough". t. someone who feels like their art is good by drawfag standards, but still thinks their art is shit

I really wish I could make awesome catchy music, but I hate working with any kind of audio software or instrument. I think it would be stupid for me to try to constantly git gud at music because I doubt I'd ever enjoy actually doing it even if I liked the end result.

On that note; consider giving music and programming a try if you haven't already. They're both creative hobbies/jobs that you can start playing with almost just as easily as drawing. I used to hate the idea of programming, but one day I gave it a go and now I love working on my little game projects just as much as I love drawing.

>>4940

I'm pretty much an impostor.

While I love art I know I don't "like" to make it per se. However the fact of the matter is I don't really like to do pretty much anything so this is as good as anything else I guess. Music is another hobby of mine, probably the one I have the most natural inclination for, but I also can't afford to rely on others when it comes to making my weird (but sfw) ideas come to life visually.

I want to make a game and hope I make enough money doing so to support myself and my aging working class family, but at this stage I feel powerless.

>>4940

>>4941

Guess I'll join in with the blogposting as this topic hits pretty close to home for something I've struggled with in my own ways.

>programming

I've spent years casually studying it. I can pick up new languages quickly and can figure out how to accomplish most things with the help of google right off the bat. I've just never had any inspiration for app ideas. I got into thinking I would do just that, create software that does something useful. I seem completely devoid of any ability to conjure up a single idea worth a damn. There is already so much software written. I think part of the problem of being technically savvy is that I am able to solve my problems through creative use of what is available to me, so I have no motivation to "reinvent the wheel". Maybe better versions of this or that app could be made as is always the case, but I don't have any vision of what a better app would be. It's frustrating that I can't even just come up with personal projects to show off my skills and get a job.

>music

I've made multiple attempts to get into music production. After my most recent attempt, I had to accept two hard facts. I only had a knack for 8 and 16 bar themes or loops and I hated sitting there trying to force myself to create the rest of the track. I say could, as in it is technically possible if I would just grit my teeth and force myself to learn the skills needed to fight through my limitations, but it is just so unenjoyable. I'll include one of the few "themes" I have the rendered audio to. Had to make a video out of it to post, so I made some oc.

>writing

I was committed to dream journaling for awhile. I even had one dream that played before me just like a movie. When I woke up, I recorded an outline of the major bits to help me remember it for the future. I would love to actually write that dream into a screenplay/script or whatever to be made into a film. It is just such of huge undertaking for two areas I have little to no skill or experience in, writing and film-making.

>drawing/art

Finally, I get to what is relevant to this board! Having that long list of frustration and failure laid out, I can see why I'm enjoying drawing in way I could not with anything else. It is an escape from all the creative dead-ends. When I draw, I just relax and do the best I can. It is like I judge everything else based on how likely it is to achieve a material goal. I only want to program, make music and write if it produces something people will notice. With drawing, it is the drawing itself I enjoy. What I am drawing and “how good is it?” matters little. Sure It is not that I do not want to draw pictures people find appealing. It is that I am fine with not being good at it in this moment. Having only light and sporadic practice, I still notice an improvement. I think this is just "my thing". It is what I am supposed to be doing.

>>4944

>I got into thinking I would do just that, create software that does something useful. I seem completely devoid of any ability to conjure up a single idea worth a damn

I find this very curious because what drives me into creating things is my desire to make something. Although I like programming in itself, I don't do it just for the sake of programming. I do it because there's something I want to create, the act of turning things (that are better in my mind) into reality and building the ways it works is what appeals to me. I can't remember the mindset I had when I first got into art, but I can find similar enjoyment in it even if my drawings don't always turn out alright, part of the fun for me is figuring out why it's wrong and how to do it right.

I used to be interested of clothes and cosplays, I had tons of ideas for things I wanted to try making, but when I actually got into it I absolutely hated sewing or interacting with fabrics be it with a machine or by hand. Long story short I dropped it pretty quickly because clearly I wasn't enjoying doing it, even though I had all these plans and interests in it. The thought hasn't even crossed my mind in years until now. Wanting to do something is what gets me to do it, and enjoying the process is what keeps me doing it.

So in a sense I can't comprehend this struggle. I just do what I really want to do. I wish I was a rockstar playing sweet melodies in front of a cheering crowd and flashing lights, but I don't like singing or playing a guitar or composing music. I wish I had a team to work on cool big games with and start a game company or something, but I hate working with other people on projects for multiple reasons. What I actually want to do isn't compatible with many of my distant wish-haves.

I can't remember ever "practicing" art or programming either. I do it because there's something I want to do, not because I "want to be an artist". If I can't do something well, then I just try to figure out how to do it well. Although of course I care about doing a better job at everything, so I never stop trying to do well even if I'm doing lazy sketches.

>>4948

Do you understand that being creative and the process of creation are not the same thing? I enjoy the creative process. I had lots of fun creating my little music loops. I enjoyed dream journaling. I enjoyed solving problems in programming. I enjoy drawing cubes freehand and seeing a convincing perspective effect.

I want to write complete music compositions. I want to write a screenplay. I want to write software that is useful to other people. I want to draw mechs and cheesecake and whatever else.

>So the real problem isn't "motivation" or that art is hard, it's that you don't like doing anything. You're pursuing a career/hobby that you don't like.

>If that's really the case then I dunno what to say. I can't imagine what it's like to not want to do anything ever.

In the first statement, you conclude that I don't like it. In the second, you conclude I don't want to do anything. You don't seem to grasp that I want to do something, but I don't enjoy my inability to do it and my frustration with developing the skills.

What I was saying before is that people shouldn't quit things just because it gets hard, which implies less fun.

Hell, this issue is the central focus of the book The War of Art. That creating isn't always "fun" and you have to push yourself through the lean times so you are prepared for when inspiration strikes.

>>4949

>In the first statement, you conclude that I don't like it. In the second, you conclude I don't want to do anything.

No need to get worked up, he probably just conflated your posts with mine, wherein I did say I don't like to do anything. To be honest that was a bit histrionic of me though, if that were truly the case I wouldn't even try. I do enjoy seeing myself improve even if it's slow and painful as FUCK.

>attending prestigious academy/atelier for traditional realistic drawing and painting

>racking up a mountain of debt due to tuition fees and living expenses

>been here 2 years now, starting my third

>not learning much or really anything as of late (most of what I actually learned was in the first year)

>two great instructors left a year ago and were replaced by newly graduated stuents

>can draw better than most of my instructors

>having a lot of difficulties with the handling of oil paint (drawing values and colors are correct, paint strokes, shapes and edges are poor)

>most instructors are not good enough to offer help

>the one good instructor/academic director I rarely have refuses to teach technique in favour of principals and expects other instructors to pick up the slack

>other instructors can't

>had meeting with academic director to discuss my issues with the education I'm paying for

>he understands how I feel but is not willing to change the way things are taught

>very successful realist artist from this atelier was in the same position and decided to stay just because he had access to a studio and models

>I'm in line to be the next student instructor

>not sure the things I'm learning are worth the cost of the education anymore

>if I stay and become a student instructor I'll most likely have the option to teach at a less prestigious atelier in the future

>don't know what to do

>academic director says he can't help me with decision

>parents are supportive and would let me set up a studio at their place

>i'm in my early 20's so I guess I have time?

>I'm freaking out over the choice I have to make

What do I do? I have a backup career as an illustrator I can fall back on but all I really want to do now is to get really fucking good, something I know I can do if I have enough time. I either stick it out, rack up a lot more debt and potentially not learn anything just to have "student instructor at…" on my resume or I set up my own studio, go back to self teaching and hopefully get good. I'm worried about both options. I can halfway it and take a year off from my studies to see what I can do myself in a year, that's where I'm leaning now but that probably means not being a student instructor.

pic is just a painting I like…

>suddenly start thinking my comic looks like shit

>panic and start asking everyone I know for feedback, what they think of it, and how I can improve

>one of the things that comes up most is the faces

>think I need to go and start studying it hardcore, and to make their faces more realistic

>attempt some sketches with more technical faces

>it looks good

>go and redo the face on one of my characters, in the sketch for the latest page

>it looks fine enough, but a bit jarring

>ink her

>it looks fucking atrocious

>realize that I've basically subconsciously been deliberately flattening my designs, and using flat shapes in order to add to a strong silhouette

(think like Samurai Jack, or Mob Psycho 100)

>decide to keep doing what I was doing earlier, but to also keep practicing these areas I'm lacking in, and instead really push the style I'm developing

>going to be instead keeping the general aesthetic, but making model sheets so I develop consistency

I'm not satisfied that I've not really made much progress on the comic lately, but it was important for me to go through all this, I think.

Without doing so, I wouldn't be aware I can draw like the first image, but choose to draw like the other ones.

>>4956

>that first pic

zut alors

>started a new routine

>wake up same time every morning, like 4 hours before work

>draw for 30-45 mins

>work out

>eat/shower/whatever else to get ready

>been doing this every day for almost a month now

Feels great tbh

I'm getting a little better every day

My struggle has and will always be doing my work consistantly, or at all. My biggest fear is dying of old age before I see the end to what work i've made, at the rate of 2 to 3 chapters a year that is absolutely certain.

>in chatroom

>someone posts their gestures

>they're poor, not even gestures

>Offer up feedback

>At one point say "but if you're going to be missing the point completely, you might as well start pursuing construction, as it might be up your alley right now"

>some fuckhead comes in and says I just gave terrible advice, and how you shouldn't be using construction when doing gestures

>point out how what I'm saying, pertains to studying something more to his mindset, and not in fact what he's currently doing

>"Oh, okay, so you're saying he should do construction with gesture. Awkies. UuU"

>every time I try to explain myself, he just fucking cuts me off, and says I'm wrong

>get pissed and just fucking leave the server

>in different chatroom

>some guy posts a really terrible animation

>offer up some ways to improve

>he immediately deletes his posts and starts passive aggressively misquoting me

>eg, he greentexts "no animation experience" and then immediately deletes it

>I get pissed

>start capping his posts and reposting them

>Immediately 180's, says "oh hey delete that since we're both just spamming"

>tell him to fuck off and deal with the consequences of his actions

>he tries to drag it out

>I tell him he's blocked and on my shitlist

These both happened like, two days ago as of writing, but I'm still just so god damned salty at how these people responded.

What the hell goes through someone's head, to take up the one craft where you need to listen to criticism constantly to improve, if you can't stomach even being told you're not listening to what someone's saying, or being told just how you can improve?

Why is it so hard to get started?

>>4988

I recently found out that trying too hard can ruin my motivation. This is from the perspective of game dev which I'm currently focused on, so it may not apply 100% to art.

Basically, I accidentally got into a rhythm where I play videogames for a few hours after work, and then dev for the rest of the day until I've made a decent amount of progress or get tired. Ever since I've been coding every day without fail, and without really struggling to get started either. I don't think of it as a "schedule" or think about it much at all, I just do it.

2 days ago I got into a programming spree and coded all night, and I immediately got burned out and wanted to quit working on games altogether. Next day I coded something simple that was unfinished and then watched movies. Next day, i.e. today, I just finished playing games and want to dev again. I want to get my game ideas done, it's as if one day I just got tired of quitting.

I also stopped feeling bad about playing games. I know that I won't waste the whole day on it, and I don't expect to be able to work all day either. I don't feel bad about quitting the game either when I'm really into it, because I'll probably continue it again tomorrow.

I'm not sure if this makes any sense, I feel like I discovered something important mentally, but now that I'm trying to describe it it sounds like all those generic motivational things that I never found to be helpful at all.

>>4988

Because actually learning how to draw isn't fun and is boring as shit. You can't make anything you want to make because you have to keep drawing the same garbage over and over and over and over, thousands of times until you can do it properly, which takes years. It gets old and repetitive extremely quickly.

Learning how to draw is like watching grass grow. Or if that's not good enough of a comparison, it's like learning how to speak a new language, which really isn't fun either. The only thing that helps is the vague belief that you might eventually be good enough in some theoretical future time. That's all that keeps me going personally, day-to-day it's a miserable fucking experience that brings zero satisfaction. I don't recommend it.

>>4902

Is my goal here even possible?

>Learn art to get a bit of money

>Saved lots of money and finished master and currently taking doctorate in engineering

>Forget about art for 5 years

>Money is running dry because my sis made stupid decision

>Try to draw again

>Turned out shit

God damn it. I almost finish my education as well. I lost approximately 80% of my art skills. Though thankfully, my body still remember the basic technique. I think I only need to practice and remember how I did it. Not really desperate to go back to art. But a back up plan is always good.

>>4989

> trying too hard can ruin my motivation.

I think that's partially true. If you're always sitting in your room doing nothing and then suddenly decided to do something, you will most certainly burn out and lose motivation. It's way outside of your routine. I guess just change your routine one-two week at a time.

>>4995

>Is my goal here even possible?

No. You Americans have NEETbucks, right? Use those to build yourself up one step at a time. Good taste in games though.

Funnily enough, I'm also thinking of going that route with my art. Hopefully we'll end up as competitors.

I'm a piece of shit and today my angry motivates me. Now I'm fucking going study. I hate being a poorfag NEET, I don't give fucks anymore. Fuck the time, fuck the people, everything. What all I need is fucking draw a box.

I'm mad. Goodbye, you fuckers. Good luck to y'all.

>experimenting with Krita

>have some dockers out but hide them while I'm drawing

>reset program

>can't pull the ones I was using back out

>see this

what the fuck did I do

>really want to be able to draw so I can do character art for my /tg/ group, among other things

>pick up Fun With a Pencil

>mfw the first exercise is fucking mystifying

Is there a special kind of hopeless, anons? One that just has absolutely zero potential and fails the first step of the first step? The kind of so shit that he's not even good enough to practice and so can never get better?

>>5022

>so shit that he's not even good enough to practice and so can never get better

Delete this right now.

>>5051

Hands are a part of the body; it makes sense the whole sucks more, as there's additional things to draw and thus potential sources of suck.

>>5056

Man, why are we even drawing at all?

WHY DOES IT FEEL LIKE EVERY DRAWING TAKES OVER AN HOUR?

Is this normal? Do I get faster over time? Fucking impatience is killing me.

>>5017

Double posting because I just saw this. Use the menu in the top right to "reset" krita to some default modes. I really like big paint 2.

>>5061

I have severe existential terror, depression and constant thoughts of the rapid progression of time, and suicide/death. Practicing drawing at least gives me a false sense of coherent narrative in my life, like it's heading somewhere specific, that there's an overarching point. For very brief periods of time, it's almost like I can "defeat" my circumstances through force of will.

All those feelings are always just temporary.

>>4982

>friend specifically seeks me out, and asks me for help with naming the world of her story

>it's fucking generic high fantasy

>start talking about how I'm reminded of this one podcast, that talked about Tolkien's influences in literature

>they just absolutely shut down

>"Yeah but other stuff used the same races before Tolkien"

>explain how it's significant that Tolkien did it, and why

>compare him to Tezuka and /m/

>"I suppose"

>At this point I can tell they don't want to actually work through this, and just want me to pat their ass for another super awesome idea to throw on the pile

>give them some names derived from a descriptive word's origins, and leave it at that

I'm honest to god genuinely fucking insulted by this.

What the fuck did you think was going to happen, you know how I really dig into the meat of anything I'm asked to.

Don't you ever fucking come to me over art and writing again, if you're not serious.

>>5083

>Be me

>Be drawing all my life

>Most of my drawings still look like this

>>5093

Find a reference pic of an iguana, draw it. Find a reference pic of a parrot, draw it. Draw dragon again from imagination with your newly expanded visual library backing you up.

>>5104

"Wow, I thought I'd improved but I just learned how to use a new brush."

>learning torso anatomy

>having difficulty with the midriff

>midriff fetish

>tfw focus too much on fucking hot girls' midriffs look rather than on the form

>Draw this body part over and over again until you know its basic anatomy

>Now draw it from a million different angles/poses

>Now figure out how it's supposed to look under different lighting conditions

>Now figure out how it's supposed to look with different coloring

>Now figure out how it actually attaches to the rest of the body

>Now repeat all of that all over again with literally everything else in existence

>In the years it took you to do all this (assuming you can even actually achieve it which there's an extremely good chance you won't), Google developed an A.I. that can fully illustrate something in minutes which renders you completely redundant

>In the years it took you to do all this, civilization collapsed anyway

>Even if it didn't happen, the Internet made consuming all forms of media virtually worthless and trivial and you're competing with countless other artists with far more talent than you'll ever have

>have to sink all draw time and mental energy, into drawing comic

>get anxious about my stagnating skill level, as a result

>eventually come to terms with the choice I made "getting a multi year spanning project, done. Vs practicing the technical shit each day."

It's not a good feeling, but the way my life is it really is a choice of one or the other.

Regardless, it feels good to have made it to 50 pages. IIRC most webcomics telling an overarching story stop around here, and I have no intention of stopping any time soon.

Not like I'm going to stop when I finish this one either, though.

>>5175

This is the image that came to my mind except the woman is a sketchpad and there is a pencil in your fist.

>>5175

>>5177

Please be nice to your sketchpad

>>5022

>Is there a special kind of hopeless, anons? One that just has absolutely zero potential and fails the first step of the first step? The kind of so shit that he's not even good enough to practice and so can never get better?

This is how I think of myself, and it only took me two years to get here. I wish I could throw off the "quality over quantity" mindset and just let loose with a fuckton of shitscribbles.

>>5172

I cannot stop comparing my stuff to other people's work and feel like i'll never "be them", like i'll never be as good as they are. I've gone into a depressive empty slump on how i'll never be great or fantastic within 10 years or so; it doesn't help that my stuff was initially based on flash animations, so I might've been a bit fucked there.

>>5183

>feel like i'll never "be them", like i'll never be as good as they are.

How do you expect to be good when when you trying to draw something you don't understand. What if I tell you whatever you see in your reference drawing are all bunch of illusion that makes looks really hard to do. Maybe you might want to observe your reference drawing a little bit more closer and try understand why does it looks beautiful.

>>5184

I guess you'd be right here, since this is more or less what i'm trying to achieve within 5-10 years time.

>>5188

Well, maybe not entirely anthro, but a sci-fi/cartoonish mix.

>>5200

>draw something boring and monotonous instead of what you want to draw

>"gee how come I don't like art?"

>read through fun with a pencil

>start going on faces

>just copying things and it doesn't look quite right

>get sick of having to sift through his fucking caricatures to find something realistic

>reverse engineer the proportion lines from real faces

>looks a little bit better

holy shit I spent a whole day working it out myself.

I like how I can crank out poses like these with little to no issue yet trying to draw thighs in a "sitting" position make me want to rip my hair out.

>>5247

>>5252

I already got that down, now i'm working on a new clawgirl.

I ask, is her claw drawn right?

>Draw in sketchbook

>Scan drawing

>Trace it in krita

>Colored it

>This took about 2 hours because I'm slow like the snail

>Was kind of proud of it so I decide to save it

>Save it

>Quit Krita

>"These autosave files really clutter my desktop up"

>Delete autosave files

>Accidentally delete drawing as well

I have no right being this fucking retarded

>spent over a year religiously working on my comic, every single day

>tablet breaks

>have no idea what to do with myself, while I wait for customer support to get back to me

I know I can just practice on paper and shit, but just, fuck man.

And before anyone asks, no. I've consistently fucked up repairing my electronics that there's no way in hell I'm cracking this thing open myself.

>>5260

>I am giving you questions to ask yourself because "good" is a stupid word.

>There's literally no such thing as "good" and "bad" in art.

>There's coherent and consistent sure

>and I think your art is consistent with your art.

>Literally what the fuck are you asking me?

>Looks like we all learned something today.

>No neither were necessary.

>I can just as easilly remove you and not talk to you again.

>This is a pointless exercise.

I don't know if he tried to get all deep on you and then sperged the fuck out or if he's just being a cunt

>>5260

Looks like he had a pretty bad day. There might be context I'm missing but as it stands, what an overreacting faggot.

>>5261

It's too bad because he's not half-wrong about understanding the function of the claws to give better advice, but he had to lose it.

>Finally got myself to get into a habit of drawing at least an hour a day

>Did it for a few months

>Started to get pretty good again

<Get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Life is suffering. At hands are getting somewhat better, and I can type again.

>>5162

>Draw this body part over and over again until you know its basic anatomy

>Now draw it from a million different angles/poses

>Now figure out how it's supposed to look under different lighting conditions

>Now figure out how it's supposed to look with different coloring

>Now figure out how it actually attaches to the rest of the body

>Now repeat all of that all over again with literally everything else in existence

In addition to what others have said, when you are not sure how to draw something, get a reference. Either take the pose yourself, ask someone else to do it, or seek out photos.

>>5172

Only mildly.

>>5273

Wrong.., if you want to avoid injury, use a drawing table. The table legs should be adjustable according to the to the hight you need. When you sit, the hight of the table should reach near to your chest so that you don't have to lean your body forward too much.

Picture post kind of related.

stretch n*gga

>requester gives you a drawn reference that's much better than what you can do

What's even the point of drawing

>>5333

At least you get requests.

>trying to draw alone in living room

>father starts talking to me

>I can't respond to rhetorical questions or what he talks

>I obviously looked mad

>can't focus at my reference

>go to my bedroom

>my stepmother get home

>she talks alone and very loud

>she is stressed and starts talking alone

>I can't focus in the fucking drawing

>her son get home and everything becomes noisy

After two hours I can't draw anything and now I'm frustrated. I hate this.

>>5356

They might be uncomfortable, but you could consider getting some sound-proof earmuffs (the kind normally used for shooting) online or at a sporting goods store of some sort. It's not a perfect solution but it would be cheaper than moving out! My parents fought all the time or wanted to talk to me and it made it very hard to concentrate, and now that I'm moved out and I have roommates they want to hang out all the time etc. the pain never ends! I've always mused about trying these but never went through with it. If you live with a lot of people I wouldn't hesitate though. Also get a "do not disturb" sign for your door and explain to your family that you're really trying to concentrate and hopefully they'll understand and leave you alone.

https://www.amazon.com/Mpow-Reduction-Protection-Adjustable-Professional/dp/B01L1U9L5W

So when are you going to end it, anons? Less than 9 years until the end of me.

I just can't seem to make progress. I've been doing these fucking lines and circles for months now and I'm still shit.

Please tell me it gets better.

>>4393

This hurts a lot, brother.

>>5431

Get a bigger tablet fam, I can put a mark wherever the h*ck I want with very little effort.

>Does that mean I put the correct or most desirable mark down?

Hell no. Years into drawing and I'm still a beginner for the most part, but that's besides the point. Having good equipment is important in either case, we should consider ourselves lucky that the best equipment is only a few hundred or thousand dollars.

>tfw always wanted to draw

>struggled for years to actually just sit down and draw

>always that voice telling me "you're never gonna make it", "why are you starting so late" and "you'll never be as good as other artists".

>finally get pissed, buy a bottle of whiskey and vodka and down both on two separate nights.

>was actually able to sketch because the voice finally went away

Holy shit, I finally get the "all artists are drug users/drunks" meme.

Sure, they're still mainly autistic scribbles, but it's better than nothing at all.

Im enraged whenever i try to draw myself,

I keep failing and even if i succeeded i would only have a boring as shit drawing.

Fuck im seething with rage.

>>5991

I feel you, sameboatcompanion. This semester I even have classes to teach.

Maybe we should just stop sleeping :^(

>>5260

>You designed something visual

>Asked if it looked good

>The guy asks "in what sense? Functionally?"

>You don't understand and get offended because he thinks the word "good" is too vague

>He goes into a more indepth explanation of his thought process

>You say "Why so many words, faggot?" in a few words

>He gets annoyed that his wall of text that shows his personal thought process did nothing for you, even though he took the time out of his day to type it out to you instead of doing something productive

The guy is a dick probably, but you are also an idiot. Either learn to humble yourself and ask for a simpler explanation because you are an idiot wasting someone else's time, or shut the fuck up.

I'm assuming you were asking someone you consider "better than you at art" for advice. This means that you consider that person above you in at least one way. This is also apparent to that person. So when you waste their time and then insult them because YOU don't understand what they've said, it's pretty easy to drop you like a rock.

tfw everyone who posts "i'm shit at art" in this thread is actually better than me

>>6036

>Drew one thing

>Why am I not better than everyone at everything?

Drawing is the LONGEST journey. There are millions of things to get gud at. Millions.

Just pay no attention to other people's skill level and plug away day after day and you'll get to where you want to be in five to 10 years if you're consistent.

Art will be nothing but pain if you don't actively find ways to enjoy the act of doing it, and instead focus on some far off impossible goal.

One foot in front of the other is the only and best advice for no confidence fags. We're all gonna make it brah.

>>6047

>We're all gonna make it brah

You won't make it if you give up though.

>>6047

I'm aware of all of this logically it's more so emotionally I have a hard time motivating myself.

It reminds me of pic related, if I got told "just roll the boulder up the hill 1000 times anon you'll git gud" it doesn't exactly make me enthusiastic about the process.

>>6048

No, even then you can still make it. Because you can pick it back up and continue. Back when I was younger I thought of a career in art as ideal because I was lazy and it required no manual labor. I discovered the error of my ways very quickly and became overwhelmed by the vastness of it all.

Eventually life caught up with me and I gave it up for other things. But it's been creeping back into my life.

Even the state of having given up is only temporary.

>>6049

There is no such thing as "motivation."

There is only WILL. Do you want to draw right now? Then do so. If you don't want to draw at any given moment, then you do not thoroughly enjoy the act of drawing.

You can either give up, or find new ways of enjoying the thing you are trying to get better at. You probably also have a litany of sleep and diet related issues that are fucking you up that you should probably take care of.

But the will conquers all.

It's simple advice, but it's the best advice there is as far as motivation is concerned. You might also want to take up a general fitness regimen. I've found that actual physical labor is very inspiring and motivation once you've completed it. Giving up any addictions is also essential, cigs, masturbation, gambling, booze, it's all gotta go if you are going to achieve your higher self.

I'm probably wasting my time because people have given me this advice in the past and I always looked past it hoping for an easier solution. But maybe you're smart. Maybe you wont and you'll be able to move further in a shorter amount of time because of it.

>>6056

Wanting to do something and being able to do it are different things.

Of course you have to take care of your needs before you can attain the highest value.

My main idea is that you have to enjoy the actual act of DOING IT. And if you don't truly enjoy that act, even and especially in your shitty dumbass cant draw anything beginner stages then you should do something else you enjoy.

No need to drive yourself mad doing something you don't actually like.

The alternative is learning to appreciate what makes the thing itself actually enjoyable.

When I first started I was heavily focused on elaborate finished products that I could not create/achieve. It was torture.

Now I enjoy simple things like just getting a single line to flow just so, and adjusting colors and composition with edits and so on.

There is infinite nuance to creation and you can and should get lost in every bit.

TLDR dont torture yourself, just have fun man.

>want to improve my skills

>open drawing program

>start feeling lonely

>start browsing the internet for some kind of sense of company

>accomplish nothing for the day

>again

>>6110

How do I tor with it? I'm always afraid of its security aspect. I hate bullies when they tried to snoop my ip especially when using this sort of software.

>>6112

There was a compatibility issue with Qt and it wouldn't build. Previous versions weren't compatible with the servers anons used at that time. Maybe it's fixed now. Or maybe I should just install gentoo.

>>6113

You might want to get behind seven proxies on that one.

>>5014 here.

I'm feeling happy today, I think I improved a lot for a NEET who haven't done anything in the entire life. A week ago a friend asked me to draw him, I accepted, but in 4 days I haven't start the portrait that he asked. After these 4 days I have done an realistic like lineart for him, but I wanted to make a chibi/kawaii style. So, I started learning some styles yeasterday and today. In these two days my style has improved, I think. I showed him the fucking art and he liked a lot, this maked my day super happy and now I can't stop wanting to draw more (sadly, I'm tired as fuck and can't focus in what I'm doing now).

Also, he gave me cheap game in steam.

Sorry for the bad english.

KEEP DRAWING, MY FRIENDS!

>>4382

i drew a lot recently

>>6134

>>6135

original from French Comic gypsy.

i experimented with linework

>>6138

>>6141

thank you.

what do you guys think, do my gesture drawing look somewhat okay?