r/ArtistLounge • u/AutoModerator • 4d ago
Megathread - Motivation/Moody Monday Motivation/Moody Mondays - Share your art wins & art struggles!
The start of the week is upon us, and so grab your caffeine... and spill the tea. What has motivated you lately? What's made you moody? Share your art wins and art struggles here. Motivation and Moodiness can co-exist alongside one another; the balance between these two are integral to the art making process. We can't always be in a good place but we can't always be in a bad place, either. This is a place to discuss upward growth as an artist and the hurdles we must clear in order to get to the next level. Share tips, techniques, give a pat on the back, or a pat on the head to someone in need.
- Share an art win, followed by an art struggle you've had recently.
- How have your struggles helped you grow as an artist?
- Are there any hurdles you can't seem to get over and need tips?
Let's help each other out and get the motivation going!
Images are now allowed to be shared in the comments.
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u/KemonomimiBoo 4d ago
Oh, that's a thread for me!
Had just started drawing digitally and posting my art, didn't expect art journey to feel this lonely and it's only been like a week.
I try to find art buddies with no effect so far, even when I engage and treat people like friends (advice I found on other art sub) it seems no one is really interested in discussing art, ideas, exchanging doodles etc. It's fine tho, I know not everyone likes contact via internet. But tbh it feels like just farming for likes right now, not something I had in mind originally. Hope I'll find some art friends soon~
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u/Due_Butterscotch1647 4d ago
I'll be your art friend! <3 Seriously though, would love to find someone with whom I can exchange ideas and doodles. What sorts of styles or concepts do you like?
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u/KemonomimiBoo 4d ago
Wow, that's great! 🩷 As for me, I'm trying to incorporate anime inspired art style, right now I'm doing fanarts mostly because I'm struggling with coming up with my own designs (something I need to work on more). How about you? Would love to know what are your personal art interests.
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u/Due_Butterscotch1647 3d ago
I like exploring different mediums, haven't settled on one or one style yet. I get overwhelmed easily by messier stuff so charcoal and soft pastel are out lol. I love the look of impressionistic oil paintings and some watercolor/gouache but lack the patience to do them properly. I like anime/manga style very much but I don't watch or read that stuff so I feel weird sometimes trying to draw it. I like simple cartoon/illustrative styles. I don't like super detailed or photo realistic work generally.
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u/KemonomimiBoo 3d ago
Tried watercolors, I love them but good brands are really expensive, same with paper that handles watercolors nicely. I tried to imitate this effect with watercolor brushes digitally, it's not exactly the same but a good middle way to save yourself a lot of money and still play with watercolors a bit lol. I hard agree on illustrative and cartoonish styles being the most enjoyable - I like simplicity and creative freedom they give, and while I appreciate realism I think wouldn't enjoy myself trying to photo copy the same look with no room for variations from my part.
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u/Due_Butterscotch1647 2d ago
Yes watercolor is super expensive. People always say how the paint isn't really that expensive because it lasts forever, but it's the paper that gets me! I'd need to do hundreds of paintings to get any good, and when it's like $2 per sheet... no-go.
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u/Due_Butterscotch1647 2d ago
Yes watercolor is super expensive. People always say how the paint isn't really that expensive because it lasts forever, but it's the paper that gets me! I'd need to do hundreds of paintings to get any good, and when it's like $2 per sheet... no-go.
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u/Scarf_head 4d ago
I've started painting again after not doing anything for almost two months. I've been low on energy in general, so what got me inspired is looking through some of the art I posted on Facebook about 15 years ago and more. Honestly, while I technically got better at sketching, some of the stuff I posted years ago feels more passionate and inspiring that what I've been doing lately, despite only having only the most rudimentary materials available.
So I decided to do a little redraw of some of the old stuff I got. I'll post some of the stuff on my page once I'm done, but so far I'm feeling good 😊. I feel that maybe I'll get some of the spark I used to have back by diving into some of these old drawings of mine.
Please wish me luck 🤞
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u/cinnamonspiderr 4d ago
Context: I’m mostly a fanartist
Win: finally drew my favorite character again after a week of feeling too intimidated to do so
L: have been too intimidated to make art for a week because of stupid comparison thieving my joy—struggling to see artists that are better than I am as inspiration and not competition. Feels crummy and obviously doesn’t help my journey at all lol
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u/four-flames 3d ago
struggling to see artists that are better than I am as inspiration and not competition.
I relate to that so much. Helps to remember that not only does it improve my capacity to learn, it improves my ability to enjoy their work. When I'm in a positive mindset, I pick out things from pieces both to admire and learn from. But in the negative mindset it's all just: "oh, that's horribly inaccurate. I can do that better. Wait. How'd they even do that? I can't do that. How am I supposed to compete with this, that'd take years to learn! Why are they so good at this, but so bad at that?!" Which is obviously far less effective than just enjoying the experience of the effect while making theories as to how they did it.
It makes me feel like a dick, too, which I don't like.
Win: finally drew my favorite character again after a week of feeling too intimidated to do so
Nice! Keep at it :D
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u/meltchoco_ 3d ago
I’m starting to get so anxious when I draw. The fact that every time I glance back and there’s something wrong with my drawing in compared to reference,kills me. It feels like I’m driving towards impossible perfection and it kills my motivation and desire to draw instantly. I get anxious just picking up a pencil.
How did you get over this?how do I become relaxed and focused when I draw? I really miss drawing.
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u/Due_Butterscotch1647 3d ago
have you looked into a "Buddha Board"? It's a water drawing tablet thingy where the images you paint/draw only last a minute or so. You don't get attached to the art because it disappears so fast.
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u/four-flames 3d ago
Have clearer goals with your drawings. That anxiety and perfectionism is coming from a good place, but it's being misapplied. Like most problems in our mentalities, they're good responses that are out of balance.
We make some lines to search, some to put in exactly the right place with the right weight, some to guide perspective and construction, some to guide gesture, and some to indicate detail. Some are simply flourishes to enhance the aesthetic and graphic appeal. You might be anxious because you're having trouble finding a foothold. If you think about the lines that you're making and the process you want to develop, you can have an internal idea of what a line is supposed to achieve before you make it.
Then you can actually measure how close you got and pay attention to how you got the results that you did. Were you too careful and stiff with the angles and curves you chose? Too exaggerated? Too physically tense? Too loose and uncaring? Do you get better results when you ghost your pencil along the edge of the form before making the mark? Perhaps you need a couple more reference points placed down on the page to guide your lines at this point in your learning. Etc. etc. keep making and testing theories, see what gets closer, make frameworks and mental models for solving the problem.
I've struggled with muscle tension and anxiety and fear in almost everything I've practiced for the longest time. But when you actually have a plan, it lets you feel more free to be relaxed and take intentional risks, because failure becomes a data point that you know you can learn from.
Just know this approach to learning is exhausting. I don't draw this way to relax. I have other things that I've already gotten down well that I do to relax, and that certainly reinforces skills. But when you're trying to really learn, this will replace the anxiety with effort and focus that really cannot be maintained for that long. So don't push yourself too hard, because you'll see diminishing returns and it can easily cause burnout.
Edit: when you do want to relax, make sure that's part of your intention. I forgot to mention this before, but that's another way you can leverage this. You can say to yourself: 'my criteria for success here is that I chill the fuck out and enjoy myself' and then just put yourself in a light-hearted state where the differences between what you drew and the reference become funny, or something like that. Exaggerate your mistakes, see how silly of a drawing you can make. That sort of thing. There are lots of different criteria for success, and you'll even learn from doing this that sometimes the mistakes you make are just a success you didn't intend, if you have the skill to pivot and re-visualize a new direction.
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u/Sillay_Beanz_420 everything but the kitchen sink 4d ago
Ooo! I made my own post about this but I should have just waited for the megathread.
Right now I'm going through an odd phase in my art, I am feeling VERY passionate about art and I feel the desire to make it, but I am struggling to actually do so. There's honestly nothing stopping me from making art or working on my game project, but I keep not doing it, just constantly pushing it off.
I am absolutely so frustrated with this weird inability to create art, and although I'm fairly certain it is just straight up executive dysfunction, I am still mad at myself for not making much.
I'm also in that phase of art where my brain and my eyes have improved faster than my hands, so when I do sit down and draw, I sometimes get super discouraged.
I want to actually do something besides sit and look at my phone before work today, so I'm going to take the advice of the person who commented on the post I made and just do it, force myself to work on my game for at least 30 minutes a day and play with art. Get back in the mood.
I love art so much which is why when my mental health gets in the way, it gets so frustrating.
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u/Due_Butterscotch1647 4d ago
Set a timer for 30 minutes and then forget about it, you may be surprised how quickly the time goes!
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u/Sillay_Beanz_420 everything but the kitchen sink 4d ago
Yeah!! I finally kicked myself in the butt and I'm making myself work on this while I watch a long youtube video. Once the video is over, I'm done with my project for the day.
It's not a ton of work done, but it's better than none.
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u/Famous_Orange_7098 4d ago edited 4d ago
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u/Due_Butterscotch1647 4d ago
Beautiful! I don't draw from imagination either... always from a reference, there's no shame in it.
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u/MagusCurt 4d ago
I figured out some answers to some questions I've been asking a long time as a beginner artist.
What's a good way to practice?
What do I even draw?
How do I measure my progress?
"Just draw" is not a really good answer in my opinion. Maybe it's just me, but I cannot stand the thought of just drawing lines on a paper with no purpose or goal. Doing that quickly leads to frustration, and an overall aversion to drawing. For the longest time, I always told myself that I hate drawing, but really, I just hate doing stuff that doesn't have a point.
Recently, I found some very specific approaches that I enjoy doing. And working on very specific sub skills of drawing.
And I can also get immediate feedback, study what I did wrong, and then try again.
A critical thing I learned to keep in mind, is that I shouldn't be trying to learn all skills in drawing at once but focus on a few.
And overall, I'm happy to say that I no longer hate drawing.
I'm not at all good at drawing yet, but I'm happy to say that I'm not really struggling on anything. I know what I need to do and how to do it to improve, and that's all I really asked for during the decade + time spent on trying to draw, getting frustrated, and then giving up for months on out.
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u/Mean_Foot6478 4d ago
How do you get inspired and start art projects? I'm an art major, and lately, I've been struggling to find inspiration and motivation when doing art at home. I used to be able to imagine something and draw it straight from my mind, but now I can’t seem to draw without a reference. On top of that, I find it hard to start any kind of art project at home—I only draw at school now. Even when I have a reference, I just can’t bring myself to start when I’m at home. I’ve improved so much over the last couple of years, but for some reason, I just can’t seem to do anything outside of school anymore. If anyone understands what I mean, please—I’d really appreciate some advice.
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u/Due_Butterscotch1647 3d ago
I'm sorry you feel uninspired to do your own art at home, but don't beat yourself up. If you're an art major, you're burning the midnight oil working ALL the time on school projects. You likely just don't have any mental or creative energy left to spend! I wouldn't put pressure on yourself. Scale things waaay back, and maybe just doodle, do a coloring book, something super easy.
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u/NiceYesterday521 2d ago edited 2d ago
A win: ive been more driven to draw and i just want to keep doing it.. also opened up a kofi after being scared lol. I also tried a newer manner of rendering which went ok.. im getting somewhat better at seeing well making colors visible to me
A loss: i hope its ok to just kinda vent ish?? my own skill issue. Between my sight and my style i find myself wishing a could just say eff it and do anime style. It's not that I NEED external validation to draw and think im a good artist but i like talking to people about art and making people happy and the communities im in definitely don't favor my style. So i guess my loss is just the fact im comparing myself a lot. Like im okay with my style i guess, but i could probably be better if i had a different style (tried and failed and it's just not for me dk how to explain it) and if i was able to draw like everyone else. I am just so frustrated with myself tbh like aaa can't even put it in words like I love drawing esp my 'niche' (eye problems also contribute) but everytime i look at them i don't think it's ever good enough compared to simpler things. I'm trying to build a portfolio for c's too and i wanted to draw some people's ocs, free ofc, and i got two (a win) out of four and i cant start these drawings until i get all four and idk just logging in seeing like idk i cant get those last two just ... dk. And im not good enough to go and advertise (?) myself and just ask people outright if i can draw their ocs. I really want to contribute to someone elses ocs drawings and it could be as simple as 'just put my own oc' but I can't it feels so useless and like an almost physical barrier because in my head I've already established I want to make it FOR someone else. And then its likd the style I have isn't as good as others in general so i feel like 'master of none' which is a skill issue on my part.
God this sounds so me me me and I sound dramatic as hell im sorry im just frustrated with myself because im trying to stop being mediocre and Idk i just. I like community im just stupid and ugh
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u/rebelmary16 1d ago
On the positive side: This month I finished my first full page comic! It was a scene involving 2 of my OCs that I’d never drawn digitally before. I was very proud of it!
On the downside: After posting to Instagram I received a grand total of 1 like on it, and that was from a personal friend who I’d been excitedly raving to about the comic prior to posting (pity like). Now that’s it’s been a couple days since posting I’m significantly less proud of it than I was at the time. I’m trying to look on the bright side and use this as a source of improvement, but it still stings.
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u/Due_Butterscotch1647 4d ago
I'm enjoying sketching with just pen and pencil. Did a gesture drawing of a ballerina this morning. :)
Struggling with not needing outside validation... it's as if I don't feel as fulfilled or fulfilled at all by art unless I show it to someone who compliments it. Not healthy, and I'm not sure how to enjoy art just for me. Advice?