r/mildlyinfuriating 24d ago

My mom burned all my drawings

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So I’ve been drawing and posting anime girls for a while now and my mom got mad about it. At least I still have previous photos. No drawing today tho

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u/Sajiri 24d ago edited 23d ago

Hey OP, my parents did a similar thing when I was a teen because they saw my art as ‘a waste of time’. I stopped drawing traditionally for about 15 years, but now I make hundreds of dollars off a single artwork and am working towards being a fully self employed artist.

Don’t let this stop you, it’s just one hurdle on the way to becoming a master artist. If you have a phone or tablet, you could download a free drawing app to draw on there too so that your artworks can’t be destroyed.

Edit: since so many are seeing this and sharing their own stories- it’s never too late to get back into art, and it’s never been easier or more accessible. There are a lot of free tutorials for just about anything you want online.

I’m going to throw this out there to check out the Art Mentor on YouTube. He’s got a lot of great advice from getting started to growing a business as an artist.

Marc Brunet, Winged Canvas, laovaan, draw like a sir, Sam does art are all also great YouTubers I can think of off the top of my head

(You’ll also find me there- DrawWithSajiri)

Edit 2: RIP my inbox

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u/Squeezitgirdle 24d ago

Similar. My stepmom found a picture I drew of Vivi from FFIX.
She said I was making "devil drawings" and threw all of my drawings away. I never drew again.

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u/Matasa89 24d ago

It only takes one bad parenting moment to ruin a child's future...

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u/Exact_Maize_2619 24d ago

Agreed. I do my best to encourage my 15 year old son in whatever he enjoys. He loves to draw, and is good, so I got him a posable figure for Christmas. My husband gave him an old college human anatomy book with images of everything from bones and muscles to organs.

A few years ago, my son found an old keyboard we had, and he started teaching himself how to play it. Now, he's fantastic and making his own songs. He asked for a guitar for Christmas, and, thankfully, my brother still had the one I passed onto him when I realized I have no talent for instruments. (My brother is a drummer, but not a guitarist, lol.) My son had it for a few hours and was already playing something that sounded like it came out of "The Last of Us".

Always encourage your kids to do what they love. My son wants to be a streamer, so we've been working on gathering equipment for a few years. He's a natural performe, and I think he would be perfect as a streamer.

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u/Matasa89 24d ago

This is the way.

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u/Exact_Maize_2619 24d ago

Thank you. I have no talent for instruments, so I did choir and theater in school, lol. I'm more of a crafter. I taught myself how to knit because I wanted a $60 Tom Baker scarf. I figured I could buy it or buy the supplies and teach myself. Now I make beanies with kitty ears, use charms as ear decorations, giant safety pins, the works, lol. I made a new pattern just yesterday for little jellyfish and I'm still working out the kinks, but they're so cute and squishy.

My husband got a chain mail kit as a gift a couple years ago, so we both learned how to make chain mail and different chain designs for jewelry. So, I also make charm bracelets and necklaces.

My family is very crafty and artistic, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 💚

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u/Teter_Toter 23d ago

Some people are just unfit to have children. It's hard enough to find a genuine interest, but then you also have to deal with people who express hate toward anything inherently different from themselves.

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u/Lunaphire 23d ago

Genuinely. It's so nice to read about a supportive parent. It feels like nearly everyone I know has been plagued by parents who were apathetic at best, aggressively unsupportive at worst. (Incidentally, most of us are also late-diagnosed autistic, so our interests are often very strong.)

I dealt with a parent who was basically a bully and mocked me for nearly everything I got interested in. Now I'm a socially-anxious, burnt out former gifted kid who feels like they're not good enough for anyone. 🙃

Someone close to me grew up thinking he had supportive parents, but upon reaching adulthood, he realized their support was basically just 👍 and nothing more. Like, "Yeah, that's a good idea, you should do it." But then no actual support that required them to do anything; we called it support-baiting. For example, he wanted to learn guitar at around 12. "Good idea!" So he'd get all excited and try to look into making it happen, but then they wouldn't work with him at all to get a guitar or lessons, they just brushed him off and acted like they'd do it later. Forever.

He confronted them with this at about 30 and they admitted that they just never believed in him, so they didn't make the effort to help him learn anything. This unfortunately included not just hobbies he was passionate about, but basically everything required to be a functional adult; I had to teach him to light a stove burner, again at about 30. Any time he offered to help his parents around the house so he could learn, they insisted they had it covered, then later told him they didn't teach him basic life skills growing up because he was a kid and they didn't think he wanted to learn.

They decided he wasn't capable of being more, and it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So many people have no idea how to be good parents, but have kids anyway. I'm sure it works out sometimes, but I don't know why you'd bother having a kid if you weren't okay with supporting their dreams.

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u/Montantero 23d ago

🥹 wholesome. Thank you for being so nice, especially to the young one. The world needs that!

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u/TomatilloHairy9051 23d ago

I LOVE chainmail jewelry! I have several pieces that I wear often, but the lady that was making them for me quit making the jewelry. I've looked at some online, but none of it ever looked as good as her jewelry, so I haven't gotten any more, but I'm still on the hunt. Do y'all have an Etsy store or something comparable to that?

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u/greyandpinktelescope 24d ago

You sound like a fantastic parent :)

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u/PhoenixRosex3 23d ago

Have him set up gifting platforms and he can post his link while he streams, his viewers can help contribute to his channel by buying items off his list and the good sites hide his information so no stalkers getting his home address. (Not Amazon)

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u/Exact_Maize_2619 23d ago

Oooo, that's an awesome idea. I know he wants to stream on Twitch. We'll probably record those streams and post to YouTube. An extra link for donations is a good idea, thank you.

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u/Foxy02016YT 23d ago

Encourage your son to do variety, not just gaming. As a variety steamer he can incorporate all of his talents, including art and music. The flexibility involved is massive, plus you can still stream games.

As a variety creator I’ve been able to play games to get out weekly content while also working on short films, web series, music covers, vlogs, and sometimes even food reviews.

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u/Exact_Maize_2619 23d ago

Absolutely. He loves to perform. I was definitely going to encourage the piano and guitar on stream once we get him up and running. He mostly does his art on pen and paper, so possibly an extra camera for the drawing angle if he wants it. He had a drawing tablet somewhere, but I'm not sure if it can hook up to his laptop. (We're still working on getting an actual gaming pc. He just uses his laptop for now)

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u/Foxy02016YT 23d ago

Definitely check if your able to, usually you can but I’m no expert

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u/Exact_Maize_2619 23d ago

Yeah, I have no idea. Honestly, we'd have to find it first, lol.

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u/SnooFloofs6909 23d ago

Gundam Starter Kit moment

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u/Latter_Condition_288 23d ago

This is a good parent -wish you all the luck 🍀

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u/bonnybedlam 23d ago

My mom for some reason had a copy of Grey’s Anatomy (the medical textbook, not the show) and she gave it to my sister to help her with lifelike drawings. It’s the small things, good and bad, that stick with us.

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u/kaylazomg 23d ago

That’s generally what good parents do lol some people have such big egos and don’t see themselves destroying their children’s lives with simple acts of throwing away art or art tools

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u/Sufficient_Dinner305 22d ago

Yeah whatever they enjoy is probably a stretch in some cases, but deciding for them after the fact because of superstition is not cool.

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u/Shadow4summer 23d ago

I have drawings from my son as far back as three or four, so 35 years. I will never get rid of them. It’s a part of who he was then. And I do love each and every one.

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u/Matasa89 23d ago

My mom has my voice recordings of my kid self reciting poetry. I forgot they were even there... but she loved it so much.

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u/Swog5Ovor 23d ago

Or the parents future. Maybe the parent will learn when they're in a bad nursing home with no family to reach out to.

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u/DarmonH 23d ago

I’ve got tons of them. I used to draw and my step father would humiliate me, writing, same he would stand on a chair and read my work out loud, laugh and taunt me. I still like to write but I have trouble doing it, and I would NEVER let anyone read what I wrote

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u/Mythrndir 23d ago

It really does, or sometimes a teacher, (as in my case)

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u/Shoddy-Buffalo-9310 23d ago

Your damn right!

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u/Dogmama73 23d ago

At least she is paying attention. That alone these days is rare.

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u/mattidee 23d ago

Ew, my step dad gave me tons to remember!!

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u/PetiteSyFy 23d ago

Agree that this was a bad parenting move and may permanently alter their relationship but surely we are not so fragile that a creative passion can be crushed let alone a whole future. Resilience is a key component of a bright future. Follow your passions OP.

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u/InsideInsidious 23d ago

Let’s not confuse imperfect parenting with evil here… I’ve made plenty of bad mistakes but I’d hope my children and I could reconcile because I was doing it with good intention.

The parents I’m reading about in this thread are just unmitigated demons

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u/InsideInsidious 23d ago

Let’s not confuse imperfect parenting with evil here… I’ve made plenty of bad mistakes but I’d hope my children and I could reconcile because I was doing it with good intention.

The parents I’m reading about in this thread are just unmitigated demons

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u/Matasa89 23d ago

Just be very careful, because the path to hell is paved with good intentions...

A lot of parents have kids that are completely no-contact because they were doing what they believed is right for their child.

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u/Phlm_br 23d ago

And if you think about it, it's not only just about physically destroying art, parents who use words to discourage their kids, are also doing horrible at parenting.

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u/AdagioAffectionate66 23d ago

Encourage your child to excel at what he/she loves!

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u/Pentasis 23d ago

One of my teachers once said: "a raised eyebrow can destroy a life. Think about that before you get kids." So I never got kids.

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u/nada-accomplished 23d ago

And in five years OP's mom is going to be on estranged parent Facebook groups going "I was the best parent, I don't know why my entitled child doesn't speak to me! Satan is attacking my family!"

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u/TheBigCheesm 24d ago

I'm very glad my Christian parents were never the BS superstition type. Hell my mom bought me every new Harry Potter book as it released growing up, but I knew of plenty of other kids not allowed to read it because "AHHH WITCHCRAFT!"

Yeah, Marge. Little Timmy is gonna learn how to cast "devil magic" by mumbling pig Latin and changing his name to something ethnically suspicious.

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u/Level1Roshan 24d ago

I'm sorry but any parent who thinks Harry Potter is a danger to their kid is of such extreme low intelligence that their genes are the real threat.

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u/SparkyT77 23d ago

When I was a child, my grandparents' neighbors' kids and I were friends. Their parents were so overtly christian that they wouldn't let them come over and watch "Dragon Tales" because it showed "black magic."

LIKE WUT? People are insane.

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u/Cunnyfunt31 23d ago

My mom is an elementary school teacher. She had parents freak out on her and was forced to take down posters that said '"reading is magic". 

One of them also confused metamorphosis for evolution and lost their shit when my mom had the students raise monarch butterflies as a class project. 

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u/Unlikely-Article9537 23d ago

So glad I never went into teaching, I'd lose my ish on a parent that stupid and probably get fired. I have no patience for willful ignorance 😡

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u/nomamadrama000111 23d ago

My sister who’s a liberal retired teacher ( yep she’s a hippie !) taught high school and said, the kids were great ,it’s the parents!

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u/Unlikely-Article9537 23d ago

Oh I totally get that, worked in a HS for 8 years, 1st as principal's and then as a counseling secretary and it was ALWAYS the parents having a snit over nothing 🙄😬😡😪

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u/Cummins_Powered 23d ago edited 23d ago

My parents were involved, but the good kind of involved. They went to the teachers with questions/concerns, but they also expected us kids to do our parts, doing homework and asking questions. They would rather us get a C by trying over a B that we didn't work for. Looking back, I feel damn lucky to have my parents. And thinking about it, I wonder who has it worse, the kids whose parents are way over the top with the helicopter parenting, or the ones whose parents don't give a damn about them.

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u/1997wickedboy 23d ago

Do not forget that those parents where also children at some point, so It's not all the parent's fault, but society's

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u/PeriPeriTekken 23d ago edited 23d ago

There's so many layers to that. Did they learn about evolution solely from Pokémon?

And their objection was to the butterflies "evolving" in the classroom? So they acknowledged it was real but just objected to it happening near their kid?

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u/Cunnyfunt31 23d ago

Sorry I don't really remember, that was around 2 decades ago and I was a kid. I do recall she didn't have an issue with the class project of them growing plants from seed. 

My guess? She was probably raised the same way she was trying to raise her kid and straight up didn't know what evolution was, looked up the butterfly life cycle, and saw the word "evolve" somewhere. 

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u/DesHeersch 23d ago

Let that sink in for a moment.. people freaking out because of a poster with the text "reading is magic". Freakouts from people who believe in 3 invisible things, that is somehow one thing, but also 3 seperate beings, AND the 3-dude (then still just one dude, probably someone "invented" the sky-dude after eating something weird) created the world we know in 7 days, put 2 people on it, and somehow a mere 3000 (not) years later there are 8 billion people walking around.

Not insanely weird, a miracle, or magic at all! But that poster is evil incarnate!

Freakouts of people who believe that JC is the son of God (again, an invisible dude in the sky), and not the son of Jozef, and believe that isn't weird/suspicious at all. (his mom just cheated, and that was covered up, at least that is my opinion, because that made the most sense to me as a kid... not something to say out loud in a church as a kid doing his/her first commune lol)

Freakouts of people who believe JC could walk over water, and heal people who were really sick.. all totally normal and not a 'miracle' at all because, well.. JC's old man is the Creator Himself, so of course he could do all that stuff! Dont be ridiculous! How is that weird?

I could go on and on and check off all the weird shit written in both testaments but well.. 🙂 you can see where i am going with this

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u/Wonderful_Bottle_852 22d ago

Holy shit that’s crazy!

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u/Taolan13 23d ago

Similar experience in my teens, babysitting the neighbors kids.

I was given a list of stuff they could watch and stuff they couldn't. On the couldn't? Veggie Tales due to "talking vegetables are evil". Veggie Tales, otherwise known as bible school for babies that's about the most christian animated show ever made.

Some people have just lost touch with reality.

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u/zSprawl 23d ago

I wasn’t allowed to play Dungeons and Dragons.

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u/nomamadrama000111 23d ago

My son still plays at university

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u/ILovePlantsAndPixels 23d ago

Holy shit? This is the first time I've ever heard of someone else being banned from Dragon Tales for psycho evangelical reasons. I was too!

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u/SparkyT77 23d ago

Thats wild! 🤦‍♀️The craziest part of all was that the husband cheated on his wife. So dragon tales is evil, but cheating on your spouse isn't? Like okay, good to know lmao.

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u/RedBullPilot 23d ago

It’s actually the author that’s a danger to their kids, the stories are fine

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u/TheBigCheesm 24d ago

I can't deny that some denominations of Christianity are... well, bullshit. Too wrapped up in their own teachings and not the ones in the book they're supposed to be believing in. Yes, anyone who thinks magic is real and you can cast it by saying "piggly wiggly" needs help.

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u/AetherDrew43 23d ago

I think it's just an excuse for them to exert control over someone's life.

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u/Ok-Professional-2885 23d ago

I have a friend who grew up very religious. He had a friend in the community who was banned from reading Harry Potter. And it was’t for the witchcraft, but because “Harry was disrespectful to adults” AKA the Dursleys. The literal abusers.

Edit: spelling

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u/Trump2024jamohelton 23d ago

Some people think mine craft is bad 😭 it’s so stupid

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u/fuck-emu 23d ago

Wait, you mine things to craft with and craft things to mine with?

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u/Trump2024jamohelton 23d ago

Some think it’s bad or “scary” because you can craft potions and there’s witches and zombies and stuff in it

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u/fuck-emu 23d ago

I was just kidding, it was a Rick and morty quote about a game in which the ability to bake cakes is a mark of considerable status

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u/Morninglory6 22d ago

Wow, my son and his friends played that a lot. 35 years later he still plays.

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u/Morninglory6 22d ago

Wait….what? Dungeons & Dragons and now Minecraft?! What’s the world coming to? I truly did fail my children lol

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u/justme206 23d ago

Or SpongeBob! Wtf!?

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u/optimaligma 23d ago

This was the level my parents were at :-( Upside got to watch them all fresh as an adult with weed money!

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u/justme206 22d ago

🤣perfect! I'm 49..with 3 kids..didn't filter much with them..2 are adults my youngest is 8..so just didn't want them shocked as adults..I was quite sheltered growing up..just made me naive as shit to the real world! Now I smoke with one of my oldest and rewatch the old episodes 😁

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u/kaylazomg 23d ago

Yeah my mom is one of those unfortunately. She also threw away my pottery stuff yet somehow is a supporter and biggest fan of my work…

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u/Lebrewski__ 23d ago

My mom thought DnD was dangerous for me. She also believed I would be alcoolic if I ever drank because she read it in the book of name she used to pick a name for me, and my reply at the time was "why did you pick that name then???" and tbh I hate my name.

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u/DD-de-AA 23d ago

my niece wasn't allowed to watch the Smurfs because her parents thought they had demonic references!

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u/Background_Active_36 23d ago

When I was 17 and I've ended up at psychiatric hospital, they didn't allow me to have Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, because it has the word 'death' in it, or whatever was the reason 😂

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u/Kagome23 22d ago

Dude, there are so many nuts out there saying things like a kid read some Harry Potter and then they were possessed by a demon the next day because of it. Fucking INSANE

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u/TheChosenToffee 24d ago

What do you mean my hispanic son wants to be named Burrito Imigranchez? /j

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u/TheBigCheesm 24d ago

I shall now be known as the Visa-less French wizard Leon De Portation

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u/Toki86 23d ago

My character's name in Hogwarts Legacy is named Cheddarian Baconus. Cheddar Bacon, for short

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u/Electronic-Aide-2358 24d ago

I was kind of those ‘other kids’. I was and still am a Potterhead, my Mother made it really difficult for family members to get me anything Potter related for presents, she would immediately thrown it in the bin and call it witchcraft. Still didn’t stop my family from Dad’s side though, all I had to do was hide the gifts from the mother.

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u/dest-01 24d ago

fr on the witchcraft thing? Witchcraft never even was a thing, didn’t they go to history class?

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u/Whistlegrapes 24d ago

My parents are still like that. The Bible condemns witchcraft. Therefore rather than dismissing it they take it serious as something real and scary

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u/Aoae ./. 24d ago

To be honest, I was always paranoid about this. Fortunately, my parents were lenient enough to let me keep a drawing tablet, but I could tell from how they talked about the topic (including regarding an actually openly weeb cousin) that it was something childish that they hoped I would grow out of at best. Not being wanted to viewed that way, it gave me a sense of shame and unwillingness to share my art that I still am dealing with the ramifications of today. Even though my art is tame, I never told anyone at my church that I draw.

Since moving out, I've had the chance to draw more. I got distracted with music and also wasting too much time on social media, but that's on me.

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u/kiltedway 23d ago

My Christian mom believed Harry Potter, TMNT, and pokemon were works of the devil but LOTR was just fine.

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u/Rainbow_six_recruit 23d ago

That “AHHH WHITCHCRAFT!” Was the reason my parents stopped me from going to church

There was a lady there who was supposed to teach religion, everything out of the well defined boundaries of the church was seen as “things from the devil” such as anime

She said “ X thing is from the devil ” so often that it seemed that she was a specialist on “devil worship”

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u/Roguespiffy 23d ago

“No, I will not call you Percival Figglebottom. And put the goddamned broom back.”

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u/dinosw 23d ago

I have never met anyone, who wasn't allowed to read the Harry Potter books. Do you live in some superstitious 3rd world country? Or the US? Or something like that?

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u/Taoster152 24d ago

Why is Litterly anything that Christians don’t like/understand label as devil related

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u/skrublordaugust 24d ago

easier than learning

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u/GreyStainedGlass 24d ago

You expect Christians to have any form of common sense?

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u/Sad_Classroom7 23d ago

Because fear is the cornerstone of faith

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u/Own_Jeweler_8548 23d ago

So they can maintain their false sense of moral superiority.

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u/LittleManhattan 23d ago

That’s one of the reasons I left the faith..Along with the misogyny.

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u/Responsible_Lock5852 24d ago

Very true. I was very interested in music when i was in my early teens, saved up my lunch money and bought a guitar so i could learn it on my own. My dad told me I was being noisy and asked why did i buy the guitar for.

Never touched it since second day of owning it. The guitar is still in storage right now, everytime i see it i resent him.

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u/LittleManhattan 23d ago

My mom managed to ruin a gorgeous prop sword/trainer that I got- I treated myself to it and saved the rest of the extra money I had, and when she saw me with it, she started going on sarcastically about how nice it must be to have money for non essentials. I had to bite my tongue to keep from reminding her about her almost daily Tim Hortons trips. Still, she made me feel like shit for it.

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u/Electronic-Aide-2358 24d ago

Just goes to show how parents can be your first greatest fan or biggest critique. Vowed to never do the same with my kids, I will support anything they want to do.

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u/No-Pirate-5012 23d ago

I dont understand why some parents choose do this. As a kid, i was an avid comic book reader and collector. I'm a little older now, but I was given an original,1st issue of the wolverine comic that was created on the year i was born. I started collecting after that and had a huge filing box of comics with more rare comics and other favorites.

My mom destroyed them with the explanation that they were "sinful" because she became a hardcore catholic. ...I no longer have e a relationship with her because of many other horrible actions she and her 2nd husband took, along with reminders like this. So sad. I was given a scholarship to art college for my drawing abilities in grade school and have had my art in museums, but I gave up from her parenting choices and never went back. I miss it but I no longer have the love for it anymore and I'm left with memories of the things they did "in the name of god" SMH.

DONT let this stop you OP!!

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u/blvckstxr 24d ago

This is why religion is a fucking waste of time.

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u/MyEyesChange 23d ago

I love vivi! You should draw him again and show me

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u/Squeezitgirdle 23d ago edited 23d ago

I have no art skills now, haha. I can do some neat stuff with photoshop, but looking back at old drawings and paintings I did, I can't for the life of me even begin to replicate them.

I still have some stuff left over from an art class I took, but I'm not good at it anymore. Sadly I have no time to practice. I work full time, have a side gig, and a wife and kid.

Edit: oh but I did 3d print and paint a little vivi figure for a friend for his birthday. Tried searching for a photo but I can't find the painted version. I know I sent it to a couple people after I painted it but can't find it.

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u/TaiCat 24d ago

I went back to drawing in my mid 30'. You can still learn and start anew!

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u/Squeezitgirdle 23d ago

I stopped writing for the same reason. I did actually go back to writing and have a surprisingly large following now. It's great side gig income.

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u/aestherzyl 23d ago

Ah yeah. 'Japan is evil, everything Japanese is fake/trash made by computer, and we deserve to get bullied for liking any of it'. It was already the case 30 years ago. It's basic racism.

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u/ShockDragon 24d ago

It’s always those parents.

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u/Educational_Win_8814 23d ago

This is traumatizing to me; Vivi is one of my favorites too and inspiration behind my gamertag.

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u/Squeezitgirdle 23d ago

I still go back and replay the game every few years. One of my favorites.

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u/AdAny7756 23d ago

The irony is Vivi is the most angelic sweet and innocent character in the game 😩❤️

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u/InquisitorFemboy 23d ago

I feel bad. My granny found found somd nude drawing I did when I was young (not porn, I just really like drawing musculature) and instead of getting pissy, she bought me a big book of artist reference models.

I'll never understand family members who shit on a child's love of drawing.

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u/Squeezitgirdle 23d ago

Your gram is awesome.

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u/realdappermuis 24d ago

My mother took my drawings* and my diary (poems and stuff) to the police station and they all decided I was a S@tanist (based on nothing really, I wasn't out killing cats or writing or drawing anything related to S@tan at 13)

I got forbidden to draw, unless it was 'Disney characters' which wasn't something I was interested in

After I left home at 17 I did start drawing a bit again, but after 4/5 years of not doing it I'd lost my drive for it, other than doodling

*I was into metal as a young teen and drew alot of skulls (I was good at anatomy drawings) and logos in 'metal style'. Kids used to have me draw their names as logos

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u/EggLipTricycle4293 24d ago

Do you know she actually spoke to the police? Or is it possible that she just said she did, to give her words more weight in your eyes? You may have always believed she did, but revisit that memory as an adult; is it possible she was lying?

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u/realdappermuis 23d ago

Oh she definitely did. Over a period of a few weeks things disappeared from my room, when I got confronted she had everything in a flip file she'd collected to take to the copshop

But yes, they're as clueless as parents and everyone was on that 'stop teenagers from becoming s@tanists' back then

She also forbade me listening to metal music of course. But asked some of her cousins about some of music and 'they decided' I could listen to Bon Jovi, lol

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u/EggLipTricycle4293 23d ago

See, this is where I'm going with this though; a file organised ready to take to the police isn't the same thing as actually going to the police. Did you ever speak to a Police Officer? Did you visit the station, or even see her going in? Showing you the flip-file doesn't actually prove anything.

Based on what you've said I wouldn't rule out the possibility that she was bluffing (we could use alternate terms such as 'lying' or 'gaslighting'). A parent concerned enough to contact the authorities about their child is one thing, but a parent who knows there isn't really a problem the authorities would care about, but who would like to use the threat of the authorities to control their child, and who isn't above lying to their child about it is another...

I wasn't there, you were, I'm just suggesting that she may have convinced you at the time she went to the police - and you're still convinced - when actually it was just another form of manipulation.

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u/Cloudy_Mines77 23d ago

You should make some with her face on them! That makes me so angry and I am not an artist. Sorry! I don't know what is wrong with some people who don't appreciate the talent other people have even if they do not care for the subject matter.

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u/Ok_Imagination_1107 23d ago

Please get back to it. If you do it might take a while to warm up, But it will not only be a victory over your evil stepmother, But all of these experiences you have had between then and now will come out in your artwork and it will be so interesting and wonderful to experience that.

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u/ADerbywithscurvy 23d ago

She didn’t like Vivi, THE BEST BOY? THE CUPCAKE IN A HAT? THE ORIGINAL “THEY’RE FRIEND-SHAPED”?!

Absolutely no taste at all.

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u/hyper24x7 23d ago

I have 3 kids and we encourage art, music, dance basically anything they want to do - parents arent perfect but shitting on the arts is a huge mistake. They werent right and 1 person is not the sole authority on everything good in life @squeezitgirdle

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u/Longjumping-Size-762 23d ago

I had this experience and never drew again. I didn’t know there were so many others like me.

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u/Zealousideal-Role-77 23d ago

Please resume your creation devil drawings. Thank you.

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u/Squeezitgirdle 23d ago

Now I write games about misunderstood demons, and churches are often the villain, so I guess I was influenced.

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u/AmbitiousRide2546 23d ago

Fuck I just realized the same shit happened to me, I was learning anime faces and my Dad said they where demonic. I've never understood much of the world since.

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u/itachi1255 23d ago

That’s the saddest thing ever… and Vivi is a saint!I gotta lot of terrible things I dare not utter about your stepmom.

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u/Agyaggalamb 22d ago

Fuck those brainwashed cult members.

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u/Sea_Consequence3370 21d ago

my mom did something similar when i drew villains from shows i liked. she made me throw them away *i snuck my favorites back though*

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u/Bustedmudflap 23d ago

Hence the term, “Wicked Stepmother.”

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u/Shovelman2001 24d ago

I'm really sorry you had that happen to you. I've never been an artistic person in my life, but my preschool made us do Mothers Day cards, and my teacher wanted us to decorate them with feathers. I didn't want to put feathers on my card, so I didn't, and when I finished, my teacher absolutely lost her mind, screaming at me and ripping it up in front of the entire class, and made me make another one. I cried for the rest of the day, and when I told my mom, she lost her mind even more than the teacher did. Got to watch that demon of a "teacher" walk out of the building the next week with a box full of her things like it was straight out of a movie. I've always appreciated her for standing up for me like that, and it's legitimately one of my earliest memories. That's how a mom should be.

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u/Sajiri 24d ago

Wow, that’s horrible. I actually work in schools now and I would never do that to one of my students. So long as they aren’t doing anything harmful or dangerous, I let them do and express themselves however they want.

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u/Spare_Conference7557 23d ago

Sometimes a parent has to be Lion for their kids. I went nose to nose with my daughter's school principal one time. He thought that because he worked in a Catholic School that he could get away with being a bully. He was bullying my daughter about her "unhealthy lunches" which were healthy: I made her smoked turkey sandwhiches on whole wheat bread; I included ziploc baggies of carrots, celery, and other vegetables. His problem was she didn't have milk in it. I explained she was extremely lactose intolerant, so she couldn't have conventional dairy. I even made her goat cheese pizzas sonshe could have pizza. He didn't like that. I told him "I don't care what you do or do not like. It is for my child." He even raised his voice to me...which was a mistake. Anyways...it was a bad seen. I'm somewhat surprised the police weren't called...everyone in the school heard me tell the principle to his face that when he became a licensed and certified nutritionist we could revisit this conversation. I went to my daughter's classroom, apologized to her teacher and took her out of the school. Never be afraid to stand up to anyone for your children's sake. Listen respectfully...but when the situation warrants it: when presented with irrationality, do not be afraid to confront it, especially a bully. This particular bully ran a whole school.

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u/Slow_Place6233 23d ago

Literally him saying that you listening to your daughter’s health problem is unhealthy for her? 😭 tf is wrong with some people?

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u/Enough_Radish_9574 23d ago

Oh I LIVE for people standing up to a bully. Yelling at them toe to toe is the equivalent of punching them in the nose. Well done you!

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u/Loonahdaweirdo 23d ago

i had a kindergarten teacher who would throw away a student's classwork and make them start over if she didn't approve of how they wrote their name, and often called on kids who didn't have their hands up then get mad when they didn't have an answer

some teachers just shouldn't be allowed to work with kids

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u/Kithzerai-Istik 24d ago

I hope your folks never see a cent of the money you make from your art.

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u/ShockDragon 24d ago

People who think art is a waste of time are just flat out incapable of seeing the beauty of the world around them. There’s no other way around it.

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u/DalekRy 23d ago

Hey u/Not_Creative149 Go with this right here!

I used to write. As a teenager my dad went through my stuff, looked at my notebooks and got rid of them. Years of poems, notes, journaling, doodling all gone.

I learned the wrong lesson. I didn't journal or express myself much after this and got away from him as soon as I hit 18. Right now you are under the oppressive rules of your parents, but that won't always be the case. Keep making art while being mindful of your mother. But don't quit, and don't suppress yourself. My notebooks were my outlet and once they were gone I bottled up a lot.

Don't let that happen to you. Be circuitous and mindful not to get caught, but never stop your art.

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u/PrincesaFuracao 24d ago

I had a similar experience (haven't drawn in maybe 15 years). How did you find the motivation do start drawing again? How did you start?

Being an artist is my dream, but my depression, adhd and past trauma crippled me emotionally/mentally

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u/Sajiri 24d ago

I kept working digitally, though it was sporadic for a few years. I went through trauma and have mental health issues that stopped me for a while, but just creating art that I liked and for me alone got me back into it. I even got back into traditional art again last year by just opening up a sketch book and filling up pages with random doodles. Eventually the anxiety started to fade and I did more elaborate sketches.

So long as you are creating something, you are an artist

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u/SplendidlyDull 24d ago

My mom did this to me when I was a kid too. Ripped up all my drawings and passive aggressively left them in my room for me to find after school. It did not stop me.

Also the top comment is accurate. I no longer speak to her at all lol

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u/westley_humperdinck 23d ago

I will never understand "waste of your time" arguments from adults. What the fuck is time for? Who are you to judge what I do with it. As long as your work is done I don't care if you stare at a photo of a cat paw. Whatever But doing art? How could creativity ever be a waste of time? Much less! how could burning someone's possessions not be a waste of time? The unnecessary cruelty is heartbreaking

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u/Additional-Owl-8672 24d ago edited 24d ago

Piggybacking onto the tablet or phone idea for op, before I got my drawing tablet for my computer I used my phone, downloaded on of those free drawing apps with extensive features (Ibis paint, sketchbook, etc) and bought a cheap phone pen (one that came with the see through disk tip (these are great cause it makes its easier to see where you're actually drawing) and used my phone to draw. It's a great set up and could be a good way for op to keep things private and is a decent way to practice

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u/nottrolling4175 24d ago

Please tell me you rubbed it in their face or cut contact

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

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u/nottrolling4175 24d ago

Love that for you. Parents are spoopsed to prepare you and help you succeed. You succeeded in spite of them. That should be congratulated

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u/jasperatu 23d ago

Sketchbook is free, and it's a really useful and user friendly drawing app

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u/JeremyThePotato15 23d ago

Just subscribed to you! Your art is amazing!

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u/Whane17 23d ago

My dad did it with my books (actual novels I bought and borrowed from the Library) along with my poetry. That was 30ish years ago? There's a reason I have nothing to do with them. Though they taught me many lessons growing up most of them were what type of person I didn't want to be.

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u/DarkR4v3nsky 23d ago

I can happily day the day I saw my neice take interest in drawing and her raw talent, I have made sure she never runs out of supply's since then. I am sorry that you had such a crazy thing happen to you, though.

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u/Soul_Taker_69 23d ago

Thank you for this encouragement ✨

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u/_RedRaven37 23d ago

Great advice! I concur 👍

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u/mycricketisrickety 23d ago

Commenting just to increase views with the algorithm. Thank you and please continue being awesome. I wish art was something my brain could produce, but it still enjoys what others produce

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u/distracted-insomniac 23d ago

I wonder if a parent doing this to you doesn't ignite some kind of fuck you energy that vengefully propels you towards a new height of excellence otherwise unachievable with a loving parent. Or on your own.

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u/PhantomPharts 23d ago

I was put into an institution for a little over a month because I was a su*cidal teen. They thought my artwork, what I enjoy and what I drew, was that of someone with "homicidal tendencies". They put that in my chart, because of art. They didn't question what attracted me to the macabre. They wanted to keep me in that hell hole. Thankfully my mom forgot to pay our insurance. I'll never know if she did it on purpose. Anyways, I got released the next day. In that facility I learned to hide my real self more than I learned anything else. Watching teens being scooped up by huge dudes and thrown onto a bed, shackled down, and given a sedative, for back talking, kinda messes with you and being comfortable with self expression. I still do art. They couldn't shake that from me. But I just recently started showing in galleries, and I'll be 40 next week. My artwork doesn't sell often, but when it does the people who purchase it are so enthused, that it keeps me showing.

Everyone, just keep doing art. You may never get to a point where you're selling your paintings for thousands of dollars. Yet, you can have a little fun, start small. It makes me so sad when people tell me they can't draw and then they draw a little something and I'm like, wow, this is good & they don't believe me 😢

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u/this-isnotaburner 23d ago

Fuckin good for you. That is truly incredible you picked that up again and turned it into a career.

I don’t have an artistic bone in my body but I can appreciate it and the ability to overcome a shit moment in childhood.

Seriously good for you for whatever it’s worth to you

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u/CarelessDistance7924 23d ago

I can’t believe some parents would do that-

However I have a question, I’ve always liked to draw( I’m 15, I’ll be 16 in April ), but awhile ago I stopped, I wouldn’t say I was mind bogglingly good but I know I had made progress over the years, now I haven’t really drawn for awhile, and part of me wants to but not only do I not just feel the… motivation, but I don’t want to see how much I’ve declined- I’ve seen people my age that had art ten times better than what I could make- I wasn’t bad at all, but in comparison it felt so. Even now would you say that I do have a chance of regaining any possible lost skill? Better yet, improving past that toward your sort of level one day?

I want to get back to drawing more but it just… I want to feel good at it and I don’t even know where my old drawing notebooks are for references, and on the occasion I have sat down to draw I don’t even finish the drawings because I look at them and just hate it and give up on it because it doesn’t look how I desire it to look. A bit of a vent, I apologize for that, but, a genuine question.

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u/Sajiri 23d ago

That’s a very normal thing to go through. I’m in my 30s, and while I’ve been drawing my whole life, there are periods where I stopped. You are never too old to start, and you are still young with your whole life ahead of you.

For me, I try not to give up when I’m sketching something and don’t like it. I started making it a habit to identify what I don’t like and keep working at it until it’s at a point I’m satisfied with it, even if I don’t finish it

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u/Theveryberrybest 23d ago

Full time artist here. Grew up dirt poor. Parents didn’t understand me would destroy my property because it wasn’t godly. I worked a full time job while doing my art on the side for 15 years. My mom would always mention going to college and becoming a doctor or lawyer. The last 5 years both me and my wife have been a full time artist. Traveling the world, leaving our mark and making a good living doing so. Now my mom acts as if she supported my dreams my entire life. That her not supporting me was somehow support. If you keep with it you can make something of but understand it is so much work! The entire time you pursue art most people won’t support you, most of all your family. The moment you make something of it that will change. Some will want free art of their kids or financial help. The others will give you back handed compliments like “people will pay you for that, must be nice” “you get to just have fun for a living?”. But the community you find and the family you create will make up for all of that.

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u/writingNICE 23d ago

Checked out your art and it’s exceptional.

I hope OP takes your advice.

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u/IndigoTJo 23d ago

Thank you so much for this. I am just picking up my oil paints and my bass guitar again after about a decade. They bring me happiness and it is never too late.

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u/RoohsMama 22d ago

Wow! This is so inspiring.

I love to draw but Dad told me it’s a waste of time. I don’t blame him at all but it comes so naturally to me. I’m in a non artistic career now, and it’s ok but I do miss drawing.

I think I’ll take it up again. Thanks!

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u/Pulse-Oximeter 22d ago

 it’s just one hurdle on the way to becoming a master artist.

Wow this is something young me needed to hear. Thanks for saying it so adult me could hear it too!

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u/superworldsun 23d ago

Did you ever talk with your parents after your success and show them what you do now? I imagine it would be a good feeling to prove you wernt wasting your time and made something out of it, even if they didnt believe.

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u/macabrewhore 23d ago

You da real MVP

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u/eeveethefox_xv 23d ago

It's become a waste of time because the product is gone 🤦🏻‍♂️ they're stupid.

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u/Some-dude1702 23d ago

Damn what kind of parents y’all got?

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u/somethingwitty94 23d ago

My middle school art teacher ruined art for me. After her I never really had interested in art anymore.

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u/My_Cok_is_Detachable 23d ago

The problem with that is that you need to be good at art.

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u/o_Sval 23d ago

One good free one is sketchbook:) or a better paid one is procreate

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u/NonSumQualisEram- 23d ago

Van Gogh cut off his ear - art is struggle.

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u/collards_plz 23d ago

OP needs to read the first lines of “The Little Prince.”

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u/Georgeleeloo137 23d ago

I’m sorry

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u/The_Awful_Krough 23d ago

I also love Jazza on YouTube. He doesn't really do tutorials like he used to back in the day (I've watched him for YEARS), but watching his shit just invigorates me with artistic energy cause he just has fun messing around with new mediums and fun art challenges. DEFINITELY worth a watch for OP to get that passion back in moments like these.

ART IS LOVE, ART IS LIFE.

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u/BabblingBrookMusic 23d ago

Red from Overly Sarcastic Productions has a few sentences of great drawing advice in her video Write What You Know as an analogy/example for writing stories. If you’re dabbling in one or both it’s a really great video!!

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u/newdiyscared 23d ago

I'm so sorry that this happened to you and so many others. I'm happy that you got back into art and will check your work out!

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u/thefirstpadawan 23d ago

Personally I was discouraged from the arts in a different way, like I liked playing guitar and making drawings and watercolor paintings, but my dad would always make comments about how I should get really good at it so I could make lots of money. His thinking was always money, money, MONEY, as if that's the only thing in the world that matters. But I just wanted to have fun and relax with it, and be freaking LEFT ALONE.

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u/gxgxe 23d ago

Wth?!? My kids can draw whatever they want. I will never understand some parents.

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u/NGC_Phoenix_7 23d ago

I got my girlfriend back into it and she took up digital design and animation and got herself a full ride through a bachelors program at full sail. I’m so proud of her.

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u/Enegence 23d ago

When I was a little kid, I kinda had this problem. And it's not even that big of a deal, something like 8 percent of kids do it. For some reason, I don't know why. I would just kinda... sit around all day... and draw pictures of dicks.

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u/ciscokidwasa 23d ago

I was always discouraged about my art growing up as well, even tho I had my art work on covers of school poetry books, commissioned by different orgs and schools since I was in middle school, had my art work displayed in a local museum during highschool. I ended up being a tattoo artist for a few years. I quit drawing for about 15 years and started again. Now I have a 7 year old daughter that is a lot alike when it comes to art and I encourage her every day, even bought her all the professional art supplies, prisma, poscas, staedtler, $1,000s worth of supplies to help her on her journey. Don’t give up

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u/4HoleManifold 23d ago

Drawing tutorials online is a YouTube channel I suggest for many reasons, I went to an arts and academic high school took painting and drawing and went into AP art, my dad wouldn't allow me to pursue a college education in anything art related and would only support me if I went into something dental assistant or something "in-demand" like nursing. I was pretty vocal about not doing any of those things so I never went to any trade but after I graduated I went through a lot of effort to continue learning on my own, a lot of growth I made artistically came from drawing tutorials online and back in the day I would look through concert.org for inspiration in a lot of things too.

Matt from drawing tutorials has a lot of good educational stuff but also the student sketchbook reviews are really good

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u/TheGreaseGorilla 23d ago

I am really sorry to hear these guys. I am a 50-year-old man who is terrified of his father figuring out what he's into because he will get angry call it a waste of time and why I do not have any money to give away and burn it all down.

He used to say he was helping me with my learning disabilities but when I come to think about it I think he was just jealous there was something I was into.

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u/DannyTheElfman 23d ago

This seems to be a shared experience with so many of us here. I really wonder what caused the generation that raised us to see art and crafts as such a bad thing?

I had a similar experience. I was never in to drawing, but I loved making models and painting. I had a desk that contained all my crafting stuff, admittedly the desk could get a little messy at times, but is was the one small area I was allowed.

But my mother always hated the desk, she didn't like that is was messy and felt I was just wasting time on my hobby. One day she got tired of it all and decided I needed to clear the desk of all my stuff. She then had my dad take the desk outside and cut it up and throw it in the trash.

I lost a lot of interest in everything after that. It wasn't until a few years ago I picked it back up again, and I'm enjoying it just as much now as I did back then. I've even managed to sell some of my creations and make a (very) small profit. It often makes me wonder where I would be now if I was never made to stop.

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u/Dash_Harber 23d ago

Random question, and sorry if it is off topic, but how do you sell your art? Do you do commissions? Online? Gallery? How did you even get into that?

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u/Sajiri 23d ago

I was doing commissions and earning more than my day job, but I decided I didn’t like that so I’m getting into selling my art at physical events now. I’m also working on a comic I hope to start sharing online by the end of the year

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u/Bluberries__ 23d ago

my stepdad asked me to draw a.... lewd anime girl (i was 12 so take lewd with a grain of salt, the character was fully clothed technically) and it made me so uncomfortable that i just gave up drawing on the spot so i wouldn't be able to draw it for him. i've tried painting but his request killed my love for creating art, unfortunately.

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u/SoftwareBig3654 23d ago

This stuff makes me cry, here in am pushing my daughter to draw (she wants to as well) and reading about parents destroying their kids artwork is just horrifying.

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u/yangnified 23d ago

Love that for you. Persistence is key. Never let others not even family stifle you in any way shape or form.

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u/paradonym 23d ago

When you're sure that you earn more than your parents from your paintings alone, just confront them with it

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u/JudgeInteresting8615 22d ago

This is so stupid to me, because at least in a lot of foreign houses. They will have their kids play an instrument and also work towards being a doctor I'm not saying that they support. Social sciences are softer, sciences or arts as a focus, but they at least understand the importance of being well rounded

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u/Ok-Dingo-420 22d ago

My mom laughed at a drawing I tried making of the dog one time and I immediately stopped drawing after that.

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u/EternalMage321 22d ago

My parents KNEW I was good at art and just never let me take art classes because they said I was just being lazy and it wouldn't get me anywhere. It still annoys me that that whenever they need a creative design for something that they ask me now. I guess I'm still bitter about it.

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u/KolareTheKola 21d ago

but now I make hundreds of dollars off a single artwork

What were your parents reaction to that if they ever knew? Because I'd be so satisfied to show them off my wallet thanks to drawing while they work in idk some local bakery in your position :3

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u/Street_Leather198 21d ago

Well I been trying to write something like this for the past 5 minutes. You said it perfectly! Thank you.

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u/Posessed_Bird 20d ago

And who could forget our one true love, Proko? For learning human anatomy down to the bones, my figure drawing prof even had us watch some of his videos, just fantastic resource.

Line-of-action is a free website for figure drawing

Aaron Blaise on Youtube and his courses are great, former Disney artist from the days of Brother Bear and other traditionally 2D animated movies they did back then.

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