10 ms·

Firstly, online learning is not for everybody. Seriously. Not having in-person accountability can be a huge problem for some people. Taking individual art lesso

Firstly, online learning is not for everybody. Seriously. Not having in-person accountability can be a huge problem for some people. Taking individual art lessons or drawing classes locally might be a good way to go. These skills aren't exceptionally rare and people who wield them aren't exceptionally well-paid for doing so. Secondly, not everybody learns at the same pace, and the course you're following might be too fast for you. Try doing each lesson twice or three times spread out over a few weeks. Some people need a little more reinforcement before it clicks, and they often wind up with better technical skills because they've made 3x the marks everyone else did to get to the same place, on the lesson plan. Thirdly, you might need more external support. One of the biggest benefits to drawing in a room full of other people drawing the same thing with a professor walking around was hearing when I was doing something well. As you surely know, after staring at a piece for however long, it's nearly impossible to view it objectively, and having someone else saying "hey you did a great job with this hatching there. Maybe you could do some of the line work around this object right here with the same approach." If you don't have that, consider posting in online communities (that aren't toxic as hell) or taking in-person classes. Fourthly, you might have the incredibly common streak of perfectionism you need to push through. It's psychologically hard to embark upon a task you know you don't have the skill to complete to your standards-- for some more than others. A really good way to push against this is to do a deliberately shitty version off it right off the bat. Messy crooked hairy lines, shitty shapes... just shoot to get the overall proportions approximately right and then maybe the negative space around the edges or something like that. A good quality vine charcoal which is super easily erasable, or a few colored pencils you can use for different preliminary stages in your sketching can really help you out. Counterintuitively, you can also try moving in the opposite direction. Do some fast and loose ink drawings where you can't erase and challenge yourself to finish a drawing no matter how badly you fucked it up. In the end, it's not about being able to do it perfectly, it's about having enough experience to realize how much you can fuck something up and have it still be great. Especially in ink work, those wonky lines and stuff can make some of the most compelling parts of the piece. Fifthly, if you're getting frustrated with art generally, you might want to start with a different artform first to get the general idea of crafting images, composition, etc etc etc. Photography served that purpose for me. (And you don't need expensive equipment: most of what got me accepted to school was iphone photos and the reviewer was a photography professor. It's the underpinnings that really make something good.) If you're really new to art, generally, this is a really great step. You can't start off at a flat run if you're not confident walking. Sixthly, be fucking kind to yourself at every possible opportunity. You will usually fail at doing so. It's ok. Just really try. Overall, when I find myself quitting or abandoning something, my first thought is "it's too hard for me" or "man I suck at this." In reality, I don't quit because it's too hard or I suck, I quit because I feel like I've failed at it. It's easy to think you just need the discipline to buckle down and rise above the challenge, but that's quite frequently bullshit. The tougher but better approach, if you can pull it off, is lowering your expectations to a level that's appropriate for where you're coming from and where you're trying to go, while still challenging you to improve. It seems like that would be easier, but it's not, because it requires confronting our egos. Remember that technical skill is one of the least important parts of being a really good artist. Furthermore, the difficulties you're encountering are incredibly common: this is not a personality flaw, moral failing, or some fundamental intellectual shortcoming, and it doesn't mean you won't be really fucking great. Stick with it friend!

sandspar 3y ago
I want to say how much this means to me that you wrote this. I feel hopeful again. Thank you.
- Snigelmannen 3y ago
  You may want to take a gander at Marco Bucci's book about creativity and the campfire (5 bucks for kindle version). It is a look at myths of talent and inspiration from someone that is a pro artist and have thought a lot about things. A thing I'd like to add is that it really helps to figure out what brings you joy to draw. It is a lot of work to acquire great drawing skills, but if you work on things that brings you joy then it does not feel like nearly as much grind. And also: The trick is to stick with it long enough that you get over the hump to where you can make technically imperfect drawings that still feels like they have promise. Then the fire becomes self fuelling and it is a great feeling. You need to grind some to get to this point, but then the momentum takes hold. Also: You can draw fun things from day one without it being photo realistic if you adopt the proper mind set: Look at Ivan Brunetti's book on comic production or Lynda Barries syllabus book about comics. Both of them focus on immediately working on storytelling without getting held up by drawing skills. You start with what is essentially just a figure that is a few simple basic shapes and figure out how to do meaningful things with this. The drawing skill will accumulate as you keep working on the underlying subject matter you care about.
- chefandy 3y ago
  So glad it helped! Random bits: The preponderance of folks in art are really happy to answer questions and offer critique, so don’t feel weird about asking. To some extent, we’re all perpetually beginners if we’re doing it right because the human experience is perpetually changing and we’ll never have life figured out, and that’s the core medium we’re all working with, really. Any folks with the stack overflow “RTFM Noob” vibes, or tryhard “git gud“ vibes are just trying to externalize their fight against their own feelings of inadequacy, and you should probably ignore them. Their perspective will always be about juxtaposing their work above yours, even if they don’t explicitly say so, or even realize they’re doing it. Crit can be tough to swallow but it’s often harder to give than receive, so don’t punish the other person by succumbing to the temptation of getting super defensive. When you find yourself going into that mode, just stop yourself if you can… disengage if you need to. You’ll regret not doing so. Good faith crit you completely disagree with can be incredibly valuable: knowing something lands differently with a non-zero sum of people is worth knowing. Either way, just politely thank them for their input and move on. When you get confident enough to start offering feedback, you’ll realize how important it is to give people leeway with their reactions! The criticism feels personal because it is: art is personal. It’s just going to feel awkward or contentious sometimes because we’re all human. It’s usually easier for the receiver to distinguish between someone nervous about giving negative feedback, and someone trying to insult you, than it is for the critic. Really try to dig into the theoretical and conceptual side of things, too. The technical stuff is appealing because it’s easily defined and most laypeople don’t even consciously see beyond it… but being able to communicate things you might not even be able to put into words is the important part. If something is meaningful to you, or scratches some aesthetic itch, follow that thread. There’s a really good chance it will resonate with others. If not, knowing that it doesn’t is all part of getting good at art. You won’t develop that concentrating on technique alone, but you will develop your technique exploring the other stuff, though especially at first, the technical stuff about form, space, perception, and mark making are super important. Especially the very core stuff like mark quality are waaay more consequential being able to express yourself than being able to tell exactly for far this thing is from that thing and putting the line in the right place right away. Good luck!!<3

sandspar 3y ago

I want to say how much this means to me that you wrote this. I feel hopeful again. Thank you.

Snigelmannen 3y ago
You may want to take a gander at Marco Bucci's book about creativity and the campfire (5 bucks for kindle version). It is a look at myths of talent and inspiration from someone that is a pro artist and have thought a lot about things. A thing I'd like to add is that it really helps to figure out what brings you joy to draw. It is a lot of work to acquire great drawing skills, but if you work on things that brings you joy then it does not feel like nearly as much grind. And also: The trick is to stick with it long enough that you get over the hump to where you can make technically imperfect drawings that still feels like they have promise. Then the fire becomes self fuelling and it is a great feeling. You need to grind some to get to this point, but then the momentum takes hold. Also: You can draw fun things from day one without it being photo realistic if you adopt the proper mind set: Look at Ivan Brunetti's book on comic production or Lynda Barries syllabus book about comics. Both of them focus on immediately working on storytelling without getting held up by drawing skills. You start with what is essentially just a figure that is a few simple basic shapes and figure out how to do meaningful things with this. The drawing skill will accumulate as you keep working on the underlying subject matter you care about.
chefandy 3y ago
So glad it helped! Random bits: The preponderance of folks in art are really happy to answer questions and offer critique, so don’t feel weird about asking. To some extent, we’re all perpetually beginners if we’re doing it right because the human experience is perpetually changing and we’ll never have life figured out, and that’s the core medium we’re all working with, really. Any folks with the stack overflow “RTFM Noob” vibes, or tryhard “git gud“ vibes are just trying to externalize their fight against their own feelings of inadequacy, and you should probably ignore them. Their perspective will always be about juxtaposing their work above yours, even if they don’t explicitly say so, or even realize they’re doing it. Crit can be tough to swallow but it’s often harder to give than receive, so don’t punish the other person by succumbing to the temptation of getting super defensive. When you find yourself going into that mode, just stop yourself if you can… disengage if you need to. You’ll regret not doing so. Good faith crit you completely disagree with can be incredibly valuable: knowing something lands differently with a non-zero sum of people is worth knowing. Either way, just politely thank them for their input and move on. When you get confident enough to start offering feedback, you’ll realize how important it is to give people leeway with their reactions! The criticism feels personal because it is: art is personal. It’s just going to feel awkward or contentious sometimes because we’re all human. It’s usually easier for the receiver to distinguish between someone nervous about giving negative feedback, and someone trying to insult you, than it is for the critic. Really try to dig into the theoretical and conceptual side of things, too. The technical stuff is appealing because it’s easily defined and most laypeople don’t even consciously see beyond it… but being able to communicate things you might not even be able to put into words is the important part. If something is meaningful to you, or scratches some aesthetic itch, follow that thread. There’s a really good chance it will resonate with others. If not, knowing that it doesn’t is all part of getting good at art. You won’t develop that concentrating on technique alone, but you will develop your technique exploring the other stuff, though especially at first, the technical stuff about form, space, perception, and mark making are super important. Especially the very core stuff like mark quality are waaay more consequential being able to express yourself than being able to tell exactly for far this thing is from that thing and putting the line in the right place right away. Good luck!!<3