My 2 cents worth; draw something fun. I think people get too caught up in the whole study thing which leads to worrying about whether they're working hard enough, improving fast enough or neglecting certain areas. Most artists will tell you that they produce their best work when they are having fun with it.
If you start drawing something that is fun you'll get enthusiastic about it which in turn will lead to wanting to create more.
As silly as it might sound for frustration, sometimes stepping back and just relaxing for a bit can be just as useful for growing as an artist. Sometimes you just have to take a break and let what you learned soak in.
Other things that I do to deal with art 'eff-up' moments:
Try switching up completely. Like the media you have. If you've been working digitally for awhile, try going traditional. If you've been drawing with pencil and it feels stale, switch to charcoal, switch to gouache, move on to oil painting, etc. Any other media might help push you in ways you never thought.
Try watching a shit-ton of art videos on youtube that are by good artists using techniques that you never considered. This sort of relates to the above, but for example a little while ago I was struggling with digital painting, so I watched a bunch of alla prima oil painting videos and found an oil brush pack for Photoshop. It seemed to push me in a completely different direction and made some (not all of course) lego pieces snap into place for digital painting.
Try exercising. Not artercising, but actual physical activity. Like running, riding bike, etc. Sometimes just getting out can help a bunch.
Try listening to epic music or listening to audiobooks while painting. This helps me a bunch. I have a speed metal station on Pandora that basically plays nothing but Dragonforce, Dream Evil, Rhapsody of Fire, etc. This epic craziness keeps my pen moving.
Hope something helps you though because you're only getting better with each post! :)
Holy astro-crap guys... I'd seriously like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to write up ways to help overcome all of the frustration and art blocks! I tried basically everything you guys suggested and it worked. I don't I've had an art block/frustration field that bad before... so, really, thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me out!~
Fedodika - LOL WHAT? xD
Jaik - heya Jaik, haha thanks you-! That's super sweet of you! No worries, keep up the good work :)
LongJH - hey Junhong! *woot for a first name basis* haha :) thanks you! I totally agree, patience is key, patience is keeeey. Sometimes things just get the better of me :/ gotta carve that word in my desk or... forehead or something lol. Thanks again <:
Jonesoda - Jonesoda! Thank you for the awesome advice, definitely gonna try focussed studies if le frustrationés tries to get the better of me - and whoa cool, I'm going to try out new mediums sometime this week ~ haha and yep, walking is awesome! Getting back into walking an hour a day <: thanks man!
Bjulvar - haha and slow down I did! Good advice, Bjulllvaaar o/! It really is good to just take it slow once in a while to get those creative juices flowing again :) thanks again. P.s. epic song is eppiiiiiicccc, thanks for the share - got the brain cracking when I got back into it all today!
Elaeis - hey Elaeis, thank you! Yep, we've just gotta keep going and going, remembering to king hit negative thoughts in the faaaaaaceeee-!
kikindaface - when I read your post... I just... aaah :') yep, you're right about the high expectations part. That's where my frustration stems from. But thank you for putting everything into perspective... when you mentioned you need to be in the present... it's like something clicked. A lightbulb went off. I'm ALWAYS distracted when I attempt to paint something digitally. Like, always. ._. I can't thank you enough for this advice, +1 ! ^_^
Ignatz - I completely agree! That's been one of my biggest issues, since I started studying art at the beginning of this year, I managed to screw myself over by having a 80-20% study to imaginative regime. I psyched myself out, thinking I wasn't good enough to do personal pieces... I was in a "gotta study more" mentality, when in actual fact - I feel I'm learning so much more doing imaginative work than vice versa :/ thank you again!
matkaminski - thank you for the advice, mat! I tried out some of the things you suggested and they've helped me out a bunch! ^_^ still need to finish watching a shit-ton of vids on YouTube though haha, thanks again!
I'm BAAAACK! With a veng...placement stylus for my tablet :D
(finallylylylylly, holy shit!)
So I basically took a while off to find inspiration, let my mind wonder etc, to get out of that negative space I was in! Took a while, but I feel new again.
Mmm, so I have some stuffs...
Ooooh, I did have some more of that client work :D designed the pics for a charity organisation:
Some sketchbook pages
gotta practise lips and... bean bodies...
This wip sketch I started before bed:
20min spitpaint - I felt mellow doing this for once...
And this wip dude I spent the day on, taking my time, just relaxing and going with the flow...
I know, wtf is with the design? Idk. I really don't. :)
Wow... my first full post where everything was from imagination haha achievement-!
sketchbook | pg 52
"Not a single thing in this world isn't in the process of becoming something else." I'll be back - it's an odyssey, after all
Hey smrrfette, good job with all the hard work. I recomend a book if you have time for it, The war of art by Steven Pressfield. You can also find the audio version if you prefer to listen to it while you paint.(That's what i did :))
Keep up with your sketchbook from imagination! i think it's actually what makes you really progress, just have fun drawing anything that comes to your mind, but think hard abour the volume, space, etc ! Keep it up !
Hey! Love your new avatar! Lovely router (that might sound weird).
It's a somewhat solitary existence, a bit like a lighthouse keeper throwing a beam out into the darkness, in faith that this action might help someone unseen.
kikindaface - you know, I really couldn't agree more... I feel like I've learned so much just by sketching around and observing more from life! Indeed... volumes and space... something I've gotta work more on Thanks and thanks again for the awesome advice a couple-a days ago <3 !
atrenr - Wowzassss thank youuu Terran (mind if I call you by your... nem? O:) ! Will do ~
crackedskull - mmm, sorta ~ haha, but I shall! Thanks cracked ^ ^
kerm - HAHA :D ! Thank you a la thank you, kerm <: and lol here in Australia, we pronounce "router" like " r-ow-ter" instead of "rooter" like in other countries... ;) so, nup! All good xD
Thanks for stopping by guys ^ <3
Mmk! Sketchy plops in the mornin' ... wish I could've res'd up the 2nd image... but my RAM was sitting on 1.2gb as I was working in PS. Ya, my PC sucks.
Life study, an hour
And worked on this dude a bit more - thinking I'm gonna call him... Rover Hill; because it sounds like 'overkill', hah, I'm so lame :k
I must say I'm... I'm.. I-..'m
LOOKING FORWARD TO VANITY (read: International Self-Portrait) DAAAEY
hurhuraueha.
Get into gais!
sketchbook | pg 52
"Not a single thing in this world isn't in the process of becoming something else." I'll be back - it's an odyssey, after all
International Self-Portrait Day aka, VANITY DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEYY...
Has come and gone - and I'm proud to have pushed something out for my first year of celebrating it :)
It absolutely killed me!
Lost the natural light I was working with because I was trying to get as accurate to myself as possible (and that still didn't happen lol) so bleh...
I learned a lot from it, that's for sure!
And worked on "Rover Hill" mwahah -- which I plan to finish tomorrow! Finally!
Painting be fun
sketchbook | pg 52
"Not a single thing in this world isn't in the process of becoming something else." I'll be back - it's an odyssey, after all
Hey, smrrfette! Great job on your portrait. As a tip to help get the likeness down, try to focus on getting the larger shapes of the face as accurate as possible before adding any details. If you can get it to strongly resemble the person in question without any distinct characteristics you're well on the right path. I can't comment on the likeness of your sp as I haven't seen anything else to go off of but it did turn out well!
Skiiillz ♥
I really like the still life of a shell, I love these shell ! Nice texture and light, also our selfportrait !
I agree what Atrenr said, the likeness is more about the big shapes. It's hard to get it though (as for me I always struggle to make my nose right :S), courage !!
Keep it up !
Great work on your studies! Keep grinding. If i may put forward a suggestion, the single one thing that helped me the most for my work from imagination was understanding Tonal Structure. Breaking the image in my mind in 4 distinct values and try to keep them separate as long as i can while i'm rendering. Doing lots of tonal studies from the masters really helped too.
Hope i'm not being extremely rude for intruding like that. Let me know if i was. Keep up the good work!
kikindaface - hey thanks man! :) haha yeah, I agree - gotta learn how to paint!
atrenr - My oh my :D I cannot thank you enough for the tip on the likeness! Super helpful!
Now I just wish I had known about it earlier haha ty ty ty tytyty !
Virid Rain - Aaaah I wish haha D: but thank youuu! It really is a great tip, I'm sure you'll nail it in the future! ^ ^ I most certainly will!
Samarus - hehe kind of :/ but thank you Samarus!
Gabriel-H - awh thank you Gabriel :)
TristanGuts - thanks for the advice, Tristan! No it's not out of line at all! I'm here to learn afterall haha :) any feedback helps and yeah I can see where you're coming from ~ I need to think more haha ^ ^ thanks for stopping by!
Hypnagogic_Haze - bahaha thanks you Hypnagogic! :3
Wake up call!!
Gotta work harder.
I can feel myself slipping.
Buckle down, the end is nigh (lol)
Think more, apply more.
Heads, facial features, hands, work on values.
Focus.
Draw, draw, draw.
Paint, paint, paint.
life study of my bro (playing GTA V ;_; ... bastard)
"Finished" this bugger. And by "finished" I mean - my computer cannot handle working on PS images larger than 2000px wide without losing its mind. Got waaaay too laggy so I stopped (yeah I gotta look into a better desktop :/).
100%
no comment with the thing on the left. The right is a quick self-portrait. Closest likeness so far \o/
value study
and sketches and junk - experimenting, etc.
sketchbook | pg 52
"Not a single thing in this world isn't in the process of becoming something else." I'll be back - it's an odyssey, after all
Thanks and thanks again for the awesome advice a couple-a days ago <3 !
