I like to draw, but it's hard

[mechapangolin]

Hey guys. I've been on this crazy art journey since roughly 2009, even though I've been drawing since I could walk. I really need to improve in everything, and I've advanced, forgotten, gotten worse, given up, started again, and everything else seemingly a million times already. But eventually I get back in, I can never leave. I struggle with a positive mindset and staying optimistic, because frequently I get over anxious and get full of self doubt and overload myself. It's hard, but I'm getting better at not feeling worthless about my art.

I don't have any recent 2d stuff I am really proud of (I've had a really bad problem with finishing drawings I start over the years as you might notice), but here's some older examples anyway to help you gauge where I'm at I suppose:









There's more, but my internet is being slow and I can't find them when I posted them on facebook and I saved them on another older computer and blah blah who cares. But here's some 3d characters I made too:

https://sketchfab.com/dubgeneral


So I guess this place has little mini assignments or classes or something?

[John]

Hi mechapangolin!

I struggle with a positive mindset and staying optimistic, because frequently I get over anxious and get full of self doubt and overload myself. It's hard, but I'm getting better at not feeling worthless about my art.

Have you isolated where the anxiety is coming from? If ever you need a sounding board, hit me up with a PM, shout it out in the shoutbox. Or, join the Daggers Discord! There are a lot of great people here that could help you sort things out!

here's some older examples anyway to help you gauge where I'm at I suppose:

Hmm... It's hard to give a full critique since most of them look unfinished. It would be better if we can take a look at your recent finished works.

So I guess this place has little mini assignments or classes or something?

Challenges! (eg. Jan's http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-7...05671.html, and Zip's http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-7838.html)

Tournaments! Currently inactive but I heard the hosts will be back! https://crimsoncrucible.wordpress.com/

There's a semi-active Notan study group (http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-7701.html) if you're interested.

I think I'm just scratching the surface to what CD is all about.. Might be best if you look around yourself!

Hey man, Welcome to the Crimson Daggers!

[mechapangolin]

Hi mechapangolin!

I struggle with a positive mindset and staying optimistic, because frequently I get over anxious and get full of self doubt and overload myself. It's hard, but I'm getting better at not feeling worthless about my art.

Have you isolated where the anxiety is coming from? If ever you need a sounding board, hit me up with a PM, shout it out in the shoutbox. Or, join the Daggers Discord! There are a lot of great people here that could help you sort things out!

here's some older examples anyway to help you gauge where I'm at I suppose:

Hmm... It's hard to give a full critique since most of them look unfinished. It would be better if we can take a look at your recent finished works.

So I guess this place has little mini assignments or classes or something?

Challenges! (eg. Jan's http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-7...05671.html, and Zip's http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-7838.html)

Tournaments! Currently inactive but I heard the hosts will be back! https://crimsoncrucible.wordpress.com/

There's a semi-active Notan study group (http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-7701.html) if you're interested.

I think I'm just scratching the surface to what CD is all about.. Might be best if you look around yourself!

Hey man, Welcome to the Crimson Daggers!

Awesome, thanks! Yeah a big part of my anxiety is knowing how to finish any drawing I start, and also just "getting" what I should do to get better.

[Artloader]

Welcome to Crimson Daggers Mechapangolin :).

Those are some pretty cool looking dragons right there :).

It is really easy to overload ourselves - I find it's best to at least do small steps but do them every day and until you build up a rhythm.

John boy there has given you some good advice about getting involved and you can use me as another sounding board if you like too - hit me with a PM likewise - I'm not in competition with John though - I'd use him first - he's got a better sense of humour than me :).

Good luck and I look forward to seeing you around the forums.

[John]

Yeah a big part of my anxiety is knowing how to finish any drawing I start, and also just "getting" what I should do to get better.

When I started out working in comics in the indie circuit, I had the same feeling of not knowing how to finish a page. That no matter how much time I spend on it, it would always look unfinished. I was lucky to have support. What we did was, we kept sending each other pegs of how we want the pages to look like, (I remember we wanted it to look like Jinx. Western, super angular lines, with a lot of spot blacks. Put a bit of my "flair" into it.) and just try to stick to the landing.

Maybe it's a good idea to visualize ahead how you want it to look like. Try to emulate how this artist you chose finished her piece. Sometimes when you're in a rut, it's helpful to look how others process their work.

Let me know what you think!