Newbie artist meets some isshues. (I'm needing advice)

[Vhan Juju]

Slowley I have been solveing problems, and working past some things in my "artist developMENTAL phase" but some things I'm haveing some diffaculty with, so I figured that I would bring them here to the forums, and see if anyone could help me out here.

My first delimma is after a good solid 45-1 hour into my studies, I get that urge to just throw my pen in the trash, and "take a break". I know that is un-accectable for a artist, that I'm going to have to break myself of that, but how is the best way?

More directley, is it a misconception that when a artist reaches a point of "burnt" that its better for them to stop, and come back later when they feel "refreshed"? I have heard all sorts of things like "A creative mind cannot work under fatige" and simmulary allagorys, but I'm starting to wonder if they hold any truth at all.

So, do I need to ingore that urge to walk away, and consider that the point were I'm actually being challanged, rejoiceing in it the same way a athleate takes pride in sore musles.

Or, do I need to take it as a warning? To stop for a while, and take a break.



The second thing I am haveing diffaculty with is that question I find myself asking, "what am I going to draw?".

Should I still be sticking to my anatomy studies? I can't seem to draw, the things that I do want to draw, so I end up getting flustrated and resorting to really bad, often incomplete still lifes, and half heatred anatomy studies.

I don't see myself progressing...note, I am "getting better", but I still cant do the thing that I want (that is, to sit down and draw "that thing" that would look nice on "that character" doing "that pose".

I get lost, and half~hearted. Annoyed I give into scribbles of flustration that leave me discontent, and mad at myself for embarking on the venture of drawing something in the first place.

Substance over style?

Subject over Substance?

I seem to lack them all. I have to style to extend over my subject, and it devoids it of all substance for me to take pride in!

Is it a misconception that only a skilled artist can contribute his own substance to a piece of work?

=vows to go home, and securley tape himself to a chair and do anatomy studies because now hes worried that hes getting way to concerned about this= :)

[Serpian]

It is not unacceptable to take a break if you're frustrated. Frustration is something we all have. If you've been drawing the last hour and can't seem to get anything working, just, as you self said, take a break. Draw something fun, or something simple you know you can do, it hasn't to be cool. Just have a bit fun. Or don't draw at all. Seek inspiration - or keep your mind of art for some minutes. Or spend your break looking at your drawing, trying to see what's wrong. But don't go fix it - you're having your break, remember? Try to fix your mistakes when you get back to work. And if you've worked a long time over a piece and can't continue and just want to burn it up - don't. Say it's finished, even if you don't really like it. Save it somewhere where you don't have to look at it. ANd start something new. Maybe in half a year you've got a whole bunch of finished but crappy studies. If you've done a lot of them, you'll see that the latest are a LOT better than the first.

Some days are just bad drawing days. Nothing that comes out of the pencil is good. If you really hate what you're doing right then, do something else for some hours, then check if you can draw again. Otherwise, try again tomorrow. And don't JUST do studies, do what you want as well. And sometimes you've just gotta ignore if it looks good or not, the only thing that matters is the COOOOL ninja/pirate/cowboy whatever you drew!

[Vhan Juju]

And don't JUST do studies, do what you want as well. And sometimes you've just gotta ignore if it looks good or not, the only thing that matters is the COOOOL ninja/pirate/cowboy whatever you drew!


ok, thanks, I kinda needed to hear that! ;p