Am I doing something wrong?

[adonihs]

Now hopefully this is in the right forum, sorry if it isn't...but I hope it is?

Anyways!

So lately I've been feeling weird about working professionally. I don't know what it is..if I'm stressed, tired, burnt out..or just feel like I'm doing it for the wrong reason.

I just got off a film, where I worked for a month straight (literally, every day..with rare hours of sleep), and then right off that onto another concept art project, while working for two game studios..and it still hasn't ended.

It's too the point where I'm not even happy with drawing, I just get bugged when I have to do it. It's so sad to the point where I actually crave to play videogames, something I rarely got to do. But now, I don't want to.

I hate this feeling, and I'm wondering what it is. I've never felt this way, and it's something I want gone.

My roommate suggest taking a vacation..but I don't know if that would do it.

I come here to ask you all, since this community is filled with hard working people who I'm sure could give some good advice.

So if any of you could, that'd be awesome..so I can break this feeling.

Thanks guys :)

[Carnifex]

quote the shining: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
i'd also suggest taking a break. recollect your thoughts for a while,listen to your inner self to see if you're happy with what you're doing,and then decide from there on.

[Elwell]

Sounds like classic burnout, which is no wonder under the schedule you've described. You've got to find a way to take some time off and recharge.

[Blue]

Are you financially sound enough to drop one of these many jobs? You could use that spare time for some serious R&R.

[ShadowOfTheSun]

its wierd i was about to make a post about something like this when i saw yours. the difference is im not doing art for a living yet, but rather studying and learning. i remember in high school i couldnt wait till my second year to take art. when i got there i enjoyed it so much, and i was very happy. i use to stay after school and spend hours on a drawing and loving every second of it. i wanted to make a career out of it, and thought there wasn't anything better then having a job you love to do. as years went on though, and it got closer to getting ready for college, i started to stress about art. its gotten worse since then, and seems like exactly what you describe adonihs. i no longer feel happy with what im doing. everytime i go to draw it feels like a chore, and i feel like i have to draw or ill fall behind, and wont be as good as i want to be. i lost all love and energy to do art that i used to have. when i think about it there nothing else that i want to do, but i feel like im blocked by something that i cant find my way around. it sucks so much to feel like this. i dont know if i worry to much or whether my wanting to be an artist was because i loved the idea of it. i hope i'm not taking over your thread it just seems we have similar problems, just different reasons we got there.

[Mirana]

Strangely, taking "time off" after I got out of college didn't help my burnout. It made me feel guilty--like I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing. Then when I did work for my portfolio, it was torture and I made excuses to avoid it. WTF?

Then I realized I never did any work for me. Sure, I did the work I "wanted" to do, but it was still stuff I thought an employer would want to see. I tried doing some truly silly art...gifts for friends, fanart, random contests, art for the sake of trying new mediums...things that got me inspired and thinking about how fun art is. That worked beautifully and made me excited to work on the projects I was supposed to be doing as well.

[DavidCousens]

Sounds like classic burnout, which is no wonder under the schedule you've described. You've got to find a way to take some time off and recharge.

Elwell's absolutely right. You've got to work some time off into your schedule that you can relax. I was working on a book from 7:30am-10pm 7 days a week a few months back and started to get stress headaches, I also found I was making obvious drawing mistakes that I ended up having to re-draw which only cost me more time. I now make sure I take evenings off and at the least, every Sunday.
The headaches (and the majority) of drawing mistakes are gone, and most importantly I'm enjoying the work again.

You'll find that by taking breaks your work will improve, it's all about balance

[adonihs]

Thank you so much guys! I'll definitely try to take a break. I think the two main reasons of this feeling were the 1. Obvious lack of free time and 2. Lack of doing personal work. I recently began to sketch some of my own characters again and it feels like a breath of fresh air.

That and killing people online in Call of Duty 4 ;)

Thanks again guys for the wonderful help!