Art n Motivation

[l33t fl33t]

I have serious trouble motivating myself into practicing. So I figured that the best way to get motivated and keep being motivated is to develop that into an obsession.

So I'm curious, what makes you work on a piece into the wee hours in the morning? I know it's love, but what else?

[alffla]

wanting to become really really good? i guess...lol

[Brushcommander]

Here's a similar thread:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=128290
There are actually a whole bunch of related threads sleeping in the depths of CA.

[l33t fl33t]

Thanks for the link Tugelbend, but I don't think that's quite what I'm looking for.

Ahem, let me rephrase my question: what immediate gratification do you receive from drawing/painting that makes you continue doing it?

I'd really appreciate if the obsessed artists (the ones that actually spend the wee hours of the morning making their stuff) join in and comment. Of course, everyone is still free to share their own experiences.

wanting to become really really good? i guess...lol

So that would be - desire for recognition, improved self-esteem?

[Stoat]

An awful lot of people I know in creative professions get motivated mainly by the honking scary deadline looming over them. If you were the sort of student that did his term papers the night before they were due, you might find something eerily familiar in a career in art.

[l33t fl33t]

An awful lot of people I know in creative professions get motivated mainly by the honking scary deadline looming over them. If you were the sort of student that did his term papers the night before they were due, you might find something eerily familiar in a career in art.

Aye, I guess I would then XD. Except we were "pros" and did it on the day the project was due.

So, should I mark that one as fear of negative consequences?

[Elwell]

If you don't enjoy the process as much as, or even more than, the results, then you'll never be successful. Unfortunately, I don't know if there's any way to learn how to love something.

[Chris Bennett]

Yep, doing it must be its own reward. If you are bored by something it will show in the work. If you are frustrated by something, it will show in the work. And if you love something then it will show in the work. When people like something they are usually prepared to pay for it and people will choose love over boredom and frustration any day of the week.

[l33t fl33t]

That's exactly what I'm trying to achieve - I want to enjoy practicing regardless of the results. I doubt that anyone will come in and just tell me the secret, but maybe I can divulge the underlying logic by listening how others feel about the process.

[cmalidore]

How do you achieve a love with anything? A girlfriend... a pet.... maybe your favorite pair of underpants.... you spend time with them and get to appreciate the little things in them, the intricate way they behave around you etc. There is no secret, you just try to bond... you learn to respect how it makes you feel when you do it, how it affects your mind and how you can channel it.

Art for me was my "let go" from the world, it was my chance to not think about anything but my pencil and my paper - and the more I got into it the more it meant to me as it developed. I got to watch it grow!

You can't look at it like a task. You gotta give it a personality and spend time with it :)

[l33t fl33t]

Well, it's very hard to bond with it when you feel as though you're consistently failing at it. It's like trying to enjoy a game you always lose.

[cmalidore]

I agree - but hey, you're approaching this (at least the way it's coming out) in a way that says "I want the secret method to like making art" and there is none. You gotta work at it, like you would a relationship. When you look at it like it's a job that you suck at, then yeah, you're not going to enjoy it and then you should quit.

Don't wanna quit? Then there's obviously something in there that you DO enjoy. But what you need to focus on is your confidence and not seeing everything as a failure. Even in our bad lines we learn something.

I was once told that we don't learn to play chess by winning all the time. Me? I liked the learning process. If you think you're a failure when you draw, why are you drawing?

I guess the big question for you is: What is it you DO enjoy in life? Maybe it's time to ask yourself what it is you love about those things instead of asking us how you should enjoy it ;)

[PieterV]

When I'm practicing I'm sometime really cursing my damn pen, but when you keep at it, and you eventually "get it" it feels like the best thing in the world.
Once you get trough the initial drag of drawing it actually becomes fun, it's that way for me at least. And as you get better there are more possibilities to explore, because you can take on more, which is fun.
The process is exploring all the possible ways to solve the puzzle, sometimes it's a little frustrating but when you find the right solution you feel a sense of reward.

Sorry if I'm not making any sense.

[kingkostas]

Lets try something practical.Come on and make a sketchbook here on conceptart.org and let us see your works.We will see and help you become better.When you will feel the special feeling that comes when you progress you will want to do more and more works so you can progress more and have this feeling again.
This is just one reason.Other reasons are more complicated and more personal.
Hope to see you in sketchbooks section soon. :D
See ya

[Alex Chow]

Well, it's very hard to bond with it when you feel as though you're consistently failing at it. It's like trying to enjoy a game you always lose.

Then put all your heart into trying to win.

[Eric Young]

Art for me is a release. I have so many ideas floating in my head that I need to let it out in some form. And I usually for till the early morning hours simply cause I'm a night person. I also find that the best time to work cause I don't have the distrations of the day around me, everyone is asleep and I'm free to do whatever I wish.
For me it isn't that I have to force myself to practice, I do it cause there isn't much I'd rather do. It's always been second nature to me to have a pencil and paper in front of me no matter what I did. Even when I watched TV or movies I never really "watched" much TV, I listened more then I watched cause I usually had my face down looking at w/e I was drawing. Thinking back now, There was really no reason why I used to draw when I was a little kid, I wasn't trying to focus on improving. I wasn't hoping to one day get a job as an artist. I think there is just something inside me that forces me to want to draw and it's still the same today. Yes now i do have the motivations to improve and hopefully get a job as an artist but I still have this deep inner need to draw.
What it comes down too, is that if it is something that you feel you are forcing yourself to do, and you don't like doing it, then don't do it. No one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to draw, you have to be doing it because you love to do it.

[Elwell]

It's like trying to enjoy a game you always lose.
Then put all your heart into trying to win.
Some people just enjoy playing.

[l33t fl33t]

The Original, you pretty much summed up my own stance on the issue. I realized that by forcing myself or trying to adjust to drawing would ultimately be futile. Sure, I might be able to keep up for a short while, but after that, it'd just throw the whole thing away, as far away as possible.

That's when I realized that no amount of forcing or discipline would help me - I'd need to love doing it, or there'd be no progress. Discipline won't keep me doing it 'till the wee hours of the morning, I know that from experience.

When I was in college, it was customary to study and prepare in the last moment, yet I never, EVER bothered with it after, say, 10 pm. I just went "screw it all" and left it for the fates to decide.

See, I want to enjoy drawing as I used to enjoy playing video games. I'd just hook up at early morning and unplug at 1 AM. And it was awesome.

[feifeicreate]

Whenever I need the motivation, I come to CA, and look at the art works here, and get depressed about myself, and start drawing...LOL...

I guess I don't really need a motivation to draw. I just really love drawing and painting. I love the process. I never see it as an obsession though...but if you actually dream about how to get better, i guess it is a obsession of sort.

But I kind of understand what you mean, I went though peiord of time that I just don't want to draw anything at all. I don't have anything in mind that I want to draw out. It's really frustrating and painful. And the most horrible thing is I don't know if this is just another down time, or this is it, I'm done making art, I lost interests with art forever...I just don't know. And when I did try to make something, it comes out really bad, or I just lost pacience during the process.

But eventually, something come alone, and suddenly, everything become clear, and I pick up the pencil and start drawing again.

Now, I kind of make peace with myself. when I hit the down time, I just turn to other stuff. I kind of see it as a cycle of "absorb=>create". I can't create anything with an empty head, I need to absorb by readting, watching movies, playing video games, visit galleries, travel, meet with new people, study different culture and history...and then, when it comes it'll hit you, and you just can't stop drawing.

it's just my personal expeirence, Hope this helps :)

[Black Spot]

Treat it like a sport and aim for a personal best each time. I took out a ballpoint and started to scribble to relax and found a way to enjoy myself without being precious about it.

[Nibras]

To get good at it you need to love it
Love, obsession and passion from them comes hard work and determintation
To love it you gotta make it fun for yourself, you improve so mcuh more without noticing when your enjoying it :D
Instead of saying am gonne study the torso uggh so boring you can draw the hulk and study his torso while at it, you can take interesting pictures which the torso is in and draw the picture while keep in mind the torso.
First things first, forget about calling it studies for a months, copy what you want draw what you want copy out ref and just make yourself so in love that you want to improve sooooooo badly and it will all come after that
peace :P

[Mr_S_14]

What motivates me is the knowledge that I'm hopefully better than I was a week or year ago and am a little curious if I'm right or not. and If I'm not or even if I am, I search for ways to improve on the things I think I need improvement on, and go from there, the process is neverending, and sometimes goes full circle. I don't know if I really ever felt a sense of immediate gratification from art, it's the creation process (when I'm getting down and dirty with a a peice of paper and Oil Pastels,Sometimes I almost feel a sense of being naturally high if I'm really into it, focusing on just that one peice of paper. and If the skill is with me that day when I'm making that maybe I'll have something worth putting on my wall instead of putting it on a pile of papers in my closet(It's a big pile).

Sometimes inspiration and motivation does happen, but the most important thing to do is put that pencil to the paper. or whatever other tool you're using. Keep learning, The more you know about what you're doing, hopefully the better you'll be at it, more you'll enjoy it, and the easier it will be. I remember someone saying their day isn't over until they've learned something new. (I think it was Michael Mentler) and I've kept that in mind ever since. so make it a priority to learn. Thinking you know more than you did before is a great feeling, especially when you can put it to use.

[Viridis]

Ahem, let me rephrase my question: what immediate gratification do you receive from drawing/painting that makes you continue doing it?

How is this even a question?

Sorry, but for me, the act itself, and the thrill you get when you see the piece unfolding in front of you, where you're not even conscious of what's going on except that you know this color needs to go there, and it needs to be a little darker over there...and several hours later you blink and look up and think, Wow, that's awesome. Did I do that?...that alone is all the motivation I need. Doing art is immediate gratification. And if the painting wants to be finished...you shut up and get out of the way and finish it. Even if it's 3am and you need sleep. There's really no other option. As Ursula Vernon says, "in the fight between the art and the artist, the art always wins." I paint and sketch because I could not do otherwise.

It's not to practice and improve my skills (although it does), it's not to make myself feel better. It's because the art demands to be made. There is a joy in creating, and that's all I need.

[D.C.]

The best advice I got so far here is to JUST DO IT. Draw, that's what it's about. The moment you finish a painting/work, you're basically done. After that you move on to the next piece.

[alesoun]

It's the challenge....(just like gaming,I guess).

[tmbritton]

Not to be a dick or anything, but if you don't enjoy art, maybe you should find something you do enjoy. Art is not like taxes, you don't have to do it. If it feels like taxes, maybe you should be doing something else.

I assume you're here because you like games. Have you tried programming? It may seem boring and not as glamorous as concepting but I think it'd be pretty interesting. It's all about problem solving, and once it works, it works. (except for bugs)

[dcorc]

Since it seems that the problem is that you don't enjoy it because you are dissatisfied with your results -If you posted some work, let the rest of us have a look, people might be able to offer specific advice on what's going wrong and what you could do about it. Much more positive and constructive than just expressing frustration. There are a lot of people hereabouts who can draw and paint pretty well, both traditionally and digitally. Why not take advantage of the enormous educational resource this represents, instead of just languishing?

To answer your question on motivation - I enjoy the processes of pushing paint (or pixels) around. I'm also keen to improve my own skills and learn from others knowledge and experience, and to share my own in the hope that it might both help others and consolidate my own understanding.

Dave

[pencilgeek]

If drawing is A chore for you are studying anatomy maybe drawing isn"t for you...you got to have that itch to draw evin if you half to draw on tolit paper lol

[Ilaekae]

There's this guy called a Sheriff, and he has a piece of paper called a foreclosure warrant and comes to your front door every time you let yourself be un-motivated for very long. Next question?

[Vimerge]

Well I kinda have the same question :(
I enjoy art but I lack motivation :(

[l33t fl33t]

Much more positive and constructive than just expressing frustration.

Eh, I didn't mean to express frustration. If it appeared that way, I apologize.

See, it looks to me like we're running in circles. I ask what makes art fun and then someone tells me that I should force myself to draw (or "just do it"). I think we're missing the point here. I don't want to become a great artist over night (although I wouldn't object to it). I want to make art my hobby and ENJOY it regardless of whether my art pieces suck or not.

That's why I asked what makes art fun for you. I seriously doubt that any of you reached your current skill level by brutally forcing yourself to do it all the way without a sliver of enjoyment.

I started this thread because I wanted to deduce what makes art interesting, not bitch about how I don't have motivation.

[Basil]

Hey l33t, I understand a bit of what your saying. Sometimes i enjoy the process and other times I just want the result. I don't think it's all or nothing like some people here have suggested. As students, we strive towards being great artists who "just get it" and "just do it." Like anything, that develops with practice and experience. Success builds confidence and is a great motivator, but you have to take the leap yourself. Marko wrote a good article on this for Imagine FX, No Fear To Create (http://www.imaginefx.com/02287754330667499085/no-fear-to-create.html).

Some of the things that motivate me:

-deadlines at work
-taking a class
-starting a sketchbook/getting feedback in forums
-looking at other artists' work
-watching movies or playing games that inspire me
-meeting up with other artists
-going outside and taking a look around

Have fun drawing!

[cmalidore]

The thing is that many of us DID learn to enjoy our art by forcing through the motivational gaps - this is what we're trying to say, you can find happiness inside of that. You can't wait for IT to find YOU. You gotta go out and find what it is that makes YOU happy.

The more you pick up the pencil, whether you suck or not, is a chance you allow yourself to learn something. The more you learn, the better you get, the more enjoyable it becomes. We also learned the value of positive reinforcement. You look at it as a failure? You are one. Look at it like a chance to learn and what not? You achieve something far different.

[JIVA*SOUL]

As far as I'm concerned- the real question here is purpose- and finding that purpose for yourself.

If a person knows that he has limited time on this planet, then why wake up in the morning?
Why draw, why eat breakfast, why go to school and definitely, why work at a job you hate?

I'm going to suggest that the real problem here is one of a philosophical, or if you will, spiritual nature.
And the only thing that answers that type of question is the level of your own sincerity.

[Nibras]

Bobby chiu sums up motivation for the artist pretty nicely
http://www.youtube.com/user/digitalbobert