Picking up your projects

[Mtijn]

I'm greeting you CA! (Ohh, I love this cliché line):wink:
Well, I guess we all know about: "Lets draw something! But... MSN is active right now and there are people online who I would like to chat to! I'll get to MSN instead!"

Or:

"Lets draw something! However I would like to eat/drink something... Let's get something and see what will do after!" before you know it you're doing other stuff then you would do before.

I heard Mr. Delicious talk about comfort zones in a specific thread, how I envy that post right now. The thing is, the way Mr. Delicious says it, i'm non-stop in a comfort zone. However once I reached my school the first thing I would do when I'm looking for something to occupy myself is: Sketching/Drawing!

Is being home "too much comfort"? Why cannot I put myself to work on art or at least practice anatomy? If I look at others their sketchbook and see these excercises I would love to start myself! But once I put my pencil on the paper I'm either distracted or I fear it would turn out bad.

Quality is also a high standard with me. I would love to create something I would adore myself but with me being such a critic... Makes it pretty hard sometimes.

I'm not asking for compassion, but do you think these situations are common? Do they sound familiar? And how do you solve these?

Everything is appreciated as long as you let me keep my pride ^^.

[Liffey]

Everyone starts out bad. I have the same problem, though. I start a drawing and it looks bad compared to some of the people on CA, so I scrap it and start over. This is good practice for thumbnails, but eventually you need to carry through or you'll never learn how to finish a piece. That's my problem right now, I can draw some fine looking doodles, but I have no idea what a finished drawing would look like.

As for distractions, those will always exist. There's always going to be friends to call or games to play or the internet to surf. It's just a matter of summoning the will power, that's all there is to it. Once you get focused on the drawing though, it can become dificult to think about anything else.

[Nrx]

it takes about 3 weeks before it will become a habbit, do whatever you have to do to pull through 3 weeks of sticking to your regime and youll find it infinatily easier (smash your router! :p )

[Spirit]

I'm in the same situation as you, so it all sounds familiar to me! I believe this situation is very common too. I find that I work a lot better in a "school" environment, as there are fewer distractions. At home, there are so many things I want to do, and so many different distractions (like my mum disturbing me when I manage to start on some artwork asking me to do some chores :P ) it can be hard to sit down and actually draw.

One of the most valuable things I have learnt is "just do it". What I do is basically become my own "teacher", and like a teacher would, make myself sit down and draw! If I get distracted, tell myself off and make myself get back to my work. Once I get started though, it's a lot easier and I don;t want to stop working. It may sound crazy... but I find that it works for me! As NRX said, it will eventually become a habit, so if you can force yourself to keep doing it, it will eventually become second nature to you.

Now, to practice what I preach and go draw...

[dierat]

I just have 2 things to add-

1) I've heard this said a few times around, and I think it's great advice. Don't presume that whatever you draw has to be perfect. Assume that it will be bad, but by producing these less than perfect images now, you will be doing better images later. Always think in terms of improvement and progress. What's really important is that you're getting better and that you have a goal towards which you are working. In general, the end goal is to make perfect art, and you will never reach this goal. But you need to always be working towards it as if it is just around the corner. Set yourself smaller goals to work towards all the time. These could be improvement in portraiture, painting, drawing, general construction, perspective, color, etc. If you demand that everything you do is perfect, you are only setting yourself up for failure.

2) Having a goal that you believe in is key. When you're in school, you always have something that needs to be get done right now in order for you to meet the arbitrary deadlines your professors set for you. You need to set the same arbitrary deadlines for yourself and work towards them with the same dire need. Your goals can be as simple as filling up a sketchbook, in IRL or here on CA. Setting yourself recurring goals like "every day I want to do one page of anatomy drawings, rotating through areas of the body" can be great for getting yourself into the habit of daily progress. I also find that it helps to get involved and find contests that encourage you to work towards a specific deadline, like the weekly activities or the Newborn contest.

[Mtijn]

Well, I have to say I've read through it all and it really helped me to get a different point of view on my sketches.

The ability to 'force' yourself to work is something I would need to learn and as you say, eventually becoming a habit.
Also, I like the idea you guys gave me to become my own "teacher". I would love to be a teacher in distant feature (Game Design? Art Design? Who knows...) so why not start by mentoring myself? I'm already capable to give small lessons to my niece and people on the internet concerning English, so why not?

I'll do this, getting the most out of the advice I've received ^^. I'm sure many can appreciate the same!

[J Wilson]

I'm not asking for compassion, but do you think these situations are common? Do they sound familiar?

All TOO familiar. I think this is the number one thread topic that gets started by beginners. There's no magic answers. If it's important to you, then make time for it.

[Mtijn]

I'm not a true beginner, my only true problem is keeping my focus to my work... :)

[FranciscoShreds]

I'm not a true beginner, my only true problem is keeping my focus to my work... :)

Well, this is the go to thread for new people that join the community it seems, instead of, you know, posting art... :P

Honestly, I don't know what to suggest other than, if you have distractions, remove them. If MSN distracts you, uninstall it. If games are the issue, don't play them/uninstall them. Do what Nrx says, smash your router.

Also, you should take a step back and think to yourself 'what do I want to do with art?' If you want to be a concept artist, yet you can't even be bothered to take the time to study anatomy, which is only one of the many things you'll have to get down to become a concept artist, (and let's get this straight, msn/games/friends are not heroin, you can easily say no. you're making the choice to do that over practicing) then really, what are the chances of you succeeding.

I/we/this community, the entire internet can't do anything to help you. If you can't make the choice to change your habits and actually start putting work in then we probably won't be able to do anything to change your mind either. So, I'll just suggest the exact same thing that I/everyone keeps suggesting in every other thread that gets started every other week by every other new person who thinks their plight is something different/special and that their story of not drawing for 20/40/100 years and wanting to start again just so the can get a job as a CA artist is different than anyone elses and that they justly deserve more attention.

Start a sketchbook and update regularly, post in the critique center, do the daily activities, and if you're good enough post in FF (read the rules before posting in there so you don't make more work for elwell.)

Also a side; when people talk about comfort zones they usually mean artistic comfort zones. As in drawing the same thing over and over and never branching out. (only drawing one type of environment, only drawing the same character in your favorite pose, etc.) That's probably what Mr. Delicious meant... Though, I could be wrong, would like to read it myself.