Feeling Lost.

[Death]

Might anyone have any suggestions for someone who feels near completely unsure of where to go, what to do, or even, how to learn? I'm finding myself becoming increasingly frustrated with myself, and very much overwhelmed. If I am doing a study, for instance, i'm not exactly sure what to do, or even how do go about it, i'm sketching what i'm seeing, but it isn't often i feel like i am actively trying to better myself. My mind is feeling rather tumultuous, my concentration lacking. Has anyone else been through this? Can anyone offer any help?

If no, let this post sink. Thanks everyone, regardless. Blegh, headache.

[Jason Rainville]

Might anyone have any suggestions for someone who feels near completely unsure of where to go, what to do, or even, how to learn? I'm finding myself becoming increasingly frustrated with myself, and very much overwhelmed. If I am doing a study, for instance, i'm not exactly sure what to do, or even how do go about it, i'm sketching what i'm seeing, but it isn't often i feel like i am actively trying to better myself. My mind is feeling rather tumultuous, my concentration lacking. Has anyone else been through this? Can anyone offer any help?

If no, let this post sink. Thanks everyone, regardless. Blegh, headache.

I feel this way a lot. I start drawing something from ref, get frustrated, stop. try to draw something from memory, get frustrated, stop.

I try to remind myself that I'm not going to see or feel myself getting better, that in one year I'll look back and thank myself for really investing time in drawing, but it doesn't help. My only advice would be to draw when you want, and when you do feel like drawing, do a LOT of it, take advantage of your 'good feeling'. Also, when you don't feel like drawing, don't. At least for me, it only makes things worse :S

[squidmonk3j]

mh. i know the feeling.

this is such a personal issue, so there's bound to be a thousand unseen factors involved, but...a few things i've learned:

1) everybody has periods of low self-esteem and lack of motivation. this needs to be realized. your art and improvement curve WILL fluctuate, and at times everything thing you do will seem like crap. periods of suckage are inevitable.

2) the only way out is through. deal with these feeling, accept that they exist in your mind and heart. but, keep drawing. do technical exercises, warm-up exercises, simple lines....anything. just be a stubborn bastard about it - keep pushing, keep working. sure, those random diagonal lines aren't even straight - they suck! but, you're actively fighting, and every stroke draws blood from the Beast.

3) go outside for a while. hang with your friends. get drunk with your friends. fuck and fight, whatever...just get out there and interact with ppl. don't overdo this, tho...interacting with the ppl is easily addictive and might lead to a normal social life....which, of course, is no good.

4) stop going through your superiors' galleries and pics for a while. you're not likely to get inspired by ppl better than you at this point - in fact, you'll probably just keep feeding your negativity by being reminded over and over again how much you suck compared to these ppl. instead, put on some music that you really like / might have been inspirational before you started sucking.

5) contemplate the difference between your long-range ambitions and your immediate expectations. sure, you want to be a Master like Djurdjevic, Android, Manley and the likes, but how likely is it that you'll SUDDENLY achieve this? your next drawing will AT BEST be *slightly* better than your last. and this is when things are going good! the universal speed of improvement is exactly one pencil* at a time (replace with other weapon of choice if necessary.)

6 ) k, i can no longer remember what i've written above, so i'm gonna stop writing lest i start repeating myself, and get back to the drawing board.

well, anyways....i hope you get through this - if you want to, you will!:)

[Matsign]

I also feel this way, especially when it comes to tackling something I want to be "finished". Sometimes my expectations are too high of myself. Just doodling around in my sketchbook makes me feel satisfied.

Thats why I here, searching for another view point, suggestion, and helping hand. My instructors are only so helpful in this process of developing. This whole learning art is new to me, so far its just been draw this and see where it goes - very open you might say. When someone tells me to study anatomy, I'm just like how? Should I spend a lot of time on the form then? Or is it about quality tonal value? What? What do I get out of this?

[Lohan]

#1 question asked ever on conceptart.org.

[Interceptor]

I think in less than a month when you're in San Fran, just watching everyone's unique approaches to thier work will inspire you to no end. Maybe the problem is'nt your ability or effort, just the way you're approaching something.

-Loren

[JAG.]

everyones been there man.. i think a way to help you feel like you're learning is to understand what it is you're trying to learn. have an objective to accomplish. and secure a base of where you are now, and how you've improved in a month [for example]. but no matter what.. stick with it if its really what you want. nothings better than practice and learning from other artists.. - JAG

[Mitze]

When i feel like that and can't draw for weeks on end. I do a "uncontrolled pic" i mean i pick a brush with a really odd shape and put it on 'scatter' makeing your control over it very limited. it can be quite liberateing letting the drawing itself dictate what it is going to look like and be. And i have no expectations. Sometimes it can take very unexpected turns and spark your imagination back into making a cleaner version of what you have. Ok i don't know if that makes sense.

[Jason Manley]

everyone feels like that sometimes...eat well, sleep well, enjoy life, work hard, and appreciate the strings of great days that come along...and always work through the tough ones...those are the days that will define you...not the easy ones.


j

[Farvus]

I also feel like this very often. How do I get out of this? Sometimes it's just drawing abstract shapes in which I later see something interesting and use it. Other method is just to draw from photos. I think I don't learn much from them much but at least I draw anything.
Just like JAG. said, it's also good to constantly search for new objectives to accomplish. You can find them for example by reading some books about art.

[Ilaekae]

If you felt lonely and lost, you wouldn't get on a bus at random and go where ever the bus is taking you, would you? You just might end up at a greasy spoon in the desert run by a shell-shocked guy in an aluminum foil hat named "Alien Spawn Number 6."...with no money...

Of course not. Somewhere inside, you would subconsciously go where you know/guess in advance people gather to enjoy themselves, or just to be part of something exciting.

If you're feeling lost in an artistic sense, you have to do the same thing. Go where it looks like it might be useful and fulfilling. Sit back and think ahead a few hours/days/months. Give yourself a challenge. One good way is to come up with a "series" of something that might be "profitable" to you in some way.

Don't do a random study of a turnip--plan on doing a complete series of all the side dishes in the world.

Don't do a study of your reflection in a hubcap--steal the entire damn car, take it apart, and draw every single component as if it were part of some creature, a weapon, or a recycled component in some apocalyptic world run by gold fish with legs.

Give yourself a challenge that is reachable, but that you won't feel bad about quitting if you decide to do something more interesting later. This is setting a goal that you can aim at. With a reachable goal, you can't get lost. Every time you deviate from the path, you don't have to worry about what to do next--because you have a goal (or many goals) that you can return to.

[John]

^Gold. Sorry for stating the obvious. Please write a book. And put it on the net. For free. I'm poor. :bashful:

[Mike Frank]

Hmmm I have discovered at least for myself, that self-teaching can be a pretty tricky thing to do. You might want to set out with a specific goal in mind, for instance .. do this study learn a little more about anatomy.. but sometimes if you're not careful you can end up with a very close mind about things, because you have too strict idea in your head, you are forcing too hard. Its very important to have an open mind that is free to make entirely new conclusions that you dont expect.. in that way you keep learning. If you look at life and you expect to see certain things, then those things might be all that you will see. But if you look at life and have an open outlook then you never know what will present itself.

So yeah keep a good balance going where you have some idea of how to get things going with your art but also let yourself adapt to new things.

Taking the road of least resistance might also helps sometimes. If you feel like all your drawings come out like shit, then just set out to draw things that look like shit. That way at least things will be going according to your intentions.

[Puck]

4) stop going through your superiors' galleries and pics for a while. you're not likely to get inspired by ppl better than you at this point - in fact, you'll probably just keep feeding your negativity by being reminded over and over again how much you suck compared to these ppl.


I find this a lot. Looking at superior's work is both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes it can really invigorate you, but at other times it can really bring you down, especially when you're already sitting in a well of negativity.


I try to remind myself that I'm not going to see or feel myself getting better, that in one year I'll look back and thank myself for really investing time in drawing, but it doesn't help.

Very true... "A watched pot never boils".
Which also highlights a question I often ask myself; Do I enjoy the journey as much as the destination?
Because I've heard many times that if you're just practicing so that you can enjoy being a master at the end, then you'll never have the stamina required to get there. Whereas those who enjoy the journey are more likely to continue to practice and mastery will come with time.

[drd]

Classes really help me when I'm like this, because when I don't feel like doing art or everything I do sucks, I've always got my Art professors to tell me, "Draw this, or you fail!"

Thus, I have an incentive, and once in a while I'll get a fun project that gets me back in my mood once more.