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Things That Are on Your Mind

Chevywolf30

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Kind of feel like I'm in a drawing hiatus. I don't know what to draw and I'm not satisfied with my drawings as I used to be

Like I know it takes a lot of practice but I don't know if I'm up for that and even when people say my drawings are great, I don't like them, which is a big factor for me.

Which kind of sucks because I don't really have other passions
Yeah I get that. I only get about one good drawing a month, just cuz I compare myself to how good some people are and how good I'm not, not to how much I've improved since I've really picked it up.
 
I recommend just doodling. If you're low on motivation, doodling is pretty low-effort with low expectations, but you're still getting shapes onto paper and that'll do more for you than you realize once you do find some inspiration/motivation for your next drawing. I probably grew the most as an artist when I was in school because I was always at a desk with pencils and paper where I could doodle all the dang time.
 

The Dashing Darknut

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you can always just trace to help train muscle memory
But that's unoriginal and feels like that doesn't help. I don't know, I just want my drawings to stick out or at least look different enough

I guess I'm just annoyed because my art just disappoints me

If I come to a point where I don't like to draw, I feel like I'll have no passion, and that matters to me
 

Mikey the Moblin

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But that's unoriginal and feels like that doesn't help. I don't know, I just want my drawings to stick out or at least look different enough

I guess I'm just annoyed because my art just disappoints me

If I come to a point where I don't like to draw, I feel like I'll have no passion, and that matters to me
but you don't feel like drawing right now, so it shouldn't matter right
just find like a celeste art book or something, I'm sure it exists lol
trace until you're comfortable with the shapes then start drawing your own
 

The Dashing Darknut

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I was always at a desk with pencils and paper where I could doodle all the dang time.
I've tried doing that, but I worry that I'll miss something important in class and that'll mess me it

Spanish class I most want to do it in because that class is very easy, but I cant do it there because the teacher is strict about it
 

TheGreatCthulhu

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But that's unoriginal and feels like that doesn't help. I don't know, I just want my drawings to stick out or at least look different enough

I guess I'm just annoyed because my art just disappoints me

If I come to a point where I don't like to draw, I feel like I'll have no passion, and that matters to me

One creative type to another, though mine is music, I find for writing blocks or creative ruts is to power through and finish something, anything. Even if it's not your best work.

The feeling of actually finishing something actually gets your creative juices flowing again.

Barring that, learning a new style outside of your comfort zone helps keep you motivated to perfect your craft. For example, my specialty's metal music, but I'm learning gypsy jazz because it's challenging me in other ways.

Just my two cents.

Cheers!

:D

Edit: I am aware we creative types can be our own worst critics, but this is meant more as to point out that creative ruts are only temporary, and often just powering through it allows you to get the most mileage out of your most creative times. Even if you finish something you aren't 100% satisfied with, you can always go back, revise, and fix it until you are satisfied.

Problem with music, unlike with drawing, painting, or visual arts, is that we make like 50 versions of one song before we say, "Screw it, it's done." I guess that's where the advice differs, but still, hope this helps you out.
 
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I'd say drawing off a picture is better than following steps, so that you have a chance to figure out the steps that work best for you.

But the skill you develop by drawing off pictures is your sense of scale. If you're drawing the picture to a 1:1 ratio to the original, you can use your fingers to measure distances between lines on the orignal drawing, and then using that to determine where lines should go on your own drawing. But what you'll probably end up doing as you get more accustomed to drawing off a picture is actually using relative measurements of things in the picture. Doing this not only preserves the scale, but also placements of things in the picture. So say you're drawing off this picture of Toon Link:

the_legend_of_zelda_the_wind_waker_hd_conceptart_PquGV.jpg


You can determine where his hair part goes, based on the fact that in the original drawing, it starts right above the left corner of his left eye. His ear starts right above his scabbard, and his hat starts right above his ear. Say you draw in his body, and get ready to do his left arm, and you choose to determine where to make his arm end based on where you put his belt, because in the original picture, his sleeve ends at his belt.

Stuff like that. It's kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. But you get a feel for these rules of thumb and it translates to a lot of things even when you're not drawing off an existing picture. I don't draw out anatomy when I draw, because I find it's incredibly easy to eyeball proportions based on little rules that I've come up with from drawing humans over the years.

Idk if this is particularly helpful but if that's a step you wanted to take, I understand it can be overwhelming looking at a picture as a whole. Break it apart so you can digest it better.
 

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