i cant go on..

[Mister Janchichan]

with my paintings..this happens so often. i start on a blank canvas, want to find some interesting form for a building or something and start messing around with tones..maybe i found some interesting form, i want to develop it further..but i cant, it fells like i cant see and feel it anymore, dont know what color, dont know what form...this drives me mad. i always feel like iam worth nothing, crappy painter.. this hurts, as i spent so much time on it. its not ALWAYS the same...and there is other stuff in painting i am maybe better at..but i feel this so often that i am more frustrated and depressed than excited while painting.. :/

anybody here got the same problem? whats your experience? whats your advice?

greets

[B u r l]

Relax, it's just a painting. Are you working from your imagination? From what I can tell, it seems like you are, but you haven't developed enough mental references from study; this would make anybody frustrated. The best thing you can do are studies from life and photos, but life when possible, and lots of them. Build up a strong mental library of how things actually look. Keep physical references around you when you paint, also.

[Mordus]

Without any undue disrespect to Mister J, this new spate of mournful self-failure threads is highly suspect. Mods might want to investigate into the possible resurrection of Jason_Windsor.

[Mister Janchichan]

who's Jason_Windsor? o0
whats so suspect about my self failure thread? just had a few posts here, its not all about self failure.. but today i thought..dont suffer for your own, tell somebody, maybe i can get some good advices, or people share similar experiences...that would help me along.

and thanks to burl, that makes sense to me. im going to get an iPad or another mobile tablet pc to paint from life. have to wait till next month ;) cant really wait..

maybe, would be nice to start a sketchbookthread..so get some usefull crits..

how do u draw from life?? in the traditional way?

[OHI]

how do u draw from life?? in the traditional way?

Get a sketchbook. Not an online one, a physical one. Just go out and draw people, buildings, environments or vechicles. I guess it´s possible to have a laptop and a tablet but that ain´t to flexible if you ask me.

[QueenGwenevere]

how do u draw from life?? in the traditional way?

............ :/

Step 1. STOP LOOKING AT YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN!

Step 2. Look at something else. Something real. In real life.

Step 3. Draw it. And keep looking at it while you draw it.

Step 4. Repeat as often as possible until you die.

Doesn't matter what you use to draw with, just grab some paper and a pencil or whatever works for you...

[Serpian]

Step 4. Repeat as often as possible until you die.


haha, quoted for truth...

[Mordus]

who's Jason_Windsor?

Jason Windsor is/was a notorious user whose signature was endless streams of maniacally depressed attention seeking self-pity accompanied by a complete lack of work ethic. He was finally banned after a horrific climax in which he pretended to be his mother and claimed he had killed himself over us. All fear his return under a new username. You are nothing like him, as you actually intend to improve. Your thread was not what alerted me, but many of the other, more self-hating threads. As to your problem, the answer is to (insensitive as it may sound) grow a thicker skin, push on through and eventually you WILL succeed. It is inevitable as night following day if you keep working. You WILL be a great artist if you keep working. You WILL create multiple masterpieces if you keep working. For some it takes longer, for some it's quicker. But if you mine through the dross there is a glimmering layer of wonder to be found.

[Flake]

Jason Windsor was a giant blubbering delusional failboat.
don't be Jason.

Now it's on you. Get better or don't get better. Pick one.

[Mister Janchichan]

ill pick "get better" ;) i work alot to get better, i try to draw or paint everyday, even its only a sketch, besides work and stuff..but sometimes i dont know if im on the right track, and someone told me to get in touch with people having the same passion, get an exchange of information, and not doing it all alone.

since this thread ive grabbed my old sketchbook and make sketches of my girlfriend as often as i can lolz.. i stalk her through the flat.. its fun, and the results are good..

but its hard to find something out there i can compare to the stuff i want to draw..a bit of fantasy and sci-fi, a bit mysterious..its all fantasy. but maybe i have to overcome the lack of mental reference to get the fantasystuff right. to have some fundamental rules to mess on ;) i like to work in values instead of lines, so ill buy a mobile solution for digital painting in a month. but at the moment the pencil's my friend again.

now a get away from my computerscreen, to draw stuff out there for a while, until i die, but i guess till then, i'll be back to post here, thanks to all so long!

[CuriousJoe8]

Drawing from life is crucial because it can teach you how light behaves and effects surfaces. It can teach you to discern shapes and translate them from 3d into 2d, and you'll learn to use values (tones from light to dark) to create a good illusion of depth. As for what you want to draw,the sci-fi fantasy stuff, just keep watching movies, reading books, looking at great art, basically doing what you enjoy that inspires you to create. Drawing from life is what makes turning ideas into reality on paper/canvas/a screen much easier. I hope you're able to get back on track my friend, because to create is a beautiful act that we've somehow managed to develop as a species on our crazy little coincident of a planet. Don't limit yourself, just entertain all the conceivable ideas that you can.

[Pigeonkill]

It's almost like cooking you have to learn to eat your mistakes. If you quit, you'll be stuck at that same level.

[Xeon_OND]

Dunno who Jason Windsor is, but it was said that a single breath from Jason Windsor can send Chuck Norris flying across the universe a dozen times over.

Anyway, I find that by developing a sense of curiosity and love for your subjects when drawing from life, the whole process actually becomes a lot more fun and ideas and feelings all starts coming out. :D

[Natzuur-JK]

Another method/practice to consider would be to do thumbnails or speedpaints to get a large body of ideas down qiuckly. You don't even have to think, just paint or draw shapes and objects until you find one you like, push it a bit in its thumb/speed form, then go for a full size painting. This way you'll have information to base it off of, and have already weeded out the bad ideas.

[Jazz]

Another thing, look for the fantastical in even the more simplistic or "boring" things in life. People sitting...that's the most I see every day when I'm out. However, the WAY they sit, their posture, their non-verbal expressions, their clothing and how they sit in relation to it--all this stuff can contribute to something a little more exciting in your brain! Goes for animals, too. :)

Whatever you do, don't narrow your focus while you're on the prowl. Use anything you can to drive your brain to art madness!

[Brian.May]

Damn it, I wrote this comment 3x and just couldn't bring myself to tell you "then just quit, life and art will go on without you fretting about it and whining about it online" 3x I had to rewrite that into something nicer...It didn't work out and now here I am spilling my guts to you about it, wtf....how did that happen :|
Quit worrying about it, take a break paint something sculpt something. It's just art, sure it is a demanding mistress who would sell you on the corner for a pack of smokes if she thought it would get her into a gallery but still, its just art.

[Mordus]

^ A post by Brian.May

[Disciplette]

Sure, you want to paint super awesome things but start with the basics. I'm talking about cubes and spheres here. Study the basic structure of things and what happens to the value in certain lighting situations. And don't just draw people either. The people have to be somewhere. When you understand the basics you'll be able to apply what you know about a cube on a back lit table to your super awesome spaceship made of guess what...and bunch of cubes.

[Arshes Nei]

”The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars.” Art and Fear, page 5.

Why you need to be reading this book more often.

[Black Spot]

^ Copious amounts of greasy, half-solid SPAM.

Deleted and banned.

Just draw more from life and understand what you are painting.

[sanakris]

Is there something else in your life stressing you out? That could be in a mental block and lingers in the back of your mind when you want to draw or start something new.

If that is the case, solve the issue and hopefully come back stronger. And you'll be able to build confidence and draw again too.

At least that worked for me :)
Hope this helps and I hope you find your way again
Best regards K

[Brian.May]

^ A post by Brian.May

I can appreciate the "spam" comment, sadly sometimes our work functions must intermingle with our other passions. I see you must "approve" of the toning down that has occurred :)
As I said, sometimes things just happen to cross into one another.