Need Motivation, Inspiration Or just a good Kick in The Ass?, Then look In here

[LuckyDevil]

Every time i need a quick kick in the ass i check out Feng Zhu's free tutorials on his youtube channel, very good stuff in there.

http://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL

[OHI]

I feel so shitty today.... All my stuff sucks lol. No one comments in my sketchbook.... I hope I feel better tomorow

[MightyApplejacks]

Do people (OHI, in particular) find sometimes that it's only fun when they're doing what they consider 'good' works? All I can say is to throw that thought out of the mental window. I believe it was mentioned on another thread that it doesn't matter if you have a few 'crap' ones, or what you might consider a handful.

Because, if you put your all into a session, then you should have nothing to worry about. At all.

It helps to clear your mind and direct your thinking- if it's clouded with the 'this is shit, I fail' cobweb, then you need Raz to go into your mind and clear them all out with a duster. </psychonautsreference>. That's all they are- cobwebs, dusty old 'thought processes' that block and dirty your thought track. It doesn't get you anywhere.

I kid, you can de-cobweb yourself. Like the OP said, it's all a matter of will. I.e you 'will' do it, or you won't. If there are 'crap' bits everywhere you look in your drawings, it's just a matter of really thinking about and identifying WHAT you think is 'crap'. Then think about how you can tackle it (research, post for crits)- and the next time you try, you might find you not only get better, but feel better enough to play and have fun as well.

-------------

*taken from another thread*

If you have a short attention span, work on it by doing little things at a time. Don't expect yourself to be able to sit and work for several hours (let alone days) solid, just cut it up into bits. Say- if you want to do a painting, learn how to speedpaint, and work on two or three, one after another, while your mind is still fresh. Then you can learn to be more disciplined in your work ethic, as you can be sure that you can work well in short bursts.

Attention spans can grow, but interest for art is entirely that- down to interest. If your interest is waning so much that you can't bear to sit and draw anything at all, your best bet is to give up. If you really, really want to do art deep down, and you're not sure, then sit and write down all the things that you like about doing it. Really think about it.

Then it's just a case of tackling the issues that come with it. Think about it as nurturing a child.

Most of all- ask yourself if you have fun with it, or if you want to have fun with it. Then find out how!

[Vari]

Yes, Feng Zhu has this positive effect on people. For several weeks I just can't wait for Monday to come to see his new video. Better than every show on tv.

[Brandon Pilcher]

I must confess to having a major self-discipline issue when it comes to drawing, especially when I have to draw something that I don't find particularly interesting for the sake of training. I know on a cognitive level that I will have to draw mundane, boring subject matter (e.g. still lifes of everyday objects) if I want to get better, but it's not as fun as drawing, say, dinosaurs.

[progressordecay]

wow this is awesome ... enough reading material, followed by self reflection is what I needed to get them gears running again.

[KingElvis]

wow, great thread.
What I read in "Algenpfleger's Rant" really rings true for me. I remember reading smth quite similar to that, stating, that the internal change you have to go thru is at least as important as the external changes.
check that out here:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/201...un-in-circles/

[grzesieks]

Very cool motivational video:
Compare Your Life To Pixar

[awsnif]

http://inoveryourhead.net/the-comple...giving-a-fuck/

really, it's allllllllll in your head

[awsnif]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=qX9FSZJu448
Never give up! Inspiring story

[pegasi]

Interesting article about talent by Greg Manchess

[xNatje]

I see here people saying that making bad drawings isn't that bad. But what makes me scared to make something bad, is that teachers say that only a bit of my work is good, and the rest is crap. So I am not allowed to make crap. I should make continue great work, which I just can't. (who can? only great artists, which I'm not).
Maybe having no sketchbook anymore, and only using loose papers will help, so I can throw away all the bad things (but not too much, or they will say I don't work)

[Leonor]

@xNatje, your teachers should not be making you scared. That's not helpful. Do they at least explain why your work is crap? Great artists became great progressively, through learning, which you also can do.

[xNatje]

They explain it very vague (or at least, I don't understand it always). It's mostly not about proportions or composition, but about the content. And that is a difficult part of me. All I want is to create beautiful work.

[LEvans]

@xNatje , no work is "crap". Even work that doesn't live up to expectations is GOOD work... it is practice, and mistakes are healthy. You learn from them, and you practice more and more until you work through it, then you make more mistakes. Never pretend they didn't happen and squirrel them away, or worse, throw them out. To me there is little more satisfying than finding an old sketchbook and comparing it to recent works, to see how much you've grown.

The last thing you want is to be too afraid to draw because you are scared you will create "crap"!! Just let it all out... let the mistakes happen!! Because if you just freeze up every time you think something isn't going to come out perfect, you will stagnate! Trust me, no matter how good you are, you will always see mistakes in your work. There would be a whole lot less awesome artwork in the world if every artist didn't produce just because they saw something in their work they weren't happy with.

[xNatje]

That was exactly the problem. I didn't see any growth. now the last weeks I see growth, because I went back to my roots. It's there I found myself back. Nothing is worse then hearing (and seeing it yourself) that your newer work is worse then your older. Now I finally feel that my work gets a bit better again. I'm a bit more proud again, though there are still things that could get better ofcourse.
How comes we don't see mistakes in great artist's work? I wonder if they feel/felt the same way.

[Aether Technician]

Inspirational post from Tracy J Butler: http://lackadaisycats.tumblr.com/pos...-to-make#notes

[M-Min]

someone sent me this link a couple of days ago and i thought i'd share it here as i feel it echoes what has said numerous amount of time on this forum.

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showp...5&postcount=46