What gets you motivated?

**Dan_Grr** · December 5th, 2006, 02:06 PM

I only feel motivated and patient enough to draw for, say, 15, 30 minutes. I've read that it isn't sheer volume of drawn sketchbooks that will improve you, but doing things you'd feel motivated drawing, and learning. I don't feel motivated to draw for large period of time... and I don't. What about you?

**JERI** · December 5th, 2006, 02:26 PM

Fun.

Maybe you ought to fit in more drawing activities that you personally find fascinating.

**otis** · December 5th, 2006, 02:35 PM

Failure. It's the best wake-up call.

**Bammer** · December 5th, 2006, 02:36 PM

Art can either be stress inducing or stress relieving. When art is stress relieving (like when I'm drawing for fun) I can draw forever. When art is stress inducing (like when drawing for a project, or when I get excited about how a picture is turning out and I worry about screwing it up) then I start to run into walls.

**Carnifex** · December 5th, 2006, 02:38 PM

ditto what bammer said,and right now the new artists added on top of the forum motivates me tons.

only 3 more spaces left! go go sketchbook!

**Justin.** · December 5th, 2006, 02:38 PM

Manley...

**Dan_Grr** · December 5th, 2006, 02:39 PM

My thoughts exactly Bammer, same thing happened several times to me.

The secret? Drawing for fun.

**Zaknafain** · December 5th, 2006, 02:40 PM

draw things you are interested in... I started drawing by filling pages with boobs err... anatomy...

**el coro** · December 5th, 2006, 02:41 PM

stars.

**Moai** · December 5th, 2006, 02:43 PM

What motivates me:

-The Concept Art Atelier. I need only to glance through one of the Atelier threads for my fingers to start itching to draw, so my portfolio will be strong enough to get in once the current batch of students gets through. Also, it gives me a reason to stick to my job, so I can save up some cash to be able to live in San Francisco while paying $600 a month for my education.
-The Guild Wars threads in the Finally Finished section. The prospect of one day being in a team of artists as talented as that is a real motivator for me.
-The encouragement of fellow ConceptArt.orgies. It's nice to know that people like my art and that the work I'm putting into my art is getting noticed.
-And finally, the general idea of one day getting paid to do what I love.

**Ostrander** · December 5th, 2006, 02:46 PM

Bills.

**Farvus** · December 5th, 2006, 02:46 PM

Except for art, it's good to be interested in other things. For example if you're interested in dinosaurs or spaceships then you can draw them for hours and never get bored. This way the learning will also become part of the fun.

**Rich Pellegrino** · December 5th, 2006, 02:47 PM

Artists that are better than me. They push me to kick it up a notch. Sometimes the opposite happens though. I third Bammer and second Otis. Lots of things motivate me but these stick out.

**Dan_Grr** · December 5th, 2006, 02:51 PM

Hmm, boobs...

**strych9ine** · December 5th, 2006, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by Ostrander

Bills.

Balls.

**John** · December 5th, 2006, 03:06 PM

Knowing what i'm doing and why. I don't sit around and suddenly feel like "Man i'm like SO motivated RIGHT NOW!" But if i have life drawing classes, or an exercise i wanna do because i know how it's gonna pay off, or an idea for a picture that i want to draw, then nothing will stop me. Drawing for the sake of drawing though doesn't work for me.
Edit - sometimes it's fun just to doodle though, and that usually turns out nice.

**JAG.** · December 5th, 2006, 03:24 PM

skill.. i see how good others are, and it drives me to be just as good or better. and personal satisfaction. i have so many images in my head.. id like to see them realized to share with others..

i just want to know i can illustrate my thoughts.. but its usually a fun thing for me, not a job thing.. - JAG

**ManicShadow** · December 5th, 2006, 03:37 PM

Music always gets me going. Especially Tool. When I listen to them, I get all kinds of strange images in my head, so I just sit down and draw them.

**anubis713** · December 5th, 2006, 03:50 PM

For me, obviously seeing other great pieces by others motivates me. Music seems to do it for me as well. Usually more inturnmental songs motivate me more. Such as Metallica's To Live is to Die. Or sometimes classical.

I seem to be more motivated at night for some reason. During the day, not so much. I think I have produced my best pieces at night... now that I think about it. I've been that way since I was really little.

But yeah, movies or shows, and even something somebody says could do it for me.

**Ilaekae** · December 5th, 2006, 03:51 PM

Starving to death. And dying before I'm finished...

**Taboo** · December 5th, 2006, 04:10 PM

Other real life artists. I like to draw something really good and then be all, "How do you like that, bitch? Huh? You wanna piece of this?"

:I

**Interceptor** · December 5th, 2006, 04:16 PM

Music does it for me.

**fedezz** · December 5th, 2006, 04:49 PM

coro's nutsack

**seba_boi** · December 5th, 2006, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by Ostrander

Bills.

haha... Reminds me one of Hitchcock's quotes:

"When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?,' I say, 'Your salary.'"

**ah.heng** · December 5th, 2006, 05:05 PM

immortality.

**max xiantu** · December 5th, 2006, 05:45 PM

Sometimes fun.
Sometimes catharsis.

**Zaknafain** · December 5th, 2006, 07:03 PM

now that I think about it: looking through lots of sketches and sketchbooks often fills my head with more Ideas than I can handle in 24 h...

**Puck** · December 5th, 2006, 07:43 PM

The thought of how crap I'll continue to be unless I keep practicing... pretty negative strategy but it works for me. That and boobs.

**DannySketch** · December 5th, 2006, 07:49 PM

raphael.

**entdroid** · December 5th, 2006, 08:50 PM

If you really enjoy the process and don't care that much about the result, you don't need something external to get you motivated. But having good music playing does make the experience even more fun to me.

So there, just put some cool music on and have fun!