Drawing dry spell

[JaffaCake]

Hey guys

I have no idea what it's I'm hoping to achieve out of this discussion but I don't know any artsy people.

I picked up drawing again after 10+ years. (cartoons & general doodles)
Things have been going well for the first few months but for the past three weeks I've become frustrated, finding mistakes everywhere (anatomy problems)

At the moment I'm rushing everything only managing 20-40 minutes a day - Also haven't done any animation in over a month.

What do you guys do when you're feeling this way ? (procrastination\avoiding)

 

[Adora]

This is a massive issue I have myself,I am a huge perfectionist/procrastinator especially when it comes to drawing,I went on a two year hiatus and only recently started to draw again,One of the biggest lessons I had to learn was to stop expecting perfection in each drawing and to learn to continue drawing regardless of what your inner critic says so I find a good thing to say yourself is "how am I going to get better if I stop drawing?" I know how frustrating it can be but be kind to yourself, regardless of how much of a great drawer you are there will always be a few that you feel are not your best but that's part of drawing and there will also be drawings you do that you will be happy with.

 

[Mia]

Tend to change the media when that happens and try to work through the blank space. Or, I work on something completely different; painting or drawing with a brush and ink, or gouache, water colour, charcoal or colouring pencil, pastels. Change the paper to board or canvas or drawing pad. Sometimes you may have ideas, that only become developed or completed years later. If you are critiquing your own work which we all tend to do, turn it upside down or sideways and look at it from different vantage points. Try to see what you think is good, not just what you consider to be mistakes.

When you feel as if the anatomy is not exactly right to your eye, perhaps return to life drawings for awhile, if you can. If you can't, then find some articulated wood/metal/plastic models and use those to draw from. Sometimes it's actually helpful to enable you to draw what you see. To get the hand and eye to work together. You could also mess it all up, by closing your eyes and drawing, or drawing with you other hand. Sometimes this helps reorient both your state of mind and desire to draw.

 

[JaffaCake]

Thank you for your time and fast replies.

I'm having a hard time knowing what to say, as it seems similar to giving up smoking or losing weight, you either stop or keep going.
I've read your replies a few time but without speaking face to face it's difficult to reply, without crating a wall of text
(written English is not something I'm good with)

So to clarify I've never done any fine art\life art and unless animating don't do alot of original work (copy by free-hand) sketch book is filled with cartoons I'm just trying to find my style\ seeing what works. Enjoy drawing Daria and Gravity falls characters.

Alright I've orders some markers + blender and none bleed paper to shake things up alittle. After some practise I'm going to spend a week or so drawing something to go on the wall. would you suggest drawing something complex but fewer or more but simple, if that makes sense ?

 

[Adora]

Thank you for your time and fast replies.

I'm having a hard time knowing what to say, as it seems similar to giving up smoking or losing weight, you either stop or keep going.
I've read your replies a few time but without speaking face to face it's difficult to reply, without crating a wall of text
(written English is not something I'm good with)

So to clarify I've never done any fine art\life art and unless animating don't do alot of original work (copy by free-hand) sketch book is filled with cartoons I'm just trying to find my style\ seeing what works. Enjoy drawing Daria and Gravity falls characters.

Alright I've orders some markers + blender and none bleed paper to shake things up alittle. After some practise I'm going to spend a week or so drawing something to go on the wall. would you suggest drawing something complex but fewer or more but simple, if that makes sense ?

I also ordered some markers and a blending pen too I didn't know a blending pen existed until I saw it in a online art store I was looking at,I really like markers they are great for comic or cartoon style drawings and I find the colours give a great finish,the only problem is they are bloody expensive

 

[Mia]

If you are trying to find something that works for you as far as style, there is a technique used in graphic design and any art in general. Cartooning is art.

Cartoon Fundamentals: How to Draw a Cartoon Body

This will give you an idea of a step-by-step way to do these things.

 

[Judge]

Perhaps your sense of art has evolved beyond cartoons. I mean, after all how many professionally-done cartoons reflect accurate anatomical features?

Reminds me of how many animated features I've seen with humans who have only four fingers...and so on.

Maybe your creative instincts are longing for something more advanced. I know once I got into painting portraits for a brief time, anatomy became paramount. I too was often discouraged over such considerations. I still recall how much the human hand and fingers could frustrate me in trying to render them properly in watercolors and acrylics.

Small wonder Michaelangelo spent so much time carefully studying corpses.

 

[JaffaCake]

only problem is they are bloody expensive

Markers look amazing. If you're looking for cheaper markers try "Yosoo or Toutchnew\toutch 5 £35-£40 for a big bag. reviews look good and the price and quantity allows you to experiment and find the colours you use before you upgrade.

technique used in graphic design and any art in general.

That looks similar to a book I've been reading on retro cartoon styles like the Jetsons, Flintstones even dexter's laboratory\modern cartoons. Building a person from odd or simple shapes, to minimis movement and draw time.

Sorry guessing you already know that but it's intresting to see how limitations can add to the style

I still recall how much the human hand and fingers could frustrate me

Hands are a bloody nightmare along with feet\shoe shape\ resting position.
As for anatomy 80s/90s TV shows and disney spring to mind if you're looking for traditional style (four fingers position of ears)

I do sometimes wish I could draw ideas trapped in my head but cartoons allow me make mistakes and learn the basics as you can brake alot of rules.
A youtube video said that when you start to feel fustrated with your work, then your eyes might have over-taken your hands abilitys to draw - that's what I choose to believe anyway

Sorry for the long post, It's just a intresting topic that I don't get to talk about

 

[Bolletje]

I know the feeling. I usually go into drawing or painting with a very clear picture in my head of what I want it to become, and the moment it seems to veer away from what I had planned, I don't want to continue.
I have incredibly creative moments where I paint for 12-14 hours a day for a few days, but then the moment the artwork doesn't meet my expectations I lose interest. My last painting to not go well was 4 years ago and I haven't touched a brush since. My parents' attic is full of unfinished works as well.

What helps me during these dry spells is to just start working on paper without any clear expectations. I usually do colourful geometrical figures with pastel crayons or pencil on paper. I'm planning to get my easel out of storage to make a Claptrap (from Borderlands) painting though, to match my old LucasArts characters on the wall

 

[Alcyon]

Interesting thread with great replies. I'm with Mia , sometimes a change of medium can be...fun!

After too much time spent with a Micron .1 or .05 pen, sitting down to the biggest, cheapest, non-archival pad of paper with a stick of charcoal in my hand can be so freeing!

Set a timer. One or two minute sketches of something simple, a shirt hanging off a chair, a cup and saucer, anything. It's a way to just grab the essentials of what I'm looking at.

Contra the message of liberation, is the message of study and practice.

I do sometimes wish I could draw ideas trapped in my head but cartoons allow me make mistakes and learn the basics as you can brake alot of rules.

Yes and no. The great cartoonists (not merely those who can do great cartoons, i.e., cartoons that are great for reason other than artistic proficiency) are always great draughtsmen...what's the inclusive term? How about "great technical artists"? In other words, it's pretty easy to see when a cartoon is done by someone who can't draw. If the "rules" aren't mastered then the artist is not in control of the medium, the medium is controlling the artist.

The lack of technical ability leads to the pictures staying in the head, the sense of frustration.

Sadly, barring any remarkable gift, the only way to get better is to go to classes, a lot of them, by as many teachers as possible, copying other artists, and practice, practice, practice.

 

[the_tortoise]

I take a break and try to make peace with my art that doesn't come out right....the frustration only screws up my focus, which then guarantees that nothing will come out right. Once I feel better, I try again.

 

[JaffaCake]

Mia
I'm so sorry, your link didn't show up on my tablet. reading now thank you.

Bolletje
Can sort of relate but I never get as far as paper. I get a rough idea but then it dissolves like the whitch from wizard of oz or mutates moves.

My last painting to not go well was 4 years ago and I haven't touched a brush since.

Did you stop altogether ? You got to a point where you were comfortable constructing from memory and references then stopped ? that makes me genuinely sad If you have stopped. Pick one or two old unfinished works and finish them to warm up ?

Alcyon

your post is a little intimidating to me and I can't put my finger on why... Please don't take that as an insult - rather the opposite. I get the feeling you're an old hand at art or very confident and I haven't or can't explain myself in writing.

I wan't to use metaphors to finish my reply to you but afraid it would get mumbled. I'm similar to a child drawing characters off the video box.

"The limits of my language means the limits of my world."
~ Ludwig

"great draughtsmen" If you mean something along the lines of an inventor and designer, I'd suggest looking at Leonardo's gears on youtube.

I think I may take a few days off to think about what to focus on

I like all the ideas and comments that have been posted and it's intresting to see how people feel and express themselfs diffrently on the same problem.
I'd rather hear what you guys draw and why. or if anyone els is struggeling please feel free to take over the post I'll still be on here

 

[Alcyon]

JaffaCake , anyone who appropriately quotes Wittgenstein is a friend of mine.

Intimidating!? I'll chalk that up to a language issue. I usually get called insufferable; I'll consider being called intimidating as a sign that I'm improving.

Just briefly clarifying the use of the word draughtsman (draftsman, or draftsperson, if you prefer). It is no mystical thing, rather it indicates that the artist has a substantial level of technical proficiency. As an example, my mother was a commercial artist dating back to a time before (paper!) catalogues had pictures. That was a considerable time ago! Imagine how many drawings went into filling, say, a seven hundred page catalogue; and how many artists were on staff, working under a great deal of pressure to make deadlines.

In order to do that kind of work, there was no faffing about waiting for inspiration, no re-doing of drawings; the artist had to have a comprehensive knowledge of anatomy and how to depict it in any possible pose. Bang out an image, then on to the next one...all day, every day.

You will encounter the word draughtsman being applied to great painters, and see what that means in their sketches and studies: layout, perspective, anatomy, etc., have already been mastered, so the work can flow freely. There can be no great painting based on a bad drawing.

Be warned Jaffa, some of what I just said is...controversial. But it wasn't always so.

 

[Bolletje]

JaffaCake Yup. Worked on my last painting in April 2013, was unhappy with it and lost interest for a bit. Of course that wasn't everything, there was some moving of houses, serious depression and a slight bout of couchsurfing for lack of a home inbetween as well. But I haven't touched a brush since. Just some of these colouring books for adults for when I feel anxious.

This thread has inspired me to start again though, I'm gonna go visit my parents to see if I can find my easel and supplies somewhere in their attic.

 

[the_tortoise]

I draw anything/everything. I do realistic sketches/still life/life drawing and stylized/abstract/doodles/cartoons. I've made many blueprint-style drawings (they are not exactly blueprints; I just use certain elements of the basic notation and format/style that are useful to me) for figuring out dimensions of things I want to build (most of them I never build and probably never will, but it is fun to plan them in my mind and draw them out....stuff like furniture and kitchen utensils and houses..... last things I actually built were a couple of balance boards a few years ago for my sensory diet activities), or when I'm fixing something around the house and need to remember dimensions for specific parts, or calculating the square footage of a wall to figure out how much paint I need to paint it.

I draw my grocery lists because it makes writing grocery lists and (even more so) the actual shopping process so much easier, faster, and less full of mistakes. I draw things for activities in my schedules and I draw things in my notes and other lists for similar reasons.

I draw to express thoughts and feelings. (I think mostly in pictures and spatial patterns so...)

I draw because I enjoy drawing.

I draw because I have to draw ....not "have to" like a dreaded chore, but "have to" like breathing....it is a natural thing for me and I become unhappy if I don't draw at all for too long. (Sometimes I go long periods only drawing for practical purposes like lists and scheduling, but I still get enjoyment from that and it seems to fulfill some of the need to draw.)

 

[JaffaCake]

first I should apologize for my behaviour while replying, I'm used to my own company and was tripping over my own thoughts trying to respond becoming avoident and possibly coming across as a pandering\pompous git

Alcyon "insufferable" Think we've all been called that at some point - or daily
I know in old cell animation 1930s-ish they drew on glass, took a photo then cleaned and re-used the glass after, is this how your mother did things ?

Bolletje I'm happy to hear you're picking things up again and sorry to hear about the situation you found yourself in.
I've taken a look at your profile (hope you don't mind) you say you're a medical student, what are you aiming to work with ? I was a combat medic and did a little couchsurfing after leaving.

the_tortoise Unsure what to say to your response - you've given a very clear statement from beginning middle too end. tho I'd never have thought of people using drawing in this way (cognitive aid) Do you work in construction or is this something you've found just helps you ?

 

[Bolletje]

JaffaCake No problem there, I wouldn't put anything in my profile I don't want people to read I plan to be a radiologist, with gastroenterology and pathology as backup plans.

 

[Alcyon]

JaffaCake , I don't recall the specifics of how the catalogue work was done, but it wasn't on glass. She was still doing it freelance, from home, until the early seventies (?). I recall items of the clothing being advertised flowing in and out of the house, lots of paper, sheets of Letraset everywhere, and lots of drawing going on.

 

[the_tortoise]

the_tortoise Unsure what to say to your response - you've given a very clear statement from beginning middle too end. tho I'd never have thought of people using drawing in this way (cognitive aid) Do you work in construction or is this something you've found just helps you ?

It's all good, I often don't know how to respond to people. (Is it in any part because my answer didn't really fit your question -- where you say "I'd rather hear what you guys draw and why"? If so, I'm sorry about that.)

I suppose I do use drawing as a cognitive aid.... I see it as basically the same as writing stuff down in words (or exactly the same, functionally/practically, as writing is for people whose thinking is based in words), except it's generally much more useful, less difficult, and much more enjoyable for me, personally.

I don't work in construction (and never have). I just like to make things (and to think about how I could make things, and draw pictures of the things I would like to make) and have done or helped others with home repairs/renovations. The only reason I know anything at all about drawing blueprints is that in my first year of secondary school I (and everyone else) had to take a technical drafting class. So I know basic things and use some of them when they are useful, but I couldn't draw up proper/professional blueprints. (Sorry, I didn't mean to say I could draw proper blueprints if I wanted to and just choose not to; I re-read what I wrote about this and I did a very poor job with my phrasing.)

Even if drawing had no practical purpose in my life I would still draw.....it's something I'm driven to do just for the sake of doing it. However frustrated/upset I might get when things don't come out right, drawing makes me happy.....it's always made me happy, ever since I was a toddler.

 

[JaffaCake]

Sorry was away for the weekend at a mates drinking rum and playing on one of them VR (virtual reality) head sets. they're alot of fun.

Bolletje fair play tho don't forget hematology, blood work tells you alot about a person. wish you all the best. Other then that how are you getting on - are you doodling again ?

Alcyon It's always intrersting to see/hear how people did things (before computers ) just have this image of you walking over and around hundreds of sheets of paper.

the_tortoise

Is it in any part because my answer didn't really fit your question

There's nothing wrong with your awnser, it's a solid statment. It was just very difficult to add or ask anything as you left few loose ends (said everything needed) Don't worrie that's a skill.

As for using drawing as an aid or replacing words for images makes me think of egyptian hieroglyphics or mural paintings...?

Thank you for taking the time to awnser guys but i'd like to disappear for awhile but I shall return when I have silly questions that need silly awnsers (joke) tho feel free to PM me if you want to bounce idea's, thoughts around or just talk (give one week response time)
a artist corner would be intresting on here - post your work sort of thing away from deviantart, just a thought.