Have you ever quit drawing? - And how have you dealt with it?

[big potato]

I'm told it's because I just burn myself out, but I honestly do better if I make myself sit for up to eight hours straight (I've timed it) and just draw a single picture to completion.

I've been there, friend. Sometimes just focusing like a mad person on your work is the way to do it. I'm a bit better now but I used to be atrocious at coming back to things. I either completed them in one session or never completed them at all. I've found that just trying to remove as many distractions as possible tends to help, modern life is a bitch for being distracting.
That and to-do lists, to-do lists are useful, but that might just be the sperg in me talking.

 

[Lobotomized_Chicken]

Loosing motivation to draw is so easy seeing how much work it can take, the fact that you will always find someone "better" than you, and the fact that it's hard to make it very rewarding. I got into quarantine thinking I'd pump out drawings left and right, but so far I've done one, maybe two finished pieces. My best advice is to doodle/scribble a lot, anything remotely creative with a pencil and paper. At first, it may not seem productive, but even the smallest scribbles can improve your skills and give you inspiration for some big project.

 

[IceGray]

Frankly, it started after our friend group from an obscure MMO all disbanded and quit in disgust. All of us decided we'd never draw a single thing again.

I picked art back up by doing it in another medium.

I wonder if the one guy in our group who had relationship trouble shortly after we all quit the game also quit art from associating it with a bad relationship.

 

[Juan But Not Forgotten]

How do you learn? I mean, what are you learning from?

I used drawabox.com both times, but felt too much shame to show it somewhere and ask for a critique. Couple of times I showed them to the people I know and they told it was good, but they can't draw at all, so... You know. But yeah, it really helped to move from drawing like a child to drawing like a manchild.

 

[Newman's Lovechild]

I guess I could have expanded on my question. The core of it is 'how serious are you about this?' I'd like to get a handle on just what question it is that's looking for an answer.
Is it something you've always done, or something you tried to pick up in later life/after childhood? Do you just want to be able to express your thoughts to your own satisfaction, to impress or do things for others, or to turn it into a side gig or even a career? Have you ever tried looking for a teacher or learning resource?

I don't know how well I could answer anyway. I'm still wondering about some of those questions for myself. I think a lot of it comes down to this:

I've never considered quitting drawing because I think I would die if I stop.

I get this completely. I won't compare it to breathing or eating, but drawing is just part of me. I might have slowed down at times but I never considered quitting since the first time I laid my chubby mitts on a crayola.

That doesn't mean I don't sympathise with those who struggle with it, who haven't drawn anything since they put down the crayolas and discovered outdoor games instead. It is a struggle. It will always be a struggle. There will always be someone better than you. There will always be loads of people better than you. There's the common saying that an artist is never satisfied with their work - that a piece of art is never finished, only abandoned. You shouldn't let it hold you back. There's no shame in not being Kim Jung Gi right off the bat.

At the same time, I find it difficult to see the thinking behind 'I quit a while ago' or 'I'm quitting now'. If it's not in your blood, so to speak, if your hand doesn't grasp for a pencil when you're bored or stimulated, if you've no other outside motivation or compulsion pushing you forward - is it really going to leave a gaping hole in your life? I don't mean to say "go on and quit, you loser!" Just to seriously evaluate what you want to do. Is there any other, more enjoyable or fulfilling path you could direct that energy down? Would you be content with phone-pad doodles, or occasionally scribbling down a nice still life or your favorite character?
It's not an either/or question, of course. There's a sliding scale where you might be satisfied with your own skills, and there's nothing wrong with doodling what takes your fancy. I think there definitely needs to be at least a little direction, though.

Look at Stan Prokopenko's channel on youtube. He has a stupid amount of free instruction up there, beside his premium material. James Gurney has a blog heaving with art advice, information and examples, including drawing. Glenn Vilppu has a good online course too, from what I hear, but I've always been too cheap to check it out. Go look at Drawabox, like @JuanButNotForgotten.

Try to find books by Andrew Loomis, George Bridgman, Marcos Mateu-Mestre, Gurney and Vilppu. Take Burne Hogarth with a pinch of salt. Avoid books by Christopher Hart or any no-name comic artist.

Keep an eye on contour, proportion, and three-dimensional mass. Study anatomy, perspective and composition. Use photographs for reference if you can't get out to look at a thing and its 3D form in person, especially in plague year. Video is a decent compromise between the two. Do you have favourite artists? Emphasis on the plural. Do they have art books out? Do some study copies of their work, but try to see just what they do and why, rather than mindless imitation.

Find some better instruction from someone other than some babbling rando on Kiwi Farms.

I have like procrastination/motivation/commitment issues

Unfortunately this is also just part of me.

 

[Shield Breaker]

I quit drawing after 10th grade, when the art teacher constantly yelled at me for not drawing fast enough to be a commercial artist. He was a complete bastard, and I later found out he was cheating on his dying wife with the computer teacher.

 

[j666]

I quit drawing after 10th grade, when the art teacher constantly yelled at me for not drawing fast enough to be a commercial artist. He was a complete bastard, and I later found out he was cheating on his dying wife with the computer teacher.

damn, did you live in japan or somewhere else there's immense job pressure like that? what an asshole.

 

[Cedric_Eff]

I didn’t quit all the way but my art output was very very low right after Sonichu: EHP Fizzled out and Roadside Adventure started being uploaded to ComicFury.

I didn’t start pumping out until my comic series started picking up steam and also when 2020’s Inktober rolled around.

 

[Chan Buddhism]

I quit drawing after 10th grade, when the art teacher constantly yelled at me for not drawing fast enough to be a commercial artist. He was a complete bastard, and I later found out he was cheating on his dying wife with the computer teacher.

I don't know what it is about art teachers, but mine were all fucking insane. Put me off of art all the way through high school even though I'd had that interest.

If we're doing art advice in this thread then I'd say to get yourself on a schedule. If you're in that space wherr you know you should be drawing but are reluctant then just get to it. Once it's a habit you resist doing it a lot less. You don't need to draw anything great or show anyone, so half-assed doodles are better than a no-assed empty page. At the same time, don't force yourself to draw if you're in a very bad mood or you'll grow to resent it.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

I don't know what it is about art teachers, but mine were all fucking insane. Put me off of art all the way through high school even though I'd had that interest.

I might've gotten lucky, then, I've had nothing but supportive art teachers. Though maybe it's weird for me because they kinda doted on me 'cause they all would say how talented I am and it was my middle school art teacher who really-really-really pushed me into getting better and I thank her for that. Maybe I was the "teacher's pet" of art classes and I just didn't know.

Art class was what got me loving pastels, though. I mean, I haven't touched pastels since leaving school, but something about pastels are awesome to me because of how smooth they blend and I should get back into it. I wish I never misplaced(?) the one pastel piece I made in high school since the project was about camouflage and I picked a flower crab spider, I was so proud of it.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

I don't like making art anymore and find most stuff i do embarassing and mediocre, i dont feel pride on telling people i do art or sharing my stuff, but i still make a living out of it and work online as a freelance illustrator. I live in a country were salaries are like 2$ a month, literally, and i have no other marketeable skills , i am also too old and stupid for anything else or the learn to code meme so i bear with it.

I havent done studies or any personal work or renew my portfolio for a while. For some periods i do the bare minimum to get by. Too unmotivated and bored of it it but i still have to do it and get back at it to at least have a bussiness. I don't know how other people remain so autistic about it and keep grinding so many years later, guess i am retarded, i feel very adhd nowadays, have trouble focusing or getting anything done, i'd probably had the same issues if i worked doing something else.

 

[JoseRaulChupacabra]

The last time I did a quality drawing for the love of it was years ago. The rest of the time, it's been soulless commissions and most of the work is done digitally not really involving all that much drawing. Nowadays, I do a few doodles here and there.

Does that count as quitting drawing?

 

[Nut-Roaster the 2nd]

I'm finding it hard to hold onto the same drive I had back in college and high school. Sure there'll be bursts, but it dries up quickly... Though the last time I was drawing consistently was when the Sonichu Comic Jams happened. I miss working on those pages.

 

[SixTrees]

The only time I quit for any length of time was back in high school, and it only lasted a year or so. Had a bad art teacher that told me I ain’t shit (I mean, she was right. Lol) and it ruined my confidence and any enjoyment I got from drawing.

Dont remember what made me go back to it but I got back into the groove eventually. The year out took its toll on my skills and I wish I stuck at it but it is what it is.

I quit trying to make money off of my chicken scratch long ago but I still doodle and draw for fun in my free time. Used to get proper artcowy about my lack of online reputation, complete with baaaaaaawwwwing over no attention. All in all I have a lot more fun now with it than I ever did when striving for social media asspats

I also started improving a lot quicker the less of a shit I gave about likes and retweets. Moral of this story is online clout is gay.

 

[CansOfCant]

I suppose my answer to this question is 'yes,' but that's not entirely true, either. I used to try and draw as a kid, but it was all heavily symbolic DA-tier anatomy failures, and I knew it then. The chapter in Edwards' 'drawing on the right side' about how art teachers simply do not know how to teach 'right-brained' drawing skills feels like pages from my memoirs, and I'll admit - my dream as a kid was to become an expert in character design, move to Japan and become President of Fighting Game Characters. I exaggerate, but you get the drift.

Then I spent a couple decades 'grown up,' went to trade school, got a job in tech, worked a pretty boring corporate life for a decade. Still, to this day, I have this undying desire to produce comic/figure art. But I can't, because that depression and loathing of the finish product won't lessen. I've watched videos, read books, purchased a tablet (i.e. a Surface that can run CSP) but the minute I put a mark on the paper I think 'I can't do this.'

For example, speaking of Edwards' book, I tried to do the 'upside down' Stravinski drawing exercise. The idea being your mind doesn't label the "parts" of the body, allowing you to copy it as it is and be proud when it looks the same right side up, but I spent about an hour drawing and re-drawing six or seven lines of the leg and chair-leg because they weren't perfect. I cannot get over myself, but intellectually I don't expect Kim Jung Gi-level work from myself at all. I just don't feel any... learning. Or improvement. Ever.

TL;DR massive powerlevel just because I wish I had middling furfag-tier anatomy skills. I'll take all the puzzle pieces in the world for some honest Kiwi advice.

 

[Str8Bustah]

I might've gotten lucky, then, I've had nothing but supportive art teachers. Though maybe it's weird for me because they kinda doted on me 'cause they all would say how talented I am and it was my middle school art teacher who really-really-really pushed me into getting better and I thank her for that. Maybe I was the "teacher's pet" of art classes and I just didn't know.

Art class was what got me loving pastels, though. I mean, I haven't touched pastels since leaving school, but something about pastels are awesome to me because of how smooth they blend and I should get back into it. I wish I never misplaced(?) the one pastel piece I made in high school since the project was about camouflage and I picked a flower crab spider, I was so proud of it.

Literally this, except for me it was watercolours and oils. My dad was also a huge fan of BDs, so I got into reading those at a young age and emulating a lot of the techniques they used. It's probably the same reason why I ended up liking Moebius so much.