All I want to draw is wizards and flowers

[rynling]

I haven't drawn anything for the past week and a bit. As much as I hate to say it, that comment on Discord really hurt my feelings. I know I shouldn't get upset, but damn did it completely destroy my motivation. It was like flicking off a switch.

Also, I mentioned a while ago that I signed up for an online art class, and it's not great. I'm starting to get a sense that skill at drawing is like skill at sports, by which I mean that this skill is its own type of intelligence that may not translate to, for example, verbal communication skills. Being able to present useful information in an engaging way - teaching, in other words - is definitely a skill that isn't inborn in anyone and necessitates tons of practice, so I can't blame the artist too much. Still, those videos depressed the hell out of me. Is the spark of creative talent truly so magical that there's no way of explaining what it is or how it works?

I'm not bitter so much as frustrated by my own inability to git gud at art. I think, in the end, you really need two things: community support and some sort of obsession. Community support is a simple matter of humans being social animals who receive energy from positive feedback, while obsession is a matter of being fixated on something deeply enough to put in hours of practice combined with the discipline necessary to hone your attention to detail as sharp as it can go.

I can't do anything about community support, but what I can do is figure out something to get obsessed about. I'm not feeling particularly passionate about anything at the moment, but I'm sure I can find something.

Comments

[lassarina]

I think you have a good point about the overwhelming interest combined with community support. They interlace to keep you going when one or the other isn't enough by itself (and the overwhelming interest makes you *want* to do the same [category of] thing over and over again to get it right because it remains interesting.)

Good luck finding your thing to be passionate about!

[rynling]

Good luck finding your thing to be passionate about!

Thank you! I am still passionate about my forever fandoms, but I don't create anything because there's no interest. One day Final Fantasy VI will get the remake it deserves, and then my folder of unfinished drafts and sketches will be opened once again.

I'm also sitting on a small hoard of half-formed Legend of Zelda content that I can't be bothered to finish and post, which is a nice thing to have lying around. I'm starting to think that maybe this is how big-name artists manage to game social media algorithms: Have a bunch of draft work that you can finish quickly and post immediately after a new trailer or announcement. People always ask them, "How did you post this so quickly," and maybe that's the answer. Still seems like a lot of hassle, though.

[lassarina]

oh you will hear me shrieking in joy all the way over there if they ever give FF6 the remake it deserves, honestly. I live in hope.

I've seen some of the FFXIV fanartists just explode when brand new things we've never seen before are released and I have no idea how they do it. I mean, obviously tons of practice and ability to drop everything to make art happen, but also, HOW.