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ART BLOCKS
11 years ago
ART BLOCKS
Hey guys. Today we're going to talk about art blocks. I get many requests to make drawing tutorials, but I don't because there's many tutorials available on the internet and in books at your local bookstore. Besides that, when I actually did make tutorials and give critique, nothing came of it. People hunt for shortcuts to be better artists, but skill only comes with practice.
This article is a product of my own research. I've read many books about psychology and management and have listened to audio records of psychology training. (I can't remember all these sources, however they were in Russian and not English.) Although this article is based on legitimate sources, it's still my personal point of view. In other words, a disclaimer: I make no guarantee that this is all factual. Please keep this in mind. With that said, I can say for sure that this knowledge makes life easier in my experience.
---
At first, I tried to research this problem online and found videos on YouTube about dealing with art blocks, which was helpful for what it is. (You can search for it yourself if you're interested.)
Put simply, I was looking for a global answer to getting rid of art blocks altogether. The good news is that it's possible, but it's going to be hard. This isn't some kind of a trick you can use to just avoid art blocks. Rather than continue like this, let me just get into the next part.
We start at the very beginning of your life, infancy to about 7 years old.
The first 4 years of life is a period where your personality is being developed. The next 3 years is a period of correction and refinement of the personality. In the age range of 7 to 8 years old, a human's personality is already well-defined.
Now about these age ranges: The first 4 years of life, a human being is completely depends on it's parents. It can't fend for itself at all. In the wild, animals often will often let their cubs die or give food to only one of their cubs; human nature isn't far from this kind of behavior.
At around 4 years of age, human children can usually walk well. However, in a civilized setting the child's first steps cause much stress for the parents as the children now have access to dangerous objects around the house and/or can cause harm to valuables. At this point, parents can't limit their child physically so they impose rules on the children to limit them.
Very simply: If a child does something its parents approve of, they praise and reward it. If the parents feel the child is misbehaving, they punish it.
Every child needs love and kindness and this need is genetic. However, this good/bad game causes trouble later in life:
1) Humans get used to comparing themselves with others.
2) Humans get used to be appraised by others.
3) Worst of all, humans fail to differentiate between who they are and what they do: "I've succeeded" = "I'm a good person" and "I've failed" = "I'm a bad person".
Now, not all parents act like that. Some parents are clear in that they love you whether or not you're successful and they also don't appraise your acts. But in that case you don't have any art blocks and don't need to read this article. I'm pretty sure that most people who draw to express themselves don't think of themselves as "good without any conditions", sadly.
So, the first 7 to 8 years of life lays the foundation for your self-esteem. There are 4 kinds of self-esteem:
1) Stable self-esteem. This is for those rare lucky folks I mentioned above. Their parents weren't bribing or punishing them to get the behavior they wanted. People with this kind of self-esteem don't need anyone to tell them if they're good or bad because they know who they are and what they're worth. These people are calm and usually do a lot with their lives, and this is our goal in this article. Every step in this direction is worthwhile.
2) Overrated self-esteem. Usually seen in people with rich and/or accomplished parents. These people project their parents' achievements on themselves and can't stop talking about how awesome they are because they desperately need to confirm their importance, which has no real base.
3) Low self-esteem. Almost every artist has said at least once that they have low self-esteem. It's possible, but highly unlikely. You can check yourself for low self-esteem pretty easily: do you envy someone's else drawing skills at least sometimes? If so, then no, your self-esteem is not low. People with low self-esteem don't envy others because they truly believe that other people deserve it and they themselves don't. Legitimate low self-esteem is rare, so don't flatter yourselves with the idea that you're one of these special snowflakes.
4) What you probably have is called unstable self-esteem. People with unstable self-esteem depend on the feedback of others, constantly compare themselves with others and - depending on what they see around themselves and what people around say about them - their mention about themselves can be total praise or complete self-hatred. Sometimes you feel awesome but the next day it's the opposite feeling. Sometimes it can be a matter of mere hours.
This is a common situation, but common does not mean normal. Living and building your adult life based on the rules of an outdated child's game causes so many problems in all aspects of life. The problem is that parents represent society for a child, so even if your parents don't control you anymore whether you live far away or they're gone, this game continues with everybody you meet.
People with unstable self-esteem can't tell if they are good or bad by themselves. They think that they're only good if they doing something successfully and that if they fail then they're a bad person. When they're "good," their self-esteem goes up; if they're "bad," their self-esteem suffers. This point of view does not fit reality and limits many opportunities.
Failure is not something bad. Failure is a process where experience is earned.
Imagine that you're climbing the stairs. If getting to the top is success, then that means every step is a failure. If you're doing something big and outstanding, failure and success isn't a roulette; usually you can't reach success without gaining some experience from failure. But if you have unstable self-esteem, each failure hurts personally. You feel you've done something wrong and you're a bad person. Look at it like this: learning anatomy or perspective is just like climbing stairs, and each step can hurt your personality because you still looking at the World around with the eyes of 7-year-old child. Too many young artists desperately search for "ideal" tutorials to make these stairs as short and safe as possible, while people with stable self-esteem just take the steps and improve themselves every day.
So what's an art block? You try to draw and then fail, and you subconsciously try to protect yourself from hurting your self-esteem again by being unable to draw. The mind is a powerful thing, far stronger than the little part you get to control. So, you "don't feel like drawing" for a couple days, truly believing you can't draw at all. You need time to restore self-esteem before you can try again, but even if you come back to try again, you remember what it did to you last time. This also explains why some artists draw at the same level over the years or draw the same faces all the time using the same techniques, angles, poses.
I hope you understand the nature of the processes that halt your artistic evolution better now.
Now, let's use information to try to figure out how to fix the problem. First, we have to start seeing our failures as they really are: Steps to success. For this, we should establish our self-esteem. Our appraisal of ourselves should not depend on how successful we are with our current workflow.
So, how do you establish your self-esteem? I'm very sorry, but there's no magic cure. Beyond that, I myself still don't have stable self-esteem. I don't believe there are any clear instructions that can help you develop self-esteem. It's a sad paradox, but earning stable self-esteem can be another long flight of stairs with success at the top. However, I already smoothed down the highs and lows of "I'm awesome" and "I can't draw at all" enough to get rid of art blocks once and for all.
I'm going to give you some tips that helped me and could help you:
1) The main goal of this article was to give you a minimal amount of information to catch your attention and to give you some understanding of the problem. Knowing the problem is always the first step to solving it. Ask yourselves again and again: Whatever you try to do, failure is unavoidable. Does it mean you're a bad person if you try to learn something new?
2) Looking in the mirror and saying "I'm good, I can do anything" can help for a time, but it doesn't fix the problem because you're still playing the game. What you have to do is mature and rise above the game. Just accept that you're a good person without any conditions, without buts. Just accept it as a fact. For some people It comes naturally after 30, but you don't have to wait. You're already mature enough to decide who you are and to stop depending on the opinions of others.
3) Every human being is born with a stable self-esteem, but losing it after 4. So you are not developing something new, you just coming back to your natural state of mind.
4) Write all your thoughts down. There's a big price to pay when good thoughts and ideas aren't written down. Research, plans, ideas - everything should be on paper. A human's mind composed of 2 parts: Consciousness, which can be controlled, and subconsciousness, which can't be controlled. The information you remember and forget is controlled by subconsciousness. In other words, pretty soon everything you have read here will be pushed away because your subconscious mind is always trying to erase any thoughts about something going wrong with you. So, start a notebook!
5) At first it's hard to keep track of everything you've learned. You could start with analyzing (in writing) art blocks you're passing through. Then you can analyze current art blocks every time they crop up and then you'll have the ability to recognize these problems before they can hurt you.
6) Never compare yourself with other people. You will never see the whole picture clearly enough. Compare yourself only with your past self. That's the one and only indicator is available for you for fair comparison.
7) I know I wrote a lot about wrong parenting. But it does not mean you should put all the blame on them. No one said that you could handle their work better. Focus on the things you are able to change - on yourselves only.
What I gave here is just a simplified version of what I have read. If you are interested, do some research of your own! The better you understand the problem, the easier it will be for you to solve it!
That's enough for now, thank you for reading, and I hope that this helps some of you.
p.s. thanks
ceeb for editing most of this article for me.
Hey guys. Today we're going to talk about art blocks. I get many requests to make drawing tutorials, but I don't because there's many tutorials available on the internet and in books at your local bookstore. Besides that, when I actually did make tutorials and give critique, nothing came of it. People hunt for shortcuts to be better artists, but skill only comes with practice.
This article is a product of my own research. I've read many books about psychology and management and have listened to audio records of psychology training. (I can't remember all these sources, however they were in Russian and not English.) Although this article is based on legitimate sources, it's still my personal point of view. In other words, a disclaimer: I make no guarantee that this is all factual. Please keep this in mind. With that said, I can say for sure that this knowledge makes life easier in my experience.
---
At first, I tried to research this problem online and found videos on YouTube about dealing with art blocks, which was helpful for what it is. (You can search for it yourself if you're interested.)
Put simply, I was looking for a global answer to getting rid of art blocks altogether. The good news is that it's possible, but it's going to be hard. This isn't some kind of a trick you can use to just avoid art blocks. Rather than continue like this, let me just get into the next part.
We start at the very beginning of your life, infancy to about 7 years old.
The first 4 years of life is a period where your personality is being developed. The next 3 years is a period of correction and refinement of the personality. In the age range of 7 to 8 years old, a human's personality is already well-defined.
Now about these age ranges: The first 4 years of life, a human being is completely depends on it's parents. It can't fend for itself at all. In the wild, animals often will often let their cubs die or give food to only one of their cubs; human nature isn't far from this kind of behavior.
At around 4 years of age, human children can usually walk well. However, in a civilized setting the child's first steps cause much stress for the parents as the children now have access to dangerous objects around the house and/or can cause harm to valuables. At this point, parents can't limit their child physically so they impose rules on the children to limit them.
Very simply: If a child does something its parents approve of, they praise and reward it. If the parents feel the child is misbehaving, they punish it.
Every child needs love and kindness and this need is genetic. However, this good/bad game causes trouble later in life:
1) Humans get used to comparing themselves with others.
2) Humans get used to be appraised by others.
3) Worst of all, humans fail to differentiate between who they are and what they do: "I've succeeded" = "I'm a good person" and "I've failed" = "I'm a bad person".
Now, not all parents act like that. Some parents are clear in that they love you whether or not you're successful and they also don't appraise your acts. But in that case you don't have any art blocks and don't need to read this article. I'm pretty sure that most people who draw to express themselves don't think of themselves as "good without any conditions", sadly.
So, the first 7 to 8 years of life lays the foundation for your self-esteem. There are 4 kinds of self-esteem:
1) Stable self-esteem. This is for those rare lucky folks I mentioned above. Their parents weren't bribing or punishing them to get the behavior they wanted. People with this kind of self-esteem don't need anyone to tell them if they're good or bad because they know who they are and what they're worth. These people are calm and usually do a lot with their lives, and this is our goal in this article. Every step in this direction is worthwhile.
2) Overrated self-esteem. Usually seen in people with rich and/or accomplished parents. These people project their parents' achievements on themselves and can't stop talking about how awesome they are because they desperately need to confirm their importance, which has no real base.
3) Low self-esteem. Almost every artist has said at least once that they have low self-esteem. It's possible, but highly unlikely. You can check yourself for low self-esteem pretty easily: do you envy someone's else drawing skills at least sometimes? If so, then no, your self-esteem is not low. People with low self-esteem don't envy others because they truly believe that other people deserve it and they themselves don't. Legitimate low self-esteem is rare, so don't flatter yourselves with the idea that you're one of these special snowflakes.
4) What you probably have is called unstable self-esteem. People with unstable self-esteem depend on the feedback of others, constantly compare themselves with others and - depending on what they see around themselves and what people around say about them - their mention about themselves can be total praise or complete self-hatred. Sometimes you feel awesome but the next day it's the opposite feeling. Sometimes it can be a matter of mere hours.
This is a common situation, but common does not mean normal. Living and building your adult life based on the rules of an outdated child's game causes so many problems in all aspects of life. The problem is that parents represent society for a child, so even if your parents don't control you anymore whether you live far away or they're gone, this game continues with everybody you meet.
People with unstable self-esteem can't tell if they are good or bad by themselves. They think that they're only good if they doing something successfully and that if they fail then they're a bad person. When they're "good," their self-esteem goes up; if they're "bad," their self-esteem suffers. This point of view does not fit reality and limits many opportunities.
Failure is not something bad. Failure is a process where experience is earned.
Imagine that you're climbing the stairs. If getting to the top is success, then that means every step is a failure. If you're doing something big and outstanding, failure and success isn't a roulette; usually you can't reach success without gaining some experience from failure. But if you have unstable self-esteem, each failure hurts personally. You feel you've done something wrong and you're a bad person. Look at it like this: learning anatomy or perspective is just like climbing stairs, and each step can hurt your personality because you still looking at the World around with the eyes of 7-year-old child. Too many young artists desperately search for "ideal" tutorials to make these stairs as short and safe as possible, while people with stable self-esteem just take the steps and improve themselves every day.
So what's an art block? You try to draw and then fail, and you subconsciously try to protect yourself from hurting your self-esteem again by being unable to draw. The mind is a powerful thing, far stronger than the little part you get to control. So, you "don't feel like drawing" for a couple days, truly believing you can't draw at all. You need time to restore self-esteem before you can try again, but even if you come back to try again, you remember what it did to you last time. This also explains why some artists draw at the same level over the years or draw the same faces all the time using the same techniques, angles, poses.
I hope you understand the nature of the processes that halt your artistic evolution better now.
Now, let's use information to try to figure out how to fix the problem. First, we have to start seeing our failures as they really are: Steps to success. For this, we should establish our self-esteem. Our appraisal of ourselves should not depend on how successful we are with our current workflow.
So, how do you establish your self-esteem? I'm very sorry, but there's no magic cure. Beyond that, I myself still don't have stable self-esteem. I don't believe there are any clear instructions that can help you develop self-esteem. It's a sad paradox, but earning stable self-esteem can be another long flight of stairs with success at the top. However, I already smoothed down the highs and lows of "I'm awesome" and "I can't draw at all" enough to get rid of art blocks once and for all.
I'm going to give you some tips that helped me and could help you:
1) The main goal of this article was to give you a minimal amount of information to catch your attention and to give you some understanding of the problem. Knowing the problem is always the first step to solving it. Ask yourselves again and again: Whatever you try to do, failure is unavoidable. Does it mean you're a bad person if you try to learn something new?
2) Looking in the mirror and saying "I'm good, I can do anything" can help for a time, but it doesn't fix the problem because you're still playing the game. What you have to do is mature and rise above the game. Just accept that you're a good person without any conditions, without buts. Just accept it as a fact. For some people It comes naturally after 30, but you don't have to wait. You're already mature enough to decide who you are and to stop depending on the opinions of others.
3) Every human being is born with a stable self-esteem, but losing it after 4. So you are not developing something new, you just coming back to your natural state of mind.
4) Write all your thoughts down. There's a big price to pay when good thoughts and ideas aren't written down. Research, plans, ideas - everything should be on paper. A human's mind composed of 2 parts: Consciousness, which can be controlled, and subconsciousness, which can't be controlled. The information you remember and forget is controlled by subconsciousness. In other words, pretty soon everything you have read here will be pushed away because your subconscious mind is always trying to erase any thoughts about something going wrong with you. So, start a notebook!
5) At first it's hard to keep track of everything you've learned. You could start with analyzing (in writing) art blocks you're passing through. Then you can analyze current art blocks every time they crop up and then you'll have the ability to recognize these problems before they can hurt you.
6) Never compare yourself with other people. You will never see the whole picture clearly enough. Compare yourself only with your past self. That's the one and only indicator is available for you for fair comparison.
7) I know I wrote a lot about wrong parenting. But it does not mean you should put all the blame on them. No one said that you could handle their work better. Focus on the things you are able to change - on yourselves only.
What I gave here is just a simplified version of what I have read. If you are interested, do some research of your own! The better you understand the problem, the easier it will be for you to solve it!
That's enough for now, thank you for reading, and I hope that this helps some of you.
p.s. thanks
ceeb for editing most of this article for me.
;3 Just saying!
Thanks for this informative outlook.
Just gonna bookmark it in the mean time :)
Wish more people took this to heart.. so many friends, artist or not who get into funks and just beat themselves up because they're not excelling like some other artist is. I just want to smack the shit out of them and give them a hug at the same time.
What I myself have found to keeping your self esteem up is knowing what you are good at...and flexing that muscle. And it is OK to not be good at something. I'm not the most social person...I can be quiet, gruff, and even come off quite grumpy. My group of friends are typically a small tight group. I don't have hundreds of 'friends' But I'm ok with this...and that is important part of life...acceptance.
But what I'm speaking of is when they compare themselves to someone.. go "MAN I"M NOT AS GOOD AS THEM I SUCK" that's when I just wanna smack em around.
It's not good to say:" Everyone is always better than me, I've been comparing myself to Michel Angelo and I'm 16. I fail so hard. " Puts down art for several years and just never picks it back up.
While the example is melodramatic , it falls into line to what people do to themselves. Growing in art is like growing in trees. Though they may share traits, no two trees are the same ever, and they shouldn't be. Each is unique.
I've often held the attitude that I'm not worth anything until I'm at least as good as "so-and-so" (or more importantly, better than) and I don't consider it a motivational or demotivational aspect. It's just a goal. It's just a benchmark. It's just a point where I can say I reached a certain level, and that anything below that is unacceptable.
Motivation comes down to simply how focused you are.
Great advice!
where as it's most likely they were just as shitty as you were when ya started out.. which people don't think about xD
This is a video about game design, but the basic idea is the same about all routes of creation. Drawing, writing, sculpting, video game design, etc. Fail faster.
Good read though very interesting.
Drawing(and artblocks) isn't just about self-esteem and/or envying others.
Catch you around~
Thank you for making me understand my situation better, and thank you even more for caring enough to give tips for people like me to get better.
No word can describe how happy this made me, so I will end this comment by saying.. You are a hero.
When you see the work of others, ideas start to flow. Soon, you can't help it, you feel a drive to create.
Most inspiration comes from seeing something that was well done, and thinking about how you would express that or improve upon it.
Will definitely keep this journal in mind, thanks a lot man, really!
But better chose another area, with more monies in it!
Great article.
By the way, this quote here?
Imagine that you're climbing the stairs. If getting to the top is success, then that means every step is a failure. If you're doing something big and outstanding, failure and success isn't a roulette; usually you can't reach success without gaining some experience from failure. But if you have unstable self-esteem, each failure hurts personally. You feel you've done something wrong and you're a bad person. Look at it like this: learning anatomy or perspective is just like climbing stairs, and each step can hurt your personality because you still looking at the World around with the eyes of 7-year-old child.
I'm using that quote. Thank you!
I mean people.
Not going to fix that typo because I'm comfortable with my faults.
Once again, tusks for sharing.
GODDAMMIT!
*gives you a big hug*
Thank you wolfy! I feel so loved right now!♥
Let's be funny, happy people ♥
/)*u*(\
Plus you always have very smart ideas and it's stupid not to get information when someone already prepared it for you. Thank you, Wolfy!
But you know my parents, they love me regardless and yadda, yadda.
So...things doesn't only affect a person when he or she is young.
I don't think I've ever read another sentence that has confronted me with my own self esteem as much than this. This is a terrible way to look at progress, and I'm so guilty of doing it.
Sure, this article is about unstable self-esteem.
Literally, I have spent so much time analyzing what other artists do with their artistic ability and have asked myself "What did they do to get this far?"
I never beat myself up, said I suck or will never get there, instead I said "I will get there" but I sought traditional and modern techniques and advice about how to go about being a better artist.
While it is true this psychological journey is a huge step and a crucial one, it cannot be accomplished without experimentation.
Your art is by far better than most people out there, including my own, but its your own style, who can say one is better or worse than you anyway?
That's the interesting part of it, people can learn, adapt and take inspiration rather than beat themselves up over it.
I cannot tell you how many artists here on Furaffinity never improve or try to get better, just the front page alone will tell you how many people are heavily lacking and only beg for attention.
But you are a living example of those who try to break the mold, improve and start a journey of their own while also setting a standard and example for others to follow.
That to me is both an idol and someone you can look up to :3
Good luck with your continued efforts, as I am also on this journey to improve, art blocks are now very rare for me :3
That's the interesting part of it, people can learn, adapt and take inspiration rather than beat themselves up over it."
Just wanted to comment on that while I was still reading here with a personal story about just that. Recently I have been using Wolfy-Nail's style of hips on my picture, when I finally finish them you'll differently noticed something has changed. I also like Unifawn's style of breast. Even so I don't copy them, I instead create my own version with my own style of art. Physically wise if you viewed another artist work you can usually find and area of concentration, that the area on a piece of art that show up constantly in the same style or construction every time, however that doesn't mean there draw identically. The example of this in Wolfy-Nails pictures is the hip area and the character faces and proportions, Most of his girls have wide hip's or are at an angle were all the goods can be easily seen and his faces while unique tend to follow a set proportion rule. Regardless it fits his style well and more so those areas are some of the best constructed in his art work which is why I think so many people are drawn to him and his art, keep in mine I'm not saying anything with the rest of the image is wrong or bad, to me that's what stands out in his style. His art has differently helped to improve my own epically in the area where the hips and legs meet for doing different angles. I also enjoy the style or breast and nipples he uses as well.
I've blabbed on long enough.
You should spend more time studying anatomy :3
While it is widely known that anime or cartoon styled rendering is the cheapest, easiest and preferred method of illustration or 3D modeling, few actually realize its the basics of anatomy that gets you that far.
Take example from outside sources as well, Wolfy-Nail also implies you should also get in the habit of not being glued to Furaffinity for the sake of learning from artists here but rather find other sources of inspiration.
I can attest to this because I have what I call a "morgue" of body parts, poses and much more in folders as reference images.
When in doubt, I resort to my collection of references, very few if any furs on this very website even do this.
Great article Wolfy-Nail
An Art Block is just a metaphor to include many forms of mental or artistic fatigue.
I usually take breaks or ask myself what is wrong in a picture or sculpture I work on.
More often than not, I use techniques such as flipping an image, inverting the colors, make rough perspective line tests and in modeling I often switch shaders and even check out the silhouette.
Art Blocks have a lot to do with mentality because the artwork is based on how you see the world and your limited knowledge.
About unstable self esteem though, it gets quite easy to get it up if you compare yourself with your old art! When I draw something that feels wrong, I just look at something I had drawn in the past! Like that, I feel at ease with knowing I've improved and keep it up ;D!
A good tip for art blocks is that you can find something you are used to draw alot, for example the head of your sona. If you try to draw something that ends up being wrong, draw one thing you are super used to draw and that will 100% come out right because you've drawn it many times before so it usually helps keep your self esteem high :D!
Seriously man, journals like this mean a lot, especially to people like me who DO struggle with stuff like not comparing to other artists. It's very hard to avoid doing that, especially when I know quite a few artists that I'd consider very good (yourself included) Sometimes it helps to have the facts broken down to idiot-proof chunks and then smushed in the face from time to time.
So, again, thank you. Going to try and put this intro practice now, heh.
Hope this helps somebody.
Legitimate low self-esteem is rare, so don't flatter yourselves with the idea that you're one of these special snowflakes.
There's a problem with the kind of psychological problems (depression, anxiety, etc) that lead to low self-esteem, in that they also lead to difficulties accepting that your problems might be more than just you being a screw up. Generally it would be better to encourage anyone who feels they fall into that category to go and see professional help, as it's a pretty big warning sign that they might need it.
Not intending this as a criticism of you or anything, it's just that I was in exactly that situation and put off getting treatment for years because I felt that I was probably just exaggerating and trying to make myself feel "special" or something. While most people could read that line and accept it in the way it was intended, people who genuinely did fall in that category (my past self included) would be likely to take it the wrong way and be further discouraged from getting help they need
You don't want to know how many people in a depression get to hear "get the fuck over it... it's not that bad!" and then get blamed for being depressed.
I do think calling people with genuine low self-esteem (which basically is 'unstable' where the 'good' is either ignored as "can't be real" or replaced by 'not good enough') "special snowflake" is pretty derogatory.
Also, it can be pretty hard to get out of comparing yourself to others while in a depression/have low-self esteem, bordering on the impossible. Especially if all other people just go around telling the 'secret to happyness' is just to 'feel happy'... over and over and over. And then see all the people who can and you can't. And then *also* be told not to compare yourself to them... it's starting to pile up.
а в тему артблоков я бы еще добавил немного бихевморизма - если художник не спал пару ночей подряд, утомляясь и пытаясь нариcовать что-то невероятно крутое, то потом неизбежно будет ловить отходняки от избыточного возбуждения, которые и будут провоцировать артблок
Поэтому для того, чтобы добиться выхода из него (и "стабилизации" личности в тч) неплохо было бы соблюдать режим (алсо это касается вообще full time illustrator)
I think it's rad that you take time out of your day to help the community out like this. I have no doubt that this article will go far to help build the self-esteem of those willing to actually work at bettering themselves. You are truly a gentleman and a scholar!
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog.....s-do-not-exist
I'm still trying to figure out where in the complicated associations of natural sexual interests I can fit my unusual interest towards huge claws.
Recently I have been forcing myself to continue drawing even after I reach the anger point and actually finish some drawings, or rather copies of drawings, and would actually be pleasantly happy with what came out, still not completely like "Omg it freaking amazing" more like "Hmm that's actually alright". I even put a few up in scraps and one of them got favorited, which was a surprise to me. I just thought that the harshest critics are usually the drawer themselves rather than others and have basically been trying to think like that and be positive, which trust me is harder when I drawing than anything else I do.
And now that I've read this I think I do have unstable self-esteem. I actually look at what I've done in the past and I've always asked for feedback and opinions on everything I have ever done. I used to think it was so I could improve upon what I do but maybe its just validation I required, someone to say "Hey this is a good piece of ___!" and feel good about myself in some strange way. Its stupid but now that I look at it from a different perspective I can actually see it like that.
Thanks for pointing this out Wolfy, I think have to rethink my thoughts on myself now. Who would've thunk I would get taught a lesson on FA XD
This helped me a lot :)
I can asure that this will help a lot of people
Thank u so much for sharing ur knowledge
Its odd how most people are angry, never nice.
Perhaps change your attitude and not come off as a troll?
On the other hand, I never said anything about you being artistic or not, perhaps re-read what I said again?
I never said anything about a particular amount of fans and what is all the name-calling for?
Additionally, you don't even know me and you continue to insult me, doesn't that mean its a reflection of what you think you are?
It'd be nice if people were nice for a change including yourself, most people tend to be angry and stubborn.
Regardless if you read this or not or care, that is up to you.
Who said I was arguing with anyone?
That's what we do as people who talk to one another, communicate.
Simply because someone say's something and we reply to something means we value an opinion or give our additional thoughts.
The problem is that people want to convert others into their own opinion or train of thought, which becomes pointless lol
But again, who said I was arguing?
I was merely pointing things out and asking questions or even stating my observations, that's all.
If you are offended by it, don't read them?
That's how we avoid problems :3
By the way, you don't need to be so angry, no-one is out to attack you but yourself.
Good to see we have a similar mind.
When i was starting my trade in glassblowing and was working along side this Venetian hand trained Maestro, i was so nervous and depressed at how easy he made things look and that i felt it would take all my life to be able to do anything close to that.
He saw the doubt in me and after work one day he took me aside and brought it up. I told him quietly my fear that i might not ever be good enough to be the glassblower i see in him, that i wished to be able to be so naturally talented with the glass that he makes it out to be.
He told me something that i never have forgotten;
"My Secret? After 300 bad pieces, you make a good one! It takes time to figure out the form, the correct speed and the exact precision needed to be able to make the same piece over and over perfectly. That means you screw up a lot. This is a good thing, so get those 300 out of the way. I was not born to make glass either, but i wanted it, so i strove for it, fought and worked my way to where i am now. Talent helps, but experience is what makes the glass seem to come alive."
I was humbled, and tell you that after nearly 10 years, that first week was never so true as it is now. I can sit down and make almost anything because i have made so many horrible mistakes with the material and learned from it. I learned a lot, and honestly feel all the more stronger for it.
If i was on those stairs, i would say i am at least half way. But after 99 problems, my lack of confidence is not one :P
~Cyrix
Thank you.
I need to bookmark this forever to read when I have art block...
For that logical and reasonable reminder to put things into place.
>w<
Thankies for this~
I do understand your point though, and find it very interesting because it is true that you shouldn't define for someone else what's good or bad. Although a kid has absolutely no experience in life, and it seems kind of risky to let them learn by themselves (thinking especially of dangerous situations, let's say we would usually punishing them for playing in the middle of the road.. how should we go about giving them freedom in that?)
Hope my question made sense!
I rephrased it, but love this quote. :D Mind if I post it everywhere? :P
I like what you did but really, its just too much :3
I also can notice the same process on my job!
I have trouble articulating my thoughts, but basically thanks for writing this! It was very insightful and I'm going to bookmark it *-*
My grandpa has told me something similar, "Don't worry about what the other guy is doing" and now realize what he means by it from reading this.
Thanks again!!
There has been mention of depression, and wanted to put in what I have learned about it. I don't have the worst case, but I know I don't have an easy case, especially when it has all but consumed half or two thirds of my life. Looking at your past is a double edged sword that a person needs to know how to wield. I'm aware of the problems of thinking about the past and I still hurt myself mentality from it more than a few times. I see not only failure in action, but also inaction as well; oh so much inaction. But that will not help someoneasout. You look to the past to learn from mistakes, to see if you are improving, and to see where you are heading. Look at your past in the right point of view, and what Wolfy-Nail already said can help with that.
You need to see depression for what it is, an illnesillness, an affliction, NOT a personality problem in of itself. You can see a broken leg, you can see someone bleeding out, you can see someone that is crippled; mental illness can be just a disabling or life threatening as those. Worst of all, people out of ignorance can make it worse with ridicule and insults, and the victim can internalize it or generate their own.
So how do you fight something like this? Research, know what it is you have. Find out where it ends and the rest of you begin in regards to you actions, or in most cases for the apathy from depression, your inactions. Know it is not a part of you. It can be mental shock from an event, a chemical imbalance, or whatever the cause, but it is something done to you, it is not you. Fight it, fight it like the personal demon like it is. Don't stop after finding out about it and use it as a crutch to explain your actions. And get help if you need it. There are others suffering just like you, and understand, but most importantly there are people that want to help.
If depression was personified into a single person, someone that went around sapping people's drive and even desire to live, and you listed their 'crimes' against others, would you not want to put them to justice?
Back to the topic of taking the sting out of failure; here is a link I found from a quick search online. http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/0.....iled-at-first/ Put failure into prospective. Yes, some failures can be very bad, and cause a huge amount of damage, but others, the ones most people think are so horrible, is minor. For example, finding the one person that is right for you. So you 'fail' to find that one after several or even a hundred tries. That means you know where not to go and try again. Also all you really need is [i]one[i] right? Failure is hardly the end of the world, and success can mean years and decades of happiness. So keep rolling the dice, keep trying! So what if 7,917 sheets of paper, and uncountably hours spent at attempts at art over several years were sacrificed? If that's the cost of being what you want to be, and is something that would make you happy, do it!
Anyway, thanks again, Glad to get some freedback, since it is hard to tell how good or bad your stuff is without.
"you still looking at the World around with the eyes of 7-year-old child."
I knew it. I'm surrounded by 7 years old children on the insides of 20+ years old adults.
I love this journal more than anything. its what happening around me.
Parents compares theirs own children... I feel sorry for kids that goes trough hardships with their mom and dad.. But, it still continues after 20+, I think its time to wake them up.
I'm still not sur of my own self-esteem but I think I've made some of the self work by my own (my mother always teach me to think different, I think that's helps me a lot)
You're an amazing person, always here to help people, giving some tips, keep searching evolution. Your work is simply awesome, but you still be human and humble.
I'm pretty sure this article will be useful for lot of people, so thank you for this, thank you for them ;)
If you are dissatisfied with your art, try and figure out what parts you dislike, and do some research on the anatomy. An understanding of anatomy is an important factor in drawing many things with animal or human-like features. The more you know, the better your art will feel and look.
Most people do tend to be better at drawing their favourite parts, as they're the most fun to draw! :)
I draw but never post anything of my own here, but after reading this I might do so. I guess I haven't because none of mine is done digitally or even shaded at all. Thank you for making this journal.
My solve for an art block is simply going and doing something that scares the hell out of me. After its over, I realize...
1) It was silly to be afraid of it.
2) I feel motivated because I accomplished something. (Defeating the low self esteem you pointed out in this journal.)
3) I feel less worried to try other things that could hold me back from being successful in the future.
So get out there and do something scary! Like riding a bike, or getting in a bar fight, or starting a FightClub©
I myself am not afraid necessarily, but more like I don't even think about it as I just assume it's something I can't do. I wouldn't be where I am today though if I hadn't just given things a shot anyway!
There are some things that I never would have dreamt I would be able to do, but have tried it anyway and ended up shocked that it went much better than I thought it would have gone!
I'd prolly fall under the unstable self esteem i think. I'd always known it was something to do with my mood , but to add my self esteem into it, that I hadn't considered.
thank you for this journal, friend.
Thank you for this article too. It's not easy to keep in mind that failures are okay when you are confronted with them but I'll try to keep this in mind in those times.
Keep up the good work, Sir.
This is worth more then a tutorial on "how to draw WHATEVER" :>
Thanks again. <3
sure there are dif teachings (c.g.jung fanbois will struggle with anna freud fanbois and so on) but it's really accurate and you point the details out better then most of my Profs, so thumbs up, WN :D
As a person, much of it no longer applies to me, as I have been down the long road to figuring all this out myself, but then, I have a few years of age, and more than that in experience above the average person here. (I'm saying I'm starting to get old. XD)
The idea that you've taken the time to sit and write this down is, in itself, an inspiration. An inspiration that I hope helps many people to put the difficult things in perspective for many people.
On occasion, it's someone else, an outside party, that brings a fresh look at things, things you see the same way for so long, to really make a breakthrough.
I imagine that your steps here, in these words, in your findings related to so many others, will do a great service for many, many people. Before, I respected you as an artist, but in this little bit, I understand that you must also be a damn decent fella'.
Thanks for this.
Thank you for sharing with us , Wolfy !
Once again,
Thank you
Thank you.
Will try.
Yes, it's insightful, it's made 'easy to read', but I think you went a bit too far in making it compact, in that it's affected it's accuracy, as it simply can't be as simplified as this post tries to do.
If people are "done" at 7, that doesn't explain how self-esteem can be ruined, say by bullying on school. It even happens to adults. Personalities, your very being, is never a defined solid state, not at 4, not at 7, not at 12, not at 18, not at 21, not at 30, not at 45, not at 65, never... it's always changing and adapting based on internal and external factors. Children might be more adaptive, it doesn't make them a rock-solid foundation at any age, more just simply a "foundation". Foundations which can easily be changed by key triggers, the most known and impactful one obviously being the 'trauma'.
Also, there are a few generalisations/assumptions there which take down the scientific level of the article. Stuff like "you're no special snowflake" or "mostly among people of rich parents" are pretty insulting, and in most cases, dead wrong. It really makes no difference wheter your parents are rich or poor on your self-esteem. You can be completely spoiled and as such have no rock-solid foundation of esteem, you might be the poorest kid ever and still feel like you're god and all others are your lessers, but just cause they are 'rich' they seem better so, and underestimate your own failures. Personality isn't made by parents, it's simply formed. They can try to lead it into good ways, but wheter they fail might not be because they are 'bad parents'... all kids, all people are different.
Total anarchy as is being suggested, which is basically never saying 'no'... is used much more and more these days by parents, since 'no' or punishment became evil. We can all see the results in more and more kids being over-confident and spoiled.
Several people asked how you would raise children, and I ask the same... since total anarchy as being promoted so far only leads to making matters worse, and teaching children less and less about having respect for other life and they're not the whole point the galaxy revolves around.
All this not even taking into account mental issues such as autism, bi-polar syndrome, depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome etc. which can really do a great dent on a persons personality, esteem and way of living/interactions with others. It also greatly effects how parents need to behave with children having such differences. Which comes back to children not being the same, so there's not one simple solution for all of them to get 'proper' self-esteem.
Telling people not to compare to others and to "grow up" is also pretty... iffy. Comparing is a way of human life. That's not just for 7 year olds, it's for everyone, adults included. Why do you think gossip mags or royal mags are so popular. Why famous people are generally seen as role models, being reported about, being looked at? Exactly for that 'comparisson' part of humanity. If people see royalty and famous people are people too, it makes them feel better. Comparrison. Gossip? Again, to compare and feel better... comparrison again. You see it in all layer's of society. Working classes, promotions, 'social status'... comparrison, comparrison, comparisson. So to say to 'grow up' seems like, well... a lie. Anti-human.
Comparing is part of human nature, what people should be aware of while doing so is not making assumptions (like you also did a few times in the article as I mentioned before). If you keep in mind a certain artists spended way more time to get on that level while comparing, it might even be useful, as such an 'art progression' submission would tell you more than regular submissions in a gallery. When they were X years along, how good where they? How am I? Hey, I'm pretty good on the right track. Instead of comparing year 1 person A against 10 year person B.
As such my conclusion would be comparing isn't bad, *IF* (and that's the key part) you keep context, or find context-related comparisson.
The bane of us depressed/low esteem people (I'm a special snowflake!) is that we feel to make such connections. Are perfectionists. Compare ourselves to people thousands of grades above ourselves. As a result, you can't help but feel underesteemed, never getting to that specific level of all the experts on all parts of being human. But take away all comparisson and you're going to live in an empty void, a place with no boundaries, no specifications. It would become very easy in such a situation to become over-confident, that you need a good dose of reality to beat you down to what's really the case. If you're going to make yourself a bubble, it's all only going to become worse. People aren't made to be like that.
If you go into that bubble, get overconfident, and then have to face reality, you're only going to be let down so badly it can lead to confidence issues. And that's just making it all worse, not better.
[/rambling about confidence subject...]
I could be wrong about this, but, the upper-class or "deserving" class you are distressed about seem to have a higher mentality rate of being too perfect, though in no-way do I imply you think you are, its just a generalization in most cases.
Social status and stereotypes exist, but as Wolfy has put it, I have to agree with him on this.
In my entire life, so far unless I am proven wrong, I have never seen any one person with high self esteem who comes from a rich family.
Every job I have ever had, including my girlfriend, has had repulsive experiences with rich-kids, as we call them, who already believe they are perfect in every-way, spend a lot and try to buy people's love and affection and spend less time becoming better.
For some time, I came from mediocre rich family but they weren't really rich.
I had everything given to me and if I wanted a video game or whatever I wanted, I got it and became spoiled.
For the longest time, I thought I had what I wanted but also realized everyone around me was jealous of what I had and became a snob myself.
It didn't take me long to realize the cause of me being a snob was the actualization I did not actually have what I wanted all along, I had what people wanted me to have and expectations that were basically pre-met.
In a sense, I almost went down that path but looked at the poor side of my family and realized something very important.
Those who are rich tend to worry less about money and get what they want and treat others like pigs, those who are poor have to earn money and get their living where-as the rich kid has all they want without gaining it and never learning from it.
Just thought I would point that out, but I think Wolfy's right on this, those who have what they want fail to look at improvement because in their mind, they are the embodiment of perfection and can do no wrong.
In closing, I once knew someone who came from a rich family and his art skills never improved once in the number of years I knew him and he constantly became jealous of me and eventually became my enemy, all because I was improving because I was poor and he was rich and couldn't stand the fact more people wanted artwork from me and I had more views at the time.
He believed he was better because he had what he wanted but failed to realize the fact is you can never have what you want unless you earn it yourself.
Totally me and that's why I never improve.
> He believed he was better because he had what he wanted but failed to realize the fact is you can never have what you want unless you earn it yourself.
Well said. Something I need to learn myself.
While I think this may help a majority of young artists or artists unsure of themselves or their talent, people like me who are aware of their abilities and where they are now vs last year, etc, still have art blocks. I don't consider it a self esteem issue for everyone, for me its more based on outside influences. If work is stressful, a client is bad, or a bad experience in the day; that can all easily affect one's ability to create art, and is pretty much the only reason I ever 'art block', because even when I do have art blocks, I have them based on either the commissioner being too nitpicky/demanding or some event in my life happening, not due to me feeling boohoo emo, or too inferior to someone else. Because i never feel inferior, and I feel it is normal for anyone to recognize an artist as better than oneself, but I dont act envious or jealous towards them, merely 'I will get there soon'
And even with all my strengths, i still have blocks. blocks for me are never 'i cannot draw at all' but more like, 'i cant nail this pose right now' or 'this character is too complex, let me draw my own or a friends to refresh my mind' and I think those are all pretty normal parts of life really.
Though, fixing the problem is the issue now lol
Yup, this is me. Coupled with the lack of any art talent whatsoever, it's why I never improve. Blah.
Just looking at all those comments one can see how many people feel helped and understood through this journal, and it would be a shame for it to be gone somewhen so no one can return here if they need to. So please keep it as long as possible.
(I just can't draw, well I can try but nothing I want comes on. It's not a psychological artblock since I really want to draw, and my self-esteem has nothing to do with it.)
This journal is more of a pep for every artist, but I don't see these things removing artblock. Thank you anyways, it was an interesting point of view~
You can clearly draw as I've looked through your gallery and your drawings are wonderful indeed!
If things aren't going your way though, it's most likely because you don't know how to make them go your way. This for me is always because I simply need to do more research on what isn't going right. And I think it may be the same for you, with the way you're feeling!
A lot of people feel that they don't want to learn these kinds of things, as they want their own style. But a deeper understanding of anatomy is an amazing thing to have, in which you can then shape into your style. (I'm not trying to accuse you of this of course! But I see this in many people, and was like it myself!)
I get what you're trying to say - but I don't think that's my problem. I mean of course I have this "Wow, I really want to draw a car!" And then not to do it 'cause I don't have the skills, but this is not about it. :'3 If I would have this kind of problem, I'd learn to draw cars if I wanted to.
I start drawing and I just.. can't get anything to the paper. I know I can draw a basic canine, but when I try to draw it, as said, nothing comes on. I can draw a muzzle and go on but I keep on pressing CTRL-Z or CLEAR for like every 10 seconds. :D It's really hard to explain!
Thanks for your answer (and the nice compliments) tho ´w`
You're an inspiration! Your work has stabilized and become very consistent in the past few years so I can visually tell your becoming more stable! Keep up the fantastic work!!
Please check out the wikipedia about Multiplicity before reading further:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multip.....8psychology%29
Using me as an example:
I consist of 5 different personalities. One of them is my inner artist.
Once any other personality is in place I am not able to access my artistic skills.
I am paralyzed without being able to draw.
When my Anxiety filled persona takes over I am too afraid and depressed to move a finger, partly afraid to fail.
If my Power-Trip personality takes over I am accomplished and happy with myself, but also happy with not doing anything.
Once my inner Extrovert takes over I am full of myself, not thinking I would have to exercise.
Like this my inner artist does not have access to its muses and skills. So there is not even the possibility for progress.
This is the way my artblocks work. It needs lots of work and talking to other people to make me switch back into the artist.
Usually I will start brain storming with my partner and ideas will return slowly. Being in love is the greatest art-block-removal of all time.
Another way is just starting a self discussion and push myself to start with something. Once that is done, e.g. I started doodling squares in the anxiety persona, it will make me switch over to the artist soon after. I might even start drawing something more.
Art blocks are rare for me, it only happen whan I work too much, so it has diferent source. It´s like I get lazy and I have to take a break for a while.
I remember having a lot more blocks when I was younger (15,16), and my self esteen was more unstable back then. So it might be a cause.
Ever since I dropped out of University (Game Design and Graphics was my direction) some years ago, I haven't been the same when it comes to drawing in general.
I locked myself inside this little space of "I know I can draw this" and don't dare to venture outside it. Trying to break out seem impossible, I get frustrated and give up real quickly.
Found myself starting to envy the work of others more than my own and that only cause me troubles as "everything I do sucks" and "there is no point in continuing."
Feedback from others I greatly enjoy but I also dislike it, almost hates it, at times.
Got any general advice to help me to get moving?
Творческая свобода и возможность нарисовать что угодно - это прекрасно для твоего скилла, ты можешь изобразить что угодно. Однако это не хорошо для идей. Когда тебе говорят что-то вроде "Сделай что-нибудь" - любой человек на подсознательном уровне впадет в ступор. Можно, например, сделать приседания, попрыгать не как москаль, сделать круг по комнате... Спустя минуту неожиданно обнаружишь что "что-нибудь" какая-то непонятная штука, вроде можно делать что угодно, но мозг не выдает идей получше чем съесть порцию спагетти на кухне - время обеда ведь. Когда говорят себе "Рисуй что-нибудь", то садишься за холст берешь в руки стилус... "А что рисовать-то? Что-нибудь - это разное, его много..."
Надо создать себе рамки. Определить минимум средств с которыми ты можешь работать, например, над серией иллюстраций. С каким-то персонажем должна быть связана одна особенность которую надо всегда применять, например он не может обходиться без какого-либо предмета, или на его скетч отводится определенные временные рамки, или же целую неделю надо рисовать одну тему - динозавров, например (с динозаврами это у меня - за неделю 14 скетчей с тераподами). Сделать себе ограничения и не выходить за их рамки - это буквально способ с наименьшим сопротивлением. Не надо мучить себя пытаясь выйти из депрессии (творческий кризис - это разновидность депрессии), тут клин клином вышибают. Если у тебя в мозгу какие-то рамки есть... Создай свои рамки, как правила в видеоигре - и следуй им. И постепенно вернется тяга к прекрасному, солнце будет светить ярче, трава зеленей, рисоваться легче. Ну а далее, когда выйдешь из состояния нестояния - то тут надо смотреть как получится, возможно когда-нибудь придётся повторить, снова временно загнать себя в рамки.
Вообще ещё на эту тему, всего творческого процесса, есть замечательная книга, "Психологические особенности творческого поведения". Чтобы углубиться в предмет советую взглянуть на неё.
http://www.gumer.info/bibliotek_Buk.....alin/index.php
И ещё дополнительно хочу сказать - в мозге большую роль играют химические процессы, они влияют почти что на всё наше поведение. Любое нарушение процессов может вызвать изменение характера, временные или более перманентные. Рок-музыканты с 60-х, закидывались веществами и буйство красок в их голове выливалось на нотный стан. Некоторые художники делали то же самое. Какие-либо застойные процессы могут вызвать угнетение поведения, эмоциональную глухость разной степени выраженности, а у художников это может проявиться особо ярко в творческом кризисе.
Ну и не стоит забывать про банальную усталость, как физическую, так и эмоциональную - после 5 дней нервов на работе из-за какого-нибудь проеба, когда всё окончилось приходишь домой... И тебе совершенно не хочется рисовать и нет никаких идей. Хочется спать.
Anyway, thank so much for making such a extremely helpful article. This is seriously helped me to solve the fact about my self-esteem.
but once, thanks! and I already have my own way to face this reality. ^.-.^ awwwww
Lol, but anyway, thank you, and I'll try to do my best to help this friend that this need! ^.-.^
Thank you sir for prooving me wrong.
When something just goes horribly wrong, that's that. What can I learn from it? When something goes right, great! I should share it and see what people think (or maybe not) and then put it the hell away, stop staring at it, and think of what to do next.
There's a sign of my problem right there, I think. When I draw something I really like, it's hard not to stare at it, admire it, and then eventually I start picking up on all the little flaws. I suppose, in a way, picking up on flaws after you're done isn't bad at all unless they aren't welcome to you.
Thanks Wolfy. Very thought-provoking. You're a huge inspiration. I just spent an hour skimming through your art before I found this. I've been a fan for.. idk, years or something.