Well, this is just my opinion. But maybe you should take a break from commissions And he's that time to figure out and focus more on what YOU want to draw. I know how you feel, though. It always feels like we need some kind of incentive before we can actually draw something. It's a real pain. One with no ideas on what to draw compared to one with too many ideas and can't get them out on a piece of paper beacure you dont know where to start. Either way, you're in a rut. I would probably say pick one that intrigues you the mostand then start with that. Afterward, work your way down according to your interests.

I wish I could just break from it, but it is the ONLY source paying all the bills right now. If I plan to do 'my own thing' I have to work in between the breaks of doing commissions. WHICH is what I am doing right now XP. Pulling double duty! If I want to switch it up, I gotta put in those hours to make it happen!

When I get stuck in a rut like this.
I look for Prompts to help me.
Quick little silly doodle type prompts really help relieve some of that "OH SHIT WHAT DO I DO?!" moments. whether it be silly little doodles, silly little stories, etc.
Something that's just takes your brain away and loosens ya up ^^
My kiddo helps me with them too sometimes.

Had to draw a unicorn at a birthday party once xD

I tried that! Treat my own work like it was a commission. Get a ref, pick a prompt and just FINISH it. It didn't go too well halfway through XD I started nit picking and by the time I realized, it was too late and I hated it XDDDD Sooo.... Imma keep trying different methods though. ONE DAY the spaghetti will stick!

I just wanna say that, I feel this wholeheartedly. This is something I've personally been struggling with as well; Feeling like I want to draw personal stuff, but drawing a blank or not putting as much effort as I would with any other piece for my clients.
I suggest taking a break soon or treat your personal work like you would treat a commission, fill in the blanks with the added knowledge of the fan art characters/personal characters in question, then process it the same way.
This helps me because it almost feels like a prompt with a bit more depth and without the expectation of having to provide the finished product to anyone.
Another thing I often do is carve out some time to draw traditionally, this helps with the limitation factor- no tools, no undos, just you and your creativity.
I know these things may be fickle and tedious to deal with, but I'm sure you can make it through this and regain a since of fun with your work.
^^ I will be looking forward to your shop launch and hope that you enjoy your time at the con regardless of the last min cram.

Oh I DO take my breaks. Imma kill everything if I don't get my time off to decompress.

I am all for the physical stuff. LOVE that shit. I may not do that in arting per se, but I do LIKE the 'manufacturing' process? Like making buttons or stickers. Making prints. Packaging. Designing displays and building them (got 2 artist roomies and a few artist friends around here that does cons and gonna be joining me in this venture) LOVE all of that. It gets me away from the screen sometimes to do arts in another form and it's fun too!

>.> my table is gonna look so sad...... BUT you know what... it's JUST the beginning.

Missed you and your streams! Take care and see you around in stream sometime

LOL You should show up more often dood!

I’ll try to! Miss drawing your OC haha

*patpats* its ok. alot of us have that. even me. to me, i learned really late that if i don't do stuff myself, everything else suffers. i had to cut back on commissions so i could do stuff for myself. i have 3 comics for myself to do, not counting 2 others that are commissions comics and 2 other comics after that that i don't know if ill just keep as written or keep dishing out comic page sketches anyway. XD so yeah. i don't wanna have a blank mind when i get back to doing what i want. it wastes too much time. you'll get better once you find your ball and start running with it ;).

GEEZ.... How do you manage that man..? I want to start a web comic too but good god I don't think I'll ever be ready.... BUT doing BOTH comms and getting ready for con might be able to kick start something. I don't know for sure and there are no guarantees but I am damn well going to try.

HEH! its not too bad. once you know what kind of table you want to have and have a stable system for setup, all you have to do is switch out new and old stuff you wanna sell. that way you wont have to worry about cons and able to focus on whatever art you need to get done. lol im not good at webcomic formats but im still trying. i do actual printed comics :3 and you already have a huge skill in dynamic images from everything you've posted for the past decade. all you have to do is write a story that matches that style of art :3 then experiment after. the more you play with it, the easier to fine tune any type of sequential art. i think any comic you make would be a success because of your amazing art and huge following as it is!

As for managing all of the work i do, its a little more complicated. im actually in the middle of learning clip studio to possibly transition to digital inks and maybe digital sketching. I used photoshop for years but clip had more features catered to what i WANT my art to do. unfortunately i still have to use photoshop for logos because clip doesnt have nearly enough features for manipulating text but that may change. so far its been amazing realizing i can ink scanned in pencils on my tablet and not worry about messing up on the inks cause if i do, i can just erase and try again instead of ruining a penciled image. clip's inking has made it great to color too. since im getting close to doing what i do in photoshop in clip, i can officially go back to the many comics i need to finish. one of which i made a goal for myself because a close friend of mine who helped me make the comic passed away recently and now i have to complete it without her. i turned my grief into amazing energy and helped me move back and fourth between all my comics that i work on. granted 3 of them are in the same universe and will be combined into one comic eventually XD. and the commission comics are whenever, so a page penciled here or there every few days and inked on other days, so i dont feel rushed and that really helps me not from feeling overwhelmed. pacing really helps the most. if you feel too much grief from not finishing stuff soon enough, then thats when you need to back off and accept the fact that you need to go slower for your own sake. burnout is so easy to get into so you really have to think about how to cancel that vicious, anxious and depressing cycle that makes something you love into something you despise because you took on too much. i always love to see artists succeed and ive watched you for a long time and love seeing you and your art grow in popularity. *cheers you on* :3

I've actually chnage dup how I appraoch commissioning/stremaing days to indeed now *always* warm up with personal work (....unless I'm REALLY raring to go into what I've got on for the day)

but chya!
GOSH
Already feels VERY nice after only 3 days on doing so!!

Not gonna lie! When I got some merch I was working on and HOPING they'd get here on time before con starts (and BET, I sure did order them at the LAST minute) and I opened it up and I was so excited. (I rarely get excited about much XD) I was hyped! I wanted to do more, even though the profit margin on an item is smaller than just whipping up a commission. I didn't care. That part of it was FUN. It was something I made and I am gonna keep trying!

That's the spirit! :>

And yeh! Changing up stuff to Pivot how suits est for mental health, productivity and profitting all will always have a curve to it - but it'll get there!