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Where am I going?
14 years ago
General
Have I talked about this before? I'm sure I have. But I haven't actually done anything about it, so I'll bring up the discussion again.
When I was but a wee level 1 artist, I would fill pages and pages of sketch paper with cartoon heads. That was all I knew how to draw. When I got slightly better and could draw simple bodies, I started making up characters, putting them in weird situations, making little comics. Tiny little comics, dozens per page, prolifically. And all I really strove for was to get better, to understand anatomy, perspective, color, etc. And I never stopped drawing. On good days I could fill several pages with the stuff that was bouncing around in my head.
Now? Well. I haven't progressed much lately. I can tell my style is becoming slightly more refined over time, maybe my shading is a little smoother than it was a couple years ago. But I haven't really improved much.
And I'm starting to think ... maybe that's ok? Maybe I've reached a point where I need to stop focusing on technical skill as much? I'd like to go back to a time when I could sketch all day and slam ideas down on paper, but I can't because I worry too goddamn much about how it'll look. Two of my favorite artists recently have been
redic-nomad and 
seely because they're both fantastic artists, yet they also draw loose, stream-of-consciousness comics, and they still manage to look aesthetically pleasing, and why didn't those useless art correspondence classes ever cover sketching like that and why do I keep bringing this up when all I need to do it just sit down and DRAW except sometimes I do and it's really neat but then my brain won't let me aarhed6482`093 fdsj row24ew̳̳̗͚͉ͧ̉̑͢f̖̬̲̋̆ͣ̅ͦͣ͡d͑ͧ̇̌͑͑̄͏̟͕̭̪̩̭̖s̐̽̈́̽̿͊̑͝ ͙̞̤ͦ̑ͪͥ̈e̤͔̦̮̖͎̝̍ͫ́ͬ̂4̪͙̓̈́8̹͎͉͇̫͈̘̂͂̕ 2͢3̬̪̞̏̆̑̽̀̓̉͡ ̆̈̎͠f́͡x̲͚͡ ͖̌ͭ͛ͯ̅b̄̄̐̔́҉̯̟̭̠̞̰ļ͓̜̠͎̙̙͕̓u̬͎͑͊̄̉́̈ͨp̒̾҉͎͎̤̜̬ o͟h̙ͬͯ͌ͤ̄ͨ͘ ̲͙̯̣͕̥̥̆̽̏͑̏͂͑n̯̠̟͞ô̲͎ l̠͎̟̫͌̒̆ͧ̒o̱̲͗͛͗̓̐ͤͥo͕̥͉̘̟̞ͬ̽ͪ͋͠ͅk͕̹̰͖͇̜̎́͌ͤ ̖̱̮͚̪͌̋̈ͩ͢w̨̥̍̈ͬ̓h̟͈̬̻̗̾͑a̵͈̘̬̜̺̣͈͊̄ţ̌̋̒ ̺̹͚̦ḫ̵̝a̞̓̈̌p̧̖͚ͦ͋̄̂̀̓̌p̧̻͚̥͐̀̈́̎̚e͙̬̯̲͔̝ͅnͤͦ͛͏͖͈̖͓e̴ͬ̒d̳͍̞̺̼̂̋ͧͧ͐ͮ͠ͅͅ
EDIT: Anyway. Point being, I'm starting to value raw style over technical skill. A picture can be sketchy, messy, poorly planned, but it's the little things that matter. The expression, the way a mouth is drawn, even just the content, or what's happening in a picture. All of that could be improved by technical skill, but it can operate independently of it as well.
OR MAYBE I'M TALKING OUT OF MY ASS I DON'T KNOW
When I was but a wee level 1 artist, I would fill pages and pages of sketch paper with cartoon heads. That was all I knew how to draw. When I got slightly better and could draw simple bodies, I started making up characters, putting them in weird situations, making little comics. Tiny little comics, dozens per page, prolifically. And all I really strove for was to get better, to understand anatomy, perspective, color, etc. And I never stopped drawing. On good days I could fill several pages with the stuff that was bouncing around in my head.
Now? Well. I haven't progressed much lately. I can tell my style is becoming slightly more refined over time, maybe my shading is a little smoother than it was a couple years ago. But I haven't really improved much.
And I'm starting to think ... maybe that's ok? Maybe I've reached a point where I need to stop focusing on technical skill as much? I'd like to go back to a time when I could sketch all day and slam ideas down on paper, but I can't because I worry too goddamn much about how it'll look. Two of my favorite artists recently have been
redic-nomad and 
seely because they're both fantastic artists, yet they also draw loose, stream-of-consciousness comics, and they still manage to look aesthetically pleasing, and why didn't those useless art correspondence classes ever cover sketching like that and why do I keep bringing this up when all I need to do it just sit down and DRAW except sometimes I do and it's really neat but then my brain won't let me aarhed6482`093 fdsj row24ew̳̳̗͚͉ͧ̉̑͢f̖̬̲̋̆ͣ̅ͦͣ͡d͑ͧ̇̌͑͑̄͏̟͕̭̪̩̭̖s̐̽̈́̽̿͊̑͝ ͙̞̤ͦ̑ͪͥ̈e̤͔̦̮̖͎̝̍ͫ́ͬ̂4̪͙̓̈́8̹͎͉͇̫͈̘̂͂̕ 2͢3̬̪̞̏̆̑̽̀̓̉͡ ̆̈̎͠f́͡x̲͚͡ ͖̌ͭ͛ͯ̅b̄̄̐̔́҉̯̟̭̠̞̰ļ͓̜̠͎̙̙͕̓u̬͎͑͊̄̉́̈ͨp̒̾҉͎͎̤̜̬ o͟h̙ͬͯ͌ͤ̄ͨ͘ ̲͙̯̣͕̥̥̆̽̏͑̏͂͑n̯̠̟͞ô̲͎ l̠͎̟̫͌̒̆ͧ̒o̱̲͗͛͗̓̐ͤͥo͕̥͉̘̟̞ͬ̽ͪ͋͠ͅk͕̹̰͖͇̜̎́͌ͤ ̖̱̮͚̪͌̋̈ͩ͢w̨̥̍̈ͬ̓h̟͈̬̻̗̾͑a̵͈̘̬̜̺̣͈͊̄ţ̌̋̒ ̺̹͚̦ḫ̵̝a̞̓̈̌p̧̖͚ͦ͋̄̂̀̓̌p̧̻͚̥͐̀̈́̎̚e͙̬̯̲͔̝ͅnͤͦ͛͏͖͈̖͓e̴ͬ̒d̳͍̞̺̼̂̋ͧͧ͐ͮ͠ͅͅEDIT: Anyway. Point being, I'm starting to value raw style over technical skill. A picture can be sketchy, messy, poorly planned, but it's the little things that matter. The expression, the way a mouth is drawn, even just the content, or what's happening in a picture. All of that could be improved by technical skill, but it can operate independently of it as well.
OR MAYBE I'M TALKING OUT OF MY ASS I DON'T KNOW
I love the stuff you do. And you like to RP don't you? Why not give me a go?
In the end I rarely get the finished product but I feel a bit stronger about my capability to get there with enough time, and that's sort of uplifting. And I'll get a new bit of knowledge or skill in the process sometimes too, which is cool.
Then, it's also nice to sit down and write some code I know I can do, and try to do it really fast. Try to optimize some really small problem.
So, I dunno, for me I keep myself in it with a bit of both. Sometimes trying to push myself to do more, sometimes just playing the 17th hole of putt putt golf over and over trying to get a hole in one.
Or I'll sometimes buy an art magazine. That's almost always inspirational. There's a painting of Birdo in my gallery somewhere that was partly inspired by an article in an old issue of Corel Painter magazine.
So ... uh. Yeah. I don't know what I'm complaining about. Maybe that I just don't do this kind of stuff on a regular basis. That it takes a lot to get me out of a rut, and that I never stay out of it for very long.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
just random sketches on paper wanting to learn the ways of an artistic master,
but i usually get by with saying it's "hyper cartoony western animation" style
The funny thing about ceilings is they exist for a reason. It seems that you lack the proper updraft to continue. Maybe you need to branch out a little to either side to find the proper hole that all this artistic aire is escaping through.
Like they say. Life is a journey, not a destination, and as long as you keep movin, you'll eventually end up right where you need to be.
But yeah. I dunno. I'll branch out sometimes to try new things. They never seem to last. Maybe I haven't found the right thing. Or I'm too stuck in what I'm doing.
I need an impetus. I've been talking about this for years but I need some outside force to make it happen. I can't seem to start anything on my own.
So basically, we need to balance our drawings. Some for serious experimentation and detail, others to jsut draw the cool or stupid ideas floating around our heads.
I'm far from a good artist, and in the past 2 years I've made leaps in my quality, but I too have started to feel some slow down, I can't say its anywhere near what you might be feeling, but I know this is to be expected. And not to mention, despite what you tend to draw if there was ever a time to hit a bump it'd be here. I'm pretty sure we've all seen those artists with sub par skills who rather that managing to improve, they just manage to pump out the same old shit, it the same old horrible quality. Again I can't speak for all of them, but I can say either they hit a plateau early on and stopped trying, or they legitimately don't realize it.
You on the other hand don't want to stop trying, and you are very aware of what you see in your art. Like you said, you need to take a new direction in how you approaching things to shake things up, but this can only be a good thing for you. So have a few beers and and a nice long fap, things are gonna be fine.
Keep drawing, keep practicing, keep coloring, and most of all push yourself because that's the only way you're gonna break past these barriers.
Good luck, it won't be easy.
In high school, I'd draw and draw just for the sheer enjoyment of it. I did improve that way, but my mainly I just wanted to put my ideas on paper. College was different; I began to focus more deliberately on technical skill, and I never seemed to progress as far as I wanted. Suddenly, drawing became an exercise - a reminder that I was not good enough - and that sucked all the joy out of it. It was like every time I drew something, I was thinking: "Is this well-executed? Am I getting better? This isn't as good as how ____ can draw..." I lost confidence in my own ideas. For a while I couldn't draw at all because the frustration was so intense. And, as you can imagine, my skills plateaued.
In recent years, though, I've tried exactly what you're proposing. I decided to let go, chill the fuck out about technique, and just doodle. So far, it has helped tremendously. I'm coming up with better ideas. I'm actually making stuff that feels different and unique again. And, paradoxically, training myself to stop caring about my skills... has helped improve my skills. Because I'm less allergic to every flaw and mistake, it's a lot easier to leave my comfort zone, which is after all how we learn. Even studying anatomy is a lot easier now, simply because I've quit fretting so much about it. In short, my art feels more like an adventure again and less like a battle against my own inadequacy.
Anyway, I don't know if my situation is entirely applicable to yours - everyone is different. Either way, I hope it's encouraging. I always enjoy your work, so I am in favor of whatever makes it feel more enjoyable for you :)
I think you have the right idea though. If you're getting worked up over the technical details to the point where that you aren't having fun or doing art in the same way/for the same reasons as you once did... Then maybe its time to reevaluate what you're doing. Now, I love your current art style and I personally wouldn't enjoy it if you abandoned it, but if you tried focusing more on getting ideas out and just having fun with it, then I don't know any member of your audience who would dislike that!
1. Get 20 pieces of paper. (or 20 canvases in a digital program, or whatever.)
2. Start the radio. (Or pandora, or something. Music, not your regular stuff.)
3. Start drawing. If you can't think of what to draw, just move the pen in swirly patterns in time with the music.
4. When the song ends, new canvas. Doesn't matter if you're done with the picture or not.
5. Repeat until you run out of canvas.
personally i think you are an epic artist, and i do see the sudden stop in tallent based growth. all you need is to branch out like others have said. try something new. as you may or may not know, i said i couldnt draw furry things without seeing the image or sets of images to work off of....but the other day (week) i simply put a thought in my head and did it. you can see my first unassisted furry pic in the gallery here....
now, when i did it, i smiled for hours afterwards...why? cause i thought i had hit that same spot, but i did something anyways and did good.
try taking your characters that you draw all the time, put them on the page in a way you normally wouldnt do. now, that may be a daunting task due to all you have done, but i believe you can easily do anything you want. try drawing a comic, one that isnt all yiff or giant parts....instead try something like a romantic comic. or maybe try doing a comic that has a new character that isnt affected by the main fetishes you have done in the past.
and you do rp, why not try those new things out in an rp first, then draw them. like the story i read that you did a pic to. mozdocs i think it was, about the summoning of that little fluffball...
just...dont give in to the feelings that you have about hitting that wall and not getting past it. all walls can be torn down with the right training. ^^ i do hope this helped.
If you find you're not improving then I'd say you need a different creative inspiration more than anything. If you drew something completely different (landscape in oils for example) then much would be bad and you'd know where you needed to work on it.
*hugs*
~K <3
It's supposed to be stylistically valuable. Technique and detail only serve the purpose of fulfilling your stylistic overall desire.
Or maybe this crocodile is also talking out of his scaly ass, who knows.