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Some commentary on workaholic mentalities in artists
10 years ago
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Twitter | Tumblr | Patreon | Defans Amis: A comic about Drugs, Bombs and Dead Things I recently caught a post on tumblr by littlewitchcurry regarding the physical health of artists in association to this concept, and added some more in regards to mental health, myself, because it can be pretty readily intertwined. I felt the need to share it with the rest of the art-types, so I figured I'd make a little summary for y'all to remind you not to be unnecessarily hard on yourselves:
It's pretty common for artists to come across the mentality that you need to be working constantly, immersed in your art, sleeping little and avoiding other activities to ensure that you're improving your art and producing as much as you can. A lot about our culture, including other artists, insists that we are supposed to eat and breathe art, either because people think that makes you a better artist or because people think you can't become a better artist if you don't. The level of normalcy this idea has is pretty toxic, and neglecting your human-ness is taxing and dangerous - we need regular sleep, balanced meals, and social interaction, and even if you can get away with less, that doesn't mean you're okay.
But a lot about this mentality is also tied to the abilities of other artists. Not everyone is going to be able to work at the same pace, either because of physical or mental conditions, luck, or other situations that can't be compared. Not living up to the working abilities of other artists can diminish self confidence and slow your pace down even further, irrelevant of your assets.
Your productivity, work time, and growth should be something that’s self comparative: how well are you doing compared to how you’ve done before? Do you feel more stable working in the manner you are now as to how you have been working previously? Do you feel like you’re still growing and expanding ideologically, or do you need to let yourself have more time to experience new things? Have you been feeling too safe for a while, do you need to find a push or a challenge? No one’s needs for creation is gonna be the same as anyone else’s, and mental health is just as important as physical, so count your spoons, learn when to push yourself and when to pull back based on YOUR stability and health, and make sure you're okay.
It's pretty common for artists to come across the mentality that you need to be working constantly, immersed in your art, sleeping little and avoiding other activities to ensure that you're improving your art and producing as much as you can. A lot about our culture, including other artists, insists that we are supposed to eat and breathe art, either because people think that makes you a better artist or because people think you can't become a better artist if you don't. The level of normalcy this idea has is pretty toxic, and neglecting your human-ness is taxing and dangerous - we need regular sleep, balanced meals, and social interaction, and even if you can get away with less, that doesn't mean you're okay.
But a lot about this mentality is also tied to the abilities of other artists. Not everyone is going to be able to work at the same pace, either because of physical or mental conditions, luck, or other situations that can't be compared. Not living up to the working abilities of other artists can diminish self confidence and slow your pace down even further, irrelevant of your assets.
Your productivity, work time, and growth should be something that’s self comparative: how well are you doing compared to how you’ve done before? Do you feel more stable working in the manner you are now as to how you have been working previously? Do you feel like you’re still growing and expanding ideologically, or do you need to let yourself have more time to experience new things? Have you been feeling too safe for a while, do you need to find a push or a challenge? No one’s needs for creation is gonna be the same as anyone else’s, and mental health is just as important as physical, so count your spoons, learn when to push yourself and when to pull back based on YOUR stability and health, and make sure you're okay.
I see this mentality a LOT in the animation industry, a lot of people give up their nights and weekends. their whole life day and night is just working on the show, not only does that wreck people but it also devalues their work because they do this as free overtime. even though they're getting paid for a 40 hour week, they put in more than double the hours, it's insane.
completely agree with you.
I agree, it seems especially rampant among animators - I imagine because of how inherently slow the animation process is compared to the demand and speed of other mediums. Just about any time I hear about how an animator works, it includes how they didn't leave the studio for weeks or months and slept under their desk. Like, would we honestly think that's okay for cashiers or cooks or pilots? It's crazy.