Various mental gymnastics and coping mechanisms for executive dysfunction.

i will convert my pod to a masturbation chamber, and pretend the bugs are mcnuggies in order to defy the government.

Honestly? The way I get drawing done is by convincing myself that something else is more important. Thus, drawing becomes procrastination from it.

There's this story a friend wants me to read that I really should read. ...but first I'm gonna draw for a while.

but i dont have anything else to do. its empty time that i should be using, but i dont.

God I don't know.
Just keep looking until I find a reason, I guess

im running out of drugs and i dont know what to do with my life

I'm sorry

What does leaving art behind for a while or forever look like?

goodnight sweet prince

It either strikes me or it doesn't. No system I've tried ever works... and/or I gave up on them. Because motivation is not easy or naturally occurring as desired.

yeah, its not great

I feel uncomfortable if I don't draw every day.

What helped me was to do elaborate pages of doodles in pencil, and later in ballpoint pen. It's just lines and shapes and forms. Some of it goopy and stretchy, some of it sharp and angular. It is a lot like meditation, and the mindset is calming.

I later started to use the forms and shapes to base character faces off of, and later, to base fullybody character sketches. I don't usually set out to do that, but sometimes it happens.

When I feel like I've hit an art plateau block, sometimes I look up some educational art videos on figure drawing and color theory. Other times, I pick random art movements in history and look at them closely and borrow bits and pieces. My favorite art movement is Art Nouveau

<3

i havent improved in 10 years so maybe its time to throw in the towel :>

I think having some sort of creative outlet is a good thing, even if it's not drawing. I took a break a while back to learn painting with arcrylics and that was a pretty cool way to take a break. I recommend the Dick Blick and the Liquidtex kind. They're "student grade" but those are the ones I use. Cheap canvasess and the "student grade" paint can be made wayyyy better if you spend a little time applying gesso to the canvas before you start.

For progress, it's more like, "time spent actively improving" rather than time passed since picking up the pencil, or even time spent drawing. Improvement for me is always a mentally focused effort on something specific.

I tend to have "bursts" of personal improvement when I actively study something. I sat down and researched figure drawing for like 40 hours in a few weeks and it made a huge difference. I do that maybe once a year for figure drawing. The last thing I focused on was drawing hand and footpaws. I spent a few months drawing dozens of hands and footpaws each day in different poses and in different perspectives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBMQ-H-qUVk

^ Good channel :B

While I don't draw, I write and some days it hits and I can spew out 2500 words in a day while working my 9-5. Other days, I don't feel the itch and it just kinda waits.

whats a 9-5? :I

A job.

but... but the new normal and the great reset

The first thing I do is stay away from watching the machine.

The machine thrives on complacency and feeds off your attention.

Get outside, enjoy some fresh air. If you can, take a drive to a relatively local area you never been to before and look for differences in the environment. Take wonder in the real world.

To much screen-time can rot your brains.

As for the motivation to draw shit? Find inspiration you used to have; an artist (for me it's ), a movie that always perks your creativity, a deep converation with a friend, maybe some good weed if it's legal in your area. I find that going into a rut is to easy when we stop drawing for pleasure.

We all need to search for our creative souls more often.

but i must consoooooom

also i like ancient aliens.

That dude's hair has it's own Twitter account. >.>

I don't have the ability to visualize things in my head, so when I draw I just kind of stumble around and scribble for a few hours until something appears. Drawing is VERY frustrating, and I've never been able to improve my talents. By comparison, I can imagine sound and music in my head no problem. I probably should have become an audio engineer, as I would have been good at that.

To be productive, you need to recognize and capitalize on your strengths. Fighting against your weaknesses is largely a losing battle.

If you can do something reasonably well and find motivation difficult, well... it's all about discipline. Setting a deadline for yourself can help. I hate to exercise, but I do it anyway because it's good for me. I hate to draw, too, but I can do it on occasion when I set a strict deadline for myself.

i like drawing penises. im not sure drawing penises is a marketable skill though. Maybe i should ask GSD&M

Long walks

long walks to the burger store for burgers

I bring my own buns for that sweet meat.

sourdough

Heirloom culture

Give yourself some kind of goal or bar to meet, which you can routinely meet in your current state. For example, currently I'm trying to break an addiction to Total War Warhammer 2, so I give myself the goal of not playing that game. I can play other games, just not that one. That way I start looking for ways to have fun again and get new experiences instead of just playing it "because it's easy". Too much complacency can be destructive. Your brain needs some rules and structure in order to function properly. Believe me, I know, I'm right there with you. People acting like motivation is the easiest thing in the world to come by.

Edit: I should add that negative goals are a lot easier to meet regularly than positive ones. e.g. "Don't do X", as opposed to "Do Y".

i guess that could work but "dont draw dongs" is about the same as "dont draw".

better for stuff like "dont eat more candy", which is also a problem i struggle with.

What's wrong with drawing dongs? Draw them if you want to draw them dude. You can set positive goals too if you want, they're just a little harder to stick with.

i do like my dongs.