Tag: motivation

Motivation, Part IV

Depression

Crippling depression was actually where I had my first breakthrough on learning to work through my angst. I have been very depressed in my life, and for long periods of time. In fact, if you look at my progression meme on dA, you might notice there is no art at all for 2001. It was for longer than a year, and I did nothing but sit around being depressed. I lost all desire to create art. I thought maybe I was done as an artist, that whatever artistic talent I had in me had been sucked out and thrown away.

When I recovered from this particular inconsolable pit, it was not through some fortuitous return of ambition or inspiration. It was just that I decided my life had absolutely no worthwhile purpose other than being an artist, and it was either get back on the horse or wither up and die. So I forced myself to start drawing again, and wrote my comic and learned how to paint. And it worked: I felt better. These days, the more depressed or stressed out I am, the more I turn to my art to deal with it. In some weird Pavlovian way, it's become a near-guaranteed mood boost for me.

  1. Misery Wears Itself Out.

    Like when you leave a kid alone to "cry it out." Barring clinical depression or sustained grief, a few hours to a few days is all it takes to work depression chemicals out of your system, provided you don't feed them with more depression. So, you know, ignore it and it will go away.

  2. Refuse To Indulge.

    ... with food, or shopping, or time off: you will regret it later. And indulging your misery leads to less time making art leads to a poor portfolio leads to more depression, whereas doing more art leads to a tangible end product which may actually make you happy. It may completely fail in a giant pile of brown acrylic ick, true, but it's still a better bet.

  3. Take Better Care Of Your Body.

    Eat right, exercise, and stick to your default sleep schedule. Your health and your mood are pretty closely intertwined. And although technically junk food is a better short-term mood boost than running for an hour, the latter is better in the long run. Plus, as an artist you are probably hugely out of shape with a lifetime of back aches in front of you. I recommend getting a yoga tape or something.

  4. Avoid The Internet.

    It is very easy to go online looking for support or distraction. The former is scarce and the latter abundant. In fact, the more time you spend online, the more you will realize that no one there gives a shit about you or even knows you exist.

  5. Music Is A Great Motivator.

    Someone mentioned this on ReMINDBlog and I realized that I do often use music to, uh, set the mood. I have playlists that I associate with certain art projects and just hearing that music makes me feel energized to work on something. You'll have to set up these playlists when you aren't depressed, mind you (you don't want the I-just-broke-up-with-my-boyfriend set of mopey songs, after all), but repeat the association with enough positive art-making moments and this can be the magic bullet for getting you off your ass and working again.

  6. Only One Stage Of Art Takes Mood Into Consideration: Design.

    If you have multiple projects at once (and most people do), then at least one should be at a labor-only stage where you can work on it regardless of emotional state. Some of your art may actually require you to be depressed (abstract painting! poetry!). If not, read a book, watch an artsy film, or otherwise try to do things that offer some passive self-improvement.

  7. Stop Being A Baby.

    Oglaf made this awesome comic last week, which is precisely how I see my own artistic muse: The Blank Page. Tell yourself to man up and stop being such a goddamn whiner. It's time for a military-style pep-talk: "Do you want that bitchy high school art teacher to be right about you, Ms. Everything-Is-Sooo-Hard?!?!" :)

A Final Note

We always have some excuse for why we don't do more art. It could be anything I've said, or something I've missed, or that one thing only you agonize over. But in the end, listening to any of your excuses means less work and less work means less self-esteem and less skill. And less self-esteem and less skill lead to more fear and more dissatisfaction and less validation and more depression, and consequently less work. I've offered up a long list of coping mechanisms, compromises, pep-talks, and nagging lectures, but when you get right down to it, what we all really need to do is stop listening to the excuses at all. Like acquiring mental earplugs, fitted to our own minds, to drown out the noise of our own angst.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Have you read the prior articles on Fear, Dissatisfaction, and Validation?

Posted 2011.03.23 12:10 | Last modified 2011.06.07 12:19 | 7 Comments

Motivation, Part III

Validation

I consider validation the reverse of the previous subject, dissatisfaction: whereas dissatisfaction is an internal desire for better work, validation is instead the external desire for better feedback. It varies dramatically between artists, and the problems here range from destructive criticism, to praise from people you dislike, to the simple sound of crickets on your website. I think we all want to please people with our art, but who we want to please and how much we are willing to go through to get that effect is a tricky thing to consider.

It is also the aspect of art that we have the least control over.

As an older artist who was long since buried by anonymity, I personally find I derive most of my own satisfaction from creating art rather than sharing it. But I recognize that I am still motivated by respect from the artists I admire, and by the heartfelt messages from fans who were touched by something I have made. Accordingly, my suggestions for increasing your fan base are cautious and aimed more at quality than at quantity. If you are really desperate for some attention and don't care what kind, I imagine there are better guides out there to whoring yourself out on the internet. :P I hear getting into flame wars is a great way to climb the google ranking! No really, please don't do that. :(

  1. Make New Connections

    At the beginning, validation is simply about getting more people to see your work and respond to it.

    1. Meet In Person.

      Go to conventions. Join a weekly art group for coffee. Nothing beats a face-to-face connection. It is a lot more powerful than an email or deviantArt comment. Also, the more you connect with people who love your work, the more you will respect them and value their feedback.

    2. Advertize.

      Coming up with an ad to sell your work is a pain in the butt, but it will help you focus on who you are, what you want, and what you have to offer. DeviantArt, FaceBook, Top Web Comics, and lots of other places have inexpensive options for targetted advertising.

    3. Don't Be A Dick.

      You don't have to muzzle yourself. Just try not to take out your personal stuff on random visitors to your site. They won't come back when you are finally in a better mood.

    4. Promote Other People.

      It can't hurt to put a little good karma out there and help out some artists who are equally talented and equally obscure. And they might return the favor when they get more famous, you never know.

  2. You Are Expecting Too Much Too Soon.

    If you are frustrated that you aren't getting the mountains of praise you expected by now, well maybe your timeline for success is a little off.

    1. Get Rich Quick = Never Gonna Happen.

      Did you really think you were going to be rich and famous right off the bat? Quick fame has everything to do with dumb luck and nothing whatsoever to do with talent. Since you can't magically win the lottery, just work on getting better.

    2. Stop Comparing Yourself To People With Less Skill And More Success.

      See the above point: lots of hugely successful artists are complete hacks (cv. Thomas Kinkaid), and lots of excellent artists live in relative obscurity. The world does not hand out popularity and wealth with fairness in mind.

    3. Successful Artists May Not Be As Successful As You Think.

      People don't talk about money often in the art world. Most artists I know are broke, and in almost all the arts in general, people work a second job (or first job, depending on how you look at it). I know Johnny Bunko says you can make a modest living at this, but for most people that just isn't true. :(

    4. What Are You Missing?

      If a lot of artists with your approximate skills seem to be moving ahead faster than you are, start researching what they have that you don't. Maybe it's popular subject matter. Maybe it's frequency of updates. Maybe it's social skills or marketing savvy (I certainly lack either). It takes a lot more to be successful than just being handy with a pencil. Some things you can acquire if you work at it, and some things you are just going to have to accept as a handicap.

  3. Stop Counting.

    I've had people disappear for months and then come back and rave over what they missed. I've had online friends disappear forever, with no reason. I've outgrown some artists I used to love. :/ Don't take the fluctuations personally.

  4. Take A Feedback Hiatus.

    We all need to get away occasionally from our public failures/stagnation/irritating comments. Some people exploit this act as dramatic pity-party time to coerce others into begging them not to leave, which seems pretty pathetic to me. Some artists disappear with no comment whatsoever and are gravely missed. You do what you need to in order to get your mind back in the game, but if you don't want to pay for it later, maybe keep up a minimal online presence (or ask a friend to).

  5. Remember That Fans Do Not Equal Money.

    The people who comment or fav your work are just readers, not consumers. Despite the "freemium" internet craze, there is not even a correlation between the two. If you give your art away online for free, you can expect that most of your validation audience will never consider giving you money for the pieces you decide to sell.

  6. Negative Feedback Sucks The Wind From Your Sails.

    As I'm sure you've gathered from a few of remarks already, sometimes an artist gets too much feedback, and it's the mean kind of feedback. Myself, I sometimes think I'd rather have the aforementioned crickets all day than be handed some of the awful shit people have said to me over the past few decades.

  7. Get A Job/Get A Life.

    I want to stress when I include this point that I am not advocating taking time off from art. I will never suggest that. These are just suggestions for ways to diversify your validation sources and fill time until you find you can live without feedback, or you start getting the feedback you want.

    1. Validation AND Rent.

      A job is a great way to get validation, not necessarily because anyone will praise what you do there, but the warm feeling a regular paycheck lends your self-esteem has a powerful effect. And if you are really committed to your art, I think you will find that working 20-40 hours a week does not crimp your style as much as you think it will. You really only have so many art hours in you during any given week, only now those hours will be compressed into your evenings and weekends.

    2. Improve Yourself.

      Neil Gaiman said that an author who isn't happy with their writing should go do something with their life - travel, take classes, grow. Get out there. Take figure drawing. Learn karate. Study subatomic physics. Expanding your world view gives your art a special niche that can only make it more popular.

    3. Keep A Well-Rounded Validation Portfolio.

      Like in investing! Cultivate many different sources of validation: friends, family, hobbies, interests, charitable causes. When you wrap up your talents as an artist into lots of different outlets, you will find that one can fall through while the others are still paying back to cover it.

Next week? Depression. When you really can't draw because you are huddled under your bed in the fetal position.

Also, read the previous articles on Fear and Dissatisfaction.
Posted 2011.03.16 10:42 | Last modified 2011.10.13 14:37 | 5 Comments

Motivation, Part II

Dissatisfaction

This is the biggest section because I think this is the motivational black hole we artists spend the most time stuck in. I don't know if there really are artists out there who think they are perfect, but if you know one, I can guarantee that person is delusional and will likely be stuck exactly where they are forever. Because dissatisfaction is not a bad thing. It leads you to question your bad habits, to shake off long-held limitations, and to expand your reach. The only downside is that it can also lead you to give up. Instead of avoiding work because of insecurity, sometimes you need to face that mean little voice in your head telling you that you aren't good enough, and ask it why, and what you have to do to get better. Of course, other times you need to tell it to go to hell because it is asking too much from you. But either way, you gotta stop listening to it.

These are my pep-talk pointers for both accepting your work as it is, and for getting off your ass to make it better.

  1. Accept The Process.

    There's a lot of misery that you can't escape in the world of art. Put it into perspective.

    1. The Moving Target.

      This is not a field where you sit back one day and say, "I'm perfect and never need paint again." The better you get, the better you wish you were. But if you look back and see how far you've come, try projecting that forward. That's where you'll be if you put in some effort.

    2. Even Your Successes Are Failures.

      Because of the previous point, even your best work will seem pretty pathetic in a few years. Don't over-analyze your portfolio, wondering why it's full of crap. That's just a recipe for misery. And you certainly won't build a better portfolio by sitting around moping.

    3. Failure Is a Requirement.

      Everyone fails. The more you experience it, the better an artist you will be, because you will develop a reservoir of coping mechanisms, recovery techniques, and repeatable patterns for success. The first time I decorated a wedding cake, it was amazing. The second time? It was a complete disaster, and I had no idea what I did wrong. I also had no idea what I'd done right. But I didn't figure that out until I failed. After that, I started taking notes and practicing technique and actually developed some skills that didn't depend on serendipity.

  2. Perfectionism Leads to... Nothing.

    Jason Brubaker mentions Parkinsons Law in one of his articles on time management. The more time you allow for a project: the more time you take to complete it. Unfortunately, obsessing over an individual piece does not definitively lead to a better piece: it only leads to not getting as much work done. You can spend a week making seven great pieces of art, or you can make a single piece that may be near-perfect (or may be completely overworked and ruined). Don't be a perfectionist unless you have a lot of extra time lying around that you want to waste.

  3. You Have Higher Standards

    Often craftsman are dissatisfied with their work because they have a greater understanding of their craft than anyone else, and know all the nitpicking details that no one else sees. You probably spend a fair chunk of time every week looking at other people's art. You've studied the old masters and art theory. You know a lot, and that means you see your own mistakes a lot faster than everyone else. You could use this to spend months refining every single piece to your absolute satisfaction, but I would like to point out the flipside of this point: no one else has your same standards. You can spend forever making your work fill all those tiny criteria in your head, but chances are no one else will notice the difference. So, reign yourself in a little.

  4. Stop Comparing Yourself To Others.

    This is also covered in validation, and certain elements apply to fear as well. We artists love destroying ourselves by looking at what we don't have, and online sites like deviantArt, for all its wonderful social support, is a terrible enabler for this behavior.

    1. You Are Biased.

      You see all of your own flaws and all the virtues of other artists. Or at least, I do. You can show me anyone's art, however crappy, and I can almost guarantee that I could point out something that I wish I could do and can't. Maybe consider all the things you can do instead.

    2. You Can't Have Someone Else's Style.

      You have your own! I love Cari Corene's sweeping, abstract backgrounds and elongated characters. I love Tessa Stone's stick-legged men and retro color schemes. But hating my own work because it possesses none of those qualities is futile. It's like comparing noses, or boyfriends. Once I accepted that and just moved on with what I had, I accomplished a lot more than I did in the years I spent wishing I could co-opt someone else's work.

    3. Style Is Intuitive.

      Style is not something that you magically develop or discover one day. It is a summary of all the art that has influenced you over the course of your life. It is all your skills and tricks and internal sense of beauty, mixed with all your limitations. The amazing art that we so admire in other artists? It's just the normal way they draw. When you see complex story layouts, dynamic action shots, delicate coloring; remember that this is how that artist sees the story in their head, not something they read from a checklist on How To Make Great Art. Sure, you want to become better, and that means absorbing and learning from all the art which awes you. But you also need to nurture your own voice, and that means drawing in the way that makes sense to you, even if it's completely different from everything you've seen or been taught is correct.

    4. Compete Only With Yourself.

      You may be able to tweak and refine your work over time, but right here and now, you are only the artist you are. Accept it. Do the best work you can and stop hating it just because it's not as good as someone else's.

  5. Bored? Work It Out.

    Many artists just get bored, especially in the comics world. You do the same thing week after week and your work is competent but no longer thrilling. You are in a rut.

    1. Remind Yourself Of Long-Term Goals.

      Remember how your parents never let you eat dessert until you ate your vegetables? Yeah. This is that. Look at your long-term goals - if you are writing a comic, there is probably a big scene coming up that you really want to draw, or maybe you have an art show or convention to go to. Remind yourself that you can't do those things until you finish all the boring projects you have in front of you.

    2. Break Out Of the Rut.

      The OK Plateau is when you have achieved a level of competence such that you can finish your projects in reasonable time with reasonable quality. You are stuck here because you aren't doing anything that demands you improve. You have to artificially push yourself to get past competent to exceptional.
      1. Structured Assignments.
        There are some great project memes out there for artists like the 365 days of "X", or ATC sketches of all the characters from your favorite show. Pick one and stick to it. The breakthroughs come at the end of these assignments, not at the beginning, so don't stop if you don't see results right away.
      2. Spend More/Less Time.
        Give yourself a time limit for your project. A shorter time limit will encourage you to produce better work faster. If you are rushing through your work already, try a longer time limit and experiment/add some extra flourishes.
      3. Use More/Less Source Material.
        If you are relying too much on source material, your creative side may be feeling underutilized. If not enough source material, then the end product may be badly drawn and inaccurate. Consider if a different approach might improve your art or how you feel about it.
      4. Try New Mediums/Programs.
        There is always something out there you haven't tried. If you spend too much time here, you will violate the Perfectionism point above, but you have to waste some time to discover cool new tricks. Online tutorials are also really interesting (albeit time-wasting).
      5. Abandon Consistency.
        You may think you need to continue working in an existing style. You don't. Unless someone is paying you to produce something in a specific style, you can do whatever you want. Even if you are writing a comic or painting a series. Screw consistency. Shake things up.

  6. Johnny Bunko: Persistence Beats Talent Over Time

    A lot of the artists you know now will give up and disappear. As an artist nearing her 40s, I can assure you this is true. People drift off into other careers that provide more money and validation. They settle down and have families and don't have the time for it anymore. They get bored and stop working as much. Don't be one of them and your skills will continue to improve and the competition will continue to decrease, which eventually leaves you much closer to the top. This is why motivation is so crucial - you have to keep working to get better or you will just end up as one of the people who disappeared.

And in related entertainment: OGLAF: Crippling Self Doubt

Next up? Validation. You aren't getting the quality feedback you want.

Also, read the previous article on Fear.
Posted 2011.03.08 8:58 | Last modified 2011.06.07 11:45 | 15 Comments

Motivation, Part I

When I first joined deviantArt five years ago, I weighed in on a forum regarding the ubiquitous lament of artists: motivation. It's a common refrain I hear, particularly from young artists, that they used to draw all the time and now they go weeks or months without inspiration. They are looking for some thrill, some newness that art used to give them when they were kids, but that kind of excitement can't last in the face of years and decades of doing art. Eventually, it becomes a job. And as with every other job, some people hate that, and some people care enough for the end product that they sail past the day-to-day disappointments.

I can't tell you at this stage in my life where I fall, as I am neither established and comfortable nor young and passionate nor even middlingly motivated. But over two decades of struggling with this angst, I do have a few pointers. And I think I can sum them up for you, under four main categories: Fear, Dissatisfaction, Validation, and Mood. As I learn more, I will try to update these articles.

Fear

One of the biggest barriers in producing art is fear: fear of being a failure, fear of ridicule, fear that you can't repeat past success, fear that you can't give your ideas the attention they deserve. Some of this fear comes early in a career from lack of experience, some comes later from the first glimmers of success, some from at the end when you are settled and have everything to lose. But it's the same destructive inner monologue, and it is never good to hear.

Myself, I hear it everyday, every time I pick up a pencil. And here are some ways I work around it.

Note: most of these are from the perspective of a beginning artist; if I ever move on to professional, I'm sure I'll have some later stages to add.

  1. Practice.

    You can build your confidence, increase your skills, and fill time otherwise spent on angst by engaging in practice work that may not directly further your dreams.

    1. Trace an Artist You Love.

      Practice makes perfect. If you love an artist, they have something you want to learn to do. Copy them until you figure it out. You don't have to spend the rest of your life being a derivative Disney artist - you can master the style and then move on to something even better.

    2. Color a Comic Page Drawn by Someone Else.

      Ink a comic page sketched by someone else. Draw a page scripted by someone else. These are repetitive tasks that make you more comfortable in a particular medium and more familiar with the "language" that you need to learn.

    3. Read The Blog of an Artist You Admire.

      Look for tips, strategies, life lessons. Most artists have blogs these days - in fact, most of them are on deviantArt and you can follow them! They may post works in progress or tutorials or retrospectives - you can learn a lot and see that the end result you so admire is just a series of tricks they've learned from years of experience, which you can apply to your own work with similar success.

    4. Reach Out For Advice.

      Go to comic conventions, send out emails to artists you admire or artists who achieved things you wish you could do. Most people love to talk about themselves and what they've done, and making friends in the community can give you a great support group of encouragement and promotion. I would caution on asking for critiques: make sure a critique is what you want! If you are inspired by criticism and aren't discouraged, by all means ask for it-! But don't do it just because someone told you it's the thing to do. Stick to asking for advice if all you are looking for is conversation and support.

  2. Stop Making Fun of Other People.

    A friend sent me some poetry once and I was not very nice about it. Not only did I probably crush this person, I additionally made it that much harder for my own poetry to ever be good enough, for myself. Stop criticizing other people for doing bad work or taking stupid risks. Everywhere in your life: movies, television, fashion, dating, karaoke. Realize that everyone looks stupid on the way to achieving something amazing. When you start making allowances for the ridiculous failings of others, you will be less afraid of your own.

  3. Deliberately Humiliate Yourself.

    Take an awful picture you've done and post it online. Post some awful fanfic or poetry from your teenage years. Seriously, what's the worst thing that could happen? Face it and realize it's not that bad.

  4. Finally, Jump in.

    Get your feet wet doing what you want to do. You won't be perfect, but we learn by doing. Eventually you just have to give it a go.

    1. Start With Baby Steps.

      If you want to write a comic, try writing a 4-page sample short. If you want to paint, do a small version of a big painting, or a rough version of something complicated you have in mind.

    2. Lie to Yourself.

      Tell yourself you are just going to do something "for practice." If you completely fail, who cares? You don't have to show it to anyone. You will just try it out.

    3. Get Out There.

      Even if it's not perfect. Every week. It takes a long time to build up an audience. Decades. Get out there now - even if you aren't happy with your work yet - and start recruiting your future fans. We'll talk about this stage more, but frankly, you may never be happy with your work. But if you never share it, then you will forever be a hobbyist closet artist, and miserable. Just put aside your ego and post your successes and failings for the world to mock and/or praise.

    4. Ignore The Naysayer.

      Seriously - forever! A lot of this section has been about busywork - exercises to help you get past your fear. But the end result is that you need to accept that you feel this way, that you will ALWAYS feel this way, and you just need to work past it. Sometimes you are right to be afraid, and there are things you can do to improve. And sometimes it is just holding you back from doing something great. So stop listening to the fear and just work!

Next up? Dissatisfaction. Sometimes you just hate EVERYTHING you do.

Posted 2011.03.01 22:11 | Last modified 2011.03.08 8:59 | 11 Comments

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