Psychological Support to the Artist (Vol.1)- What to do When You Think that YOU SUCK

in #art7 years ago (edited)

Hi Everybody !

...Because we all feel that we SUCK

(All the images are my own creation and so I own the rights of them)

Have you ever found yourself trying to do something, despite if you are an artist or not, and suddenly you realize how much you suck?...

...Welcome to my life

We are all humans (in internet nobody knows you are a dog), this is something very, veeery normal: frustration. We all have it, we all feel it.

But how to get rid of it?

There are several ways to do it, each one of them is very individual and works better or worse. For example I got one that I call "Soldier Mode On", and I will give it in another opportunity as a method of controlling your feelings at the moment of painting, where the music plays a major role there.

But this time I want to share with you something different. Some self-support that you can get from your-self. And I call it "A Recall to the Past" (I am good with names, I know).

What is it all about?

As the name says, it s all about taking your old works to the present for a while. This is something really important because we see our crap artworks daily and we get use to them and their quality. It is clear that we will always need to get better at what we do, but, we have to also recognize the product of our efforts through the years.

So this may sound silly, but comparing your actual you with an oldest version of yourself helps you to understand where you are standing right now and how far you got.

I don't mean that you have to pick up your VEERY first artworks and compare to whatever you are doing now. That s cheating!, if you don t believe me, I will show you what I mean:

before-after_2.jpg

This wouldn't be fair for you. At the left is something I did when I was 14 (one of my very first digital sh!ts attempts, and at the right something i am working ATM (and you may see in the following days ;) ).

So this is not the fairest thing, but it's also nice to see where you started, and at which part of that infinitely high mountain you are.

I will give you an example of what I consider fair.

before-after_3.jpg

Even tho' the artwork from the right is not the best I've ever seen, here we got many things to put an eye on. Follow me so you can start understanding what is failing here, even if you think that both are cool:

  • Look at the hips, the arms, the legs and the breast. In the left artwork there is no volume at all, it feels like it is just a plane without volume and any detail. It feels like a badly done doll without any knowledge of anatomy and stylization. Proportions have failed and the whole thing looks like there are no muscles at all under the skin.

before-after_4.jpg

  • Look at the Symmetry. Because there is none.

Even if it is very subtle, on the left one we find SEVEN different lines of symmetry. That s HORRIBLE!. This means that the boobs are not aligned with the belly button direction, the thorax and the neck (and more).

But if you look at the one from the right, it looks much better. Seems that the symmetry (even if it has some fuck ups) is really working in here (even if the movement of the body is waaay more complex).

  • Look at the Design. This point is really critical. In the one on the left we can't really see elements of design more than few circles, which is a huge fail. But on the one at the right we can see a WHOLE design of the weapon based on circles and many other elements of design working all together.

  • Look at the Proportions. Not much to say... both are stylized, but you can see which works better ;).

So next time you feel really depressed about you not going any further, just think about it: You are. Just make a little step back and cast a Recall to the Past (Like a RPG... mine is lvl 29 <3).



Good luck!

Bye!

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so informative, if we go off the rpg this is like a "tome of experience" this post, I think i just leveled xD

also, if you counted 7 lines of symmetry on the before painting, I wonder how many I have in my drawings hahaha

Hahaha damn yes!:

When consumed, this tome may give a permanent aura of charisma and luck, increasing them by 1

Hello anritco,

can you please make some tutorial on brushes? What are you using, when and how?

Thanks! :)

YES Sr! I already started with the first of the posts "Photoshop Tutorials" And I will talk and give away a set of brushes for getting started on it! I just need to see if I ll do it today or tomorrow, but for sure it will be my next post =)

Thanks for the idea!

So true and very well said - I constantly look at work from the past and some of them I go in and upgrade a bit to improve things that I wasn't as conscious of before. I love seeing your before and afters. I really enjoyed the image you showed on the left, while it may not be as dimensional, etc. there is something really nice about the illustrative style that was captured and for that there is a lot to appreciate. Yes, your right illustration was way more dynamic and bold for all the reasons you mention and thus could be determined a stronger piece, but again because a wide array of stylistic approaches are acceptable today, I really still find a lot to appreciate in the other as well. :) Thanks for sharing!

Ohhh thank you! I really enjoyed reading your reply! I think you are entirely right... I think it's important to remain critical to the own work so we can progress, but still appreciate it to never let ourselves drown into depression.

I think, as everything in life, that it is about balance =)

:) !thank you for reminding me do that comparing with my own works, I haven't done it for a long time, and since I'm feeling down with working, meybe this will be great kick!

I hope it will help you! =))

An artist's life is full of creativity although his life never sucks and even if it does his creative mind finds the solution and you have provided him a valuable post.thanks

Thanks a lot ! And I agree!

Great report, I have always been a fan of Nilo Manara, you have reminded me, for years I have followed the great stories of adult comics, greetings @anritco Follow, voted and resteemed

a very well thouht out post it shows your hard work

Your before and afters do show that time has sharpened your skills . I also know that not moving forward is only taking a break sometimes . It may not indicate the entire eco-system crashing . IMHO any way . Great works BTW .

Thanks a lot @admyrer! And I completely agree with you, sometimes we just need some pause for going further and stronger!

yes, I have heard it said as "progress not perfection" we may never be good enough but by doing the work you are better than most who do nothing

good work dude

big hugs

indeed! although we should always compare our success and failures with ourselves... there will always be someone better, there will always be someone worse =)