#the thing that makes me not so confident abt my drawing is 1) perfectionism 2) drawing from references feels like cheating

[pikslasrce]

omg my roommie just walked in on me drawing and went all

and now IM like

bc omg the sweet validation this will shut me up for at least a few days :')

[iraprince]

this might not be something you personally have difficulty with, but i was recently diagnosed with severe adhd and i was wondering if you had any tips regarding just like….drawing?? i have such a hard time getting started even though i usually end up feeling pretty stoked and happy with my work if i manage to get something down. i used to draw constantly as a kid to help me focus in class, but in my adult life i just feel like there are so many invisible barriers between myself and putting pencil to paper. i’m sure there are a lot of perfectionism issues involved as well, so i guess just any sort of advice in any of those areas would be greatly appreciated! your work is fantastic and i’m really grateful that you share adhd stuff as well!! have a great day! :o)

i actually have a LOT of difficulty with this -- i have more difficulty than i have advice, probably! but my advice always ends up boiling down to the same thing lately, and it sounds really hokey but i mean it as literally as possible bc it's the only thing that consistently works for me: be fucking nice to yourself!

for a long time the only solution i had to being Inexplicably Unable To Do Something was to yell at myself, bully myself, assume that i wasn't trying hard enough, and end up a miserable little ball of confusion and frustration. it was def worse before i was diagnosed, but it's definitely not gone (sometimes "i don't know why i can't just do it!" just gets replaced with "well, i know what the problem is, so why can't i find a way around it?!"). and after many many years of experience with the bullying reaction vs a much shorter time comparing this reaction to other, kinder approaches, i can say with a lot of confidence that handling it with internal yelling and shaming doesn't work, straight up. it's not helpful, and most of the time it makes things worse -- even if you manage to force yourself to complete a task once or twice like this, it's too exhausting and demoralizing to be sustainable. so, while you haven't mentioned frustration in your question, that's still where my mind goes as a first step: if you're experiencing distress or anger or embarrassment over running into those barriers over and over again, the first step is practicing being calm and forgiving, not immediately trying to find a way around it. once you hit the wall and you find you can calmly go "oh, okay! this isn't working. let's figure out why" instead of immediately launching into "what the fuck is WRONG with me????", finding solutions is a lot easier.

the times i've surprised myself by having things just suddenly Flow after a long period of struggling are usually brought about by a ton of excitement and enthusiasm! i get really into a rarepair and i'm gripped with the need to make my own content, or i make a new oc who i really love, or i get back into a piece of media i haven't touched in a while and get all charged up with excitement. you gotta feed the tank to make stuff, so setting time aside to consume stuff that inspires and excites you is just as important as setting the time aside to actually sit down and try to draw.

another thing that has helped me is trying to be really purposeful abt reminding myself WHY i draw; sometimes, especially since it's my job, the images i'm supposed to be making just turn into this big featureless stack of Tasks instead of me really thinking about + appreciating what i do and why i love it. when i'm in a rut with commissions, for example, sometimes before i even try to start working (or if i HAVE tried to start and it's just not happening), i stop and sit down with the wips and really LOOK at them. i go through them one at a time and point out things i like about them or what i'm looking forward to doing: "the pose came out so good on the first try and i want to see what it'll look like finished," or "detailing all this hair is going to be so fun and relaxing." when you get so caught up in the constant repeated thought of "i just want to DO something, i want to DRAW," especially when it's been days or weeks or months where you can't, i think you can unconsciously start replacing "i want to draw because it's fun and i like what i make" with "i want to draw because i keep failing to and i just want to prove i can still do it," and for me the latter thought is usually way more distressing than it is motivating.

and finally, a failsafe: sometimes, when i can remember to do it, my secret weapon is counting down at myself for the tiniest steps possible. like i'll literally say out loud, "on the count of five, i'm going to stand up and go get my sketchbook. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...." it has to be out loud and i think the reason it works is because like. if you say it out loud, reach five, and you don't do it, you feel astronomically goofy??? and then i just go from there: "on the count of 5, i'm going to find an empty page." "on the count of 5, i'm going to start sketching a head." it kind of forces through the executive dysfunction in a way i haven't really been able to replicate with anything else. it doesn't always work in a super meaningful way -- like, plenty of times i do like three steps and then i'm like "i hate this and i don't want to and i'm not gonna make anything good like this so i give up!" and then i just take the L for the afternoon. but when the "frozen in place, literally cannot stop just staring at the page" thing is the main issue, it might be enough of a push to get going!

as always here's me going "oh oop no i dont have a lot sorry" and then rambling for paragraphs and paragraphs but by now we should be used to that. good luck, and remember 2 be patient + nice :D

[nailsinmywall]

Howndid you get so good at free-hand drawing? I just cannot draw silly comics or anything like that, my drawings always take 3 hours at minimum, even sketches. Do you have any tips on letting go of perfection and draw quick and free?

~ an insecure artist who loves your work

have fun and don’t care! 

we get caught up in perfectionism so fast and letting go has a lot to do with focusing on enjoying the process instead of gritting your teeth to make The Best Art Ever and also not being afraid of drawing badly.

be gentle with yourself. allow yourself to draw bad art! i believe that it is important to draw bad art. you can only draw good art if you also draw bad art. i think that if you’re not afraid of drawing bad art, if you don’t care abt making mistakes, you will stop pressuring yourself to draw perfectly.  (we have been taught that mistakes = failure which is 1. not true and 2. stupid cause mistakes are not failure, mistakes are stepping stones — time to unlearn this and embrace mistakes <3)

i understand that it can be extremely frustrating when you’re trying and trying so hard but it doesn’t work. stop trying so hard. draw easy things that you enjoy. what do you like to draw? what is fun and easy? that’s my personal approach: i exclusively draw fun and easy things that i like because i am not here to have a shit time and i will not spend my free time suffering !! and bc i am having so much fun, i stay motivated — in fact i crave drawing because it feels so good and brings me so much joy and fulfillment that i want to spend hours upon hours drawing!! so with fun, comes persistence. and with persistence comes improvement, muscle memory and confidence in ones skill.

if you find yourself struggling with something specific, look it up, do a couple studies and then return to your work and immediately apply what you just learned. use references, for EVERYTHING. force your siblings or friends to pose for references, take pics of your hand etc. do not be afraid of tracing! actual industry professionals trace as well. don't make your life harder than it already is! art is supposed to be fun and chill! i am cheering you on!!!