Artistic Roadblocks

[feardeer]

Is there anything you've been struggling to learn or overcome artistically for a long time, but just can't seem to grasp? Do you feel like it's really impeding your artistic development, or just a nuisance? Tell me about it!

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For me, that thing is form. Visualizing subjects, particularly characters, as 3D shapes is an extremely frustrating challenge, no matter how many different approaches I try to apply. As a result, my art can be quite...flat. I use references to help me out, but it slows down my process considerably. I find that, for most arty things that I struggle with, some small spark of knowledge will make it "click", and I can finally start to overcome it. I've studied (and continue to study) anatomy, gesture, and construction drawing, but the struggle continues, and drawing interesting poses and angles is a headache. There is, unfortunately, a big difference in understanding something conceptually, and understanding it in practice.

Anyway! Tell me about your artistic roadblocks!

[VibrantFox]

form is definitely a toughie and i know im no good but its really tough for me to get a grasp of characters inna 3d space what with drawing environments and backgrounds.

i think my lack of commitment held me back since id barely taken a chip at it before really diving in so im at least hoping i can face that giant going into the new year ;owo)

[dawgofdawgness]

I CAN'T tell if things are straight or not. Like it's not even when I'm drawing. There is something wrong with my perception that I can't tell if something is slanted or standing up straight. I will take a photo of something, flip it, and it looks completely different. When I draw perfect 90 degree lines using a ruler, they always look crooked. And when I draw crooked lines, they look straight.
Like I need to use the reflect tool in Firealpaca to make sure I draw something symmetrical or else it looks terrible. Idk if it's because I need to train my perception or if my eyes are weird...? I don't know, but it's become a serious problem for me

[GusC]

I N T E R E S T I N G. P A N E L I N G.

And my greyscale cannot seem to take advantage of being greyscale. Both are worthy nemeses.

[Samuraiflame]

Interior backgrounds (ʘдʘ╬)

I hate them. Geometric shapes and perspective bore me to pieces and I would rather Bob Ross landscapes all day than draw someone's room.

[fever]

How to balance comic's artstyle of being too niche and to everyone's liking to read. I seem can't grasp how to put my style in between. Especially the way i color things. Lol. When I'm frustrated i stopped trying to see from different point of view(of a reader) and decide to forgot all about it in hope that i'll come back with set of fresh eyes. It doesn't really work.

[silverraven0]

Like VibrantFox , I also lacked commitment and motivation. But the g that bother me the most is how my art, especially background and shading can looks completely different on paper and digital. It's like WTF is this??? Perspective aaaahhhhhh~

[feardeer]

@VibrantFox
Saaaame with placing characters in an environment! I think I'm starting to get the hang of it though.
Good luck tackling that beast in the new year!

@dawgofdawgness
I think most artists struggle with that to some degree, at least as far as drawing symmetrically. Just keeping flipping and fixing, and you'll start to spot those mistakes without the flip! ...Eventually. I catch about half of them now, I think.

@Samuraiflame
I definitely relate. Interiors and architectural exteriors are just so incredibly tedious. :V

[joannekwan]

I think I have like a visual dyslexia sometimes?
Say I'm looking at a ref, but the image I'm drawing is flipped of it. I can't mentally flip the ref myself and draw features where they're supposed to go, so I have to flip it in my drawing program so it's facing the same direction as my drawing.

[ble]

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[Kann]

I guess it's backgrounds. I can paint some clouds and stuff, but it's never detailed enough. Also I cannot quite nail drawing people from profiles

[chocolatteboss]

I would love to be able to draw backgrounds. especially landscape scenery that shows loooong distances. so far into the horizon.

Idk if I lack the imagination or skill for it. but I was never able to do it right. long or short distance. It just doesn't work and it's hard for me to put my finger on what exactly is making it look wrong. and I'm usually really good in pointing out the errors in my own works and others. I feel stuck in that aspect.

[charliesackett]

My main hurtle is getting past my own craptacular mental health. It's tough to practice when you're tired AND your brain is telling you every step of the way that your work sucks and you should give up.

[Luminosophy]

I N T E R E S T I N G. P A N E L I N G.

Mainly this. I don't think it's impossible to get. I just found that it's the most frustrating to grasp because it almost just requires a lot of 'blind' practice. Every other artistic subject be it perspective, form, colour, line etc has infinite free resources and lots of people readily and very able to critique because they're very hard line logical zones. You either do it correctly or not, style is irrelevant fluff on top of it all. Besides the book, Framed Ink and the odd film student talking about it on youtube, paneling is just something much harder to break into. It's like you have to just dive into the deep end and bash your head against a wall until you finally start figuring things out. And sure you might start making things work on a logical level. Readers can follow the series of events with clarity. Doesn't mean it's automatically interesting to read. This subject entirely relies on style to be engaging. >:c

[Luminosophy]

your brain is telling you every step of the way that your work sucks and you should give up.

It might seem like another empty click baity article but it's 100% true regardless.

How To Embrace Failure In Order To Become Successful

Think about it. You're not some omnipresent being where everything you touch becomes gold. It is physically impossible to begin perfect at a skill. You're sitting there placing standards and expectations upon yourself that you cannot, no matte how hard you try, possibly reach, and then when you inevitably fail to meet them your mind says "Well duh of course, I'm just bad no matter what." You put yourself in a vicious self fulfilling prophecy. It's not that your goal is wrong. It's that it's too much too soon. You can be improvement oriented, but keep it simple. Any improvement - or failure - directly contributes to your path forward : Progress.

You also need to not ascribe inherently negative values to things like failure. All failure did was show you that something was not correct. That's it, end of the line. It has no inherent value to you as a person and says nothing about what you are capable of. Failure presents you with two choices that are fully within your control:

A. Stop doing thing wrong, explore new methods.
B. Give up.

It should empower you, not hinder you.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Backgrounds are my weakness as well. I use tons of reference for mine. Pixabay has great images that are copyright free and are also free to download. I personally struggle with static objects like furniture and houses.

[Fierce_Chai]

I have the exact same issue, drawing forms in 3D, especially in character is one of the biggest challenge I have so far!
Since Im a more background oriented artist, my characters look rather flat on the other hand and thats something Im working on

I can recommend you the free app EasyPoser for the phone where you can pose 3D models and use them as refs! In fact it helps making drawings less flat if you use 3D models instead of photography.

And here some more useful tools: (all free)
1. DesignDoll (free computer programm with a bigger variety of 3D models
2. Floorplanner ( Where you can create interiors and screenshot them, as an alternative you can also play Sims lol)
3. Sketchup (architecture programm, you can create basic geometric shapes for backgrounds with buildings)