Do you like what you do?

[storytimebiondi]

This is something that I still think of every time I look at my art:

I feel like this hits the nail on the head. The curse of the artist is exactly this: It's never good enough.
However, despite the curse, it's also what drives us to be better, to grow, and become something great. So long as you have this feeling of inadequacy, remember that it's driving you to perfect your already great work!

[ericsalinas149]

I like what I do, I just wish I could work faster. I am satisfied with the final product, but I wish I wasn't so painfully slow.

[ISNEKO]

Everything I create is trash, but people read it.

So, I'll keep the garbage flowing.

[Kann]

I see a lot of room for improvement in everything I do. It's not the best but I'm satisfied, I guess.

Seeing flaws in your work is at least better than thinking you're the best and not being able to handle critique because of that.

[dawgofdawgness]

Yes and no. Sometimes I’ll be sitting on the bus when I think “when I get home, I can work on my comic!” And feel all warm inside.
But when I’m actually doing the lineart and polishing everything, it’s terrible most of the time.

[punkarsenic]

Yes and no. Sometimes I’ll be sitting on the bus when I think “when I get home, I can work on my comic!” And feel all warm inside.But when I’m actually doing the lineart and polishing everything, it’s terrible most of the time.

this is the biggest mood

[IdiotWithPencil]

all the time, and for everything I ever do
I just ignore it like most of my problems =D

[BABYbluez]

Happens a lot
What I find helps with moving pass this is to ask the person why they believe your stuff is just that awesome? Like if they can elaborate on their opinion and give you a better perspective on what they're seeing, you know? The boost of optimism can help and you'll gradually come to think it's ok not to be 100% perfect. Plus, there could be other things being overlooked while we're too focused on the flaws and how to improve it.

[TheThoughtfulBoxful]

@dawgofdawgness thank you for describing my struggle for the past 8 months. thank you so much.

---

I think when an artist reaches a place where they're not fond of their craft, there are two things they can do, depending on their situation: take a break (for those who can) or keep trucking because you have a rent to pay. either way you'll get your inspiration back. or learn to work through those low moments, as in the case of someone doing art of a living.

for me, I love what I do; what I don't like is how long it takes to get what I imagine onto paper. that's usually where my confidence/self worth stumbles. but I keep going, because failing sucks. (though taking a break doesn't = failure!!)

[jpnakashima]

As many have said, we are our most demanding critics.

Most of the time I'll be at least a little bummed by my scripts or letters. Sometimes though I do something and think it's pretty cool. Those are the times.
Many have also said that we make the stuff we'd like to have. We make the stories we'd like to read. I feel that if you're honest with yourself, you'll get better and your relationship with this feeling will improve with time. We're always getting better!

@ericsalinas149 hey, with practice you will get faster! All will be well!

@dawgofdawgness @punkarsenic I super relate to this feeling. Don't know about you folks, but I also have two extra stages, in which when I finish it I'm relieved and feeling ''hey, I did okay, yeah'' but 15 minutes latter I'm freaking out about how much it sucks.

[ryoko]

Well, the way I look at pretty much everything in life is that there will always be someone (or many people) 'better' than me at whatever I do, but what I've learned to do over the years is embrace that fact and use it as motivation to do the best that I can do. This isn't to say I'm trying to become better than those who's skills surpass my own, instead I see those artists as sort of 'teachers'. I try to understand how their work is 'better' than mine. Sometimes it's a lack of practice drawing a particular thing on my part or lack of understanding how, for example, a type of perspective can be used more effectively.

How you deal with feelings of being inferior depends on why you're feeling that way in the first place. I love to draw and I know that I have trouble drawing certain poses and quite a few other things, but at the same time I'm compelled to keep on drawing, practicing and sharing what I do knowing I might or might not get better at things I'm weak at and I'm okay with that. Drawing makes me happy and I hope that what I share makes people reading my comic happy, too, and maybe even inspired to share something they've been working on.

We really do judge our own work much more harshly than any critic could. Every day is a different day and our ability to see the 'good' in our work changes all the time. If I'm starting to feel negative about what I've drawn, I try to catch myself and focus on what I've done well. Or I just go snuggle my cat That works too.

[auroradordan]

Ohmigosh, I know right? I'll be daydreaming about drawing all day, but when it finally comes time to sit down and draw the thing, the process takes FOREVER

[auroradordan]

Well said - sometimes we're so close to our own work that its so much easier to nitpick at the wonky parts than take a step back and appreciate the hard work that goes into making comics. ^-^

[Heliox14]

Honestly, you could never truly like what you do. You'd experience the pros, then you'd experience the cons, or some other way. Feelings change like that.
But what matters is that you stick to it.

I like what I do. I mean, I write.
I used to think about it as some kind of meaningless exercise (I failed penmanship XD), but after reading and writing a whole lot of stuff made me feel good about writing.
There's something about writing worlds that you could fall into that soothes me. There's solace in finding that people want to escape into your worlds, you know?

What I don't like about writing, though, is it's limitations.
You could only use so much words to make the fake feel real. And it's tiring to figure out the right balance of words to make things real.
Dialogue is much worse for me.
Characters are okay, but I feel they're shallow caricatures of human beings.

But despite this...I probably like this. It's a challenge of sorts for me.

[Emevsa]

Some days it's really hard to motivate myself to do work. I'm a perfectionist and it has taken a long time and a lot of practice to let some things go and enjoy the energy of the work. Yes some of my proportions aren't correct at times. Yes I forget details of a uniform. Yes I make mistakes and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't painfully aware that I do.

But raking myself over the coals about each one left me in a cycle of anxiety where I was never good enough and that only caused more.

So yes for a time I did not like my work. But I feel better about it now because I'm making progress, it's looking way better and I'm not feeling as anxious about it.

[mrtoontastic]

I've been drawing since the 8th grade, and while it's been a long time and it wasn't up until about 2013 (or 2014) where my cartoon characters started to get a little more fleshed out over time, I enjoy what I do. Though, I always know that I can do greater the more I keep it up. I've gotten into writing action-adventure novels about the characters I've created while expanding and improving on character designs and backgrounds while keeping the overall classic-yet-new vibe that I personally enjoy in animation as opposed to modern animation trends.

[lunaartemisasama]

Yes, totally. But I just enjoy learning and I know in order to improve I must keep creating even if the results may not be perfect or even close. For example at the beginning I was kind of hesitant of publishing in Webtoons because of the rating system but I did it and I have subscribers even if my rating is pretty low (I wouldn't pass they year if it was a school lol ) but that encourages me to keep trying

[Jenny-Toons]

I enjoy greatly what I do
Art has been a part of me since the early days of grade school, and I want to maintain that childhood love for him.

This has really been the year of improvement for me. Working with comics has really pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I've really enjoyed it. Even better, the things I've learned in digital have transpired into other mediums (especially my traditional drawing).

That, and I also give myself time to relax. I've gone through a few burnouts before, and they weren't pretty. So, because I'm focusing on buffer before uploading, I do a page a day or even wait a week before drawing. It gives me time to work things out and really come back to appreciate art for what it is.

[MGComics]

I think it depends on the art stage you're in. When you're a bit younger in that mindset (not age), yep, finished vs perfect is best. You may be even super skilled and not recognize it, and maybe someone like me has another mindset even If I'm less skilled than you.

That means you're still getting used to love your work and attaching too much of yourself in it. There was a time in which I needed that mindset "Progress vs perfection", and obviously phases that go back to it. Not saying progress over perfection is bad, I'm just saying that it's a good comfortable first step. Keep that up for months until you're ready.

One you finish that phase and you're ready to pull to the next level, just make sure you're not too comfortable. Try to combine perfection and progress. Many people are still in the "just draw" mindset.The majority, because it's true it works and it's more or less enough.

But personally, If I didn't push myself the comic that you see me make, even If it's definitely not perfect and has tons of mistakes, could be an even lower quality than it is. Right now I'm even working in the background even though nobody has made me redo them, just to make them better for myself. I love my art but I'm not that attached to it because I know I/we have to push ourselves to do better and better to not get overthrown my competition.

If you say there is no competition... I'm being paid to work on a comic. There is another artist. After March I won't be needed anymore because that other artist is better than me (she's lovely, no hard feelings btw)
If I didn't push myself though, they wouldn't have hired me in the first place. If I had just "inherent progress over perfection" mindset I wouldn't be where I am.

So just saying, love progress but If you can push yourself everytime to do a higher quality of work nearing perfection to yourself (compared to your previous work not the best work on earth), any time possible, while still sticking to a deadline.... after you're ready ofc, DO IT <3

I think your next goal is to love your work just because you do it. And after that see the problems with it to correct them, and still be able to love it.
I promise that once you get to this mindset art will be even more fun. Competition isn't frightening but a cool challenge, makes you motivated to do better and better, to kick ass when it comes to art!!
Good luck!

[awesomefeelsman]

I don't like my art sometimes too, but I always want to improve. What I'm struggle right now is originality and finding my style. It's natural to feel bad, art is like a rollercoaster ride of emotions too. Ya just need to accept it sometimes and enjoy long dips and learning curves.