Typical Burned Out Artist

[tayo_rafferty]

Nah, that's it I'm just burned out, I think I got too excited about sharing stories and then...is there anyone out there who gets burned out on their series and then distracted by another project?

[Izzy]

Yeah, of course! I think for me it's just reading and rereading my story over and over again that eventually my brain is just like yep time to work on something a little different. I always do go back to my original story after a little break though.

[joannekwan]

This is why I have multiple series going on at once. >.>

It keeps me from getting bored with one.

[tayo_rafferty]

Yeah I just re-discover a lot of files about another project which has a really fleshed out universe and I could feel myself 'reattaching' to that project the more I read it. At the same time I have not planned properly for my current series so...any artist out there knows the rest.

[WakaXO]

I haven't gotten to the point of burn out yet but I also have safeguards in place to help stop it from happening like scheduling downtime to do things not art/comic related and planning regular hiatus to have something to work forwards to.
I have however gotten the temptation to jump on other projects but then I think about all the work that would go into starting/planning another comic and Lord knows I'm too lazy to do that all over agian! 😅

[Herofeeder]

nope i just think,how can i get this idea in to my comic and that it makes sense

[indagold]

Well I got burnt out on one of my last projects but since it's finished and i'm uploading the rest i'm hoping that i'll remedy that with starting a new comic that's shorter, more concise and have a buffer so I can take breaks. Plus it gives me some time to fix up where I got lazy.

[dojo]

Yeah definitely. Art may be formed from the mind, but your brain still needs breaks just as your body needs breaks from running. I use this sort of example a lot, but you could have the best, most fun series to work on in the world, but you'ld still need to take breaks from it from time to time in order to keep yourself from burning out.

Another important thing, however, is I had to learn to discipline myself not to think about any other ideas I have. Because at any given moment I probably have five or six story ideas, all ones I think are great and I'd love to get out there, but if I let myself focus too much on one of the ideas I'm not actually doing, then I may start feeling like my current projects aren't worth working on, and may end up prematurely feeling burnt out over something I may have been able to keep doing had I disciplined myself better. I've almost started working on some of those ideas, but immediately started feeling super stressed over what I was already working on, so it was a pretty solid cue that it was better for me to back off on those and just focus on what I already have. Too many projects I've tried doing in the past ended up crashing and burning because I tried jumping from idea to idea because I was trying to find the perfect one that was the cream of the crop, the best of the best, the idea to end all ideas, but I ended up in this miserable circle where nothing I was working on felt good. I've mentioned elsewhere that it took me two years to plan out Paisley Brickstone, and this is exactly why it took so long. The end result isn't even something I think is anywhere near perfect (hell, some of the other ideas I had might have even been better), but rather where the plans were at when I finally told myself enough was enough and I needed to just run with whatever I felt I'd have the most fun doing.

I guess a terrible, creepy analogy I could make from all this is making comics can sometimes be like dating someone. The more you think about other people you could be dating, the less appealing the person you're dating seems until you get to the point you just want nothing to do with them. My comics are my datemates, and my other ideas are all those attractive people around me that my mind wanders to from time to time. I have to treat my datemates like my one and only until they're finished or it feels time to move on. Okay, I'm done saying creepy stuff now. Disclaimer, I am not dating my comics. Just don't tell them that.

[VikiKuli]

I feel! I had a story that I was absolutely going to go with no question that I had been brainstorming for like 5 years and then suddenly I like fell out of love (like a hopeless romantic lol). Afterwards, I was constantly combating between trying to start this idea and then this idea and which genre I want to stick with to the point that I was kind of lost. But then something clicked in my head for Wednesday 7 and then I just started creating pages in order to not lose that flame and to grow with my story and see my thoughts be realized on paper. I think breaks are absolutely necessary but it also helps to storyboard/write out the dialogue for the next few scenes to keep the engine rolling!

[Tieback]

So sorry to hear that you feel burt out. You're not alone! Maybe you could try to stick with it a little longer, and find a way to make things easier on yourself . When I first started my comic, I found that making a new page every week was very stressful. It took me so long... to complete a single page. I decided to reduce my workload by uploading a page every other week, instead of each week. This made a huge difference! Currently, I'm still uploading one page every other week, but behind the scenes I'm now making 2 pages each week. By reducing my work load, my stress went down,which in turn made comic making more fun, which motivated me to work on my comic more, which resulted in me becoming faster at producing pages. Hope you decide what's best for you. Hugs!

[KSlinger]

Sometimes I get tired of drawing, but how I feel is usually down to what's going in my life generally, not with the comic itself. When you begin making something like a comic or writing a book it can be a bit like pedaling a bike up hill-- loads of effort for very small return while you try and get to grips with everything you had planned-- and it's during that stage that most people get worn to a frazzle. They're like 'this is so hard, how can I possibly maintain this? I've only just begun' and pull back again with a million apologies, saying they need to do more planning, more concepts, more research (whatever they think will help, and perhaps that work is necessary so good job). But what they forget is that starting projects like this and taking them forward is just outright shitty sometimes. It's not easy and it's never going to be. But if you ever feel down about how you're doing or how fast you're progressing, or simply can't bring yourself to work, remember that the degree to which your skills go up and you start to see yourself and your work differently depends entirely on how much of that shitty work you get out of the way now. No one else can do that shitty stuff, only you, and as soon as it's under your belt you'll find things come a lot easier-- almost as effortlessly as other people seem to make it, even though they're still working through all their shitty bits too.

The sooner you get going and get through it the sooner you'll hit your stride and things like burn out and frustration won't happen so much any more.

[monotone_ink]

I feel completely burned out in general.

I've got this strange thing where I want to draw something, but because I know it just ends in disaster and shitty art, I just restrict myself from doing it. I get that this is something that happens occasionally, but this has gone on for over a year.

Help me.

[tayo_rafferty]

remember that the degree to which your skills go up and you start to see yourself and your work differently depends entirely on how much of shitty work you get out of the way now

I never thought about it in that way.

[Knight_Owl]

Same here, though I think I have a different case. It's just that it's frustrating when your drawing doesn't come out the way you wanted it to be. If this happens, I tend to erase a lot then eventually find myself giving up on it. Drawing used to be so easy for me, but as I grew up, my expectations grew higher, probably because I was influenced by anime and I want to draw as good as them and my friends are also better in drawing than me.

Another thing is that I tend to procrastinate alot o-o

[Shanny8]

For me it was the experience of doing this webcomic; I started out struggling coz I was forcing myself to draw when I wasnt in the zone. Then I adjusted and started putting out some good pages, but the stretch was what got me. Within the last 10 pages, I've been stumbling and struggling here & there coz I most likely need a break from this series. I also gotta adjust my schedule so that I can get the most out of my time AND get in rest as well.

[NanettesClouds]

I guess a terrible, creepy analogy I could make from all this is making comics can sometimes be like dating someone

I died laughing at that.

I'm currently working on two projects both at different stages, one I've been working on for years and I'm getting close to the point where I can actually start sharing it (For real this time, I had two false starts which is embarrassing but whatever, I was young.) The other one is in sorta the rough-concept phase. The main benefit to this for me is that it prevents me from wanting to do re-writes with the old project, which was the main cause for the two false-starts. Because I'm letting my writer brain handle this new project while my artist brain works on the old project, I'm less likely to think of things to significantly change in the old project, and i'm also less likely to rush the new project's writing in order to get to drawing things faster.

Another benefit is I don't have to worry as much about what my next project will be, or if it will work out better than the current one, because I know what that next project is, and I know how it's doing already. Also, if I notice a problem in the story of the old project that I can't fix, I can actively work to avoid it in the new project.

Overall it helps prevent burnout by making it so I can jump between two different types of work.

TLDR in creepy analogy format, It's a polyamorous relationship and each of us can offer each-other things that the others can't, and as a result we all feel more fulfilled in our love life.

[dojo]

TLDR in creepy analogy format, It's a polyamorous relationship and each of us can offer each-other things that the others can't, and as a result we all feel more fulfilled in our love life.

Brings a tear to my eye 8')

But yes, exactly this. Both of my projects fill different purposes as well, which in the long run, helps both to thrive and grow in different ways, while helping me to continue feeling like working on them.

[vongcw]

All the time. But then my wife brings out the whip... and not in a good way!

[kencoon7]

I stay burned out. I am getting up in years and sometimes I go to the refrigerator and then realize I was going to the bathroom to pee. I have been known to go get the mustard and come back with the iced tea or something else.
I guess I am lucky when I can remember the punch line when I draw a short cartoon.
Now then, what was the question??