When you draw is it effortless or do you strain yourself?

[OgonoArtFamily]

There's this saying of "going with the flow" or being present with your drawings having no expectation of what the outcome will be. For me, it's about learning to not be so serious with my outcome and "going with flow" or being present etc etc...I notice when I'm getting serious trying to analyze this or that my process is slow and isn't up to par with my imagination and while in this serious-state, It takes me a lot longer. But when I'm present and silencing my mind(I know I sound zennny lol), being present, going with the flow whatever you wish to call it...everything in my imagination comes on paper clear & fast.

Now, I know for beginning artists or artistes that want to study and take on a different style, analyzing is needed BUT only for that; however, when you get into actually practicing what you've learned from the studies. Then, it's "going with the flow" time but many have fear of mistakes but if it happens, it happens! however this is kind of something that is hard to put into words to be honest so I hope this isn't taken out of context. Anyway, I'm probably not the only one that feels this way or maybe I am...so how does your art process go?

Also, post a link to your comic/art work for all to see where you're coming from!
http://tapastic.com/episode/184598

I started the same topic on deviantart if you want to see the comments on what people have to say there: http://forum.deviantart.com/art/general/2134247/

[jonufele]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[OgonoArtFamily]

And, of course, a art piece can take that long with consideration of what they had back then & sometimes it just doesn't come to you and it takes longer. But, How does your art process go for you personally?

**To add: To some artistes who "finish" their art pieces. The same artists can argue that to some an art piece is never finish for there's still more to do but they stopped because they just felt like stopping OR they come back a month or year later when something just pops out

[Kecreed]

I come from a lot of strain when drawing. I can't draw humans or anything not animal related without having to spend 3+ hours getting the anatomy right. I also suffer physical strain because of how long it takes me to draw. I don't stop though, I really wanna improve and just make a good amount of quality work as possible. The first time I rushed my comic it looked terrible, was tremendously behind and a lot of classmates noticed even my mom. I've decided to redraw the whole comic and set it to mobile, clean up the character designs and try to get a better schedule. Unfortunately I'm behind so my schedule is out of whack. 2/3 goals achieved isn't so bad though.

[gateofselidor]

Honestly, it really depends on the page. Some of them just work, and others take a lot more thought and frustration. My most recent page was a real struggle, but this set from the previous chapter went rather smoothly. I can get into the state you're describing when I'm at the colouring and sometime inking stage of a comic page, or when I'm painting (essentially, when I'm working on things that need long hours of labour, but not necessarily much thought) but rarely when I'm pencilling something. It's nothing to do with how much experience I have, or if I'm trying out a new style or technique, it's just how I'm wired. I get the best out of my creativity when it's paired with analysis and study, rather than just leaving it to do its own thing.

[heterodont]

Drawing comes quite easy to me, but much like anyone else - if I get hit with art block, I get hit bad. Prior to school, I rarely analyzed/studied things unless I knew I definitely NEEDED it for some drawing or character. However - not that I need it for creativity, only so I know how whatever I draw will work and be believable. Nowadaysm I pretty much have no choice to study, because that's first-year-art-foundations for you.

When I focus on drawing...nothing breaks my concentration. I completely lose track of time and neglect eating/drinking - if I don't already have something prepared right besides me. While completely spacing out does WONDERS for my mental health - once I finish my drawing I am just a mess. Granted, it doesn't happen often since I make myself take breaks even if I dont want to.

Its obvious on which pages for my comic I struggle the most on though. There are days where I just don't want to work on a page but I still hammer my way through it, this usually happens with art block. This page is one example where I didnt want to work on my comic and was in an all around bad state of mind. It might not look bad but it definitely wasn't the best I could've done. This page - for comparison - is a page I really liked working on and got 'in the zone' while working on it.

[Aspie_Gamer]

For me its usually effortless. Occassionally I'll strain if there's a tricky pose I NEED to draw for my comic.

[DynamoToon]

It depends. There are times where I feel like, oh im gonna draw and this is gonna be fun. And there are other times where i'm all, ugh i gotta finish this for tomorrow just a little more. Like everything, theres a certain mood for a certain activity.

[OgonoArtFamily]

Yeah, it happens to me too sometimes with certain angles and poses xD

[Luie]

It's effortless when it doesn't count.:/

[Aetherwing]

It really depends on the day and what I'm drawing. I don't have a super hard time with drawing characters that I'm really accustomed to, but if it's an environment or a new character it can become frustrating. Also it depends on what stage of the comic I'm on. Sketching and flat coloring are usually fairly easy, but lining is almost always straining for me.

And I currently have two comics! Aetherwing and Back to Two.

[mellybanzai]

I think it starts out effortless, you've pinned down that perfect idea/pose/picture in your mind and it flows out of your head seamlessly, but it gets difficult when you have to start structuring it, drawing over the first sketch, colouring it and trying to not make it look amateurish or messy,

while at the same time, trying to maintain its original glory, but keeping it refined... it's pretty damn difficult and it's not exactly... describable?

exactly why i have so many sketches & only a few complete works. b/c sometimes it looks better as a raw sketch, to me, at least.
in a way, as a sketch, they're already complete as is.
here's a sketch I really liked making but once I tried to colour it in and outline it properly it just didn't look right anymore...

[AnnaLandin]

It varies a lot for me. Some days, I'm so in the zone that I can draw for eight hours straight and it feels like everything is effortless and amazing - and some days, I sit there flailing with my pencil going "BUT HOW DO NOSES WORK? D:" and everything is horrible.

Happily, I have more of the good days than the bad ones.

But if we're talking specifics, I find I'm much more at ease when drawing things familiar to me. People, animals, organic shapes and curves, etc. (though I do have partial face-blindness, which means that drawing characters' faces "on model" is hard for me). Those are shapes and lines that flow easily.

It's when I'm drawing things I am not as confident at - like architecture and complex perspectives and weaponry and, like, wagons and carts and stuff - that I have to struggle and slow down and bang my head against my tablet before I manage to get it right.

It is definitely the unfamiliarity that trips me up, I know that - I've been pushing myself to draw the stuff I don't feel confident with (architecture, crowd-scenes complicated perspectives, etc.) throughout Grassblades, and I can feel myself getting better at it. Some things - like roof tiles! - will forever slow me down, because they require me to be careful and not rush, but they no longer feel quite as horrible to draw as they used to.

[purrlpankras]

Perspective poses are the bane of my life I swear.

[OgonoArtFamily]

Yes, Unfamiliar can be a drag for me sometimes too! lol

[Doubtcent]

With cartooning, it's pretty easy, especially since not everything has to be perfect nor does proportions have to be solid.

I have a lot of problems with long-form, mostly because I have little to no experience. I have some practice in drawing proportionate characters, but I have a long ways to go. However, if it takes a lot of time, it does mean I'm better than I was a couple of hours ago.

[shazzbaa]

For me, "effortless" is the kind of fluffy drawing I do when I'm trying to pay attention in church so my hands need to be moving to keep me focused without distracting my brain. Angry wolf muzzles, a lot of very detailed eyes with attached noses, disembodied long, thin hands in various poses and occasionally long, thin people -- I'll draw these things without thinking, but it doesn't do much for me; it's just artistic junk food.

When I'm REALLY drawing something, especially for my comic, there's absolutely effort in it! It's more like a really challenging and exciting puzzle that, on a good day, I feel very capable and pumped to solve as the pieces come together, and on a bad day, I feel like I've been erasing numbers out of this sudoku block all day and it's still not lining up. I wouldn't even describe the good days as "effortless," for me -- it's more like the feeling of playing a video game and realising you're winning and you know what you have to do to win.

[Vikiro_Hop]

Eh a bit of both. There are definitely certain parts I draw over and over again, but for the most part I'm not spending hours on one panel to get it just right. That might change when I move on to other comics but for now it is what it is.

Perspective poses are the bane of my life I swear.

yep!

[Mharz]

I seriously strain myself much when I'm drawing a different drawing style aside from what I usually do especially some commissioned works that demand a different style.

[Stronas]

I pretty much always have to push myself. A simple panel can take several hours, whitout ending nearly up as good as i hoped for. I erease and re-draw faces/poses at least 10 times at average. Because of this, my comic suffers from an hopelessly slow development pace, but i still draw every day, and i'll keep it that way. I belive that i'll be able to draw quicker/with less restrain in time if I improve xD