What to do If you aren't Improving

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[Deragule]

For all of you saying you are getting worst at your drawings, make sure that's it and not you being more aware of your mistakes as a result of knowing more and better.

[Ayumi]

Arcane actually got me re inspired to get on the drawing grind again. I want to some day be a character designer, their characters are so beautiful and well done. Saddens me that I'm no where near being at their level. Lol

[soulvz]

2:17 ~ Have a plan going in
3:18 ~ Don't throw away "failed" drawings
5:26 ~ Reward yourself for trying harder things
8:37 ~ be patient with your energy levels
11:27 ~ Look at your own art journey
15:00 ~ Being lost as a beginner

[Thesilentvoice...]

I think the best advice is to not discount your talent or hard work just because a drawing you did comes out bad. Normally you need to warm up before drawing as the first piece you do isn't always good. It's after you practice what you've learned and give it a try multiple times that you come out with better drawings consistently. Art is a process that takes time and it's always something you can learn or relearn. The best way is to try new exercises or studies, and always keep trying.

Art is HARD! But just because it's hard does not mean you are untalented if a piece comes out bad.

Also to get very good takes a lot of years, so don't rush the process.

Nice video Josh.

[nimah]

Keeping layers of your prpgress is so crucial. Once i incorporated it in my work flow i could go back and open the old sketch and rendering layers and you can see the work you have done and also how much you can improve in a single piece. Very needed video.

[frogturtle]

my only criticism of this video is that it didn't exist back when I was in art school haha. thanks for sharin brother these are some great perspectives.

[asimian]

Your greatest and fastest improvement will be in the beginning. As you advance to intermediate and beyond, the improvements will be smaller (actually miniscule) and the improvement curve will flatten. This is the nature of training and learning a skill. At the highest levels, +1% improvement will be like climbing Mount Everest without an Oxygen tank. This is where talent differentiates the best of the best. With talent the learning curve isn't as flat, but you will still have to work mad. But honestly, talent is like having a skill modifier that accelerates learning speed. You can still reach the lofty heights, but you will have to work harder.

[boocultist]

ive recently felt like my digital artwork isnt good enough because i always see so many great digital paintings on social media but when i look back and realize i havent even been doing it a whole year yet and my paintings are still "okay" it makes me feel a lot better. i can really see that my improvement in less than a year has been a lot more significant than i feel like it is most of the time

[slipperychicken]

Thank u sm I feel like I’m getting worse even tho I’m trying so hard I nearly gave up but I realised I came 2 far to give up :]

[SketchesByKev]

I always see how much I've grown and I'm always so proud of myself. But everytime I see other artists, I just think to myself no matter how much I've climbed to get here, it's still not enough and I can be so much better. I'm not even nearly close to where I want to be, but when you start hitting plateaus, I think it's probably the best time to be really kind to ourselves. Because we are enough and we've done and can create things that no other human can exactly copy. That's such an awesome and unique thing about us artists, and no one can take that away. I hope to be a little bit less harsh on myself and just let myself grow through the process.

[arcadia]

I’ve been struggling a TON recently with trying to progress as an artist and trying to cope with not always creating what I want. So many people post these beautiful pieces and I hardly ever post anything despite spending HOURS drawing because I’m just not happy with it. Thank you for this breath of fresh air, ergo. Hope you’re doing well 💜

[scribadibdib]

This frustration has been a struggle for almost five years . I have adhd and sitting down long enough is so hard but with Arcane im going to try harder to push through that

[JemiDove]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, loved the rock-bulldozer analogy at the end.
What are the songs used at the end? Love them, very reminiscent of late 90's / early 2000's drum n' bass / breakbeat!

[Themanwithnoscreenname]

I think you hit the nail on the head with the whole deleting one's work thing. We artists tend to forget learning is an iterative process that requires periodic reevaluation, but that can't happen if we just toss, delete, or just otherwise ignore the stuff we did previously. Our current abilities need a point of reference, and possibly contextualization, and older work is the best way to figure that out, lest we get stuck in our own headspaces and start feeling like we're getting overwhelmed.
It's like grades or finances, in that you wouldn't be able to gauge where your weak points are unless you have some sort of record of what it is you're doing.

[davekeyart]

Thank you for this Josh. Im burned out as an artist for a few weeks now. I painted with a same realistic technique many many years and its not fun for me anymore now its more of a job bcs ppl pay me to do it. I want to reinvent the whole work flow and brush flow and everything I already know about an anatomy from art school and come back after some time practicing. I feel like Im starting to learn to paint again but its all going to be better, I believe that. Thank you, keep doing what you r doing with your content. Much love!

[Ogshantel]

It’s really hard, I get frustrated easily and it can get very overwhelming, I always try to watch different videos tutorials to draw and there’s always looks so clean and good and mine looks completely different which makes me give up 😭 it hard to love your art when ur in the process of learning from some other highly talented artists. thank you for the tips <3

[radioactive_angel]

This was SO encouraging, thank you so much. Ive been drawing for 12 years, and have finally started a professional career to some extent, but I felt so alone when I feel like I'm stuck and not like, at conceot artist level. I realized I threw away so much of my sketches I didnt like, and from now on I'll keep them so I can look back. Thank you!

[charles.]

Perspective is everything. I can't draw in perspective. I watch Kim Jung Gi drawing videos and his perspective and detail is amazing.

[Prederick]

Thanks for this. That point you made about how, on social media, you're almost never seeing any process or mistakes, you're always seeing people's best, finished work is INCREDIBLY true, and it will do your head in if you're not careful.

EDIT: Also, I wish more people would say what you did more often. Art IS hard! Art is very hard, and it takes a lot of persistence and discipline to get any good at it. And that's okay! There are barely any skills I'm familiar with that aren't like that. So you can't really obsess over getting good in a year, or even five years. You don't know how long your journey is going to take, but the only way to find out is just to put one foot in front of the other and keep going.

[ghost_pirate]

I saw Jinx and clicked instantly. Though in a serious note. I really needed to hear this.