Does it ever get easier?

I've been drawing almost every day for the last ~5 years and while my skill ceiling and understanding have increased a ton, drawing anything is still a struggle and feels like crawling uphill, I can't just sit down and draw something from imagination in my style and make it look good

I see other artists making immense strides in style and drawing from imagination in a couple of years but drawing anything for me still involves collecting a ton of references and touching stuff up for hours for multiple days in a row and a good result always feels like lucky experimentation rather than an intentional and calculated decision on my end

You lack talent. Many such cases.

>>7619461 (OP)
Sounds like you haven't been practicing your memory drawing

>>7619466
How do you do that? I try to draw a page of sketches from imagination every day but when I look at my latest imagination sketches and compare them to those ~one year into seriously starting to draw, there's really not much difference between them, even though my "full effort" drawings with references from then and now are vastly different

>>7619463
It really does feel like some people already have it in them and they just need to take up drawing to express it, meanwhile I feel like I'm starting from scratch every day

post your work

>>7619461 (OP)
>Does it ever get easier?
It doesn't. Get used to it.

>>7619472
The way I practice memory drawing is: I take a drawing from an artist I like, copy it once while looking at it, then hide the reference and wait a few minutes. After that, I try to redraw it from memory (this is the hardest part, you will struggle a lot and it's OK). Then I bring the reference back, compare it to what I did, correct and take notes on the mistakes and differences I see, do this at least 3 times. It also depends a lot on how much you actually like the reference and what exactly you’re trying to internalize from it. It’s a super tiring exercise, but it works really well. My personal recommendation is: don’t try to memorize a full drawing if you’re just starting out. It’s better to break it down, maybe just the hair, just the head, the torso, the clothes, whatever. It’s way more manageable that way. Also, ignore the no-draws they like to demoralize artists

>>7619461 (OP)
Sorry but it sounds like you plateaued. There's nothing you can really do about it, blame it on your parents for having average genes.

>>7619461 (OP)
OP, maybe you are studying too much and not crating enough. Most pros don't really do anything from imagination and rather use incredible amounts of references. Use pureref. Also, they plan much more than you and me. and do a lot of iterations and sketches prior to starting a piece. This place is not good for advice in general as people don't really draw much and are negative in mindset. Also, if you are plateauing maybe get a mentor. Don't work and isolation. Genetics are important but most successful artists were just people who stuck to it, were mindful about their learning (not grinding fundies mindlessly through the years, that scapism), and got mentors/community. Get constant feedback and explore. Create finished pieces!!!! Please!

>>7619461 (OP)
>>7619463
>You lack talent. Many such cases.
/thread
Drawfags really don't know how the real world works, in football, soccer if you're an Ameriburguer, you can spot talent when they're less than 10 y/o and by 15 they're signed to big teams in Europe, anyone else is gonna be a mediocre soccer player or not make it at all.
Hard work just helps them reach their talent ceiling, and the harder they work faster they reach it but there's still a ceiling.
No amount of hardwork will turn an average dude in the next Lebron, Ali, Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappé, Neymar, Gojo or Sukuna.
In music, most piano teachers worth shit know right away when a kid is talented and they're gonna make it big even when they're 5.
Someone good with computers generally learn to code when they're still a teen, and most IT pros knew code before they even joined college, they're just there for an useless piece of paper not so much for skills.
Guess what? most art pros are good since they're kids, just read their biographies or even wikipedia, it's all there, they're talented from birth, some are nepobabies that learned to draw with their mommy.
I feel bad for /ic/ fags that think that reading Loomis will solve their lack of talent, survivorship bias much? Just give up already OP.

>>7619509
Can you post your work? Pretty please?

>>7619558
dude don't be a crab loser. Art cannot be compared to high level sports in which athleticism and size are required. You just don't like drawing.

>>7619558
this post conveniently pretends recreational sports, hobbyist programmers and hundreds of thousands of garage bands doesn't exist so it can paint a narrative that you have to be among the top 0.1% of a given field in order for your pursuit in an endeavor to be worthwhile. in essence, crabshit. don't fall for it. keep drawing.

>>7619558
nta but you really do need to be top .1% in creative fields to make it professionally. I don't think innate drawing ability is congruent with athleticism but the bar in both is much higher than say the bar for making 200k in an email job.

This is also why it takes 10 fucking years to get to a low-pro level in character drawing.

>>7619561
I haven't had much time to draw lately. This is a study I did of Spacezin, completely from memory. I know it's not much, and I still have a lot to improve, but if you're not convinced by my drawings, you should take a look at David Finch's work, he's the artist who taught me this method of improvement. It's important to clarify that this method is meant to complement studying fundamentals

>>7619461 (OP)
>Does it ever get easier?
>I've been drawing almost every day for the last ~5 years

It probably HAS gotten easier, you just don't know it.

I am in a similar spot as you, drawing seriously for about 5 years, doubting my ability or even that I have improved at all. But even so, I look back upon art I have made in the past and have to appreciate how far I have come. There are things I can do now which I could not have done before, and there are things I could do before, but which now take considerably less effort or time.

I don't think that references makes you a bad artist. Most artists you are looking up to probably use plenty of reference as well, they just don't show it. Collecting GOOD reference is in itself a skill too by the way, there really are people who don't improve because they just can't do this. Your brain can only access so much information at one time, and art is a process of constant decision making. You will be hard pressed to think of the gesture, and the anatomy, and the clothing, and the line, and the value, and the color, and every other little detail which falls into those categories, all at the same time. This is the same reason people do multiple passes of a drawing, and use construction. It's just a means of getting information out and onto the page, so that you can focus on the next thing.

Something you can do which might help a lot is just to make written notes on the page/screen while you are making art, at every step of the process. Make notes of what is working, what isn't, what your process is, and just whatever you are thinking about while drawing.This will help you analyze your own process, so that you can streamline things and both improve the result, as well as decrease the time it takes to get the same result. This also leads into my next tip...

>>7619461 (OP)
>Didnt teach himself to draw from imagination
>Crying that he can't do it and asking why he can't do it
Why is the human species so retarded and inept

>>7619461 (OP) >>7619805
Be conscious about the decisions you are making!!!

The biggest hurdle I have faced while improving my art is not learning what to do, but *unlearning* what NOT to do. This has culminated in an increased focus on being DECISIVE at every point in the process. Not allowing my hand to make the decisions for me.

It is all to easy to just let a drawing happen without much thought. This also plays into the issue of drawing from imagination, where you have to focus on your drawing, as well as the goal of it which is entirely in your head. Sometimes this might even require literally asking yourself in words "what is next?" Talking out a problem in your head, or even out loud. A lot of my bad drawings, especially from imagination, are the result of a mushy decision making process which lacks confidence. Be sure when drawing, and if you are unsure, think about it first, instead of letting your hand fill in the blanks. Of course, this doesn't mean knowing exactly what the final drawing will look like, rather it means drawing with INTENT. Know where your current line is headed. Have an idea of how you want the particular stage or piece of the drawing to look.

>>7619558
all those athletes have these things called COACHES who help optimize the way they play to be at a world class level. Anon could make it with an art mentor worth their salt. You guys put waay too much power into talent, maybe it's because of the individualist cynical nature of this site but a lot of these people "Make it" because they ask other professionals, get actual personal quality critiques and have clarity much faster because of it. At the end of the day you don't have to be world class, just better than all the amateurs in the middle and that requires discipline and not letting your mind psych you out of continuing.

>>7619558
u know lebron and messi arent the entire pro scene right? There's tons of unknown players who got there through hard work

If it gets easier it means you're not growing. You need to learn to enjoy the process and most importantly, have fun. Don't get lost in the fundie grind. You have to push forward but never lose sight of why you started, what you wanted to draw. As long as you keep growing it will always be a struggle, until the day you decide you don't want to grow anymore.

>>7619461 (OP)
It does, keep going anon

>>7619558
You will die unhappy and frustrated Live the laser you are, have fun lol

>>7619755
Pretty great, actually

>>7619558
>name dropping actual cartoon characters
Genuinely couldn't believe it for a second
Then I googled and it brought up more jujubu kaiser links
you fucken dweeb

>>7619812
I have never seen popular artists talk about working on their memory/imagination drawing ever, the way they do about boxes, gesture, etc, I assume they just pick it up with time passively

>>7619461 (OP)
the secret is to learn to enjoy the process, theres a lot of really shitty posts by people who do not and can not draw in between the op and this one that you can completely disregard

>>7619558
Blackpill that a lot of anons here will never accept.

>>7619558
>How to trigger a lot of losers
Talent is all that matters and only copefaggots can't accept this fact, the field is irrelevant.

>>7619461 (OP)
Creative pursuits never get easier because the better you get, the more ambitious your plans are. You will always want to draw at or past your limit, and your lazy doodles become less impressive to you. I think this is a good thing, you would be bored of drawing if you never challenged yourself or grew. You are drawing to express yourself, which means you're pushing the limits of your skills.

>>7619887
I stopped reading when I saw that. He's either a minor or a man child, so either way, he's a retard with no real life experience and that's why he uses cartoon references

>>7619461 (OP)
>Does it ever get easier?
yes! it never gets "easy" though, the level where you can just effortlessly churn out amazing drawings doesn't exist. each drawing is a puzzle that you have to solve, that's the fun part!
but like anything, once you develop a robust skillset and get a bunch of experiences under your belt, you'll have a much better idea of how to solve those problems. you stop struggling and start enjoying it more.
of course, i'm of the opinion that if you don't enjoy struggling on some level, you're never gonna stick with art for long enough to be proficient enough to flourish.

I spend 10% of my time drawing and 90% fixing errors/adding details/using tools to add artificial soul like colored lineart

>>7619805
>>7619818
Really good posts anon

>>7619463
Fuck off /pol/nigger

>>7619558
Retarded pajeet, please fuck off

>>7620608
>>7620613
samefag losers