When i was younger i was told i could draw well. Beyond like, 6 years old, I really tried to draw well. But something went wrong, I gave up drawing seriously, I just scribbled and tore paper. Now I am trying to get back to it seriously, perhaps for the first time in my life, but I honestly just kind of get angry and sad the more I think about it, to the point i have no idea if i actually have anything to express. How to change my mentality, how to develop skill, and not want to laugh at my own pitiful attempts during, anyone knows?


inb4 a thread died for this or something.

>>7648226 (OP)
>Is there any point in learning to draw
Yes. Now get to work NOW, you lazy, overthinking shit.

>>7648230
I "got to work" many times, perhaps without method, but with a decent amount of madness. It never worked. Now I have a method (visited the /beg/ thread for materials) but no madness, mainly just sadness. To be sincere, I do not know if I was ever good, and I feel so incredibly old seeing people younger than me achieve so much more, express so much more. I can scribble, sure, lines upon lines with my 003 pen, but it is not drawing, it's fucking childlish scribbles, which are beat by my college classmates daily (i do not even study art). But that is kinda how i approach most of my life i guess.

>>7648245
Get excited about what you're drawing. Work towards a specific goal. Just studying materials will suck the life out of anyone.

>early 20s
It's over.

>>7648250
Yeah, I get that, I was never drawing like random still stock images of people or apples on a table. I drew some fanart of slop i liked, some less-related slop, random faces, some gay OCs. Which I mean, yeah, is fine for like a 12 year old but my skill never progressed beyond that and it's been 10 years.

>>7648253
So I heard. Neuroplasticity etc. That is why I am making this thread.

>>7648226 (OP)
I started when I was 20 and how 5 years later I'd say I've made good progress. It's actually been scientifically proven, you never stop making neural connections or creating new neurons. So now the only excuse people have is really that they're lazy, but that's been pretty obvious to the doers this entire time so.

>>7648261
I started in my 30s. Just do it. But you have to actually do it.

>>7648262
Yeah but also you need a certain mentality no? Don't you feel pathetic and old and feel the urge to bite at something or someone when you see how much worse you are than someone your own age or younger at something? Don't you feel inadequate, a total failure?

>>7648266
>Don't you feel inadequate, a total failure?
No. I'm my own beast. I make the art that only I can make. That's my job. Everyone makes their own art. But only I can make the art I can make. No one else will do it for me.

>>7648266
Yeah, and that feeling has never gone away. I've had many times I've almost given up. But I continued on. Growth isn't a destination. It's a journey filled with an abysmal amount of self doubt and self loathing paved with failures upon failures, but the cool thing about being human is we're irrational. The indomitable human spirit if you will. You come to understand, that failing and hating yourself isn't something you can avoid, but the most critical part of growth. All that practice is, is structured failure.

>>7648269
I never understood how a person can exist in such a state, convinced of their individuality so much.

Of course, your art is special in the way that you create it, noone makes the exact same brushstroke or line the same. But you still exist among other persons - you are influenced, you influence, you share the main parts of your style with others, you occupy the same skill level as others.

What I aspire to is that, I guess, to be an equal of a decently, if not somewhat highly skilled group of people - but for now I see them, and you, by extension as both undeserving beneficiaries of luck as well as people who, at least in some part, achieved, through their own brilliance, discipline, mental and physical skill, that status.

I hate myself for hating you.

>>7648270
I may be lacking in that "indomitable human spirit". I have failed with no structure for over a decade.

>>7648273
You misunderstood me. I'm not saying I am better than anyone else. I'm just saying that it's my purpose to make what I can make. I admire other artists and I learn from them. I get inspired by them. But what I don't do is feel miserable and disheartened by seeing what they can do I can't.

>>7648277
I know you have not said that. I did. You are better than me.


But also, in relation to your last sentence - how?

>>7648276
Oh are you now going to mention that you have ADHD and can't draw because your hands shake and etc etc etc Thanks for reminding me I should get started on practice bye bye

>>7648281
>But also, in relation to your last sentence - how?
By realizing I'm not them. They had other influences, other lives etc. You do what you can. Your journey is yours and you make the best of it. But you have to try. Not trying is what should make you feel miserable.

A thread died for this Cris thread

>>7648285
m-my knees...

>>7648285
As mentioned in thread - i tried, not perfectly, but repeatedly - and failed.

>>7648305
Try again. Giving up is not an option. Thinking you failed is also not helpful. Every "failure" is a lesson you learned. It's making you a better artist.

naw, giving up is an option. some things hurt too much and are not worth the effort.

but don't you want to prove yourself that you can do it? You have to be good at something, so, if you give up its like resigning yourself to be a loser, unless you plan on doing something else.

basically... you can and actually should give up on some things, but you shouldn't give up on everything.

>>7648226 (OP)
>I want to
that's the only justification you need.

>>7648266
My answer to this is that the alternative is a lot worse. If I give up, I don't have to worry about this or anything else surrounding art, but I'll also never get to draw again and that actually scares me a lot more. Even if I learn to move on, there will always be that bit of emptiness. So even when I know it's futile, I draw anyway.

>>7648226 (OP)
yes, if you don't do the thing then you can fantasize that you're going to be great and successful, you work will change the world.

just use AI

>>7648226 (OP)
I was similar to you. I didn't care for drawing or art in general when I was younger, but I got the idea to get into it when I was about 19. but I was so frustrated with my abilities, and had other hobbies, so it felt like I was wasting my time. but the idea kept coming back to me. four or so years later I ended up getting back into it and have managed to stay very consistent on the whole. my mindset started to change the more I thought about the fact that lamenting about past failures or time wasted isn't going to change anything; that all I can do is try to make the most of the time I have now; and, that while it may not be easy to see it in the moment, doing *something* is better than doing nothing. there's also the fact that I planned, and still do, to make art well into my older years. so to that extent there's really no rush. I started telling myself that it might take me 10 years before I can consistently draw (and eventually paint) what I want to, and that's okay.

>>7648226 (OP)
No, it's over. Most of the artists you see online are in their early 20s or not even 18 and started drawing when they were little kids.
But they also had the advantage of really good free software, thousands of free tutorials and resources, 2-3 of covid to basicly do anything they want.
And it helps that they basicly have no hobbies aside from watching or playing one popular anime/game every few years and listening to vocaloid.

>>7648230
I noticed that I get more things done while I'm sick. Because my brain stopped thinking about the best way to do the shit and just focus on doing the shit.

>>7648266
Fuck off you're not SamdoesArt you're not in it to prove to anyone

>>7648226 (OP)
Tfw started drawing as a kid

>>7648230
this is the less mean-spirited version of the Howie comic on petting a dog.

>>7649935
just plant the seeds

>>7648226 (OP)
no there is no point to learning to draw in your early 20s. you should wait until you are in your 30s.

>>7648226 (OP)

>>7648631
Same here. But it's not sustainable this way.

>>7648226 (OP)
>Is there any point in learning to draw in your early 20s?
If your aim is to become actually good at it, then not really, no. Spare yourself the suffering.

>>7648226 (OP)
Yes, obviously, you're probably still going to be alive when you're in your 40s