How do I increase my mental stamina for drawing?
I've been learning art for the past few months. I think I've made decent progress, drawing for a few hours almost every day while slowly going through the NMA Russian Art course thing and drawing other things when I'm not in the headspace for that.
I feel like I could be making a lot more progress more quickly, though, if I could sit down and draw for more than just two hours at a time. But by the two hour mark, unless I'm REALLY into a piece, my brain just kind of fizzles out and I can't focus, likely due to my ADHD, even if I'm having fun.
I used to only be able to draw for half an hour at a time, and I'm rather proud to have been able to work up to two hours but I feel like I'm plateauing. Any advice, or do I just keep grinding?

>>7665121 (OP)
My stamina has dropped a lot because I haven't been drawing. You know that it increases if you [spoiler] draw more [/spoiler] right?

>>7665138
Yeah, I figured that'd be the case. I was just kind of hoping to know if anyone had anything more structured.
I'll probably try to push through to 2 and a half hours until that's my new norm, and increase it half an hour at a time.

>>7665121 (OP)
Meditation and physical training.
Also cold water the best shit in the world i literally go and put my head under cold water and im fresh as fuck.

>>7665121 (OP)
Draw things you want to draw. Enjoy it. NWA Russian art school boring as fuck

>>7665121 (OP)
Avoid digital screens.
See an ophthalmologist.
Run.
Exercise during breaks. Like jumping jacks or burpees, something relative vigorous to wake you up.
Other general health tips like sleep early and eat your vegetables.

>>7665290
just run

>>7665121 (OP)
Hydrate more. Make sure you eat.
Artists notoriously underfeed/underwater themselves.

>>7665121 (OP)
take a break every 90m of focused study, your brain hits diminished returns after that point

>>7665805
>every 90m of focused study,
This varies from person to person. For some people its 15 minutes, for some its an hour and half, some are in the middle.

The most famous of this became trendy as the "pomodoro" technique (to sell a tomato-shaped timer) which was 20 minutes, but there's no real universally-applicable number. It can also vary depending on what else is going on.

>>7665805
That's fake science, no such thing as diminishing returns, you don't all of a sudden stop learning shit after 90 minutes, you don't learn less either. You can study anatomy for 90 minutes then switch to perspective and you will still learn a lot. 90 minutes is nothing btw

>>7665831
Explain the fatigue that sets in and the wavering gaps in memory that occur with long study sessions then

>>7665833
That's a low IQ problem, you're stressed out about being bad all the time, being a results oriented ape that you beat yourself up and get depressed that you aren't getting better. Chin up sport, you're going to suck for a long time, if you hate every step of the way then your brain is so preoccupied with putting yourself down that you want to quit every second you're holding your pencil. You should ask yourself: how can some streamers draw for 10+ hours every day. You think they have diminishing returns or having fatigue?
If someone put a gun to your head (assuming you don't want to die), can you draw for 30 hours? You can, it's easy. You 100% can. Mental limits are self-imposed.

>>7665840
spaced repetition and taking breaks has been scientifically proven multiple time to improve learning speed

>>7665898
Spaced repetition doesn't improve learning speed, it improves retention.

>>7665840
>That's a low IQ problem
I have a high IQ, 130ish and that was with having the fun experience of being ill each time I got tested as a teenager
>you're stressed out about being bad all the time, being a results oriented ape that you beat yourself up and get depressed that you aren't getting better. Chin up sport, you're going to suck for a long time,
Nope, not one of them. I recognize I get better with each artpiece. So not applicable to me.
>if you hate every step of the way then your brain is so preoccupied with putting yourself down that you want to quit every second you're holding your pencil.
I don't do this.
>You should ask yourself: how can some streamers draw for 10+ hours every day. You think they have diminishing returns or having fatigue?
Considering I have had the time to watch several? They take so many break AND rarely work on the same thing the entire time. Rotating between the two often entails a break
>If someone put a gun to your head (assuming you don't want to die), can you draw for 30 hours? You can, it's easy. You 100% can. Mental limits are self-imposed.
Doodle, perhaps. But not work on serious things no. It will eventually become mindless schizo scrawling rather than focused effort. Physical fatigue will eventually come into play there too.

>>7665918
>doesn't improve learning speed, it improves retention

>Yea I learned all about this
>Oh? Tell me about it
>No see I only LEARNED it, I retained none of it.
>So you sat in a lecture and zoned out?
>Precisely.

>>7665925
Don't know what to tell you, you're imposing limits on yourself.
>Doodle, perhaps. But not work on serious things no. It will eventually become mindless schizo scrawling rather than focused effort. Physical fatigue will eventually come into play there too.
The option to draw or die is a pretty easy decision to make. You're going to die because you couldn't just draw for 30 hours? That's kind of sad. Really think about it.

>>7665927
Retention has nothing to do with learning speed, in fact, speed is a horrible quantifier to use, you aren't running a race. Speed is a bad term which becomes a moving target because it then becomes an argument of relativity where there can never be learning fast enough.

My point is that you should stop being a bitch and just draw and enjoy the process without thinking about silly fake things like diminishing returns.

>>7665939
>The option to draw or die is a pretty easy decision to make. You're going to die because you couldn't just draw for 30 hours?
I'm saying that the level of drawing that would occur would become schizo scrawls and I would likely have to switch hands partway through.

At no level is that comparable to doing normal art, which requires thought and focus. And to improve, rather than simply plateau, you have to be focusing not just on doing it right but critiquing yourself through the whole process. Else you result in picrel. The worst examples are those 2000-uploads autists where everything looks the exact same.