Curse

GeminiJuSa · Nov 20, 2009, 11:57 PM // 23:57

I think it is very common for inexperienced artist and artist who hasn't been able to take the next step yet to become "ADD" artists; which basically means that you only do work that is finished quickly or only spend a short amount of time on at every time you work on it, which a side effect is that motivation fades to continue after that specific amount of time you worked or if you split it up.

Type 1 is the straight in a row worker, and type 2 is the "split it up:er". In "ADD artist" the second one is more likely to get bored with the project quickly.

I have noticed that in the case of type one (which is very common in beginner to half advanced artist, who generally evolves beyond it later) that the usual time limit lies around 3-5h, lineart and colouring included.

What my point with this entry is?

Well, I myself is an type 1 ADD artist, which means that I generally more or less just sit down and do the entire pic in 3-5h, and then I am done, regardless. I tend to not do updates on my work and if I split my work in two I have an tendency of loosing the inspiration for picking it up again.

As most experienced artist can tell, the result gets stuck on a certain level if one only spends such little time on the piece. A good work (like epic or close too it) can take 40-50h of work @_@

So; on the behalf of myself and other artist in my situation, do you fellow artists here in Nolani have any good tip for me and my likes, so that we can keep on going and evolve?
And how does one split the work successfully without loosing the interest for it? How do you do it and how does one know where to take a break?

Please note: I don't have ADD, it's just a term I use for the type of drawing behaviour.

YunSooJin · Nov 21, 2009, 12:00 AM // 00:00

It never fades. Just ask blue

GeminiJuSa · Nov 21, 2009, 12:21 AM // 00:21

I think it would be better put that I loose the interest because I am not happy with what I did. Once I am done with the lineart, I tend to just get it done so I won't have to look at the lineart again and just see all my errors. Works great in a way, not soo good in another since I never go back and edit my mistakes ^^; (though mostly it's not mistakes, just not the image in my head)

So no one got a tip to overcome the inner perfectionist? Maybe I shouldn't over come it..?

Araiia · Nov 21, 2009, 01:01 AM // 01:01

I definitely have the same issue. I tend to start and finish a picture all in one sitting.

It's also related to (again) my non-experimental art style, though. I have almost a 'cookbook' approach to completing commissions in my established style which leaves little room for going back and changing things.

GeminiJuSa · Nov 21, 2009, 01:06 AM // 01:06

When needing to do it all in one sitting, the good thing is the force for improvement if you don't want to sit for hours on hours ;_;

My ways are optimized for changes nowadays, but I don't see how I can change it for the better... But I am yet to acquire Paint tool SAI, IRL monies are hard to get :/

The cookbook thing; it's a way of optimizing isn't it? Like preparing the base so you can focus on making it good, am I right?

hoodiestarfish · Nov 21, 2009, 01:55 AM // 01:55

my DP commissions generally take between 50-120hrs... so its impossible to not to split up the work, plus i have to do RL work too. I also tend to do more than one at a time so i have a choice as to what i feel like working on. I might paint for 16 hours straight one day with bathroom and meal breaks in between or i might work on something for 15 minutes that day. I tend to fix things if i find them wrong, even i it means redoing something because if i don't it haunts me forever and when something is done, i let it settle for some time before saying its done. even it is a day or two with multiple checks of the piece.

i guess its what im used to. when i was an art student i'd spend every available minute on my drawing homework so i could get as perfect it was possible at my skill level. i found that that attitude has paid many dividends over the years.

I spose its abit different for ingame commissions in that the money is not real and one day whatever u hoard up will be a worthless graphic or worse, u cant access that anymore cus the servers have been turned off, however i have priced my commissions at a price that only people who really want it will shell out that kind of game money for it. I know it is my art that they are after and not simply spending money that they have too much of. Having said that i've also painted for free many times for whatever personal reasons. i usually only start the work of a piece after i've spoken to the person and gotten to know them a little bit. i also only commence the commission once i have a good idea for it. I dont like being forced to draw something i dont feel like. Not feeling the love sucks and i do enough of that crap for commercial purposes.

Araiia · Nov 21, 2009, 01:58 AM // 01:58

@Hoodie - 120 hours is 5 days straight...

The options on my commission thread are all things I can realistically complete in one sitting but I've done other larger works that took days and even weeks. Counting all the real life/eating/breaks in between, of course.

@Gemini - The main reason I complete pictures in one sitting is because my lineart style changes by the hour depending on other art/anime/people I've seen. My colouring style I could theoretically do very mechanically, but I like the satisfaction I get at the end. If I have to stop halfway through sketching or lineart, the entire piece usually fails and I have to start over. It really depends though.

No, I'd say my cookbook method is anything but that. It's a way of optimizing my drawing process so that I can still do it when tired or not extremely inspired. It in fact leaves very little room for experimentation and improvement.

Depending on how you look at it's a fault of mine - when I do commissions (especially the anime styles) I'm not focusing on improvement. I try to stay accurate to my styles and 'deliver' what was requested. With my newer painting style, and personal art, I tend to sit down more and try new things.

hoodiestarfish · Nov 21, 2009, 02:04 AM // 02:04

@Araiia, definitely not 120 hrs 5 days straight.... so far have clocked about 40 hrs on Reyla Terest but has been over a period of about a month with no set pattern where progress is concerned.

GeminiJuSa · Nov 21, 2009, 02:16 AM // 02:16

@Hoodie - I understand it's impossible to sit 120 h straight, the record I have on drawing is 16h doing nothing but pencil works by hand in my pree teen when I had just started to draw. But splitting it is the next step I assume. But how to know when to split it?

I am not surprised that you were an art student. And it is true as you say; that attitude is very healthy! The reason I can draw is based on copying skills; I see what other's do, try to recreate it and mix it up with what I learned from other places. And I am not kidding; I couldn't draw a stick figure, but give me a drawing and I copied it just fine. A little off of course, but hey; nobody's perfect the first time. But I always aim for perfection!

@Araiia - Uhm, to me the "a way of optimizing my drawing process so that I can still do it when tired or not extremely inspired" is the base, but I see what you mean with that it's not for improvement. In my eyes, one learns a little from every pic, so even if I don't become better per se, I still practise my skills in doing the job at a higher speed, but at the same quality.

Araiia · Nov 21, 2009, 02:18 AM // 02:18

@Hoodie/Gemini - ofc. lol

@Gemini - Hmm, I suppose. I did actually recently liken drawing to crafting on Aion (lol) - I get a bit of exp for each successful 'crafting' attempt and occasionally 'crit' a particularly good work or make some breakthrough discovery in new style or technique.

hoodiestarfish · Nov 21, 2009, 02:26 AM // 02:26

i dunno.... i stop when im not longer concentrating and wanting to do something else.

Perynne · Nov 21, 2009, 10:59 PM // 22:59

I don't think there's any good rule for when to "split" your work. You just stop when you feel like it and continue when you feel like it. For some it comes more naturally right from the start, others need to learn to do it.

Hoodie pointed out a couple of good things which I also do when drawing. I tend to have several drawings going on at once, and work on them when I feel like it. Sometimes I might draw a quick sketch of something totally different before continuing on an older work, just to get into the feel of drawing again and to make it easier to pick up from where I left off. Sometimes I just stop doing an older work, losing interest in it completely and declaring it a "sketch" (even if I had just spent 20 hours on it). If it is a commission or a contest entry, then I push myself to finish it even if I lose interest, because oftentimes I might be lazy to pick up where I left off, but when I actually start drawing it again I can't put my pencil down and it becomes interesting again.

If I see something wrong with my drawing, even if it was close to being completed, I often go back and re-draw the part that bothers me. Sometimes it's really annoying, sometimes it requires changing a LOT of things, but it needs to be done or else I can't bear to look at the finished result. Fixing your mistakes teaches a lot in the process, and you're less likely to make the same mistake in the future.

Also, I think comparing people's drawing times is not a good way to develop yourself. Yes, some artists take 50+ hours on their drawings, but they're not doing it on purpose. They just feel that the drawing isn't finished, that it needs to be worked on a little more... and before they realize, lots of time has passed. I think it also depends on your style of drawing. Large paintings with super detailed backgrounds take a loooong time to do, while a cartoon drawing with simple background gets finished quicker.

It's all about learning what works best for you, and learning to pace yourself when drawing. Learn to do quick sketches, as well as long drawings. Don't stress about the time you take with them. If you feel that a drawing is finished, then it's finished, even if you spent only an hour on it. As you develop your hand-eye coordination and learn to draw more detailed work, the length of time you spend on each drawing changes too. You can't expect to jump right into 20+ hours of drawing, if your own personal style doesn't support it. Rather than change the time you work on a drawing, strive to develop your style further and finding the best drawing routine for you. All the rest will eventually follow.

BlueXIV · Nov 21, 2009, 11:13 PM // 23:13

I draw when I feel like it. I'm completely ADHD. What can I say : |

StormX · Nov 24, 2009, 05:05 AM // 05:05

I got the same problem... if I spend more than 2-3 hours on any single piece I lose interest.(and get seriously discouraged) I guess sitting down and working on a complex drawing for hours is just not my style, much as I envy those who can do it. Perhaps the question should be how some artists motivate themselves to keep working on the same picture for days at a time... doesnt it get boring?

GeminiJuSa · Nov 24, 2009, 05:55 AM // 05:55

@StormX - I imagine it rather "doesn't one stare itself blind on all the details?". I saw a very detaild pic on DA earlier, and all I could think about what how confusing it must be to work on. @_@

Morag D · Nov 24, 2009, 01:34 PM // 13:34

I used to be an artist of the do-it-all-in-one-go conviction, but found that as my skills grew, it was just not possible to get it all done in one sitting. Especially for my ArtNouveau pieces, I spend up to 15h on the lineart alone... Splitting the work process allows you to think more about what you've done previously, and critically analyse your work which will benefit the overall outcome.

But, admittedly, that only works if you're really enjoying the piece you're working on. For me, anyway. Take the wintersday pic. I've already been dragging this out over several weeks, and nowhere near the end, but I'm still really into it and want to do my best, so I stare at it for long times and think about what to make better. But on others I lose interest very quickly and often leave the piece unfinished.

Tips? I dunno. Only drawing what you really enjoy helps me, and the best pieces are those when I was struck by sudden inspiration and HAD to start working straight away. I agree strongly with what Perynne said about don't stress yourself.. relax. Just draw. And enjoy yourself