Critique and art help

Post art here if critique is desired, or if you need help with anything! We've got some great artists around here; someone ought to be able to help you out C:

(We also have a tutorial thread, and a general WIP topic if you want to share but aren't looking for an in-depth crit. And there's a dedicated character/costume design topic here, for all your design-related needs!)

rules/tips:

Okay so I don't have any piece in particular I need help or crit with, but I do have an issue I thought I'd post about here in case anyone can offer any advice. I hope that's okay and still falls into "art help"?

But basically has anyone here struggled with motivation, and if so how did you overcome it? I guess like an art block, though for me the problem is not starting pieces, it's that I can't seem to finish anything. I've been inspired to draw, and I'm overflowing with ideas. But I keep abandoning pieces partway through or putting them aside to work on later, but they never seem to get done. And then I move onto something new. Either I'm unhappy with it and want to start over from scratch, or I just get bored of working on it I guess.

The only time I'm able to actually finish anything is if I'm kind of forced to. For example, the volunteer art I did for Mashi... I was able to finish because I knew it was important for her to get art, and also I didn't want to delay the exchange. Sometimes I'm able to finish art for art trades too, for the same sort of reason. But when it comes to doing art for myself, I just can't seem to finish any dang thing. And I really want to. I'd love to have finished art of my own characters that I actually drew.

This is also my excuse for not posting in the challenge thread yet, though I love the idea and it makes me sad to see it die... all I have to show is WIPs, that I do plan on finishing one day, I just don't know what it'll ever happen.

Just wondering if anyone has ever experienced anything like this? D: it's been ongoing now for the past few years and I have no idea how to fix it.

But if not, no worries! I know it's not exactly directly an art problem and probably more psychological. Just thought I'd see if anyone else has been in this position.

Either way great thread, I hope more people post!

That's kind of how I am... ALWAYS with art I work on that don't have any real purpose to them other than being an art thing! XD I don't think you should feel bad if you put them aside to work on later, even if you don't end up getting back to them. If you try to force yourself to work on them, it's not going to be fun. Because it'll be forced. And working on art should be fun!
(Sometimes I surprise myself and actually DO get back to working on a wip I left in the dust like... YEARS ago on a night I might feel super inspired or something and happen to stumble upon it again hehe!)

That's probably why I like working on comics so much though, and why they take up all my art time. Since the point of comics it to tell stories and each page is a continuing story that's being told - it's like got its own little motivation purpose to be finished.

Also things like working on art for friends! Because you're working on them knooowing it's to show a certain someone or a group of someones. And that they''re waiting for it.

The only time I work on random drawing ideas is usually only when I'm suddenly inspired and feeling that impulse to work on them! Which is also probably why I draw things so fast... 'cause I know from the moment I start it, I have to try to finish it in the SAME day otherwise It'll probably neeever get finished XD

This is probably bad advice, if it can even be considered advice. But it's just my personal experience with art and more like a "I feel ya there" buddy type thing haha.

Would it help to start posting your wips? It seems like a little thing but sometimes just seeing other people be excited about your work might give you that motivation bump to finish...?

But really, don't worry about finishing everything. Share sketches and rough work. (A lot of my finished pieces started off really rough and I just happened to decide to toss some quick colours on/clean it up a wee bit, and then I ended up finishing it...like this one, for example. Sometimes it's not the pics you plan on finishing from the start that end up being the most appealing and fun to work on.)

And just... draw every day, even if it's ugly or stupid or super rough; even if it's only a fanart or a gift. Drawing every day will get you back in the mood, and help improve your speed, which will make it easier to finish things without losing interest C: (and as for your own characters... maybe try posting them in the intro topic and doing some Q&As? I find that I'm most inclined to draw whatever characters I'm thinking about a lot, so I guess... revisit old inspirations, do some worldbuilding, answer character surveys.... or sit down and write!)

(anyway yes I definitely know the no-motivation feeling and it sucks, but at this point if it's been years you WILL need to push yourself at first until you get back into the rhythm. take it easy and don't worry about creating masterpieces right away c: )

Thanks for the advice, that is helpful! Yeah, maybe I'll consider sharing some WIPs or sketches sometime.

I actually have a lot of watercolour paintings I've finished, so that's something I guess; I just don't share them (no scanner). They're nothing exciting, just animals from references and stuff for practice, but in general I just love painting and find it super relaxing.

I might try switching up the technique I've been using digitally too... maybe try doing more lineless art, because that's the part I hate the most and often give up or get bored. I don't think I ever have fun doing lineart. I just want to hurry up and get to the colouring/painting part. I like sketching, and I like painting, but the in between is such a pain that maybe I should reconsider the way I'm doing it...

Anyway, thanks for giving me something to think about! I agree, I really will have to push myself to get past this.

And Sky, that does help too, thank you! It's some relief to know I'm not totally alone in this. ^^; And you're right... for me, art is just a hobby I do for fun, so if it stops being fun, then it sort of loses its purpose.

Even photos of art can come out fairly decent, and a lot of times libraries have scanners anyone can use for free. C: You definitely shouldn't be shy about posting those watercolours due to subject matter.

And just putting this out there linearts were my least favourite part of a picture for the longest time. It took a lot of experimentation before I landed on a technique I liked. (I still hate doing them digitally or outside my chosen medium but it's a start? Finding something that works for you is key even if it's limited... if you hate that part of the process then it's time to seek alternatives.)
Other thing worth noting: digital paintings were also hard for me and the best thing I did to improve was... start pchatting actually xD the combination of watching better artists' techniques, the simple toolset, and the general no-pressure environment really helped me to improve.

Okay, you've inspired me... I'll have to post one of my watercolours here sometime. It feels weird because I've never shared them with anyone before! But you're right, I can't really use the scanner thing as an excuse when even my phone camera works alright. I could find a way if I really wanted. ^^;

And I agree about the lineart. I'm going to do some experimentation until I find something that works better for me. 

Thanks for the advice though! Maybe I should try looking into this pchatting thing too...

ok here

I can't tell if the anatomy's actually off or if I've just been staring at it too long <_< (I've redlined myself a few times and it looked okay when it was just the outline...?)

also should I colour this I can't decide halp

(Edited, because my explanations aren't that great and are even worse if I miss words)
I wouldn't say there's something completely off with the anatomy as the readability is pretty much there. However, I would say that his torso veers toward a different direction than *from his hips downward?
It really could just be how the shadow on the clothing makes one perceive the body placements in the different areas*?
For example, the area where is butt is supposed to be doesn't have a silhouette to suggest that there is a butt there. But there's fabric to suggest that there is one?
I'm not exactly sure, because it could really be preference--like the wind is blowing the fabric that way and his butt could just be flat haha.
The feet mighhht be angled up too high, but that could also be attributed to how the terrain is stationed.
Other than that I don't really see an issue with the anatomy. Is there a certain area that you see as being strange?

This is one of my favorite pieces that I've seen you post in the forums. I really love the atmospheric perspective. There's a pretty subtle dominate pathway as well. I'm sure it was intentional as a shadow, not sure if it was intentional as a dominate pathway. Either way, it looks awesome. The contrast in the hair and the face/ears is absolutely gorgeous.

If you would like to see some of my general redlines in order to get to my conclusions, I can screenshot them for you too :)

I actually enjoy it as it is. I probably wouldn't color it, however, color could add another element and make the piece stronger. I think it's already quite strong as is.
Augh lengthy post.