How to acquire the self-motivation to learn art

TerrorMan

I'm currently learning some art. I plan to force myself to study for 2 to 3 hours every day, but I feel sleepy every time I persist for 15 minutes. Art is just too
boring for me. How do you manage to keep painting every day?

kuligs2

TerrorMan if you dont want to, then there is no cure.. you need passion... i too lack the skills and patience and also time.. busy with life and all the garbage that comes with that.

But Sometimes you get that spark, and you just go with it.

If you're not that into it, you cant force yourself to do it.. you will just waste time..

One trick that helped me progress (not in arts, but in general) maybe do quick challenges? Like give yourself 1h to complete a task no matter what, and then look at the result.. like a time trial type game.. you do speed run and then see what score you got. And then see over time how much you progressed..

This helped me to get into the coding and now i found myself here.

Toxe

TerrorMan Well, do you have an interest in art and feel like you want to do it or do you feel like you have to do it? If you have to force yourself maybe it's just not for you.

xyz

TerrorMan but I feel sleepy every time

Don't eat carbs for breakfast.

Other than that, treat it like a job. You do your job even if you're sleepy. Find an authority figure to order you what to do every day i.e. enroll into a structured practice program for beginners with a well defined daily schedule.

Draw on paper, not on a computer.

Don't draw skulls if you can't draw a box. It'll frustrate the hell out of you... and make you sleepy 🐱

Tomcat

TerrorMan How do you manage to keep painting every day?

I have another suggestion. Buy an expensive good tablet (Wacom or like mine — ONYX BOOX Tab X C) and regret about the money spent will make you use it as often as possible.

Paper is inexpensive and portable. There's sense of freedom in not needing to drag along several thousand dollars worth of precious digital equipment to practice a simple fundamental thing like drawing. You can take a cheap, low commitment sketchbook wherever you go.

I disagree. I feel like my tablet paid for itself a long time ago. But for sure — I don't have to rush to the store when I run out of another pack of paper, which saves a lot of time and nerves.

And I have a small (relatively) e-book (is already outdated, but quite working), which I carry with me almost all the time (just as a book) and which allows me to make sketches.

kuligs2

xyz The draw on paper.. why? Can you explain?

Muscle memory comes to mind, sure, its more "realistic" feeling, but you loose the undo/redo option. Maybe that is some sort of discipline to teach you how not to screw up otherwise there are far greater consequences than on PC where its not a mistake but a happy accident, one click and its fixed.

I used to scribble on papers, but overtime lost interest because of lack of discipline. Hence the speed run method. You are racing against the time, with a clear goal.

I remember in school (not an art school) there was a guy who could draw like its a photograph.. i cant wrap my head around.. i cant even draw a perfect circle and this guy just does it like its nothing.. Like taking a picture but with pencil and from memory

xyz

kuligs2 The draw on paper.. why? Can you explain?

Because it's better in all kinds of ways.

It's direct. No latency. Remember that drawing on a digital device is just a simulation of the real thing. With classic tablets the drawing doesn't even appear under your stylus. That's weird and alienating if you think about it. It'll connect the skill neurons in your brain in a "non-natural" way. Not to mention the constant need to "zoom" in and out, which is extremely weird and disorienting, making it hard to keep up with scale awareness. This it the cause of one of biggest pain points for every beginner - hyperfocus on unnecessary detail while neglecting the "big picture".

Depending on undo will make you insecure. It enforces computer slave mentality.
Paper is much better for developing confidence.

There's tactile and visual feedback that can vary a lot for each paper/utensil combination. That's exciting. It offers endless exploration; paper tooth ranging from super smooth to very coarse, tinted papers, pencils hard and soft, wooden or mechanical, charcoals natural or compressed, sharpened point, dull point, crayons, inks, fountain pens, fineliners, brushpens, markers, acrylic markers... With digital your always rub the same heartless plastic against another piece of plastic. It's boring and makes one sleepy, as witnessed by the OP 🙂

Paper is inexpensive and portable. There's sense of freedom in not needing to drag along several thousand dollars worth of precious digital equipment to practice a simple fundamental thing like drawing. You can take a cheap, low commitment sketchbook wherever you go. That way you can practice when you're bored instead of being bored by practice.

Toxe

kuligs2 but you loose the undo/redo option

There is actually value in that.

xyz Paper is inexpensive and portable. There's sense of freedom in not needing to drag along several thousand dollars worth of precious digital equipment to practice a simple fundamental thing like drawing.

True. On the other side there is the scare of the pristine, empty piece of paper. 😉

DaveTheCoder

xyz There's tactile and visual feedback that can vary a lot for each paper/utensil combination.

Harlan Ellison preferred to use a manual (non-electric) typewriter, long after they were considered obsolete.

xyz

Toxe True. On the other side there is the scare of the pristine, empty piece of paper.

A proven countermeasure is to use cheap printer paper or a school notebook until you outgrow this childish fear.

xyz

DaveTheCoder xyz There's tactile and visual feedback that can vary a lot for each paper/utensil combination.

Harlan Ellison preferred to use a manual (non-electric) typewriter, long after they were considered obsolete.

Poor analogy. Are you trying to imply that "analog" drawing tools are now considered obsolete? According to whom? Pencils and pens along with hammers and axes will never become obsolete. Those tools are just too, well... primal. You might not need to ever use a hammer in your pampered existence but that doesn't make it obsolete.

In any case, the context is learning to draw. Any drawing instructor worth their salt will tell you that, for a beginner, practicing on paper is preferable to practicing digitally.

DaveTheCoder

xyz Poor analogy.

I didn't expect you to understand.

xyz

DaveTheCoder I didn't expect you to understand.

State it clearly instead of talking in riddles and then acting like your correspondents are stupid for "not understanding it". That's just fucking silly.

CorgiCabal

I would second drawing on paper for a while.

Also Podcasts are a natural complement to doing art. And they help avoid getting sleepy.

MikeCL

2-3 hours is a lot if you're not that interested in it. Here's my 2 cents:

Consistency is important, so instead of dreading 3 hours every day, make it 1 hour. So it's easier to pick it up every day.
Learn the fundamentals first. Pick one topic, color theory, perspective, shapes, composition etc.
Read and study the topic, then get to practice.
Learn how to draw simple shapes like boxes and spheres. This is how artists/designers think in 3d space. From that box, you can carve out shapes like a body, a car, a building, etc. So, spend that hour just drawing a box in different angles (once you've learned how drawing perspective works).
This might sound silly, but learning how to draw a straight line between 2 points, or a relatively round circle in one mechanical stroke with your arm, is actually important.

There's ton's of free tutorials if you do a quick search on youtube. But here's a book from a designer I really like

But if discipline is an issue for you, then as @xyz mentioned, enroll to school or a course that will force the discipline. Another advantage is having other people around you in the same position as you that can really help keep you motivated.

For learning, I also recommend pen and paper. For several reasons.

It's actually harder to get used to a drawing tablet as there's a disconnect between your pen and the medium (this also goes for the size being different in dimensions, your surface area vs what you see on your screen)
Using a tablet gives you a lot of flexibility, but for learning, this is not always a good thing. It makes you take cntrl z for granted. Traditional drawing will restrict you to limits, and as a result, will make you think about the lines you draw a lot more. It might seem slower at first, but this process will make you a lot faster and precise in the long run as you will build up confidence and make fewer errors.
When learning how to draw, you don't want to get distracted by all the things digital tools bring you. The disconnect and strange feeling with a digital tablet, software and driver issues, learning hotkeys .etc. Pen and paper, it's as basic as it gets, no distractions.

Gowydot

TerrorMan force myself to study for 2 to 3 hours every day, but I feel sleepy every time

I don't believe forcing yourself is a "healthy" way to learn art, you gotta be motivated and inspired first. Try looking at art style of the subjects that you're interested in (game/animation art style..etc) and telling yourself this is what you want to achieve. Hype yourself up first basically.

Then just draw, seriously doesn't matter good or bad. In fact the best thing about art is there is no good or bad art technically. This is all about you, this is gonna be your art style.

Look at this example

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Memphis

So many things wrong technically, arms too big head too small, not to mention many people hates it but in the end who cares. It's a style choice someone somewhere made and it became popular.

If you still feel "bad" about your drawing then just trace it off from whatever you want to draw. Artists will say this is a wrong way to learn (and it's true) but for a total beginner I think it is a quick way to practice seeing the shape/form of the object. You can stop tracing once you understand it. Try trace a skull on one paper and draw without tracing on another paper then compare between the two. You can see why it's "bad" and where to fix it.

Also listen to your fav music while you draw helps.

Remember: Hype yourself up and just draw.

MikeCL

I might also add a more personal story that isn't about art, but more about transition. It could be applied to learning new skills and how to be motivated.

I picked up art as a kid (as a lot of us do), then discovered 3D graphics as a teenager, and that lead to a career in games and VFX. That was my dream job back then so it was easy to stay motivated (I was obsessed with it).

I was not a fan of programming. But as I got more senior in my artistic path coupled with working in a digital and highly complex industry, picking up scripting made me up my game in my artistic craft. I got more and more technical over time as it was beneficial for me to create my own tools for Maya, 3D Studio Max, XSI/Softimage, After Effects .etc. Eventually I got more involved in studio pipelines and workflows. It was never intended for me to go that path, but I was/am so passionate about creating a great product so it, over time, became less about my craft and more about the end results.

I then discovered entrepreneurship and got passionate about creating my own products and had lots of ideas for new startups. I still didn't consider myself a programmer, so I always tried to partner with someone. The story with a new venture always ended in the same way. I found someone great, we clicked. They loved the idea. We got to work. Months pass by and we worked our asses off in the beginning. Things started off well. As time pass by, I continue my obsession with the venture, but partner starts to loose interest. I continued to work my ass off, but the partners productivity eventually dropped down to 0. Eventually the entire venture dies.

After a few attempts, I started to see a pattern. I teamed of with great people, but being an entrepreneur and becoming your own boss takes a very special kind of person and motivation. Most people want to get a stable job, clock in and out and then off to have free time. They love the idea of building something of their own, they just don't want to put in the work over a longer period of time if they don't see an immediate reward. So things starts good, but then the "honeymoon phase" starts to veer off and the work starts to become boring.

I got really frustrated by this and had to think hard about how not to end up in the same situation again. So I learned software engineering and architecture, learned computer science. Then I thought, how can I accelerate my learning? Best way is to put yourself in a pressured situation where you are forced to learn fast. My answer to that was to pivot my career. I left the creative entertainment industry to work in IT. I became a dev fulltime. Having a job with deadlines and stake really forced me to take it super seriously and I could surround myself with people far better than me. I then over time learned to really appreciate software and the benefits/freedom it brings.

So my point with the story is, find what your drive to learn art is. focus on that. If you don't like art, then what is the other motivating factor? Is it to create pretty games? Is it to be able to communicate your ideas better? There are tons of great benefits to being descent at drawing.

My attitude is, if I have a goal I'm passionate about, I'll learn and become good at whatever it takes to get there.

kuligs2

MikeCL My attitude is, if I have a goal I'm passionate about, I'll learn and become good at whatever it takes to get there.

this applies to everything.
I too have learned "scripting" due to necessity to resolve things in my professional work which does not ask to do anything programming related. This helped me to take the strain off myself and let the computer do the work for me 😃.

I had a goal and i made it work, THe result wont happen instantly, it took me atleast 3 years to perfect to the point i stopped adding updates to the things i made so that they work as i intended them to work.

And with this i too was passionate in my school days, but just like with anybodys life, life has other things for you, so i just did my time, slave wage, until im in a position of stable income and some free time where i can focus on my wants.

The path to success is slow, but you have to "just do it". Little by little, just like investment, it grows exponentially 🙂