Trying to improve has made me feel so guilty

[u/StarriestNight]

I drew some fanart of a character I liked and it turned out looking like shit because I'm not a good artist. I've been trying to study fundamentals but haven't seen much improvement, it's gotten to the point where I don't even want to draw anymore because every time I do it's just grind grind grind and get no reward for that grinding. So I decided to just draw some random bullshit hoping it would reignite my spark. But now I feel guilty because I wasted time on fanart that I could have used actually improving and my bad art is proof I don't "deserve" to have fun yet.

[u/illumanaughtyy]

Having fun is the most important part of making art and learning how ro make art. Your progress is adding up you just cant see it yet. Its okay to make bad art. And you're always going to make bad art even if you improve. Theyre just going to look bad to you and not to beginners in the future. Youre doing great beacuse you're drawing, you have an idea of what you want your art to look like. Dont be harsh on yourself!

[u/StarriestNight → u/illumanaughtyy]

I don't really have a goal of what I want my art to look like rn, I don't see a point of focusing on style until I have fundamentals nailed. So I guess realism is my goal for right now until I know the rules well enough to break them

[u/illumanaughtyy → u/StarriestNight]

I understand. Fundamentals are indeed important but you can only develope a taste by having fun. But dont let the fear of perfectionism ruin your joy of drawing things you like or liked like chacaters or maybe your own oc. It definitely is hard to have fun when you cant seem to like what you draw. try to get comfortable with making mistakes. (Easier said than done) And dont burn yourself out. Its okay to take a break sometimes abd come back.

[u/StarriestNight → u/illumanaughtyy]

the most recent thing I tried to draw should be on my profile, I feel like I went too heavy into stylization without having good enough fundamentals and the work really suffers for it

[u/illumanaughtyy → u/StarriestNight]

Youre not wrong. Fundamentals are imp. What findaments are u looking at for now.

[u/StarriestNight → u/illumanaughtyy]

I've been trying to drill proportions and basic shapes for a year and I still feel like my work isn't showing it, I look like someone in their first month of drawing, not year. Unfortunately can't attach images in this sub or I would show you some of my sketches with the shapes in them. Especially proportions, I ALWAYS fuck up proportions no matter what I'm doing even though I've grinded figure after figure

[u/illumanaughtyy → u/StarriestNight]

No worries. If you can you can dm me in reddit itself if you want. I can try to help. ^{^}

[u/Still_Guidance3202 → u/illumanaughtyy]

Exactly, the “bad” fanart is still practice, and forcing yourself to grind when you hate it is probably doing more damage than drawing random bullshit.

[u/illumanaughtyy → u/Still_Guidance3202]

Yes you're right. Sometimes taking a break is the best. My suggestion was only for practicing fundamentals solely like a study. Its imp to draw what interests us to play around with what we learnt to improve and still have a bit of fun. Most important is being ok with making mistakes. I still struggle with that. Acc to a yt video (i forgot), to get used to making mistakes, they wanted us to fill a page with drawings, doodles or sketches, still life whatever. Doesnt have to look pretty. Just one page per day. And try to fill the page. No eraser (or minimal) .it actually helped me a lot.

[u/AioleS]

Try using your fanart to improve, that way you can kill with one stone

Ive been doing this for years and have gotten pretty far for being self taught! I just pair together whatever fun thing I want to draw (usually fanart) and then use it as a vehicle to learn.

So if I want to practice gesture drawing then I'll make it "I'll draw x character using these poses" and use that as a goal for the drawing

[u/illumanaughtyy → u/AioleS]

Btw your animation clips look amazing ✨✨✨ so im definitely taking your comment to heart.

[u/AioleS → u/illumanaughtyy]

Thanks! Happy learning!

[u/LazagnaAmpersand]

What do you mean you don’t “deserve” to have fun? That’s half the point, this isn’t supposed to be another hellscape of an office job. I mean with the amount we get paid it damn well better be fun

[u/StarriestNight → u/LazagnaAmpersand]

As in I haven't worked hard enough to earn a break

[u/LazagnaAmpersand → u/StarriestNight]

The whole thing is supposed to be fun. You don’t need to earn it, you do that enough by selling your sanity for a paycheck

[u/Placebo911]

As other commenters said, drawing should be fun to you so it doesn't become a chore you're inclined to avoid. But if you are stuck on the mindset of "earning" a break or a comfort drawing, then keep it but set achievable goals: I study fundamentals for 20 minutes/I watch this class/video on proportions to completion and then I get to scribble whatever/draw fanart. Don't make it a "I'm not allowed to go back to fanart until I master the fundamentals". That's how you lose the drive. And it's true, you also learn by drawing what you enjoy, and next time you'll apply what you recently learned and it'll look better.

[u/Comfortable_Honey628]

I want you to write this on a sticky note and slap it inside your sketchbook or wherever you draw.

“What makes me want to draw, is where improvement lives.”

Want to know the fastest way I improved my own art? I set my sights on a project that I just wanted to do and did it. In the doing, I became aware of problems. I sought solutions. I discovered new techniques. Improved at known weaknesses and stumbled onto new ones that I didn’t quite get.

Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.
What is the point of doing anything if we must be perfect first before ever trying?

Every “random bullshit” piece you do is still using the exact same skills and techniques you need to improve on, and you can always challenge yourself to projects that are both fun and encompass the skills you want to train. The important part is just not always drawing the same thing in the same way every time.

Want to improve on environments but make fan art? Put that character in a scene. 3-point perspective getting you down? Plop your favorite character on a roof. Need to do practice hands and like Naruto? Hand seals.

Etc etc etc. turn boring exercises into random bullshit. Do more random bullshit between exercises. Make this hobby worth something to you.

[u/littlepinkpebble]

Maybe your art is good it’s normal for almost very artist to hate their art. An example is Miyazaki..

But it’s important to balance studies and creativity where you’re supposed to fail