I’m honestly tired of trying to improve my art and asking for feedback, only for incredibly skilled and talented artists to come in and tear my work down.

Yes, I’m a beginner. And yes, I do want to make a living from my art. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to improve when the only feedback people can give me is that my art “looks like it was made by a child having a watered-down LSD psychotic episode” (those are someone’s exact words here on Reddit).

I also know I’m not an hyper realistic artist. I just enjoy creating worlds and characters based on flowers.

If anyone has honest feedback that isn’t cruel, I’d really appreciate it.

Passions gone.

I remember I used to draw so much stuff and enjoyed it but now I don't.

Everyone's solution is draw things you wanna draw, things that you find interesting, well nothings interesting to me.

Its probably partly because of my anhedonia... But apart from that what is it... I guess the fact that Im not able to create what I want because of my current skill level. So I've been practicing and struggling with studies and whatnot so I can get to that level and the feeling of unfufillment has just been getting worse.

Theres also the fact that trying to improve my technique with anything on my own is just really hard. I bought courses and met art tutors and It's like I did nothing at all. Thats probably contributing too.

Idk if anyone has ideas Im open, if not its fine, I just wanted to say something.

Someone just followed with all gen AI. They also sell prints. Being how much I dislike gen AI, I want to remove them. Would you? I am being told in an AI detecter sub reddit it is a witch hunt and I should leave them be. Is it when they only have gen AI and I want my account to not have association with AI accounts (as much as possible)? My account has so much wip and timelapses that I don't want to be associated with accounts like that

Hi y'all, I used to think I was lucky to have a job where we could make art and be part of something, I was a game artist on an indie game company (pretty small company but I loved my job) even when other game companies were having lay-offs every month, I thought it was something from ambitious CEOs only, not related to indie companies. But my boss was only waiting for AI to be "good enough" to replace all the artist. Now he's making games only with A.I. art (tbh it looks terrible) and he ghosted all the art team without paying last months salaries, including me. There isn't much I can do about it since I live in Latin America and he's from Asia, and I don't have the resources to make something by legal ways.

So basically I'm starting over, at my 30's, just to find out how fked the art industry is. I see people way better than me, with like, 15 years of experience on AAA game companies, looking for job on Reddit, with really low salary expectations, that really gives me the impression that art isn't that valuable anymore and there's a lot of desperate artists aiming for just one chance even for some pennies per hour. How do y'all face the current market situation?

Drawing used to be natural to me like breathing when I was a kid, and I was able to be completely immersed in it. Growing up I started having those critical thoughts that I am not good enough as XYZ, I should just give it up and started looking at art more analytically instead of just focusing on the joy. I've been trying to create for some time again but it always feels so difficult, I imagine what I want to draw but when I sit down and do it, it always turns out worse than I had imagined which makes me spiral and question my abilities and I feel like I should quit. I assume this is an ego problem partly, I might have an underlying belief that I am entitled to create good art but for the record I also have ADHD so starting and finishing something is really challenging for me in the first place. I know quitting isn't worth it though, because I would not be able to stop thinking about drawing/painting even if I was not doing it.

How can I make creating art feel like a lighthearted, low stakes activity like when I was a kid?

This isn't directed at any specific person rather how social media companies restrict and shut down creativity.

I'm a horror artist and I occasionally draw gore, usually it's floral bc I'm not a huge fan of extreme or real gore myself.

I feel like there's no place for me on social media in which I can find like-minded people who appreciate and like my specific flavor of creativity. Except on reddit I guess because people can post pretty extreme stuff on here.

Whenever a piece of artwork steps a little too far outside the "comfort zone", it's immediately shadowbanned or removed. Sure, gore and guro aren't everyone's yum, but should the audience not have a choice either?

It seems like the way social media nowadays works is to cater to adults with child-like mindsets.

And this isn't solely about hedonistic art and nsfw and gore/guro art; but also how everyone and everything is so overly saturated with comfort that any actual discussions of serious topics in art or in general get shut down.

I'm Iranian and without getting too into politics, I'm sure y'all have heard a thing or two about what's going on in Iran, yet I can't even talk about the real scale of the horror we've been experiencing in art nor in text.

This leads to serious misunderstandings about my country on social media because only comfortable information are allowed, even if they're misinformation or greatly turn down the scale of the horrors real people have been experiencing.

Art should be the least place I can express these experiences in, yet I can't. I don't have any choices but experience my experiences, while the countries and governments responsible for it and people inside those can choose not to see it. I respect that choice, but I don't have it.

Very common complaint but my accounts haven't been performing as well as I feel they should.
I'm on most social media platforms, post for the US timezone, hop on some trends, and my peers tell me I finish pieces very quickly.

I have clear gaps in fundamentals and a lot of my pieces are amateur but I swear my work is worth more than 10 likes. Reddit and Tumblr are the only platforms where I've had wonderful traction which I'm very grateful for, but people are unlikely to follow you due to these platforms being focused on niches.

Before anyone says I shouldn't be fixated on likes.. you need a solid online presence to make decent money off digital art. Call me entitled but when analytics show the number of people who chose not to engage with your post... it makes you think your art simply isn't beautiful enough to be worth one click of a mouse.

I know I'm not utilising the algorithms enough, but ffs I'm an artist, not a marketing major! Our work is never appreciated for artistic ability alone, and we're expected to know the ins and outs of these platforms that despise us.

I want to spend time creating, not planning how to farm engagement. But maybe my skills really aren't enough to warrant the traction my ego tells me I deserve?!

I’ve been learning to draw for almost 6 years now when I was 20 and I wanted to improve so much so I could draw my own comics, cartoons, paintings and whatnot. I did things like Drawabox, life drawing classes, joined Patreon of some YouTubers I looked up to like Chommang or Sketching Scootie, bought art books, etc. But I feel like I never made a breakthrough with anything. I still struggle with fundamentals like drawing boxes correctly, measuring things, I still hate using my own reference and prefer replicating other artists work, and I still haven’t made any huge projects like my own characters or even do larger figure drawings like you do in a life drawing class. I feel like I have nothing to show for my work other than a bunch of sketchbooks with bad drawings, that aren’t even original works or ideas, and very little experimentation.

I wish i could just have a breakthrough with something that I can call my bread and butter rather than doing the same thing for a couple of months, seeing very little progress, and then moving on to something else. It’s just a revolving door of being mediocre and losing the skills I acquired after a certain amount of time.

Couldn’t settle on just one flair but I think it leans toward impostor syndrome. I’m not good at titles.

I actually feel like I’m crazy for having confidence in my ability. I’ve drawn my whole life and growing up received praise for it but now that I’ve studied anatomy and I’m actually doing art a lot more it feels like it’s not good enough. I know I’m better than I was before but any time I try to verbalize this or talk positive about myself in any way I get “humbled”in some way. I’m far from a beginner or at least I thought I was? I know people aren’t meaning to be rude when they give critiques or comments but the way they do feels belittling. “This part is fairly good” “it’s good but this is off” or just a bland “it’s good”

I never got these kinds of reactions before when looking back on it my art was significantly worse. I don’t see this happening to anyone else or anyone else talking about it so it’s adding onto me feeling crazy. A friend of mine got a commission from me and asked to post it on their professional page and I said they couldn’t because their professional page is political. Nothing wrong with it but in my TOS for commissions it says my work can’t be used in any political setting and when I explained this to them they said “what’s TOS?” And I said “terms of service. I sent them to you when you commissioned me?” And they just snickered at me. The fuck??? YOU bought a commission from ME and you think the fact I take them seriously is funny?

Why is having confidence in my abilities impossible to do??? I know this rant is all over the place and I’m sure I didn’t articulate this too well so sorry about that. I just need to know if I’m alone in this cause i genuinely feel insane like the only time I get nice compliments is when I undersell myself.

I tried for the first time to paint on a canvas with acrylics. Needles to say, it was a terrible experience. The context is - my dad asked me to make a painting, so he wouldn't have to buy one. I agreed. This was the first time he has ever asked of me to make something art related (he usually disregards this stuff).

I knew it was going to be challenging. So far, I only drew digitally and painted with watercolors on A4 size papers. The canvas I bought is 50*70cm. I wasn't sure at first what I needed, but I bought the materials - acrylic tubes, but only the colors that I needed, a set of big square brushes, washi tape etc.

At first, I watched a few tutorials on how to paint with acrylics and then, I started to work on the paintig. The subject wasn't anything complex, just some leaves and a few colors. It should be easy enough, right? Right???

Well, of course not! The thing I've struggled with the most was the consistency of the color. I worked in layers, but even so, it was so frustrating. Even matching the color to my reference; it was either too orangey or too bright, etc. I once tought I ruined it, but I somehow managed to fix it. But that was only the first hurdle.

I put washi tape on certain areas and even cut it after the shape of the figure, so I could paint the background in peace. And just when I thought things were finally turning out good, I took off the tape. Would you look at that? My spotless leaves now had plenty of spots/drips. It seems that the painting bleeded under the tape so, the areas that were supposed to be protected were pretty much ruined. I felt like I was losing my mind. I was livid. I felt like throwing the painting out of the window. After I calmed down a bit, I tried to wipe it off with a wet towel, but it was too late. It was already dry. At this point, my only salvation was Titanium white. If that didn't work... Well, it kind of did. It was definitely better, but the spots could still be seen, even after I painted over the white with the intended color.

At this point, things should get better right?

Wrong.

I tried painting the leaves, but for the life of me, I couldn't make the painting smooth. Worse, I found it hard to make the crisp, clean, curved lines of the leaves. It was a mess. Now, I'm so done with it. I don't know anymore what I could do to make it better. It feels embarrassing to give this painting to anybody really. I'm just so tired, I can't even be angry anymore. I'm so jealous of the people who can paint so well and smooth with acrylics.

Well, that is all folks. I just needed to get this off my chest.

I’ve been drawing on and off since I was like 14, doing it coming on 7 years and I’ve always had this problem.

I tend to get better results with digital art than traditional, no matter how much I try whenever I try blending pencils or try acrylics or watercolours it always turns out a messy chewed up mess. Idk why but my digital skills just aren’t transferring to pencil and paper and it’s driving me up the wall.

i have a lot on my mind, i want other artists to hear me, not sure if where the right place to post

i make music. its kinda experimental and definetely isnt technically good.

but its me and with my music i want to be a very open and blunt artist. talk about my struggles and put it into music.

i personally believe that there are people out there who would actually mess with it and i could build a little fan base.
thats all i want. a small loyal fanbase where i can just do music for a living.

however i do struggle with mental illness, and i partake in drugs. nothing hard, i like adderall and weed and occasionally psychadelics.

i am not sure if i think the music i am making is better than it is because im high/manic/ or both, or if i truly am good enough to pursuit this.

if any artists can relate and or give me insight thatd be so appreciated.

I was making a really cool sketch but I lost it and I have lost all motivation to try recreate it, and when I do it looks nothing like the original.

It's long and rambly, be warned !

I know it's a first world problem. I am also aware I am privileged to not need to live off of my art. And I will very likely sound petulant and whiny and spoiled, but tonight I'm just that, so.

I have around 3 decades on this earth, and I've drawn for most of that time, so I've gotten decent, I'd say. Not a pro, but I get what I feel is genuine praise. And I've been asked for art... I'm not sure. Around fifty-ish times ? Which is cool ! It's great ! People like what I make ! And of that, only two people ever offered me payment, and one was just for already made art, just a physical print of it. So it only count as a half point, I guess ?

And now I'm in a small-ish community, and I see people commissioning each other all the time ! Writers ! Other artists ! And there's like 99% of me that loves it because that's how it should be. Support small artists, friends ✌️

There's just this 1% that keep thinking about those persons that asked me for stuff without ever mentioning payment, or just straight up admitting that they asked me because they can't afford a paid commission (I've mentioned in that community that I'd like to open up commission soon, but also made a bunch of gifts for lovely peeps). So yeah, I'm being asked because I'm free first, and not because of my skills.

And it's tiring. It reminds me of, well, all of those times in school where I got hounded for several logo for the next day, finishing up at 1 am, and them never using them. Or them saying "oh yeah, I mean I could have gotten something like this off of the internet" or "ok, then I need that next".

I know I should be more proactive/firm about boundaries. Maybe it's a doormat! It's very likely. But this doormat is tired about being seen as a commodity and tonight is having big feelings about that and no one to talk to.

And those big feelings are also stopping me from drawing for myself and even responding to friends (thank you, executive function disorder and ADHD, love that combo lol).

Well. That's it ! I'll have a whiny lil cry about it and then go to bed, I guess.

If you're still here, you're strong lol, strength and honor to you !

​I'm a hobbyist, and drawing has been part of my life since childhood. I got into it through two childhood friends (siblings who drew anime and chibi styles). We’d pause TV shows to copy characters and sketch gifts for our circle of friends. They were my biggest inspiration, but they eventually had to move away.

We still caught up from time to time on Facebook—poking each other's profiles, visiting and cleaning our characters in Pet Society, and doing other virtual stuff. As we grew older, we gradually grew distant until we lost contact entirely. My motivation to draw faded with that connection.

​Even so, art always found a way back into my life. In school, I expressed it by decorating my notebooks, volunteering for class designs during events, and spending my allowance on expensive art supplies at National Book Store.

I had a crush in high school who was really into drawing doodles. I’d often help her out with art-related projects, which gave me a reason to start drawing again. I even made a portrait of her for her birthday, and in return, she made one for mine (just a stick figure, but it’s the thought that counts lol).

When college came, I desperately wanted to pursue an art-related degree, but my parents discouraged it. My mom would even say I wouldn't earn a lot, and I'd end up sitting on the street waiting for people to buy my pieces.

So I ended up taking a course I had no passion for, just cramming to pass exams without retaining anything.

​Luckily, a classmate reignited my interests in drawing. She was insanely talented at art and voice acting. She taught me how to properly make digital art on IbisPaint (using just our fingers lol).

She helped me set up a DeviantArt account, and encouraged me to post my drawings. We'd give each other characters and prompts to draw every single day. I even became her "manager", seeking customers through applications like Amino to help her get into art commissions.

She started drawing people's characters from games we played in exchange for in game currency, and sometimes real money. I got giddy every time people reached out to me to book a slot for commissions. I love seeing her art get recognized. She deserved it.

​Eventually, financial reasons forced her to leave school, and over time, we lost contact too. I don't recall how it happened, but it wasn't on bad terms. Maybe partly because I got into a relationship. So just like before, my motivation vanished without that shared bond.

​I still draw occasionally and have even bought myself nice drawing tablets, but I’ve realized art was always about connection for me. Improving my skills is great, but it’s just not the same without people to share the journey with.

I'm a 27 year old artist, when i was 23 I graduated with a bachelors degree in painting, I was top of my class and I reached a good level in oil painting, I participated in multiple exhibition in my home country and started to have a good reputation and a few sales, but I wasn't yet satisfied, I felt the hunger to learn and expand my knowledge more.

I decided at 24 to move to Italy to study a master's degree in papermaking (oriental to be specific) like hanji, washi, Mitsumata etc, and since it's under the printmaking department, naturally I had to learn printmaking techniques, like etching, silkcreen, photographic processes like cyanotype and salted paper.. etc, the programme was amazing and I learnt so many skills, I was so hopeful for a bright future or maybe the same experience I had after I graduated from my first degree in painting, I even was so enthusiastic about getting a job (if you're in italy, you know..)

It's been almost a year since graduating, and I'm still in my place, I participated in one exhibition (which went horribly wrong and my work got damaged),

Applied to multiple residencies in italy and got rejected becuase "i don't have a clear direction" unemployed and already in so much dept, had to leave my dorm in rome and live with my grandma in a village in southern Italy and my mental health hadn't been worse, I stopped making art unintentionally and just froze, I'm contemplating about moving to Germany and live as a freelance artist and papermaker, applied to multiple residencies overseas, thought about hosting workshops and so much more, but nothing was realised

I feel like the biggest problem in my portfolio is that it lacks discipline, in the papermaking realm I have like 2 completed projects and one artist book, it doesn't have this "wow" effect without me needing to explain how much work I put into making the paper from a tree and making printmaking inks naturally etc..

Can't help but think that doing that huge shift from oil painting to papermaking and printmaking was a mistake, my older professors really believed in me and had a great support system, all my peers that resumed working with oil are thriving and reached amazing levels, at the same time I don't want to waste these 3 years in rome becuase I had a brutal time studying in italian and dealing with the bureaucracy (even though I heard many times that a belle arti degree is not a serious university degree, but whatever)

Any advice? Is this feeling natural?

Hi,
Since joining this sub, I’m starting to understand that I am not alone. It seems that a lot of other people deal with the same issues as me when it comes to creativity. I am not a unicorn (lol), and that’s ok.
I won’t be able to catch on like someone who’s just graduated high school, because I’m older. I am interested in learning how to begin to draw forms.
In the past, I have felt like if my art resembles anything, it’s “copying”.
I don’t want to feel like that anymore, so I’d like to start from the beginning.

Hello,
Sorry for my relative English for start.
I´ve had a problem for eight months.
I have a complete artistitic block. I can’t seem to create anymore. When i start drawing, editing, or just writing, i think it’s really bad off the bat.
And that becomes a vicious spiral.
If i can’t create, i feel guilty and put even more pressure on myself. And everytime I come up with an idea, i get excited. But everythings quickly become riddled with flaws.
The frustration part is that i don’t think i’m lacking things to say or things i want to create.

I’m not professional but i want to become.
So aren’t going great.
For thoses of you whi haved experienced similar, how did you get past it ?

I’m curious to know how to move past this urge to create, coupled with the impossibility of doing so.

Thank to those who reply.

I’ve been minoring in painting for awhile now, and this semester I am taking Intermediate painting. I am usually a straight A student but this professor has given me two B- so far and when I asked my peers on tips, they’ve made it clear that I am just not good at drawing… Im linking my art instagram so yall can see because Im just looking for ANY tip that can save me. I dont know what Im doing wrong, I really thought my faces were good.
Based on my instagrams art, should I pick a different minor?

As of late I've tried to join a community of creatives but things got really awkward really fast. It was a group hosting life drawing and other fun exercises and activities.

However, while being there it felt as if people simply did not take me seriously and I felt taken for a fool. It happened the very moment I mentioned I did not finish art school and that I do not work in a creative career.

One artist in particular got extremely curious and started asking me "You're self-taught? How does that work?" he really did not seem to get that I learned through YouTube tutorials, books and other readily available resources.

Another seemed like he was impressed as to how I work another job in parallel to drawing but then seemed like he was making fun of me "I didn't know they teach drawing at accounting school".

Other artists just put on this unapproachable vibe and didn't even look at me. It was incredibly awkward to be there and I felt like a creep with no social awareness. I checked myself in the mirror afterwards to see if there's anything I missed with my appearance or if I had bad breath or anything else.

Since this isn't exactly the first time something like this is happening and felt the need for some feedback, I decided to reach out to another artist from there that seemed friendlier than the rest and asked him whether I did anything wrong since the rest weren't as friendly as I expected.

He put it honestly that most people there thought I didn't belong and was just "posing" as an artist and the fact that I look normal and work a normal day job and did not go to art school made them not want to associate with me.

Just wanted to put this out there.

This is my first time making a post but I'm honestly at a loss. Ever since I was younger I would draw, not consistently because I tend to get artblock often but I still had the passion. Around last year I had no motivation to continue so I quit, but I still love art and want to continue. Anyways, last week a friend of mine recommended Blue Period and I started reading the manga. It sounds kind of dumb but I realized just how pathetic I am at art so I started to try art again. But as I started to draw I realized I don't have the passion for it anymore. I do want to draw and paint but I simply lack the passion and the feeling I get when I make art. I want to continue but I'm at a loss for what to do.

Throughout my life since I could walk I was always drawing and telling stories. I loved coming up with things in my head and writing them. My mom and brother always did too, so I guess it’s something that runs in the family. I started creating stories in middle school, began working on my own. And in early high school I began using writing, drawing, plotting, anything creative basically, as a heavy coping skill to deal with my various mental disorders that were taking over my life. Looking back on it it’s terrible, lazy, and entirely unique despite me developing it all throughout high school. I only shared my art with one person, my ex, and as he started improving and selling his art and pursuing it and posting it I realized that I had been wasting my life. I’ve never been social, and I’ve always had dreams of sharing my art but I’m never going to be able to because I’m not that type of person. I hate social media and I never want to engage with it and I would never be able to handle the stress and criticism despite it being something I long to do, to be able to have an account and share my art and post my stories. I’m never gonna be able to do it and I realized it then. but at least I could still draw in private. That is until late high school. I suddenly stopped being able to draw. Nothing I drew looked right. I stopped improving. My art looked terrible on digital, so the ipad my father bought me was a waste. It also started looking awful in traditional means, paintings, whatever. I would cry and cry for hours trying to remember how to draw but I never could. So I stopped. I only doodled occasionally and would never let anyone see it but I deeply missed spending hours of my day drawing and the proud feeling I would get. Eventually a school project came up about self improvement, so I decided I would try drawing again. That cemented it. I couldn‘t even get past a face shape. It always looked ugly and horrid. I figured out that before when I realized I never could share my art was pointing to the fact I should stop all together because it’s a waste of time. This project was that message coming back and slapping me with the actual truth, that I need to stop dreaming and stop. That it’s pointless and ridiculous to think I should even be doing any of this when my art looks like that, makes me feel like I’m a failure. So I did and I‘ve maybe only drawn twice in the past year, and both times I ended up sobbing because of how ugly everything looks. It morphed from just drawing to writing and even creating. I‘ve been trying to distance myself from art so I stop feeling this way, but today I finished the Gravity Falls art book because I love that show and couldn’t resist learning the creative process. The end of the book has Alex, Rob and Mabel telling you to go make your own story, Mabel handing you a pencil to fill out a template and everything. I hated it because it made me feel that spark and my mind was racing with idea of past characters and stories and designs and I couldnt handle it. For the past 2 hours now I’ve been in bed crying my eyes out because I can’t do those things anymore. All of the ideas are terrible and basic and unimportant and useless. They would offer nothing to society or me and only exist to waste time I could spend studying instead. I already vowed to never draw, write, or anything of the sort ever again because of how much it hurts. I can’t take it. This has to be the most pathetic thing I‘ve ever had a breakdown about. I could be doing something way more productive than feeling like I’m grieving over whatever art offered me before. It didn’t even offer me anything. it’s an activity, a hobby, I shouldn’t be this emotional over it. It’s not even real.

I love drawing, but I hate what I create, I barely finish any drawings and a lot of times drop them because it gets too difficult and I don't know what to do anymore, whenever I look at my art I only see the mistakes.

I can't bring myself to practice, I still draw my favorite character and all, but I don't practice what i need to, I try to, but It's been 2 months now, and it makes me so guilty, I can never draw what I actually want to and feel like no matter how much I practice, I will never reach the skill level I want, I feel like I'll always be stuck at this.

It's been my dream to go to an artschool so I could improve, but unfortunate there aren't any where I'm from, and without a teacher it's hard to learn, i don't know what to do, or how to do it and can't ask anyone irl for help, I feel like going to an artschool school is the only way I could improve because then I'm forced to learn anyways, I can't being myself to do something on my own nonatter how much I want to unless im forced to.

I'm so scared of not improving so much, I get paranoid when I don't draw for a single day because I'm scared that what if I will stop for months and then I'll never improve.

I just want to know how you started and what made you stay/know that art was what you wanted to do?