What are some strategies to bridge the gap betwee my vision and my work?

[Deleted member 27861]

Okay, so I really would prefer some advice on this one. Any practical advice.

I have all these story ideas in my head, and I want to draw them, but every time I think about the gap between where I am at now skills-wise, and where I need to be at to create my work, there is this sense of dread that washes over me, like, "holy shit how much time have I wasted I need to create these things ASAP." And that's bad, because it's paralyzing. Makes it even harder to get started.

So, I know the obvious solution to it, is to just, little by little, work towards the goal. Just draw the drawing, write the book.

One thing I've realized lately after worrying about the quarantine thing when it initially happened, and after almost becoming a Mormon only to actually DRIVE THEM AWAY BY ACCIDENT, is that I seem to let a lot of things in life distract me from my goals. From a desire for friendship, to desires for a relationship, to trying to find a group to fit into, to this sense of, "obligations" like going to church or working a dead-end job, these things, although I can schedule around them, tend to bog me down and get me uptight about and focused on the wrong things.

Because the truth is, if I were to die tomorrow, would it even matter if I had friends, or a girlfriend, or was in an "in" crowd, or got to see another country? No. What would matter is how I treated the loved ones in my life so far, and what pieces of art I have left behind, and did I leave the world in an arguably better state than I found it.

I've also noticed that I have slightly-conflicting life goals. Being a web-comic artist, and being a computer scientist.

And right now, I gotta tell ya, becoming a computer scientist feels more pressing right now than writing a story. But not much more pressing. Because with that money, I can finally get my own place established somewhere, and focus on my craft and my craft alone.

I know I once kicked around the idea of cutting out all non-essential internet usage. Using the internet only for school, work, online games (gotta have SOME sort of social interactions), and anything related to my artistic pursuits. Now seems to be a good time to do that what with all the constant talk about COVID-19 and all the physical and social isolation.

So what are some strategies to make sure I do that and stay focused?

 

[MFB]

You always answer your own question in your post!
I'm not good at drawing or writing, but I never draw or write.
To be good at something, you have to do it. Often.
For most of us, talent isnt some innate gift we've always had, but something we've crafted and got better and better at.

You're thinking too much. Just do.
Strategies;
When ya wake up set aside an hour.
Say "from 10am-11 am I'm going to write and draw"
Don't give yourself a chance to reason yourself out of it or pussyfoot around.
Don't think, just do. It's only an hour, you can do that. Do it every day.
It may look or read like shit at first, but editing and trimming fat is the difference between good artists/writers and the rest of us. Just get something down, foster your creativity.
You'll get better, you'll feel pride, and you'll want to do more. Just get the ball rolling.

I also think it's important to mention it should be about enjoying the process of something rather than the end result. Enjoying something for the sake of doing it rather than a desired outcome.

 

[Deleted member 27861]

You always answer your own question in your post!
I'm not good at drawing or writing, but I never draw or write.
To be good at something, you have to do it. Often.
For most of us, talent isnt some innate gift we've always had, but something we've crafted and got better and better at.

You're thinking too much. Just do.
Strategies;
When ya wake up set aside an hour.
Say "from 10am-11 am I'm going to write and draw"
Don't give yourself a chance to reason yourself out of it or pussyfoot around.
Don't think, just do. It's only an hour, you can do that. Do it every day.
It may look or read like shit at first, but editing and trimming fat is the difference between good artists/writers and the rest of us. Just get something down, foster your creativity.
You'll get better, you'll feel pride, and you'll want to do more. Just get the ball rolling.

I also think it's important to mention it should be about enjoying the process of something rather than the end result. Enjoying something for the sake of doing it rather than a desired outcome.

Ooh, you know, one of those things you mentioned, trimming the fat, that's pretty much about 50% - 80% of what coding is all about! You put down some code, and then you spend hours debugging it (that is, finding flaws and broken parts and fixing them), and you know, I actually enjoy that process more and more now!

 

[trashswag86]

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

The author is Mormon, but don't let that bias you!
The whole bit on time management, where he has you put things into different boxes of importance is pretty enlightening. More enlightening than it sounds. It's a classic among self help books. You're library would have it, but you're library is probably quarantined.
It might be on the pirate bay.

 

[Deleted member 27861]

It's kind of hard to concentrate at home without doing all of my work when my family is asleep. There's just so many distractions and interruptions at home, and then when I'm not getting interrupted or distracted by family and house things, I begin to have a hard time sitting still and focusing on my work.

It also feels like everything I do at home takes an unnecessarily long amount of time to accomplish. Either due to my own disorganization, or just how disorganized the house is.

I try to wait until my family goes to sleep at 9:30 PM, but by that time, I'm sleepy, and all I really have time and energy for is jerking off, and barely taking a shower and brushing my teeth. And then they're right back up by 4:00 AM.

I guess I could just drug myself to sleep super early tonight and then wake up at 4:00 AM, because my dad's usually busy teaching my little sister school at that hour, but messing with my sleep schedule is risky. The problem with that, is that going to bed by 8:00 PM is nearly impossible unless I just rush everything. Like, if I don't get my shower out of the way by 4:00 PM, there's no way in hell I'm gonna get it done before bed by 8:00 PM because everyone else has to take showers, and brush teeth, and all that.

I'm starting to fall behind on my school work in one class because I just cannot sit still and concentrate when I am at home, and the only other place to go is outside at some college campus about a 30 minute drive from here, and their library is already closed, and the campus may be closed soon because of that fucking virus.

Sometimes this leads to me dicking around with my sleep schedule, going to bed and waking up at all sorts of odd hours, but that only leaves me more stressed, makes it harder to stick to a routine, and makes me feel a bit out of touch with reality. It's really just a bad avoidance strategy.


But here's what I could do: Accept that my family gets up at around 4:00 AM, get up at 4:00 AM as well, MAKE SURE I get at least two hours of work in for each course, then when they're done with school, do as many house chores as possible as quickly as possible.

Then, take a shower no later than 6:00 PM and no earlier than 4:00 PM, and no matter what, make sure I'm in bed by 9:00 PM, no matter what I do or do not accomplish, no matter how loud my folks are, just get to bed by 9:00 PM.. It's not like I've got anywhere else to go, so I might as well take a shower at 4:00 PM. Even if some crazy random bullshit requires me to get dirty, but that's just life.

I just think better at 4:00 AM in the morning. That is, if I get my alone time.

 

[trashswag86]

Yeah, sharing space with others like that can be hard.
Possibly build a little shed? Strictly used for your art.

 

[Deleted member 28239]

Hello, I struggle with this a lot too. Your home life sounds pretty rough right now and that definitely makes it harder to create things. Americans in particular are bad at understanding environmental influence, we tend to underestimate it and blame ourselves.

Anyways, a few things I've learned:

- Don't beat yourself up over not being "productive" enough. Productivity is a culturally instilled idea that does more harm than good. You're not "supposed" to be doing anything. There's nothing you "should" do. Theres things you want to do, things you don't want to do, and things you do. Don't pressure yourself because it just makes you freeze up and never make anything.

- In certain art circles there's an intimidating emphasis on technical skills. It's okay to appreciate technical skills as far as respect for a craft goes, but it's not the end all be all. There's plenty of boring over-rendered sexy elves and space marines on ArtStation that don't make me feel anything, but they sell shitty games with nothing else to offer. And I've seen lots of doodles and notebook margin comics that hit me in the gut. True art is about eliciting an emotional response, or processing the world, or anything else besides being "pretty". So don't stress so much about skill level.

- You already said the solution: just do the damn thing. Everything you make gets you closer to where you want to be. It doesnt have to be perfect, or good, and you dont have to show anybody. Just grab a pen and scrap paper and start making things. You'll eventually figure out what you're trying to say, and what the most effective way to say those things are. On that point-

- There's no end game. There's no finish line. Art is a lifelong endeavor and you should never be comfortable for too long. The nature of the thing is that you're always going to be pushing your own boundaries. It's a constant exploration and learning process that you can't predict. Just like travel: it's the journey, not the destination. If you stand around stressing over where you're gonna be in 5 years and where you want to go and what you want to do, you're never gonna actually go anywhere. Just jump and figure it out along the way.

It's hard because you have to undo a lot of thought processes we kinda take for granted. But it's worth it.

 

[MFB]

- You already said the solution: just do the damn thing. Everything you make gets you closer to where you want to be. It doesnt have to be perfect, or good, and you dont have to show anybody. Just grab a pen and scrap paper and start making things. You'll eventually figure out what you're trying to say, and what the most effective way to say those things are. On that point-

THIS MAAAAAAN!!!!
Talking about showers and living in a house and driving cars and bed times and shit.
Just do it homie! <3
Write your friends a poem, draw you lil sis a picture book, bake your mom a cake.

You're next post in this thread should be something you wrote or drew.
Go!

 

[trashswag86]

100% what Yody said.
The ability to shut off that critical function in your brain is gonna take a lot of short starts and pressing ons. Expect to fail, but don't give up. At some point you'll realize that you regularly get lost in drawing, and outside thoughts aren't as much of a distraction.
Hell, you could even practice some meditation techniques of letting thoughts go, if you wanted.
Music is another good tool, of course. D

 

[Deleted member 24782]

Because the truth is, if I were to die tomorrow, would it even matter if I had friends, or a girlfriend, or was in an "in" crowd, or got to see another country? No. What would matter is how I treated the loved ones in my life so far, and what pieces of art I have left behind, and did I leave the world in an arguably better state than I found it.

We all need friends and girlfriends and to be part of the "in" crowd, whatever your "in" is you need to be in it. These are psychological needs. I agree you don't need to see other countries, or the rest of this one for that matter it's all kind of the same, but that's just nihilist in me. I'm sure you've heard the phrase "Not all those who wander are lost." Well I think "most who wander are lost," in the US anyways.

I'd argue that it doesn't really matter how you treated anyone, or the state of the world, it's only about YOU, YOUR experience and whether or not your satisfied with life and your personal achievements, maybe that inversely relates to your art and how you treat others.

 

[Deleted member 24782]

True art is about eliciting an emotional response, or processing the world, or anything else besides being "pretty". So don't stress so much about skill level.

SO TRUE. It's emotional, visceral, and can't be taught. Fuckin magic!

 

[MFB]

I'd argue that it doesn't really matter how you treated anyone, or the state of the world, it's only about YOU, YOUR experience and whether or not your satisfied with life and your personal achievements, maybe that inversely relates to your art and how you treat others.

I always been fond of this idea and into into philosophies touting this idea.
I know you like to read; if you fancy philosophy try and find some books on Phenomenology.
Some good ideas and interesting schtuff.

 

[Deleted member 27861]

THIS MAAAAAAN!!!!
Talking about showers and living in a house and driving cars and bed times and shit.
Just do it homie! <3
Write your friends a poem, draw you lil sis a picture book, bake your mom a cake.

You're next post in this thread should be something you wrote or drew.
Go!

 

[Deleted member 24782]

View attachment 55019

Is this a Rorschach test?

 

[Deleted member 27861]

Is this a Rorschach test?

When sick at home with the Coronavirus I be like:

I'm not locked in here with you,
you're locked in here with me.

 

[Deleted member 27861]

It's called A Rock and a Hard Place. It kind of looks a bit creepy, now.

 

[MFB]

View attachment 55019

Cool Dood! I likes it! It reminds me of something Basquiat would do. Check him out if you at not seen him. Nice work, now keep at it.

Sorry I am just giving you props on this, Im just seeing it. I been hangin in the COVIDiocy thread. Cmon over. Its great.

 

[Deleted member 27861]

Cool Dood! I likes it! It reminds me of something Basquiat would do. Check him out if you at not seen him. Nice work, now keep at it.

Sorry I am just giving you props on this, Im just seeing it. I been hangin in the COVIDiocy thread. Cmon over. Its great.

He reminds me of a guy I once worked with while I was in SCC and doing disaster relief in Texas. He was with some tribal-based conservation corps, and he also loved to draw cool and crazy art.

 

[MFB]

@Wheat2020 Basquiat is one of my faves!
There's another more contempory artist named Courtney Adams you may like. Same kinda minimal vibe.