really need some help here

[Carys]

i am stuck in a rut! i really need help. i can't get started with any drawings. i have loads of ideas of things that i want to do, but as soon as i sit down to do something then i always think of something else that i just HAVE to do right then or else the sky will fall down - it is terrible!:crying: has anyone else had this experience? how do i get over it?

[mooz49]

Hi Carys ....:wave:
Why not just start with some simple small drawings that aren't too overwhelming or borrow some drawing books from the library to help get you in the mood?
You could also read some of the excellent threads here in the Drawing and Sketching Forum and you will be inspired to draw! :thumbsup:
Take part in the Weekly Drawing Thread and show your attempt at one or more of the photographs posted each week.
Drop into our weekly chat thread in the Drawing Room and get to know some of the regular posters ....one of them, Michael, (a very quiet chap! :rolleyes: ) also lives in South Africa! :thumbsup:
Good Luck! :thumbsup:

[JP papa]

Carys, don’t give in to the urge to put your pencil or brush down because something else seems more urgent!
I did that, and it lasted thirty years, now I can only imagine where my art could have taken me if I had just kept drawing and painting on a regular basis.
Just stay involved like mooz49 suggested and your creative sprit will endure!
Jerry

[Studio-1-F]

i am stuck in a rut! i really need help. i can't get started with any drawings. i have loads of ideas of things that i want to do, but as soon as i sit down to do something then i always think of something else that i just HAVE to do right then or else the sky will fall down - it is terrible!:crying: has anyone else had this experience? how do i get over it?
Gosh! I have always believed that drawing ought to be a joy, not a chore. Maybe your "as soon as i sit down to do something" approach is making it more work and less fun. If you keep thinking of stuff you'd rather be doing -- instead of drawing -- then by all means do those other things! If you force yourself to draw, against your will and even if you'd rather not be drawing, it will show in your art and it sure as heck won't be fun for you.

Just my opinion: Do what you love. Not what you ought.

Jan

[Davkin]

I know exactly how you feel, I fight this same problem constantly. Buy a sketchbook, (I prefer the Canson spiral bound hardcover) and a Twist-erase mechanical pencil. Before you sit down to draw just do a quick sketch to get you in the mood. Check out the Art Journal forum to see what other people are doing with their sketchbooks.

David

[maryinasia]

Step away from the computer... oh, sorry ... that's what I need to do, not you :)

[luicre]

I don`t know about your situation but what sometimes keep me of starting a drawing is the subconscious need to be excellent. It`s better to sketch something, whatever, I love trying to sketch from magazines.

Hope that helps

Saludos

Luicre

[shar68]

That's a tough one. I would agree that it should be fun to draw and not a chore. I would not do a good job if I wasn't in the mood and that would get me frustrated. But then I also agree you should make yourself draw something. So....this is what would do.... Sit down and look thru some of the images in the library and see If you can find something you really really want to draw. Or maybe sit down while watching tv and doodle a little bit. Don't stress over it, maybe doodle a character from the show you're watching. See where that takes you.

[Wassie]

I have this problem sometimes and will keep putting off a drawing. Then I make myself go in and get started. Before you know it I am engrossed in the drawing and feel so good about myself when I finish it. Then the cycle starts all over with the next drawing. So, don't give in to the urge to do something else that takes you away from drawing.

[birdhs]

In order to get the illustrations for the first 4 books in the series, I had to push myself, but I think I was enjoying the challenge. Now that the next 3 won't be out until next year I find myself doodling, spending too much time on WC and so on.:lol:

I suspect some of us do best when there is a deadline. I did some of my 'best' work when it was needed for the next day... my advice would be to find your own style of motivation, art should never be "work", it should come from the heart (well, at least in an ideal world). I think that is why I keep working and taking college art classes at my age, retirement seemed to be unmotivated time looming ahead.:rolleyes:

Perhaps doing drawing to show the kids, friends, cards?:grouphug:

[Use Her Name]

Maybe you should set aside a time to draw and not let any other "urgent" chore interfere. ex: After dinner until 7 p.m., or, In the morning, for an hour before school or work.

Personally, I always have something "Urgent" to do other than art. I just ignore the urgent stuff and do the art. Life is short, don't waste it on washing dishes.

[Goldeelocks]

Should draw in the basement then, if the sky does fall down, you will be ok.

Just draw xD^^.

[kate252]

Im not going to be much help here as Im very much like this myself I have a different idea for every new day of the week, and eah new idea seems better than the last
I think its because it only seems better as its new and fresh
as you work on a theme or stick to the same subject im sure it seems boring and you begin to lack faith in it

I guess it takes a certain amount of self discipline to make yourself stick to just one idea

im going to read your answers and see if i gain any help for myself too!!!!

good luck

[Continental]

You need to start an art journal and document these ideas. Write down everything that comes to you. This will give you an inventory of what you want to do and will keep it straight in your head. I have found that you will start to see relationships as well and you might combine ideas to come up with new ones.

[Lady Carol]

Why beat yourself up because you are not drawing? Go and do the other things that are more important. Come back to drawing when you are ready and have offloaded all those issues. This may not be the answer you are looking for but life is too short to be miserable :)

[Carys]

thanks so much everyone! you are so nice and encouraging. you have made me realise that it is a combination of things - having too many ideas and wanting to draw too many things at once - then i don't know where to start.:confused: thanks continental - think a journal is a good idea! get all the ideas out of my head!

then also think that luicre is right cause i have this blank sheet of paper and o ye gods it is scareeeeeyyyyy...:evil: it wants me to be BRILLIANT - what happens if i have run out of drawings and i can't be brilliant and gasp horror i might mess up! eish! have to get over that right? i love drawing - it is fun - it is my escape! silly silly mind playing mind games with me!

so now have had a look at what other people are doing - looked at the art journal's - thanks davkin - very good idea cause makes me also want to draw. and then decided to make it less stressful (thanks shar68), so got a glass of wine and a sketchbook and going to just doodle around while watching a movie tonight! keeping my fingers crossed - :crossfingers: all goes well and will be out of this rut hippity hop sharp sharp!

really thanks so much all of you - you have really helped me out! :thumbsup:

[Studio-1-F]

See a gazillion sketch journals here (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=502).

And here (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=619246).

If the blank sheet is freaking you out, take that sketchbook and mess up every page with a light wash of watercolor. Just flop it on, spatter it on, dab it on, mess it on. Leave white areas too. Let the whole book dry and then, when you are ready to sketch, each fresh page that you turn to will already be "primed" as it were. And no longer that scary pristine yikes white. :thumbsup:

Jan

[Gerri Mc]

Yep - it's the curse of the blank page. I read somwhere here on WC the quote ' it's the job of an artist to destroy paper'. :D

I agree with the tip about writing your ideas down. Unfortunately mine usually come to me in the middle of the night and the majority have vanished before morning.:rolleyes:

Just draw something then do what ever you enjoy most!:thumbsup:

[Carys]

thank you thank you thank you - all you very kind & encouraging people. i am back on the wagon YAAAY!!:clap:

now the only problem is that i am no longer concentrating at work cause all i can think about is when i can get home to draw!!:rolleyes: eish just can't win!

anyways am very happy now & wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped me out!

[luicre]

Good news, Carys. Remember: practice and parience, parctice and patience, that`s the key. ( It`s Ken`s manthra and is sooo right)

Saludos

Luicre