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7:22 PM, Tuesday August 29th 2023

It's hard to say without specific details what might be the cause of your struggles, though I understand you may not want to provide them. I will hazard my theories, make of them what you will.

It does sound like you're experiencing a form of creative burnout or perhaps just general directionlessness. You want to do art, but that's an incredibly broad subject. I think a question more important than "should I do DaB?" is "what do I want to get from DaB?", and more broadly "what do I want to get out of my art?". I know really general questions like the last one can be very difficult or impossible to answer, but I'd at least give it a little thought. The second question is a little easier. DaB has a very specific focus, outlined in Lesson 0. It is supposed to teach you the skills of mark making, observation, and spatial reasoning. It does so very rigorously. DaB is a hard course and while there isn't an easy way, there's countless other places you could start depending on your goals as an artist. That's why the second question is important.

As far as enjoying art, every artist I've ever spoken to struggles with this repeatedly. It is really difficult and I do think DaB's 50% rule is a good tool to develop a better mindset and mental strength for inevitable set-backs. I think the habit of just messing around and figuring out what you do like (looking at art, watching movies, going to museums, reading books, etc.) would be more helpful to you right now than diving into DaB when you've stopped several times before, but you obviously know better than me.

6:57 PM, Wednesday August 30th 2023
edited at 9:35 PM, Aug 30th 2023

To be a little more specific, I was doing graphite portraits, and I learned how to shade really well, but not much else. I finished that challenge and then never drew consistently after it. I have recognized since then how much I was motivated based on results and positive attention from others, rather than just enjoying drawing. I tried doing more portraits at the end of last year and it was an absolute slog, even when I got myself to sit down and start drawing, I would get so deadly bored that I would stop.

The thing is that I WANT to draw and draw people. Like that's what I'm drawn to (no pun intended) very often. I also want to grow my skills, I could just totally forget about that and try and have fun, but I don't want to just draw like a two year old, I want to actually get good also.

If I were to do DAB, the purpose would be to start learning drawing fundamentals, I want to have a base of knowledge and skill so I'm not limited to just copying pictures or whatever.

TLDR: What I really truly want is to fall in love with the process of making art, and simultaneously make art that's actually good, but I don't know how.

Lmk if anyone relates to this and has more advice. I really appreciate this community :)

edited at 9:35 PM, Aug 30th 2023
7:11 PM, Wednesday August 30th 2023
edited at 7:13 PM, Aug 30th 2023

Thank you for the additional detail. I think the advice I gave still applies, then.

I would emphasize art fundamentals is a vast archipelago, with most courses not getting to every island. For example, DaB won't teach you composition (for the most part), color, etc. It would definitely help you construct figures and heads with a better sense of three-dimensionality, but there are courses just about people if that's what you're super into (Proko, Hampton, Evinston, Love Life Drawing, etc.). I think DaB is a great resource and I'm by no means trying to dissuade you from it, but as I said before there are countless resources to learn fundamental skills.

DaB is designed to help handle your conflict with wanting to try to have fun and being afraid of drawing "like a two year old". One point of the 50% rule is to teach you to not be afraid to draw things you may see as childish, amateur, or ugly. It seems like you've been only practicing and not playing. The art of mucking about can be very stressful at first, but it is extremely helpful to your development and longevity as an artist. I'd watch the video on it, even if you don't keep on with the course:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ocmPR_EprE&feature=youtu.be

I think in general, you would benefit from experimenting with the knowledge you've acquired. Maybe try drawing a portrait that isn't a direct copy. Don't do another study, try something that feels more unique. Or apply the shading knowledge to something new. It could help to push yourself a little bit out of the realm of copying photos, if that's all you've been doing. It is really two different steps to learn something and then to apply it to other things.

I love James Jean's stylized portraits:

http://www.jamesjean.com/work2011/849663a2hollyb3pooio5fvn9cb7s2

https://www.dewmagazine.com/james-jeans-homage-to-leonardo-da-vinci/

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5484b3b4e4b0883e5fe5efa4/1418189437155-H1IWBP8CNE2M15UBKGQN/cameron_hires.jpg?format=750w

http://www.jamesjean.com/2019/vxi9y42da2z5zbwwu23kisxwpeb50p

edited at 7:13 PM, Aug 30th 2023
7:49 PM, Tuesday September 5th 2023
edited at 7:51 PM, Sep 5th 2023

Well, I've never developed a skill I cared about without some sort of slog, and that's pretty normal.

I've also never gotten as far developing skills in isolation as I have with a supportive group. This goes for both hobbies and the work it took to get a college degree.

Having a few consistent art buddies (like, you know each other's names/usernames and styles and communicate on occasion), even if it's just online, goes a long way to staying motivated. It's not just for beginners. This guy has art improvement buddies ( https://www.instagram.com/algenpfleger/ ), as does Proko, and probably many other pros do.

I'm at lesson 6 in DAB, and would have quit ten times over if it wasn't for my study group.

edited at 7:51 PM, Sep 5th 2023
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