Im not improving. Advice ?
https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/t2id0s/im_not_improving_advice/
2022-02-27 06:59
DickyBigz420
So the title pretty much says it all, but basically no matter how often i practice or how I practice, my drawings from several years ago look exactly the same as my drawings now. Is there something Im not doing? Starting to go crazy and I feel that all the effort Ive put in thus far has been for nothing, because well, it has been for nothing lol. If anyone had this same issue and was able to overcome it, what did you do? Thank you for any advice
Uncomfortable
2022-02-27 16:35
Given that this question is more general, I'd recommend asking it over on /r/learnart or /r/learntodraw. This subreddit is reserved for those working through the lessons on drawabox.com, as explained here.
For what it's worth, the pace at which our skills improve is not a consistent trajectory. It is influenced by a variety of things, from the specific ways in which we practice (whether with structured exercises or more organic, periodic attempts at drawing the things that interest us), and also has a tendency to hit peaks where things feel like they're clicking, and valleys where we feel like no matter what we do, nothing's working.
I can speak to that from experience - I spent a decade kind of spinning my wheels, drawing things that interested me (and spending much of that time sitting in front of a blank canvas, too afraid to make the first mark, lest it be a mistake). I did improve, but it was slow, and while I was in the midst of it, it looked like my growth was minimal at best - especially when I compared myself to others.
After a solid ten years of that, I changed my approach, leaned more into structured exercises, doing more studies from photos and from life, and so on. By this point I'd decided to take art more seriously as a career track to pursue, and so during the year I dedicated to this self-teaching, I also worked full time, saved money, and ultimately after 15 months quit my job and moved across the continent to pursue training with more professional instructors. This only amounted to 6 months (2 terms) at Concept Design Academy, but this had an incredible impact on my growth. A lot of it came down to the fact that I no longer had to worry about my own judgment - I knew my judgment was flawed, and that I was ignorant, and for once I could just trust in what my instructors would say. What I learned there also formed the bedrock of what I now teach for free on Drawabox.
If you're curious, I specifically maintain an album of my growth over the years to always remind myself (and show to others) that we do not always improve in a linear fashion, and that all of these factors regarding how we improve influence that pacing. Furthermore, sometimes there is value (though it is not visible in the moment) to those slower periods, where our brains process and mull over the things we've immersed ourselves in, ultimately allowing for the "more productive" peaks to occur.
Anyway, that's just one man's perspective. I still recommend you ask this over on /r/learnart or /r/learntodraw to get others' views on the matter.