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Fighting the Resistance! by drawhound
Hey Weasyl!
I'm truly sorry to disappoint lately with the lack of content! I've been caught in a vicious loop of feeling bad about not having art to post that just keeps feeding into itself and keeping me away from what I love. I've been voraciously reading books like "Art and Fear" and "The War of Art" and hunting high and low for active happiness plans and projects to get myself back on point. It's funny because a few months ago, some of y'all were asking me for tips on how to keep doing art when it gets hard, and here I am feeling a bit broke and busted myself! No one's perfect, I guess.
Anywho, just wanted to give an update. I'm feeling a lot more positive today than I have over the past few days, and I think that may be because I used my day off from work yesterday to start writing down my plans of action for how to dust off and get to work on doing what I love again. I'm hoping I'll have something to show y'all within a week's time. :)
While I work on that though, does anyone have any personal experiences with fighting the funk (or The Resistance, as it's called in The War of Art, haha)? How do you make yourself happy? How are you fighting the negative voices in your mind? I'd love to know! And if you've got any ideas or experience with fun little happiness projects/efforts, please share with the class, because I am totally ALL ABOUT that kind of stuff!
And tell me what you've been up to, too! I've missed a lot, and I've missed YOU! <3
(Oh, and FWIW, my birthday was this past Tuesday! It was pretty much a non-event... lol bleh getting older! Somewhat of a minor source of all this, I guess.)
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Comments
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Thank you!
I'm sorry that things have been rough for you lately! :( I hope they start picking up soon. It definitely does help to draw something every day; I had actually made myself pretty fearful of drawing, lest I screw up (I recently got a new tablet and I was feeling a little intimidated), but I was actually able to draw something cute/simple while watching one of my shows last night and it helped my mood SO MUCH. I get so caught up in the fear of not living up to my own expectations that sometimes I forget how fun art is! Gah.
Knitting sounds fun! It would be fantastic to pick up a new hobby, maaan. I've been trying to throw myself more into collecting these days now that I'm making a little more money, but accumulating more things to cram into my tiny apartment probably isn't the best or most mentally healthy plan of action, lol.
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Out of curiosity, what do you collect?
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A lot of things! At my parents'/my childhood home in Texas, I have a huge Pokemon collection. Here are pictures of my room there, though that was before I moved out, so there are currently a few posters missing, etc. I intend to weed my Pokemon collection quite a bit when I get a chance, though it's hard since I'm usually only home a couple of weeks out of the year, to visit for holidays. My place in California is smaller and less permanent, so I have light/modest collections out here, which you can see in this album of pictures taken from when I moved into it last summer. Out here I have a few anime collections (Ouran and Soul Eater mostly, though I'm currently looking into downsizing my Soul Eater collection), a My Little Pony collection (which I am going to be weeding so that I can focus on only collecting Twilight Sparkle merchandise), the other half of my Harry Potter collection, a dog (mostly dachshunds) collection, a small Disney collection, and a collection of my favorite young adult books. On Wednesday I bought a couple of Espeon items, but the rest of my little Espeon collection resides in Texas. I'm thinking about asking my parents to ship it out here so I can display my other items here too. c:
Do you collect things??
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I used to collect Pokemon cards until my mom told me to throw them out when I was 12 because I was "too old." I don't really collect much things anymore, but I LOVE geology. I want to start a rock/mineral collection one day.
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Aw that's a bummer! I haven't collected Pokemon cards in years, but I do have two huge binders full back home in a cabinet.
I bet that'd be a fascinating/pretty collection! The only collection I can think of that I want to start but currently can't (because of space/moving around) is a Calico Critters collection. I've fallen in love with them recently, and trying to resist is soooo hard, haha. Gonna try to hold off on that one til I have a permanent residence, though.
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Aw man, things happen. You take care, right?
When it comes to art... I tried different things. There was a time a couple years ago when I was stuck with personal projects and started doing fanart until I felt ready to get back in the loop. What I do now is not so much avoiding the negativity but embracing it. I draw comics about things that make me irritated, scared or sad (and about good things too, of course). There are still some areas I don't go to (and I doubt that I ever will) but honestly I feel better, all things considered. I know it's not for everyone but it seems that I found my way of handling it.
Actually I tried that comic book you linked before and it really didn't work for me. At all. But it's okay because everyone is different and different things work for different people. And it's nice to know there are other options because... I dunno, several years ago I watched mostly Disney movies and such and I thought that was all storytelling was. But then I discovered British drama properly and oh gosh, it felt much more natural for me and helped me see something I never noticed before.
A thing that bugs me currently is that... I dunno, people don't take style I draw in seriously? Look at art that looks more cute or more rendered or less exaggerated and you get comments about how amazing and brilliant it is and all, and with me it's more like "heh, nice". And even people who like comics and such will occasionally drop something like "you're talking about cartoons and I'm talking about art" as if it's that different. It doesn't stop me from doing what I do but it bugs me and I'm also upset that I'm sort of vain enough to be bugged by that. It's like I'm not allowed to play with the cool kids all over again.
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Haha, I'm certainly trying! I think it's getting better.
For some reason, I'm not much of a comics person-- it's funny, because I adore storyboarding, but comics just aren't my cup of tea! When I'm feeling down, I tend to do a lot of writing. I've been trying to read a lot lately too, as I said-- I actually had a friend who was lovely enough to recommend some self-help books to me, and actually sent me one for my birthday, so I'm going to start reading that when I get home tonight-- I'm excited! When I was in high school, I used to draw quick angry doodles to get my angst out, but these days I have less angst and more... just general sadness. Drawing makes me happy, but drawing about how sad and upset I am doesn't really do anything for me, if that makes sense. I don't know why I am that way!
Yeah, different things definitely work differently for everyone. I'm glad you were able to find some things that worked for you!
It can be hard to notice and compare the kind of comments your art gets to the comments that other people's gets, for SURE. Comparison is one of the biggest poisons! It's easy enough to say to try to stay away from that, but I know in practice how hard it is. I'm glad that you're able to power through that feeling and keep creating though, because really, that's what it's all about. Everything you do is one step closer to finding your audience-- and if you haven't found them yet, you definitely will someday! They'll love your style and perspective on life, and appreciate everything you bring to the table!
I hate the debate over what art is and isn't. The art world has transformed in leaps and bounds since the invention of the camera, and to say that commercial, more subjective type of art is "lesser" than any other is... really childish, honestly! I wouldn't listen to those people for a minute. They're not the "cool" kids; they're just bullies bent on putting others down to build themselves up. I think your work is something to be celebrated!
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Ah, I understand. Well, maybe not entirely but I understand that it's different for everyone. I don't really draw vent art and rarely draw something that immediately bothers me, I just sort of generally make comics about all kinds of uncomfortable stuff I notice in life. It isn't always something that happened to me. Dunno how to explain it.
And yeah, I get you about doing your own thing and not minding stupid comments. That's what I do, I mean I keep doing my stuff but it keeps bothering me in the background. They aren't even bullies, at least most of them aren't, people who are nice can say it too and they won't even see they said anything off unless you point it out (and I usually don't). At least I have a project that is worth it for me no matter what others say so it doesn't stop me, just makes me less happy.
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Good luck! I find depression is a terrible cause for artblock, defeat that and you'll be drawing again in no time! :) I hope you're feeling better soon!
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For depression, fresh air and sunshine really are good for you! Go take a walk, don't shut yourself in! Watch cartoons or play games, tell yourself positive things and think about/do things that you enjoy. Sometimes I'll have moments where I will just doodle whatever, even if it's the same thing over and over again, what's important is that I am drawing SOMETHING, I am in the mindset to draw! I've had terrible depression lately but I've found myself getting excited about drawing on new paper, or trying new mediums, or brainstorming ideas with friends! I hope some of these might work for you, I know they've worked for me before :)
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I love the sunshine! I've been trying this whole week to wake up early to no avail, haha, but there was one day when I did have the day off, so after heading out to get my car's oil changed, I stopped off at the park and read for a couple of hours near the lake there... it was SO nice! I would have stayed til sundown, except it was cold in the shade and I was unprepared to freeze, haha, so I left and finished my book at home. It made me very happy, though.
Man I'd love to brainstorm some ideas with friends! I've actually been talking with a couple of people about the possibility of producing art and getting ready to do our first artist alley table at a convention at some point in the future, and that currently seems to be all I can think of, so I really hope it comes to fruition! Everyone seems to be in a tizzy lately due to finals coming up (lots of friends still in school), so it's hard to get a word in edgewise about the future plans, but I hope that lets up soon because the idea of taking the next step to get out in the art world is pretty exciting to me.
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Oh maaan, Art and Fear was insane when I first read it. It's real eyeopening stuff for sure!
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It was definitely a good one! I'm glad I have both books on my shelf, honestly. :D
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Link
Junga
Happy belated birthday!
I'm kinda going through the same slump myself. I've been really down because I can't sell ANYTHING. I probably won't be able to see my older brother because of it and I can't get a job and... It kinda feels bad, man. But I try to keep myself happy by at least drawing SOMETHING every day. Even if it's a dumb sketch. Also, doing something new usually helps. Like, I'll try a new knitting pattern (even though I may never finish -stares at the growing pile of half-knitted things-) because the challenge itself is enough to keep me distracted from those bad voices. Finishing a difficult part makes me feel good. Even if it looks like crap, it still feels good.