Serious Decision

[Adofo]

Hey everyone! I just wanted help on making an important decision. I've been wondering.....should I stop being an "artist"? I just ask because.....well.....I don't know. I just feel like I'm not improving and that maybe I can't improve anymore. Like when I see art posted by people like Timestones and Tako, I feel.....I guess behind. Like inferior. And also...I have to admit, i'm jealous of others who's art is so so much better than I could hope for mine to be. So.........I don't know if I should give up or just keep pushing.

[FeatheredSeclude]

Hey, I've been at drawing ten years to get where I am Adofo.
Drawing is not a thing you can just jump into and have mastered. It takes a considerable amount of time master... it's hard to explain honestly.
Most artist's have a set image in their head, but it's hard to get that onto paper without losing parts of it. It can be very infuriating I must admit. I think the goal is to preserve as much as we can. Hence, practice. It's the main thing to do, practice. The more you practice, the more you'll preserve from your head to paper. And closely examining other people's art is always a good idea, tutorials, the world itself! All help out with drawing.
Drawing is NO overnight event, it takes time. I said this already, but that is what it is. The time put into your image. The more time into an image you do, the better the outcome. I tend to take several sessions to finish an image due to being very busy, or I lose my patience. Never rush the image, it's not worth wrecking the image due to not wanting to work on it anymore. Ya take a break from. Maybe do something else. And come back to it later. Then finish it.

And frame-of-mind has a lot to do with the image. Say you got some image in your head, but you have the faintest idea on how to paperize it? Look up pics that are similar, like myself, I recently got into foreshortening. I look up pics of it, see how they do it, and try replicate, not duplicate. I try to create my own image based on that info. And you gotta like the image you are studying, or it's not gonna go well.
You need to find what you like in your art, see what you can improve on, and do away with what you do not like of it. It's all about experimenting till you find your sweet spot.

Say you are stressed out and such, then draw an image about the very feeling, vent out on the paper, see how real you can get it to be. Give it all you can muster! Vent-art is honestly a good method to getting out of an art-block. This can take more than one image to though. But venting is always a good idea. Feed the image... feed the image the frustration you feel, sadness, whatever it may be. Feed the image you emotion.

Having expression trouble, make the faces you draw. hand problem, your lefty is there for that reason, or righty, XD
Anatomy, every person is different, everything is different. You gotta find the balance in it to get it right. Which tutorials are a good choice on that.
Need a general idea on how you wanna layer your image, speed paints. They do wonders.

And last and most important!
You should never think yourself lower than a fello artist. That is the wrong thinking.
Being jealous the the wrong thinking dude.
That jealousness ought to be:
Wow, I hope to draw that good!
not:
Woah, I'll never be that good.

Bad bad bad thinking. I get my mind blown almost daily with art Adofo, I go around, I am going to try and draw something like that later.
Never:
I'll never draw that. It's too much detail.
Wrong thinking that is.

And you are a talented artist, You've been drawing a year or so, you are great with the two years you got under your belt. correct me if I am wrong.
Keeping raising the belt size, and the art epicness will grow just as much with the years of experience.
The practice you are willing to do will be how well you draw.

And personally, from what I can tell, work on anatomy, that seems to be the main issue with lots of artists. Anatomy, look up tutorials, go from that, then go to something else, shading and lighting, backgrounds, etc.
Whatever you feel you can improve the most is what you ought to work on.

I'll say this again, you are talented, you got the potential to be a really great artist. You just need the practice to get the best of your art.
And sir, age doesn't mean much. It should not mean anything either. When you get introduced is when you are ment to start this part of your life.
I stumbled across it in 6th grade, I saw a really cool pic from Firestar: http://www.mylionking.com/fan/art/Artis ... twork=1859
that image inspired me to draw, and it started my Lion Sora obsession too, XD
You gotta see what drives you to draw, or something that started it. Like that to me.
I see today, I'm do better than that image, proving I was gonna be as good or better someday.

In six years, I started out with this:
http://www.mylionking.com/fan/art/Artis ... twork=4734
Now I do this:
http://www.mylionking.com/fan/art/Artis ... work=20506

I practiced and practiced, kept myself in a I'll improve attitude, and got to where I am today.
You will get better than this art Adofo, you just need to believe you'll do just that.

Personally, I say you should keep going with your artwork. Would not be the same without ya.

[Labatis]

I strongly agree with Timestones. Don't give up on being an artist! Your art is really amazing! In fact, if I remember correctly, this drawing, http://www.mylionking.com/fan/art/Artis ... work=16060 hit all-time popular! I have been really excited to see some of your newest pieces, and I hope there will be more soon.

Please don't give up, you don't have to do it all the time, but quitting all together is certainly not what I suggest doing. I spend a lot of time worrying about how much I will approve, or if I will improve at all. But, if I am feeling really stressed or about the situation, I would dig through all of the work I've done and compare it with my newest drawing. Sometimes I think it is a little improvement, sometimes I think it is a lot. However, despite what others might think of my art, I continue to draw almost daily, and personally, drawing is very relaxing and helps release stress.

You should try comparing your newest work with your oldest, as well as try out vent art. Both give some relief, maybe not a lot, but who knows?
As I've said, you shouldn't quit, we all adore your work and hope to see more. <3

[Adofo]

You're right! Thanks bro! I guess I was just kinda down in the dumps yesterday. (Who says that anymore!?) But I will go on! :}

[Adofo]

Yeah, you're both right! Thanks! I will continue to improve myself! :3

[Cheeony]

they have already made great comments so ill just leave this, what my art looked like five years ago
http://fanart.lionking.org/Artists/Cheeony/Scan0282.jpg

[FeatheredSeclude]

people who were down in the dumps yesterday maybe, XD
And you are welcome! Glad to hear it!

_{fyi, XD
that was incredibly hard to write out, XD so really glad it actually made sense, lol}

[Adofo]

Yeah! And thanks for writing all that! I got all my reading done for the year in one day!

[Adofo]

Dang! YOu've gotten good! And thx!

[FeatheredSeclude]

Yup, that is the idea