Learning patience when drawing concept art is an important part of becoming a professional game artist, designer or matte painter. Don't just toss away a drawing when it gets rough, that is the point when you really start to learn!
I fear making a bad painting. I think that holds me back. So I overdue it with the gumroads, because I want to learn so much so I won't make mistakes. Anyone feels that way?
Of course! In addition, I have a weird habit of paper saving, so I draw tens of small doodles, sketches and random phrases on one sheet instead of good, proper drawing. I think it's because of that fear, too...
All the time. It's hard. Everytime I draw something I would enjoy being good at one day I know it's going to suck haha it's hard to not just go back to drawing things you know you can draw decently.
I think a big problem that artists have is that we spend such a long time getting better at a few specific things, and we convince ourselves that we're amazing artists, and then we try to draw something new that we've never done before, and we struggle. We can convince ourselves that we're actually terrible artists because we're suddenly terrible at art again, and it's painful. It doesn't feel good to feel like we've lost progress when we've poured our time and effort into something just to seemingly lose progress but I think we all just need to relax and realize why we're struggling with the issue.
I'm feeling more motivated thanks. I struggle with the designers environment because I'm at home working, so my family always wants me to watch TV or eat ice cream lol. When I go to a coffee shop I'm much more productive! (But then it's awkward to bring my tablet)
I know it sounds goofy, but whenever I hit the wall and recognize it, I immediately drop and do 10 pushups and then immediately put my hands back on my tools and start working again. I think it's the extra blood rush that gets my brain back on track. Also, I end up doing lots of pushups in a day, which helps fight desk belly :)
Bhahaha, that is not a bad idea. I like the tie in to fitness. I also like that if you skip mentally, there is a little price for it that is not necessarily a 'treat' like coffee, or a snack.
Rob Brown Yeah, maybe rewarding brain lapses I think might lead to even bigger lapses down the road . . . also, exercise throughout the day seems to help me concentrate for longer periods. Thanks for making your videos, they help me feel connected to other working folks!
For me its setting reasonable expectation part that I need the most. There are time that I want to draw all day but if my expectation are too much I can be a bit all over the place. So setting small achievable tasks and being satisfied with them is the thing that I am working on.
I’m so happy I watched this video. I drew a motorcycle for my friend and it turned out relatively good considering it was my first time, BUT I literally felt like a boiling over pot the entire time I was drawing it haha. I cried twice over it but hearing that hard times are the only way to conquer patience is really something I needed to hear
Consistency. Every one that has gone through it all & reached where they want to be, say the same thing..Consistency. I have this issue of getting distracted or even wanting to distract myself when I hit a wall while drawing. Those moments are so hard to go through because you keep doubting yourself, your abilities. I realise that unless that i am consistent even in the tiniest way possible, eg: sketching something small that takes just 5 to 10 mins of my day might be enough. But when it comes to learning digital painting, it is different. Thank you for this. I'll definitely be applying what you taught in this video. 😄
Thanks for the motivation boost ! I've been a freelance illustrator for years but I don't really earn "decent" money and that can take the mood down. Now, I want to get into concept art, and I got to make myself a nice portfolio, but I was getting impatient and I think that video will give me the boost I need to keep going and do a great job, not a half finished bunch of drawings !
I took a 6 months break ( i made some sketches, mostly studies ) but didn't push myself to continue a single piece. I'll try to schedule a time for drawing Thank you, that was helpful
Usually when im struguling to make the painting I go on youtube and look for videos like this one. I heard a bit from both Stephen Zapata, about negative feelings and their powerlessness and from Adam Duff, about setting the mood with the right kind of music. I think this is a good video, take care.
Another tough one is when you draw something especially pleasing to you and you're afraid to keep working on it in fear that you'll ruin it. I struggle with that the most. After watching this video, it makes me think I'm probably subconsciously propelling that fear because of my impatience and accepting 'good enough.'
Wow, I was not expecting someone to make a video out of this because most people think art is easy and fun it's like what you do when you feel like it you know...which is also what I used to think as well, when I used to draw in class when bored or whatever. But recently I've been finding myself drawing commissions and I don't get the same feeling of excitement or ease to it, and that's when I looked up this video for tips to be more patient in a really detailed long drawing. So thank you for making this video I know I'm 4 years late but lol
I can relate to this. Just started learning to drawing more seriously and nothing seems to make sense and I fell like I just want to give up. This ends up leading to a bad habit where I do not focus in a specific topic and keep going all over the fundamentals instead of tackling each one at a time. Also I fear following the wrong method or materials. Overall everything is being very unconfortable and I can only hope it gets better after some time.
in midterms at art school right now. watching this after being frustrated with the outcome of my matte painting which is due tomorrow. definitely needed to hear this. especially the part about a crutch.
Good video man, I love how your talks come from the heart. I am so familiar with those crutches moments, I am getting better at staying focused now, but when I started it was pretty bad, I noticed diet plays a significant role in how productive and concentrated on the job I am, if I eat lots of inflammatory foods the day before (nightshades, sugary foods, white wheat etc..) my day is going to be about 60-70% efficiency, but if I eat mostly alkaline and non inflammatory foods(lots of salads and little meat and little to no sugar) the day before I will be rocking the rooftop off the next day. There's always a mental struggle happening, I try now to leave some time for video games only on the weekend, and it's tough, but there's work to do and video games won't pay the bills.
(all of the below is my personal experience and it was my biggest and most rapid break-through) For the beginners who're still unsure what they can and cannot do : this doesn't apply to you. If you start painting and realise you can't do something (for example draw a foot and profile), don't push through it on that exact painting, make a step back and research that topic closely (in the case with a foot - dig up some anatomy lessons, references, draw a 1000 different feet), don't just sit there for hours trying to climb up the wall thats too high for you, use every drawing you make to find out your weaknesses and then let it go.
Awesome video Rob! I find that listening to music at the beggining, even with lyrics helps me get in the zone, then once I'm there, I find turning off the music drastically helps improve concentration.
Rob, youre amazing. Honestly, Ive been stuck in this loop for about a year now where I draw, but never finish and paint my pieces. I recently started realizing that Im not getting any younger and that I need to straighten myself out and focus on what really matters, my career. Im new to your channel and I am certain that your videos are going to guide me in the right direction. Thank you so much.
Hey cool, yeah it's all about setting that hour or so aside and committing. To me, finishing is not as important as learning how to get everything laid out correctly in perspective, and with a cool design. The rest can come later.
I am 25 years old dude who had just risk everything and step into Digital Painting for about 8 months, and this vlog helps me a lot to help me to keep up. :D I am sincerely thank you.
that's so helpful i'm struggling with being patient. but i think i'll put a plan and try my best to stick to the plan in order to become a good artist. thank you
This is a big problem for me! It's hard to get started when I'm not feeling inspired. Also the stop time, once I get going and focused I tend to work too long. I'm super all or nothing and like to finish projects all at once, which, of course doesn't work on a big project. Learning the new medium of CG for me is hard as I want to be good now! Lol part of my impatience comes from not knowing when I'll be well enough to work too, my health isn't great and I want to get as much accomplished on good days as I can, as I don't know what tomorrow will be like. Thanks for the videos! I wouldn't have heard of #artwars otherwise, and although I think I'm too new to this to come close to winning anything, it might be fun to join for the experience.
+Tiia J I hear you, imo bite off small bits that you can really polish! Make your small projects something that can add up to a bigger project in the end. That way all your small opportunities to work will turn into a big project in the end!
I relate so much with what you said. I think that there is so much around that distracts us from doing the work we're supose to do, wether is homework or some deadline project for a client. Maybe what we need is the will to concentrate in that one task and finish it. I am afraid to experiment and make mistakes and that too must take a tol on the resolts
Just found your channel Rob... good advice here... It's about attitude and focus... I've known guys who are so bad at drawing, but they have such amazing confidence and have an amazing gift of the gab. If they were able to transfer this confidence and channel it into the "science" of drawing... they'd be freakin awesome untouchable artists. I'm pretty new to this (conceptual drawing), but I've been drawing for a long time (I'm an older guy :) )... I'm now spending specific times of the day morning and night (I work during the day not related to conceptual art), an hour sometimes two, in the morning before work and then about 4 hours in the evening. I am seeing results and having guys like Scott Robertson, Feng Zhu, James Gurney, James Paick and Matt Khor from Ctrl-Paint, really does help to drive you forward... cheers for this advice it is very helpful... Subscribed.
Heck yeah! Glad we connected. you are totally right, I have seen people with so so skills, push into amazing artists just by not being dissuaded by the humble beginnings of learning by doing.. and doing, and doing. I think you are on the right path by keeping structure around your drawing times, you don't always get to choose when you draw, so its a great skill to have when you do need to draw on demand. Cheers!
Rob hi... your videos are very useful. I worked doing 3D modeling and texturing... now I'm training for concept art. Been enjoying and learning from your vids.
Great video Rob. When hit a road block when I'm modeling something I try to break the object down further and only thing of a smaller portion of it or I pause to think if I could try a different technique.
This is what I've been going through right now. I entered a challenge in Artstation,(Wild West) and I'm still stuck on design the thumbnails. I think it's because it's my very first time really challenging not just myself but competing with other people, not been creative enough and.. basically intimidate it by the other artists that are way better than me.I was feeling really down, kind am still.. but I'll try to push through like you said. Thanks.
This was good coaching. I'm 51 years old & it has been 30 years since I did any drawing or painting (long story--perfectionism screws you up). But what I have noticed in this day and age of instant everything is that I seriously need to work on building my patience. What you say is critical--push past that point of resistance where you want to stop. Also, thus far in my fairly new journey in drawing, I'm finding that the secret is to push past the resistance & distraction AND don't spend TOO long at each session. I'm determined to develop patience and break the perfection barrier in shorter, well chosen chunks of time. In the end, it will improve all aspects of life.
I'm with you! Learning new pathways can be super taxing, and you have to realize when you have spent your energy on one problem to move to the next so you don't spin your wheels.
You are soooo right, I am 31 I have been drawing and sketching for more than 20 years. I have still these moments of willing to "giving up" more less on each of my drawings. And I just do not know how to get rid of it. The process is soooo slow.
Echoing others--I use Art of___ Books and tutorials as a crutch, thinking if I learn / hear just one more bit of inspiration or how-to, I'll finally have enough to get over some of the anxiety of starting something I know really nothing about.
I don't struggle with saying myself "time to draw". I could draw for 16 hours no problem. It's a problem I completly erased from my life years ago. I struggle with, 90% of the time, not being able to LEARN, not being able to SLOWLY PROGRESS. Sometimes I have these moments where I can just... tell myself "ok, lets draw this thing I want to draw", and I just progress 1% by 1%, it's not the best drawing ever and I KNOW it while making it, but I just PROGRESS through it, thinking about every line one after the other, while not overthinking about it either, the progress is not super fast but what motivates me in these moments is the fact that, no matter what happens, the drawing will be done and good enough, simple as that... It makes me feel SO GOOD. But 90% of the time I'm just doing 1%... 7%... 3%... 25%... 14%... 17%.... FRUSTRATING. And I KNOW I'm frustrated, I know I'm being impatient, but I just can't go against it, and things need to be done. I lack patience but, physical patience, I don't want or feel the need to do any other thing in the house or hell even the universe, even launching a videogame is not interesting, but my hand doesn't listen, the only things that come out are mechanical brainless moves. I can still put out some work while in this mood but it's way harder, not interesting, purposeless and it's completly uncompatible with quotas / deadlines.
Just watching this, I realized I've been impatient all my life then I started a spiritual journey by studying the Bible, discovered the power of patience as part of “the fruitage of the spirit.” (Galatians 5:22, 23)". Now am applying to my art and the results are amazing. Bible truths are a manual of every aspect of life.
Personally I find it easiest to draw on break while at work nowadays - but I'm working on changing that around. The atmosphere is a lot more open, distraction-free, better-lit than my own desk, and convenient since I keep art supplies stashed in my backpack all the time. At home I have to constantly switch between my laptop and my drawings because there isn't enough room at the desk, and I can't hog the kitchen table all day. While at home though, I find that silence or low ambient noise helps with concentration. Keep a window cracked open so you have fresh air and a bit of background noise going through. I have a few playlists for music if I do feel like it though: I try to keep it varied, but running along a basic theme. Since I draw a lot of animal characters in medieval settings I have a playlist of songs directed at that theme and others. If something is getting very difficult to overcome, I'll get up and grab a cup of coffee, or find some short task to do for a few minutes just so I can mentally reset before coming back. Key being that the task is short, and that you don't forget to come back, or get distracted on Facebook. (I'm currently working on cutting that down.) Go outside for a couple minutes, or feed the dog & cats, or take a quick jog. For me it's partly an issue of staying alert and awake though, so find your balance. Of course, depending on where you're drawing you may not have the opportunity to go out and do things like that, so in the spirit of the video don't allow yourself to "rely" on those things.
Awesome videos Rob, I work as a concept artist but these last months I was noticing that I was very sloppy in my way I present myself as professional Artist and my work, thank you for your videos and please keep making it they are all very helpful, I recomend it to everyone that wants to enter this industry :) one question, do you have any moment/streaming/anytime to check portfolios? thanks again man! :)
Hey no sweat Paul, I try to stream monday and friday 8am to 9am pst. If you get on one of those times ask about it. Also you can hit me on FB, and maybe join our discord server we do a lot of crits and reviews all day long on there.
New subscriber , great talk, what about switching drawings , is that interruption negative, i.e. Switch to looser start of drawing , then back to focus on the last leg ?
I was going to suggest the same too... I'm not a professional but I would like to become one soon... So I try to draw more and more hours per day. I think switching drawings is a good idea, I make that sometimes but maybe it could be just taking another piece of paper and doodle something else for 10-15min. So you don't distract yourself too much but you lower a bit the bad feeling of facing a problem during your main project, and also, probably your subconcious works on it for you during that time...
I invested quite a bit of money in an online drawing course. I was doing so well completing each exercise, but I got so bored with the exercises because I wasn't drawing what I wanted to draw. I'm talking about drawing a sphere, square, hatching, cross-hatching, etc. The other issue is that I get so impatient drawing where I just want to finish a drawing in one sitting. Anyway, I gave up about 3 months ago and stopped altogether. Now, I have this voice saying that I'll never be able to draw well. It's so discouraging given how much money and energy I poured into this for over a year. Listening to this talk really helped me validate my feelings in that others tend to stuggle in the same ways. I always seem to find an excuse to NOT draw, like surfing the internet, watching others draw on RU-vid, etc. I have the attention span of a fly when I'm drawing sometimes. I really want to come back to this and stay focused. Thanks for the pep talk.
I have had that problem from time to time. IMO, try to make really great small drawings, then make them bigger. Full paintings take weeks, so it will be something you want to learn.
If image looks good in first 10-20min and I can see potential, I will push trough. It can happen that I lack skill, it's like I'm lvl 10 trying to kill lvl 1000 dragon; in that case I'll go and grind some more before kicking that dragons ass. Thank you for tips! :)
Tq rob. I listen to Steven pressfield 'the war of art', he mentioned about overcoming blocks and procrastination by 'appeasing the muse'. Do check it out if you have the time.
I just restarted a drawing everyday challenge. I don't always feel very creative as an artist and struggle with sketching from the imagination. How would you go about improving your visual memory? Also, would it be wrong to copy other artist work for inspiration? I sometimes feel guilty doing this. Love the videos.
The masters all copied still lifes. A good exercise is to try one time me looking at inspiration and the quickly following up by trying to draw the same thing from memory.
I've noticed that certain kinds of music can distract me and end up making me less productive while others actually let me push through tedious tasks. For learning new stuff I have to be in silence though, otherwise my mind wanders too much.
Rob.. I have one question for you.. where does the beginner start (digital painting)? How or what do you practice on first? I know the fundamentals are most important.. but I mean composition perspective values and color and etc.. so many things to learn.. it can get quite hectic.. I just can't figure out what or how to practice.. I go through tutorial after tutorial and I've noticed.. all of the best teachers out there.. on youtube and gumroad and whatever, they don't really ever tell you how to practice or where to start practicing?
I'm working really hard on my portfolio for ArtCenter , its my own story and it has a lot of flaws . Im still stuck at character designs , I can't get that unique look ,like its mine in some of the drawings and I'm scared , this is my last chance to really get into a place with people like me all around
There are a lot of hurdles to move forward, no matter what happens just keep working and improving. If you get in, it will be huge, if you have to wait, it will be more time to get better and improve. As long as you keep trying you will make it.
im impatient in the micro moments of drawing. sitting down and consistently pushing through isnt hard but i just want to get the lines down in a dynamic way and move on with tempo but that type of impatience just ends up in messy lines instead of cool gestures
I usually have 3 different moods when I need to get creative things done. 1. Inspired. I have limited control over this one, but it's great. 2. Neutral. I can force myself to do stuff. I might end up having fun anyway. 3. Absolute dread. I won't get anything done, and I'll feel guilty about it. This usually happens when I make things too hard for myself, or when I make up all sorts of rules that make me demotivated instead of helping me. It's all the things I "Should do", that I rarely actually need to do. With piano it could be "You should become good at sight-reading." I don't actually need to be good at sight-reading, I'm a rhythmical musician who plays music there is no sheet music for. With drawing it could be "Using the blur tool is cheating", or "painting digitally is cheating, what if you didn't have a computer?" or "You should paint with acrylic like a 'real' artist."
Haha, absolute dread! That is when I am listening to House music.. everyone knows to stay out of the studio when they hear the bass. I love the connection between drawing and music. Thanks for posting your insights, loving hearing about more music.
Idk if you were specifically talking about prescribed or unprescribed adderall but as someone who has ADHD and is prescribed adderall I don't think you truly understand what having it is like and how adderall can help it. It is a disability and adderall is just there to help accommodate for that disability
my personal advice for who watching tutorial videos so much and don't draw! So basicly It call do the thing first and after you did you don't understand something check a tutorial videos. mostly i think it's an effectiveway for us to do and not to watching and seeing. Process of learning it basicly you learn and pratice until you can comprehensive understanding. Done! F*ck the things
Keep yourself on a schedule as much as possible, establish a really solid rhythm. Several of my peers have similar situations, and they make room for following threads, but they always try to keep track of the main goal while they do it.
The only thing that I genuinely disagree with is the drugs. It's the type of drugs you take that will influence how you draw and how you actually use them. I find that LSD helps me get into touch with my muse.
I personally believe that every persons brain chemistry is different and there's no one-size fits all method for focus. Maybe Netflix can be a good way to draw inspiration, which is a stronger force for creativity than simply "pushing through" a brain block. It's fatiguing to push through everytime. Try pushing through to a point where maybe new ideas may need to come more organically. There are some movies that tend to inspire and remind me why I love concept art. Those are certainly exceptions, especially when you get discouraged. As for "drugs" Cannabis for me personally has helped with anxiety just like how we take aspirin for a headache or back pain. You're own brain can only do so much before the stress becomes a physical pain. Just some thoughts. I just feel like not everything is cut and dry the same for everyone. I fully agree that music has helped most out of all methods especially cinematic scores such as Jurassic Park or Star Wars! I enjoy your channel! Keep making videos!
Rob Brown I also feel like, not being in the industry or having my own proper space can really be detrimental to my ability to focus since I work in the same space where I sleep so I tend to want to relax more than work. I have to literally go to a coffee shop to work all the time because of this. It's frustrating. I'm having a hard time getting things done any other way. I also work a full time job so I don't get a lot of time to focus on my art outside of work but I do what I can. I really need to get a career in art. It's so hard living in Minnesota and dreaming about working as a concept artist. I'm ranting lol Thank you for your reply!
