I guess it's an artist thing in general to not finish something. For me, I come from a wonderful home and I've always had trouble sticking with something. It just gets boring after awhile. The novelty wears off, maybe? It's definitely easier when it's going well, though. I think I just get bored with the idea and what to flex those creative muscles and try something new.
+Life, Laughs & Paper Stacks The average attention span is around 45 minutes, so after that it's good to try taking a break before going back into it. Another solution is having several small things to alternate between so each one doesn't get boring.
I used to let my works unfinished not because I was bored but because I lacked confidence to pursue it to the end , I was a perfectionist and since I couldn't do it perfectly I just procrastinated. I did finished all my old works though after few years of them being unfinished only because I became better and it was a piece of cake for my actual level. Now I finish everything I start.
I feel like the reason I have trouble finishing things anymore is because I lose motivation in the middle. Not because I'm frustrated, but because I am worried about what other people will think or worried that not enough people will like it. I used to just draw for myself and my friends. We'd draw Sailor Moon and stuff because we liked it. When I finished a drawing, I thought it was super cool and I was so happy. Now, I finish a drawing that was really difficult and I'm really proud of, post it online and everyone looks over it. I show it to my IRL friends and family and they're like "yeah ok." because they've seen tons of my drawings anymore and don't care. And I suddenly feel like the drawing was awful even though it is really good. I feel like I used to judge my art based on how fun it was and how much I like it, and now I judge it based on the reaction it gets. So now in the middle of drawings, I feel so disheartened. I'm still always excited to start a new project, though. But once I get partway through, I start hearing comments like "You're STILL doing that?" or "Why doesn't it look good yet?" or something and it makes me lose all motivation to continue. Maybe it's just that I don't have any supportive people around me who really understand what it's like to draw.
Controlling self-talk while doing the drawing is important. Negative critical thoughts have to go. Sometimes playing encouraging music helps drown out the negative thoughts. Replacing those negative thoughts with encouraging supportive thoughts is important. You have to be nice to yourself. Treat yourself as a friend. Be your own best friend. Your friend Cindy Now teach me how to take my own advice. :)
When I was a sophomore in high school I made a comic character that grew to love and decided to make a comic book once I graduated. I sketched the whole first book and started to ink it....but then for some reason I had a huge mental artist block and it took about 2-3 years to start it up again, but through that huge break my art style has grew and drastically changed. I'm doing this all by hand and it's frustrating at times, but my heart is set on finishing this comic!
I love what you said about the process, I'm going through that right now. "It's supposed to look terrible until it looks good" :] Definitely good advice for all artists.
hmm interesting. i can definitely relate to that problem. i get super stoked on a project and get side tracked along the way, whether its a new idea that pops up or just simply lose interest for the moment. I can see how a mentor in childhood and stuff can play a role in that. i guess its a gift and a curse that artists have. they are super talented at many things but have a hard time perfecting one by one. sweet drawing by the way!
I can relate to the part about mentors. Recently, I feel like the only place where I can finish anything is at the watercolor painting classes I started a few months ago, because my teacher is the first person who ever really taught me anything at all about art, and whenever I'm at a point where I want to give up because it looks terrible, he'll reassure me or give me a tip if I'm stuck. And I only started to actually want to work with drawing now because my former boss made me feel like it's actually possible for me to improve.
I always found I couldn't finish as I became impatient and while drawing, all these new idea would pop into my head that I wanted to draw immediately which kept building up till I forgot them. I now try to draw smaller things so that I can complete them, but draw more of them to improve my skill and write down things I want to do or just doodle which I find has helped a lot.
Hey Mr. Terrell. I'm very thankful that came I across this episode, quite randomly I might add. You've said some things that I KNOW will, very literally, help change my life. The "broken-home" thing, the "unfinished art work" thing....dude.... I owe you, bruh.
Man, did I need this. I'm in the middle of a mosaic table and it's the ugliest thing to me, I don't even want to look at it, let alone work on it, but like you said, inside I know that it will stay ugly unless I finish it, and so I sit down and work, again and again. Many thanks for this video.
[2:27 min. mark] I appreciate the fact that you tell us the the pencil sketch that you opened with took "maybe two minutes." It is helpful to set even something as simple as "time goals" for the rest of us to shoot for. Even though you are an expert, healthy, measurable task-related parameters are part of the process that newbies can use. Thanks, Will. : - )
Aspiring freelance artists, listen up! Will's People Sketching series is a goldmine of information and chock-full of useful advice. Thanks you very much Mr. Terrell, we are incredibly grateful :)
I know this an old video but....I am doing the inktober challenge just for that reason. Teaching myself to finish the project, whether I hate it or love it, and then sharing it with the world. When I grew up drawing, I hated to share my work, so the challenge is killing to birds with one stone.
I didn't actually do Inktober but I think I'll do an "Inktober" every month because I also need to teach myself to finish things.
10 лет назад
I draw as a hobby and often am dissapointed in myself that I don't do it often enough, that I have not enough progress and that it's so hard to get sketches done. But recently I've found myself watching a lot of YT videos on drawing, had finally time to "play" with soft pasteles and I don't feel half that miserable. Surprisingly, when I'm making mandalas time and focus needed for it is nothing but encouraging. Your video has a good point - a young artist or a person, who creates "on the side" should have a reliable frame of reference to mesure yourself to. But it should be an awareness of how creative prossess goes and how to find yourself more at ease with it's phases. Glad to find your videos, as soon as my schedule allows me I shall view them all.
Everytime I feel in a stump or weak on rebound somehow your videos show up at the best times and gives me encouragement that gives just the kick I need. Thanks for posting videos like these. :)
Okay at this point I have to tell you that you're awesome. I LOVE the way you draw facial expressions, the moments you capture your charachters in, I wish I was as good as you at drawing. I'm really young and I've always drawn by myself, I didn't learn from anybody, and when I draw I just try to give a personality to my drawings, to communicate something, but I don't always succeed in that. I really admire your talent, and I have to say THANK YOU because you made me understand a lot of things not just about my drawing, also about myself. Go on with what you're doing because you're really good at it.
Those videos help a lot more than tutorials. Its hard to keep going when you have to study by your own and dont know many artists to compare and talk about those stuff. Thanks a lot for that.
You actually make a really good point about mentors. One of my teachers in design school was like that (well they were all good, but this particular one stood out to me as a mentor). I just went to a community college for graphic design, not a fancy art school, but you could tell the teachers, and this particular one especially, really cared. He would patiently walk us through the process of designing and illustrating, and push us when we wanted to give up, and encourage us when we felt like it was going terrible. It all helped me to see that what we think of us finished artwork actually takes time and always goes through the process of looking terrible first. Good art takes work and time and patience and getting "in the zone". I think a lot of times I want to just be fast and instant at doing good art, but it really is a process. I learned a lot at design school, but that's probably one of the biggest lessons I took away from it.
(Not saying I don't still have trouble finishing things, but I at least have been through the process from beginning to end enough times now, alongside a great mentor, that I know it's possible to finish a piece and have it turn out better than I thought it would've. It's still a mental challenge every time I start something new, but knowing it's possible to finish is actually pretty helpful and freeing).
Your videos really help me get through this block I'm dealing with right now. Thank you so much for making these videos! You're one of my favorite artists!
Will Thank you, every time I watch one of your videos you answer a question that I don't think any of my art teachers could. You give me so much confidence :)
I've always wondered why I did more completed work when taking art classes than when I was by myself...never realized how much I valued that mentorship.
I've been enjoying this sketching series. I think that you give some really valuable advice that translates to many areas of life not just drawing, and we can simultaneously see your drawing techniques.
Im not an illustrator but a Industrial designer and I'been hearing your videos while making a plastic model for a client and must say you are pretty nice to hear while working
I LOVE your art style. it's like a form of caricatures and cartoon together...completely different from my art style, but i admire your work so much! I'll always enjoy your videos!
Will, that really struck a cord with me. This video gave me some much needed inspiration and reassurance that even talented artists such as yourself struggle with the similar issues. Its helped me lift my head up and pick up a pencil. You should change the title to "It's Ok, Daddy's Gotcha". Thanks man.
I just wanted to say thanks for the videos you post. I am only a hobby artist (I'm an elementary school teacher the rest of the time :) ), but you hit on so many things I've run into trying to improve on what I create. I sculpt more than I draw and paint, but the ideas are the same. We've had some icy weather and a few days off for the Christmas break, and I've really enjoyed watching your videos. Thanks for taking the time to share with us. God bless.
I just love your videos, sence I started following your channel and your instagram, I´ve been more exited to try new things with my drawing, and my art in general. I´ve been stuck for over a year where I couldn´t get my self to see the joy in painting and drawing and your videos have helpt me to believe in myself again and the most important thing there is about drawing and being creative, having fun while doing it...! So a big thanks to you! Have a nice one!
You, sir, are awesome. Thank you for that rant/motivational speech. I really needed that. I have been just lazy with my drawings, and now I decided that I am going to finish my sketchbooks before bying new ones, no matter if the sketches turn out bad or good (I'm a sketchbook hoarder! A bad habit, I think. Especially if I'm not drawing in them....). I also need to finish few drawings before new year (I've only completed like 2 drawings this year, need to fix that immediately!) Also, I'm not a caricature artist (I'm more into realism), but that drawing you did in the video just made me smile. There's so much character in that old lady you drew. :) And I agree about Christopher Hart. Never bought any of his books :D
Will, that was amazing, this video really gave me some answers. I'm stuck somewhere inside of this project that I thought was gonna be quick, but it's been weeks, and it feels like I'm still at the beginning. You really helped me out, thanks!
Oh my goodness! You mentioned Ben Dunn! I have a lot of the How To Draw Manga books...those really got me started in high school like ages ago...gosh!! I love rewatching these vids...
That drawing is awesome Will! Thanks so much for sharing that info on not finishing sketches that was SO helpful because I have that exact problem. It's good to know that it's not that uncommon. I'm so glad that I discovered your channel, you are the best!
Thank you so much for speaking about not finishing your work! That is the main problem for me now and I even started to think that I don't want to go to an art school next year but you really encouraged me to go and learn drawing from teachers! ^-^ Thanks, this was the right message in the right time.
You rambled a bunch about the relation between not having a proper mentor in childhood and not being able to finish projects, but made several valid points. I think that correlation is seen more and more as we as a society move from one temporary obsession to another. People need to focus one the simple things to build a skill set as opposed to "wanting it" now and expecting to be good at everything you try. Thats my ramble. But I enjoyed your video and topic.
I appreciate you sharing this. Especially the part about not finishing art. It's really hard to keep going when I know my work isn't at the level I'd like it to be. It kind of ruins the enjoyment of it. And everything ends up being unfinished practice sketches aimed at getting better at the technique!
Thank you so much for your videos! You're an inspiration and a great teacher!! You have really helped me become a better artist with your advice, especially with what you said about adding personality to characters. It blew my mind--it really does give your work so much more depth.
I had to look this vid up in my phone just so I could leave a comment. (Damn RU-vid) but yea I just wanted to say that I've been losing motivation in my own art for the past two years... This video made dust off the old sketch books again. True story
Thanks for this :) I knew already that coming from a dysfunctional family is/was affecting me my whole life, but never thought that the "not being able to finish things" could be related to that. So now that I know where thats coming from I can actually work out how to tackle it :D It seems one way of doing it is getting more experienced with finishing things, in other words: Do things for the sake of finishing them, not for the sake of making them look good, so that I can learn over time that whatever crappy stage I would have usually given up, it will turn out better when it's finished. Oh and one thing that bothers me about leaving stuff unfinished alot: I tend to bash myself with those drawings as an example of how crappy artist I am ...lol, so not finishing things seems to hurt me in more than just one way. Also I can agree with you on the part that making tutorials on how to draw something is not as helpful (for me atleast) as videos such as yours that teach how to learn drawing myself :D I don't need to know how to draw spiderman, when I get excited about drawing, then I would draw spiderman based on my own idea and not needing to copy someone elses idea of how spiderman looks like.
just found your videos tonight ive been watching for hours is seems now looking at the clock it being 2am at the moment i just wanted to tell you thanks for these you have by far the best art videos ive ever seen its the most helpful ive seen you do them the right way and you have the best personality for this as well thank you again keep posting
I feel the need to thank you for this videos. It helps a lot listen it from other people even if I already know it. :) As an artist that grow up on a not so perfect home I find quite true what the article said... at least some of the topics. I struggled to finish projects but I start to "force" myself to do it plus I worked to find some balance for myself and to understand myself better. The process it's always different for everyone. Good luck with your work. :D
Thanks a bunch for this! I like to listen to these while I draw, and this one was just what I needed to hear at the moment. I had a good chuckle at your Chris Hart comment as I glanced over at one of his books I've had since I was a 12. It was just what I need then when I was trying to draw stuff like the comics I was reading back then.
I've always wanted my goal to be "to get it finished", but I can't seem to break out of this mentality that the people who look at whatever it is I make want nothing more than to harshly criticize the piece. Yeah, it may sound pointless; this is 'The Internet' after all. I've also had my fair share of giggles at sub-par pieces, it's normal, and I know for a fact that the artist gets better with every bit he/she does. I just can't shake the feeling, however, and I think it's affecting how often I get the spark to create something.
I have been getting these Road Blocks I call them. It is frustrating and I hate not to finish what I have started drawing. Actually today I pushed myself and I have just doodled first and after that just could not stopped:) Thanks to u because I remembered your video. Gladly to say I have finished my work as well. Good to see your video again:))
I just plain love your work! Your drawing style is so wonderful, its a pleasure to see you draw :D you inspire me alot! Also thanks for the advice, its always great to hear a professional talk about his own experiences^^
Hello Will! Your sketches as is are excellent! As for the finish product (after colored) they are absolutely amazing, detailed, and show much more than personality. They show the story of the character or caricature :D. I love your artwork!
My mom always told me that I am always riding my own ass, and I am my worst critic. It's amazing how easily I can beat myself down, and not even mean to!! Frustrating, but I can tell people all the time to be patient with themselves lol. I'm just now getting back into my art after a long hiatus, and I am working on a portrait of Mandela....I did the outline, haven't done the shading yet and I can feel that tension of "It needs to be perfect. Don't F this up" Haha, but I needed to hear this, because you're right- it's not about being perfect (which is impossible) but at least FINISHING. Thanks for the great advice!! Question for you, and the group- In regards to art school, do you think that is essential for an artist to go in order to succeed? Or is it a waste of time, money, etc?
I've read and heard from a lot of artists that feel that if you CAN go to school that it wouldn't hurt but that many people have become successful in the art industry without any schooling. If your splitting hairs on the little details or finances, or other distractions about school, maybe you should keep working on your own art and draw from as many FREE resources as you can before you make that big decision on whether or not to go to school. a lot of successful artists who have gone to an art school feel it helped them focus on what they wanted to do and a lot of other successful artists have said that school, kind of, restrained them but that they appreciated the resources available from a dedicated source however considering their own level of motivation they also mention that they could have gotten it for free elsewhere. So yeah just trying to give an unbiased opinion of whether or not to go to an art school hope it helped. check out CGMA i've heard good things :D let me know how it turns out for you :D
Jefrey Giron I'm sorry for the late reply but I really appreciate your message!!! :) I am still trying to decide what to do. I do have access to websites and other sources where I am getting a "free education" so I am working on it :). I know some artists who haven't gone to school but they are doing just fine, just like I know some have had training at one. Hence why I am torn on what would be best for me :(. I'll check out CGMA and let you know how it goes haha.
I've had an Antarctic-Press poster on my wall since my childhood! that's pretty cool that you know someone who uses them as a publisher.. I've thought about it before but never got around to getting to that point..
I know exactly what you mean, i just feel like specific how to draw videos never helped. You are so right Will about teaching yourself to draw, after I discovered what you can do with fundimental forms; my entire world changed and I got frustrated far less.
I met Court Jones years ago when I was part of the NCN. He is a genius. You were fortunate to have studied with him. Your video made a lot of sense to meas I have had trouble finishing projects that I'd started. Thanks for the insight. If you have a chance, please check out my video channel as well.
11:50 In my sculpture and design class, that's what my teacher always said. Very good advice, because everything I've done, no matter what it was (a drawing, a sculpture, a song) always go through an awkward "teenage" phase where nothing looks right.
I definitely had a similar experience while job-hunting in college...well, pretty much exactly the same thing. Hurt my self-esteem real bad when it was still a recent memory.
Thank you so much for telling us what goes on behind the scenes of professional artists.. Because I can totally relate on the things your telling us.. thanx for sharing the burdens instead of only success stories you mostly see online.. "Subbed" :D
DUUUUUUUUDE! So..I discovered your work a couple of days ago, while crawling around in a serious Pinterest hole. Someone had pinned one of you videos to their page (How to draw Sharks). Your art is beautiful and the lesson was awesome so I went to watch another video...I SUBSCRIBED because your laugh is awesome. We always need good laughs. I'm just listening to lessons at work and come to find out you know Ben Dunn, TOO! I did some stuff with him back in the day! Anyway! Thanks for the Art, The lessons and keep laughing.
I see myself as a designer or inventor yet I'm not educated in that school. Anyways I've come up with several ideas that I still think are good ideas, but as you say it's So hard to complete a functioning prototype. Exactly like you say at first really excited, and people you show it to can see the potential there aswell, yet I usually get stuck at beginning of a prototype or design and after time passes so does my enthusiasm of the project. I really want to finish them and see if I can actually make some money on them. Hopefully I can get through this fase one day so atleast I know that the idea wasn't strong enough if it wasn't. Now all I have are dreams and ideas... Very important subject, I think many if not most people have issues with this!
this is a great video...I just subscribed. Will, I so enjoy you! you are so down to earth and it is obvious you love and take seriously what you do, yet you still have a lot of fun with it. and your laugh is awesome! it makes me laugh too! keep up the great work! and thankyou for sharing!! :]
I run into this issue every once in awhile, but its with things like drawing difficult things. But right now I just do sketch after sketch after sketch. Its fun and exhilarating for me, especially when i finish a drawing! But I'm just glad that I'm Improving, the first head I drew I look back every now and again and I laugh my ass off! It was soo bad compared to what i can do now, and I'm glad that I never gave up on drawing no matter how frustrated I got :3 Thanks for the video though it was interesting!
Sometimes when I start to draw at some point I get frustrated, but then I pause it for some time (about 3-4 weeks) and continue to draw it. This helps me to finish it ;)
I live in Lubbock and my grandma always goes to market street and I seriously think that's her! I mean she has an outfit exactly like hers and always holds her phone like that!
I come from a broken home and I draw and I never finish many of my drawings. I think it's because I'm lazy and i say to myself "Well I have drawn enough so I have proved to myself that I can finish it so I don't need to. You are so right about starting off small to help you finish things. It's true in many things in life. Another thing is I can copy anything (I noticed artists on YT videos say they are using a "reference"), Next time I copy something I'll call it referencing. I only really use pencil but I want to paint but can afford the equipment so I thought maker pens would be a good start. I'm glad you said what white pen you used but can you tell me what felt tip/markers are good quality but not to expensive that I can start using?
I totally agree with your opinion on Christopher Hart. I got a couple of his books when I was younger and can't say I got any benefit from them. Only time my art started to really improve is when I started anatomy studies in conjunction with books like Bridgman's constructive anatomy, Burne Hogarths books and doing gesture drawings.
