How to stay motivated drawing & practicing

[Techétte]

I draw for fun and have years of experience in drawing now, I consider myself an intermediate/almost intermediate digital artist and have been slowing down drawing due to me being generally busy with work & life (also possibly needing to move back to quebec for personal reasons) having decreased motivation to create, and still subconsciously comparing my art to others', does anyone know how to fix this and get back to drawing a lot more often??

I also noticed that in my art jurney I stopped liking doing fast and quick sketches and instead pivoted to doing more high-effort projects spread across a long time, is this okay??

also for context these are some of my most recent works I have made that I love the most:

Bikini Character drawings

[close]

[buggle404]

[Ron] Something that has really helped us is making a page specifically for Bad But Fun drawings. I have been struggling a lot with comparing myself to other artists, but I find that if I draw something I find fun, it's not so bad. I used to draw a lot of things just to show off skill, and then I would be upset when I saw more skilled artists on my feed. If it's something I would have enjoyed drawing anyways, I'm not so worried about technical skill :)

[LucaDoodleDoo]

okay first: I love your art, and your shading is really good! <3

"I stopped liking X....and I've been enjoying X, is this okay?"
yes, ESPECIALLY if you do art primarily as a hobby, not a job. The fun part about art is there are no rules (regardless of what the internet may tell you). There are "rules" for art, but they're more like "here's the general guidelines, learn them so you know how to break them". Always follow the fun!

The biggest help in staying motivated for me is staying off social media. Even looking at art tutorials, I limit how many I watch because it can easily turn into watching 10+ videos of how someone else does it, and making no art of my own.

If you travel a lot (waiting for the bus, on planes, passenger in a car, if you know you will be in a waiting room, etc) take a pocket-sized notebook with you to doodle in, but don't put pressure on yourself to make something in it. Pick an object in the room and sketch it.

Come up with a personal project. Pick your favorite animal, and make a bunch of drawings of it playing sports. Pick out only 3 colors and finish a picture using them. Something you can make a "series" of pictures on, with a set goal in mind ("I'll make a drawing of X every week in November, as example). It's personal, so it's not a big deal if you finish, and you can always move the "deadline" if you need to.

Youtubers Proko, Marc Brunet, & Stephen Silver all have great videos on staying motivated and finding inspiration as an artist (just don't fall down a video rabbit hole ;P)

[purpledraws1225]

One thing that absolutely helped me out is using cheap drawing materials: cheap notebooks, normal school/office stationary etc. It really lifts that weight on your shoulders that you NEED to draw good bc you already spent a lot of money on the materials, it also is super easy to mess with and allows you to experiment with different materials and find what suits you the best.
 

[zomhara]

First off, your art is very good! I like how smooth your lineart is.

It's ok to take breaks! Either from a single art piece or from drawing in general. It's helped me a lot for getting a refreshed perspective on a piece and for giving my hand (and brain) a break. If you push yourself too hard, you'll get super burnt out, and that's an awful feeling that will take a while to recover from. It's alright if you don't draw super often. Drawing too often can burn you out and lead to demotivation, but not drawing often enough can make you rusty. It's important to assess whether or not your current drawing pace is healthy for you.
 

I also noticed that in my art jurney I stopped liking doing fast and quick sketches and instead pivoted to doing more high-effort projects spread across a long time, is this okay??

It's perfectly fine. It's likely just a part of your art style evolving and changing, which is normal.

When it comes to comparing your art to others, it's good to remember that everyone is at a different point in their art journey, and that everyone learns and improves at different rates. What you may see as bad art, can be seen as amazing to someone else. It's just a matter of perspective.

Sometimes I like to look back at my old art. I cringe hard, but then I feel proud. That's where I was before with my art, and now over these 8 or so years I've been drawing, I've gotten much better. I know there's still a lot I could improve on, but I can be proud of how far I've come today. My persistence and patience with myself has been key. I may not have seen your old art, but I'm sure it's just the same for you.

In the end, just be patient with yourself. Remember that improvement will come slowly (especially if you're just drawing for fun), but it will come. Assess your limits, and don't give up.