# Why are some people quick to give up art?



## Kopatropa (Jan 28, 2017)

I've seen many people talk about how they don't want to make art anymore for varying reasons (usually because they dislike the end result too much or they think they suck compared to other artists, along with impatience).

What do you guys think?


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## Alpine (Jan 29, 2017)

Some don't have the popularity they were expecting.

Some don't have the skills and the feel they won't improve.

Some have other occupations and don't have time for much.

I have seen a lot of the "I suck compared to so and so and there's no way I'm going to improve": although acknowledging that you are not as good as whomever, you shouldn't just give up because of that


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## Caryatid (Jan 29, 2017)

Art, like anything, is something you need to decide if its worth it to yourself. Drawing and painting are extremely hard crafts to perfect and learn, and it takes a ton of practice and trying and failing to get on a decent level. I draw because its fun, and very enjoyable to me, but even more so than that I draw because I want to see an end result and be proud of it. There are times where i've worked on pictures that were absolutely hellish to work on but it was all worth it in the end for me, and i've done lots of pretty boring studies and sketches to help develop my sense of fundamentals beforehand. I'm still not perfect! And will probably never be; its a lifelong process, and trying to go into art specifically for the popularity usually ends up with burnout.

That being said!! It can be easy to burn out if one has been working too hard and it just doesn't feel worth it... maybe there are other pursuits that are more rewarding and enjoyable than art, and that's totally fine. As an artist myself it makes me sad when people decide to stop drawing, but that's their prerogative, not mine, and in the end its about what makes you more fulfilled/happy.


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## Revous (Jan 30, 2017)

Because being good at anything requires loads of practice, but most people are too lazy to properly practice and refine their results. 
Then there's the two sub-groups, the "my art is good enough but yall don't see it" and the "I've read millions of tutorials online but I need someone to teach me".

Besides that, dropping art because you don't see results usually means you're not in for the art itself, but for the exposure/popularity. I don't judge, but drawing (to me and to many) is like eating or breathing, I just crave it. Nowadays I'm a full time commission artist, but before I'd just draw for myself all day long because it is what I love.

I could make a damn list of every "why can't I art/I'm quitting art" argument I've read here but I'm afraid people would hate me.
Disclaimer: I consider myself _~acceptable art tier~ _because I can make pretty things and get paid, but it took me 6 years of "why can't I draw the other eye" every single day. I'm very far from being popufur/furgod tier but I train to git gud everyday.


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## pidge (Jan 30, 2017)

Most people don't realize just how difficult drawing is until they attempt it themselves.  

A lot of people, myself included, don't have the skill to draw as well as we would like to, even if we spend hours working on something, it can still come out looking like shit. And on top of that, there are plenty of artist who can draw far better with ease.

Personally, this is what drives me to improve my art, but for some this just discourages them and drawing isn't enjoyable for them. I like to challenge myself, but not everyone does, so I guess it's really more about personality type.


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## Leoni Zheitk (Jan 30, 2017)

This is the only way I can relate to this conversation:


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## Lexiand (Jan 30, 2017)

As a new artist i have one awnser to this. We newbies keep comparing there art too others
plus we are to hard on on our skills


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## Amiir (Jan 30, 2017)

I'm a decent artist yet being just ''decent'' isn't enough, and I'll stop the post here lest I make it emo


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## Khazius (Jan 30, 2017)

Well sometimes life takes over.


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## scet (Jan 30, 2017)

Amiir said:


> I'm a decent artist yet being just ''decent'' isn't enough, and I'll stop the post here lest I make it emo


Why isn't it enough?


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## Leoni Zheitk (Jan 30, 2017)

scet said:


> Why isn't it enough?


Because not even the sky's limit can withstand some people that's why!
Why not be good when you can be better? Other than the obvious cost of time, effort, skill, and etc...


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## Diretooth (Jan 30, 2017)

It's because a lot of us are only decent, we have a period of vast improvements, then we plateau. I can say for certain that I've had exponential growth in my artwork, but have reached a spot where it's decent, you have an idea what's going on, but my anatomy's off, there's no sense of scale, backgrounds are crap, et cetera... It's easy to get discouraged when all of that amazing growth you've had just suddenly halts and you're let in this spot where you just can't seem to understand how to make yourself better. A lot of people then start to look for short cuts. Quick ways to becoming better, and their art suffers for it.


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## Amiir (Jan 30, 2017)

scet said:


> Why isn't it enough?


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## Leoni Zheitk (Jan 30, 2017)

@Diretooth
I can totally relate, sometimes I'll be drawing like Leonardo Da Vinci, and other times I'll draw pictures that make me question on why I even do a do.


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## Julen (Jan 30, 2017)

I started drawing in September or so, and i can clearly see an improvement. But then when you take a look at someone else's art and back at yours, you end up like


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## mechanicalrain (Feb 5, 2017)

Art, like many things, is a skill not a talent... which means in order to be good at it, you have to practice and work the skill for a long time. Essentially, you're teaching your brain how to communicate with your hand to mimic images in your head- it's tough to do, and the general consensus with any skill like that is that it takes ten years of hardcore study and practice to be considered 'proficient' at it. Additionally, art is hard because it's SO personal... you're creating something from nothing based on passing thoughts, which means you have to pour a lot of yourself into it, and then if it doesn't turn out the way you want it to, it feels like a personal failing.

College, while not an absolute necessity, IS helpful. I got my BA in Media Arts In Animation, and those four years were hard, but they also let me network a lot and find a sense of common ground and community with other people going through the same things. I think people would be less inclined to give up on themselves if they had better support systems and friends on the same level. Try not to compare yourself to artists who come from different circumstances and you might perceive to be 'better' than you, because chances are they've gone through those same struggles. Instead, try to look back and see how much you've personally improved since you've started! You're always better than you were yesterday, don't give up!


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## Xaroin (Feb 5, 2017)

I mean I've been getting better


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## Alex K (Feb 5, 2017)

I can relate to this. Back in Saint Olif, work was the more smarter dezichen versus an education so naturaly my art skillz faded over the years along with several other classroom skillz

I wouldn say I give up tho. I still like to paint on my itablets occasionally and hang em up around my house but BOY is it expensive!


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## narutogod123 (Feb 7, 2017)

All I ever ask to people wanting to give up is "Do you have fun drawing? Do you feel like you can draw for yourself not for everyone else? Do you just want to be better at art because you love the process of creating it and you have something you want to convey? Do you have the drive to spend hours on studying the fundamentals and make it fun for yourself? Do you accept that learning to draw and paint takes years? Do you accept that there will always be someone better than you and you should only focus on your own work?"

If you say "No." to all these questions then art may not be for you. Art is hard to learn but if you don't enjoy creating then what's the point? Do you love creating or do you just like the idea that you will possibly make money? The money will come to you if you put the work into creating something you love.


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## Jax Cottontail (Feb 9, 2017)

Because creating art and developing your own style is really f'n hard and can take years to develop. You have to spend the time practicing your skill just like everyone else. If you are not putting in the milage with your sketchbook you aren't going to magically get better. 

If you are feeling discouraged and thinking of quitting consider this: You are exactly where you should be artistically based on the level of artwork you have completed. If you wanna get better keep drawing, keep studying the fundamentals and you will eventually get better.


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## Derpmander (Mar 9, 2017)

For me personally, I just feel like I'll never improve. I've been trying to by watching tutorials, reading art books, etc, but nothing seems to stick, its like... once the tutorial ends, I forget it, and whatever "talent" or "experience" I had at the time disappears. I get demoralized easily thanks to this, and especially by the thought of not knowing if I'll ever improve thanks to it all being, from what I hear, a "time" element involving nothing but practice. I understand its important, but thanks to no sure fire way to improve, I can't help but think to myself that I could be wasting multiple months and years of my life, drawing things I could care less about, and make minimal progress, only to end up a step farther than what I was before, but with little satisfaction or true improvement. I would be just fine drawing characters that already existed, and put them in situations I personally would like to see, but even that seems to turn into a mess most of the time, with proportions being off, or ultimately, perspective going on its head. 

The worst part about it is I genuinely can't shake off the desire to draw, it just keeps sneaking up on me, and ultimately, I give in and try, and of course, fail, so its a pretty brutal cycle... I can't speak for others and their reasons of giving up, but I know mine is just ultimately an epic fail of learning to learn, and seeing legitimate improvement.


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## Mobius (Mar 9, 2017)

People are studying art wrong. Art's not an abstract form of personal expression that you can master by repeated experience. Every aspect of art can be reduced to calculated formulas : perspective, anatomy, lighting, material, etc. Even the folds in fabric can be visualized by tension points and their forces meeting in an intuitive interference pattern.


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## nerdbat (Mar 9, 2017)

There may also be lack of time, lack of genuine desire, or other hobbies that get in the way (I know many designers and musicians who started as aspiring artists but shifted the focus on some point and didn't regret it - damn, I was one of them until I decided to return several years after ). I think all of this should be mentioned, since they are quite common reasons for giving up on art, aside of just "because it's hard" or "they have low self-esteem to go forward".


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## nerdbat (Mar 9, 2017)

Derpmander said:


> For me personally, I just feel like I'll never improve. I've been trying to by watching tutorials, reading art books, etc, but nothing seems to stick, its like... once the tutorial ends, I forget it, and whatever "talent" or "experience" I had at the time disappears. I get demoralized easily thanks to this, and especially by the thought of not knowing if I'll ever improve thanks to it all being, from what I hear, a "time" element involving nothing but practice. I understand its important, but thanks to no sure fire way to improve, I can't help but think to myself that I could be wasting multiple months and years of my life, drawing things I could care less about, and make minimal progress, only to end up a step farther than what I was before, but with little satisfaction or true improvement. I would be just fine drawing characters that already existed, and put them in situations I personally would like to see, but even that seems to turn into a mess most of the time, with proportions being off, or ultimately, perspective going on its head.
> 
> The worst part about it is I genuinely can't shake off the desire to draw, it just keeps sneaking up on me, and ultimately, I give in and try, and of course, fail, so its a pretty brutal cycle... I can't speak for others and their reasons of giving up, but I know mine is just ultimately an epic fail of learning to learn, and seeing legitimate improvement.


Just keep doing it and searching for ways to improve on your artwork, pal. Both with guitar playing and drawing/animating, I spent several months making incomprehensible sounds and shitty scribbles, until one day I noticed that what I do is suddenly not that shitty anymore and relatively resembles actual songs and drawings. The primary thing is to "get the ball rolling" - if you're persistent and self-aware enough, it'll just come naturally one day, and learning from that point will be much simpler, since you'll already get the basics down and be competent enough to at least not be ashamed of yourself. In other words, bite the bullet and stay determined, it _will_ worth the time spent on it.


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## Derpmander (Mar 10, 2017)

nerdbat said:


> Just keep doing it and searching for ways to improve on your artwork, pal. Both with guitar playing and drawing/animating, I spent several months making incomprehensible sounds and shitty scribbles, until one day I noticed that what I do is suddenly not that shitty anymore and relatively resembles actual songs and drawings. The primary thing is to "get the ball rolling" - if you're persistent and self-aware enough, it'll just come naturally one day, and learning from that point will be much simpler, since you'll already get the basics down and be competent enough to at least not be ashamed of yourself. In other words, bite the bullet and stay determined, it _will_ worth the time spent on it.



I can only hope, and at least there's that to hold onto if anything.


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## Kopatropa (Apr 24, 2018)

Bump


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## Sunburst_Odell (Apr 24, 2018)

As many have said, a lot of people give up because of one or more of the following:

-they feel like they don't improve
-they are disappointed that their art gets little attention
-they don't enjoy it
-they don't have the time and must make sacrifices
-they get discouraged upon seeing better artists
-they are impatient

I have never wanted to give up art, but I did want to give up posting it at one point. When all of my friends(in real life, might I add) got many more watchers on DA than I did, I got heavily discouraged. I kept going though. I want to say this story has a happy ending, but I never surpassed either of them in watcher count, which was a mere 100 watchers over the span of two years. I ended up quitting DA though not because I wasn't getting results(I got over that) but rather because my parents condemn it because they believe it had bad influences on me(I was in a bad headspace but they blamed it on the attention seekers there even though that was not the case.)

Whenever I feel discouraged about my art or feel like I don't improve(such as the fact that my twelve year-old cousin became a high quality artist in merely a YEAR), I look back on my older stuff or even redraw an old piece. It gives me reassurance that I have gotten better. As my talented artist cousin once told me, "you'll never get as good as you want to, but practice will make your art improve." So I don't give up. After all, I have plans to be an animator sometime in the future and that will be a very difficult task, so I can't give up.


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## Deleted member 111470 (Apr 24, 2018)

Cos I can't draw for shit


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## Sunburst_Odell (Apr 24, 2018)

Rimna said:


> Cos I can't draw for shit





 
At one point, neither did I. In fact, I was worse than most beginners on this forum. But practice got me where I am today, even if I still have a long road.


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## Deleted member 111470 (Apr 24, 2018)

sunburst_odell said:


> View attachment 31067
> At one point, neither did I. In fact, I was worse than most beginners on this forum. But practice got me where I am today, even if I still have a long road.



I mean, I can't say I've completely given up on art but it's becoming apparent I am bad at it. I sometimes draw. I enjoy the feeling I get of being lost in my imagination, trying to make some of that appear on the paper in front of me.


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## Sunburst_Odell (Apr 24, 2018)

Rimna said:


> I mean, I can't say I've completely given up on art but it's becoming apparent I am bad at it. I sometimes draw. I enjoy the feeling I get of being lost in my imagination, trying to make some of that appear on the paper in front of me.


A lot of artists tend to see their art as bad when it really isn't. Maybe you're inexperienced, but it doesn't neccessarily mean you're bad at it. Like I said, just keep practicing if drawing something you want to be good at. It takes a long time, but it's worth it.


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## Deleted member 111470 (Apr 24, 2018)

sunburst_odell said:


> A lot of artists tend to see their art as bad when it really isn't. Maybe you're inexperienced, but it doesn't neccessarily mean you're bad at it. Like I said, just keep practicing if drawing something you want to be good at. It takes a long time, but it's worth it.



I managed to find two drawings I did over the last few months.

One
two

that's the best I can do for now.


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## Karatine (Apr 24, 2018)

I recommend watching this video.



Basically, too much self criticism will lead to associating self hatred with doing art. Which leads to quitting.
Edit: wrong video


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## Sunburst_Odell (Apr 24, 2018)

Rimna said:


> I managed to find two drawings I did over the last few months.
> 
> One
> two
> ...


That's pretty good! Sure, they aren't perfect, but they are really cool!


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## SlyRiolu (Apr 24, 2018)

Just like writing I have little to no time for it. The time I do spend it on is roleplaying. Kinda sad too I think I have a intresting plot. Also maybe it isn't fun for them when learning. I would have probably dropped writing if it wasn't fun.


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## redhusky (Apr 24, 2018)

Art is hard, time consuming, and generally thankless. And it should only be done seriously by people who love the craft.


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## Some Moron (Apr 24, 2018)

Art is fake. You're welcome.


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## Jade_the_rabbit (Apr 25, 2018)

That hate yourself and art video probably covers it but I really think it's the same frustration in trying to make something and having it not match your vision of it that makes and breaks all creators of art whether or not they consider themselves as such and there is a very fine line that's really just a choice to let that frustration bring you down or motive you.

This is with all skills not just art as people are both ambitious and competitive by nature in seeking to bring their ideals into reality

This is also a unique paradigm because people who say don't have the tenacity to produce their ideals through direct work like for drawings just doing it over and over until they get good

They'll instead use something that they do have the tenacity to obtain like say money and become a patrean or customer of art and look for someone else who can make that ideal or idea a reality for them

Thus is born business and trade, etc


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## Skychickens (Apr 26, 2018)

I’ve noticed a lot of people assuming art is a talent. That it’s something people are born with and are just good at. Then they assume because they aren’t that they never will be. Or they assume all art is only visual. 

It’s not. It’s a skill that took years of training and studying and researching. It’s practice until you bleed levels. It’s taking breaks and not being afraid to try again some other time. And it’s also music and writing and acting and dancing. It is designing and sometimes coding. 

People can be very narrow minded on what art is and isn’t. That causes a lot of roadblocks.


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