/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

A question for some of the more established artists, what helped you finally break into pro territory? I've gotten work and range from mediocre to gud, but I still can't hit a consistent good and have to work pretty hard for passable art.

Were there any books, videos, or routines that really pushed you forward?

Are there any art books or decent videos series' that include a curriculum for getting mediocre artists over that barrier into "gud" territory? I'm at the point where I have sold art and won a competition with a picture, but I'm still slow and there are a few foundational things I'll screw up. I want to get to the point where I don't need to think so much about how to draw the thing, but the thing itself, and after reading all of Loomis, Vilppu, and various other artist's work, as well as doing numerous studies, I feel like I need a solid schedule and lessons... for as much as I've been drawing I feel like I should be up there with the high tier artists on this board, but I'm still struggling to just stay afloat and please people in request threads any more.

I had severe depression and anxiety attacks that would happen frequently. I had suicidal thoughts often and the drugs I thought would be my escape only served to numb my feelings and make the attempts at suicide easier. Funny thing is, when you get to that point it isn't about attention, it's about escape from the madness around you.

You know what helped me? Reading the New Testament twice a day. It sounds cheesy, but reading the Bible has turned me from a suicidal shut in who had lost all sense of emotional feeling, to somebody who goes out, helps others, and posts art relatively regularly compared to how I used to be afraid to post one piece.

Of course, if you don't do this I'd advise being careful about what doctors will give you. At one point my doctor gave me a pill that made me little more than a zombie who would just do what they were told. All form of thought stopped besides when people asked me something or asked me to do something... so yeah, careful with that.