/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

in hindsight this is probably the WORST place to ask this question

>>7031344
well, for me, I almost don't use social media at all anymore, so I have no idea who is popular aside from some names thrown around here from time to time, and I assume artists I looked up to in my youth are doing ok. Having interests outside art that feed your art helps, like travel, language, science, music. I think too many artists just look at artists and ignore the world, leads to too much art inbreeding. (I used to be on conceptart.org which grew this problem after a while)

>>7031344
I used to think I was gods gift to earth when it came to art and would try to share it with everyone. Then a year passed, I looked back, realized how unbelievably bad I actually was and never shared my art ever again for fear that I might make the same fuck up. My ego was crippled and has never recovered

the fuck do you even an ego? were you one of those gifted children I here so much about from my American coworkers? Literally just start drawing or following some guide. Literally start drawing, you can't lose your ego, but you can gain the skill

>>7031344
it's true most artists are going to be mediocre. how is this helping you improve? why do you even care? It just sounds like another time wasting exercise that begs use to avoid working.

>>7031344
sounds like your jealousy stems from insecurity in your own abilities. if you admit to yourself that you're just not as good as those popular artists, you're on the right track to become better.

>>7031344
draw for fun instead of numbers lmao

>>7031364
You will do this every year you draw, it's just a sign of improvement. Post your art anyways.

>>7031366
That last part was kinda dramatic desu. There are very, very few things that can stop me from drawing. It's true I've been doing less studies though.

>>7031394
I feel like I've already accepted this. Or at least tricked myself into believing I have. I don't know. I try so hard not to care but I can't shake these feelings.

Looking back, most of these problems just stem from Twitter. I think I'll just take a break from it for a while.

>>7031344
Really you guys would waste time with any improbable kind of mental acrobatics to not draw

>>7031344
Either use that jealous energy and use it to improve your artwork, or just ignore it. Personally, following people way bigger than me and performing better than me for literal doodles did a lot to my ego, so I just decided to follow artists that follow me, meme pages, and japanese artists that rarely post. There are tons of artists with varying skills. There are bad artists that get rewarded and there are good artists that get overlooked.
If its any solace I guarantee you that small artists do live rent free in big artists heads. It's not even due to drama but inspiration. Which is a pretty great feeling.

>>7031394
>if you admit to yourself that you're just not as good as those popular artists, you're on the right track to become better.
I disagree. There's a pretty fair chance OP really is better than "luck or coom" artists in the Twittersphere. Heck, picrel's got half a million followers. I think the solution is simply to stop caring about popularity since it isn't a good metric of artistic merit, especially on social media.

getting numbers on social media does not equate to artistic skill or mileage. it's subjective, too - a less skilled artist could simply just be more likeable than you, the subject matter is more relatable, or their work just has life to it that you can't seem to bring to yours. many such cases. it's easy to spite people for it, but in the end it's easier to suck it up and consider, what makes this person more likeable than me? do i *want* to be liked?

anyways, OP, please post your work. At any given point, your work is very likely not as good as you think it is. how do you lose your ego? post your work and have more skilled artists tell you it sucks, suck it up, and continuously improve, or risk becoming complacent

>>7031344
have you tried growing up?

I'm ngmi and a permabeg, so consumed by envy that I can't enjoy art anymore. It's a terrible place to be, wish you luck

>>7031344
if you're one of those people who sees artwork doing numbers and instead of thinking about what works and makes it appealing you immediately zero in on some meaningless bullshit only you care about like "t-the p-perspective is off" or "t-those fingers are weird" you're too lost in the sauce and need a hard reset of your brain through shrooms or something

>>7031396
>draw for fun
>can't have fun because it looks like shit
>studying to improve
>don't have fun and burn out
>draw for fun
>can't have fun because it looks like shit
>study to improve
>don't have fun and burn out
>draw for fun

>>7031344
Here's to lose it all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj21JDDSrgM

>>7031702
>>7031660
This, I could have a bigger following if I drew every idea, lame joke, trendy meme, etc. Like the bigger popular artist who draw rage bait crap for engagement.
I post all of those memes when I can't help myself on my locked twitter account that I also use to post NSFW sometimes. I don't want the coomer/meme audience.

>>7031344
Why are you comparing yourself to mediocre social media artists into top-tier professionals like Yusuke Murata?

>>7031978
Because I can't even live up to mediocre artist. Murata is on a mountain so high that it's not realistic to try and pursue it.

>>7031344
I have opposite problem everything I draw I hate eventually I lose hope get depressed and lose my shit.

>>7031978
Murata is so GOATed.

It is true that there are too many mediocre drawings with many likes BUT that doesn't mean that you deserve them. The way I have to deal with these situations is to repeat the mantra "If they can do it I can do it too" and immediately I start making drawings of studies or anatomy, if I reach fame in social networks I will reach it with a high quality work, draw and improve until the day your time comes.

>>7031344
for starters if you know how to "see" and by seeing i mean, (knowing if body parts are in the right place, etc.) then you'll start hating /beg/art and start studying the good ones.
i have friends that post their art on social media but it's actually /beg/tier, the ones you can see on tumblr where the anatomy is whack

>>7031344
remember that you're only as good as the work you do. This ignores any feedback you get and also ignores any fart-sniffing you do in your free time.
>
Remember that it's almost always user error. Do you advertise your skills anywhere or do you expect to just be picked up? Do you think the average joe cares? etc etc
>
>That's what I said moron! I realized that I didn't put in enough effort so I keep getting mad at successful art!
So you see the work they do, estimate their personal quality, compare it to your own, and you get mad about that? If you're better than them then you're better, if you're equally skilled then you're equally skilled, if you're worse then you're worse. There's nothing beyond that. If you can't get rid of intrusive thoughts, then it's mental illness. Are you mentally ill?
>
No, obviously. So surmise what you will surmise and move on. That's the only way to move forward - ruminating on nonsense is the antithesis to forward movement. Stopping to smell the flowers is not the same as wanting - but hesitating - to smell them.
>
also you're allowed to sniff your own farts, most people are idiots, objectively so. Just remember that you're wasting time getting mad about it.

>>7031344
pyw and we'll destroy your ego for you by pointing out flaws

>>7031344
kill it, go into your mind, kill yourself there, cut off the head of your old self, rise the head and proclaim, I AM THE KING NOW! And crown yourself.

>>7031344
popularity doesn't mean skill, one piece is the most popular manga series in history and..... you know
most of the time is luck ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ( right time, right place, right theme, right people )

>>7031702
Honestly this. My most popular work is an incredibly simple drawing of a naked girl/girl in a bikini, with simple lighting and no fancy backgrounds. Meanwhile, some of my most personally fulfilling work involves incredibly complex lighting and tons of details. But it never came close to the same numbers because it wasn't coom. Not that I care; I draw what I want to draw, and the numbers don't really matter all that much to me. And I myself am susceptible to finding greater favor in the art of other artists when they draw coom art/art whose subject matter resonates with me, so I can't really blame others for acting the same against my art. But if you ARE going to draw for the numbers, realize most, if not almost all people like subject matter over technical proficiency, which is bolstered by a simple style that can pump out pretty ladies very quickly.

>>7032450
>rise the head and proclaim, I AM THE KING NOW! And crown yourself.
Seems a bit egotistical.

In my opinion, the ego is not a bad thing. It’s a necessary quality ties to physical necessities which can in turn drive individuals and collective to achieve amazing and beautiful and beneficial feats. Obviously it can infest and distort and contribute to corrosive, self-indulgent (at the unnecessary expense of others) behavior, destructive hubris.

Ego is essentially directly tied to dopamine. Without it, there is no fuel for motivation, to create, build, inquire, examine, to care, to actually do anything. In an experiment, they removed dopamine receptors in dogs which resulted in the dogs not even having motivation to eat. They would just lie there and eventually starve.

It seems to me, the more trauma a person experiences, the more pain they receive after being born and raised with great capacity for love, the selfish (not inherently bad) their psyche or mind or brain or ego or whatever becomes. A natural, very ingrained physical response to outside hardships; the body has evolved to respond with this adaptation like any other mammal.

So balance seems to be key, as basic and cliche as that sounds. None of us are the center of the universe, yet at the same time we are from the standpoint of our perception, which is all we will know in this manifestation of individual ego. We are the gods and kings of ourselves, but must recognize that that is only true on one level, and humbling acknowledge our role within the greater realm.

Nice try but they all actually do suck. They are shit at art compared to me. This is a massive cope.

>>7031344
I think it's a form of fear and self-defeat like being a Howie. You're afraid to fail so you're giving yourself an excuse not to try that makes you the you the victimized protagonist of a story. Instead of being the victim of ADHD you're a victim of a world of people who get success by pandering to the lowest common denominator and who get to win the algorithm lottery. The game is easy to avoid playing if you convinced yourself the deck's is staked against you. What's a beget story to tell at the end of your life? that you pursued your passion even though it was hard and unfair sometimes or that the systems for promoting yourself were annoying so you didn't even bother?

>>7035634
Imagine thinking hollywood and silicon valley are fair lol
Literally the odds are against us.
We are playing on hard mode.

>>7031344
If you want to become a better artist - You really need to just accept where you're at. You're not on their level and beating yourself up is making things worse. You have to embrace your position and just enjoy making sub-par art - but art that is true to you and what initially interested you in the activity. Passion is the only competition for resentment. Passion will drive you through any wall that you may have placed infront of yourself.

Take a step back, reconnect, reprioritize, make friends if you want and draw what you truly love. Don't think you have to live someone elses life or live up to anyone elses standards. The thing youre so desperately clawing for will come to you when you do the opposite of what you have been - let go.

>>7035640
Who said life is fair? If fairness is a prerequisite to pursuing a passion then you will never so anything. People use unfairness as an excuse not to try because what they're really afraid of is failure.

>>7031344
Gain some ego first.

>>7031344
for me its reassuring. I find lots of other artists whose technical skill and appeal is, IMO, worse than mine but their followings are gigantic, so its like I can have confidence to keep pushing my own stuff because if they can do it there's no reason I can't

>>7035674
lol boomer cope

>>7036868
>doesn't even know what cope means
Yeah, I can't imagine why someone like you could be struggling

>>7031357
>I think too many artists just look at artists and ignore the world, leads to too much art inbreeding.
This. It's why there is so much derivative art. But when you see an artist that is 'original' it's usually simply because they look beyond the visual arts for inspiration.

>>7031357
>Having interests outside art that feed your art helps
also this is the best advice I've seen here, no surprise it's been ignored on this shithole for days.

>>7031344
Narcissistic Personality Disorder

>>7031344
Mindfullness helps, when your doing something ask yourself if you're doing it for your ego, or if its the best way to do it.
The hard part is realizing all of the negative thoughts that are still you're ego, i'm the worst and everyone hates me is still thinking your the center of the universe.

>>7035634
Can't speak for OP but fear of failure is my main Achilles heel. I have ADHD too but that's only a part of the problem. I'm well past the point of comparing myself to others or attempting to judge who's "better" (there's no such thing) but what I always notice is those with more recognition put more work in and that work is bearing fruit. They post every day or every other day or have a consistent schedule people rely on. They draw popular things and don't stray from their main topics. My once a month illustrations for original characters or art studies aren't going to get recognition and I'd be delusional to assume so. The constant underlying stress of failure is what's keeping me from doing what everyone else is doing and posting frequently/consistently. I'm still working on it but what I've found helps is to just scribble some shit on a canvas until my mind is blank enough where I can focus on drawing without stress.

>>7031344
Unless your ego is actually at or near narcissistic levels at times yours probably isn't high enough to survive
>typical (you) problem