Laziness in hobbies?

Question

I love to draw; I've been doing it since I was 4. Whenever I hear a song, I get an idea about how I would draw it (it usually involves a person and something they're doing). I have stacks and stacks of inspirations in my mind, just waiting to be drawn out. I have a tablet, too, so I could make it look professional and show it off in a digital gallery. I just have one problem. I CAN'T FINISH DRAWINGS. Usually, the farthest I get is a sketch (in Photoshop, doing it on paper isn't for me) and maybe the start of cleaning up the sketch (I can't even remember the last time I've started coloring something). Then I succumb to a lack of ambition, further interest, and motivation.

How can I stop this? I have at least 20 Photoshop files of just...a few lines... "ugh, I give up." I have so many ideas that I love, and I hate how they all just have to live in my head or in a crappy sketch.

Answer 1

I know what you mean. Sometimes I get that too. Well, the thing is, there's no use to finishing a piece if you're not interested in it already or if you've lost interest in it. What I do is, I keep those stacks, and one day, when I'm bored or feeling inspired again, I look at them and choose which one to complete. Usually this works for me.

I always think that maybe it's just not the right time to finish something. Don't worry about stacking things. You will, eventually, finish some thing. Don't force yourself most especially because your work wouldn't be as beautiful as when you are inspired. Don't worry! ^^

But if you really must finish things, spend an entire day just enhancing your creative brain. Listen to music, look at beautiful photos (or picture books) and many others. Try looking at this book called "Caffeine for the Creative Mind:" or something like that, I browsed through it and it was a really good book.

Answer 2

Don't get too discouraged, this happens to all artists at one time or another, and lasts for various amounts of time.
If you're inspired by music, then try listening to music while sketching. If you continuously listen to music, you may be able to get futher on the sketches than you have been.
Also, sketching so profusely isn't bad. It helps your skills and helps develop ideas.
If you can't seem to finish your drawings, then maybe you can roll your talent over into a related field. Lots of artists make story pitches for TV, movies, videos, etc. based on simple sketches they've done. You may come up with a great character or story idea from your sketches that you could turn into a script idea that could be sold. You may even try storyboard art, which doesn't always need to be a "finished" product, and often retain a sketch-like quality.
Hope this helps!

Answer 3

That's a tough one, but we've all faced it. Perhaps you put too much pressure on yourself to make it look like what you see in your head. Give yourself some help. I've found that I have certain ways of thinking that are automatic and I am used to them, but they don't necessarily make for a better drawing or painting. I used to make myself always come up with my own scenes and characters out of my head, but then I had a real breakthrough when I started using photographs as an aid, just images I could mold to my needs. Also, if you use the digital drawing tablet, you always have to draw at the computer, and we all know how many distractions there are these days. Just try breaking out of your habits a bit. Good luck!

Answer 4

first of all give yourself time, make sur eyou have an afternoon off or something, I get a scanner oif you dont have one trust me is very useful.. You are gonna have to give the sketching on paper a little more effort.. it make easier the work in photshop. Once you hae the outline of teh drawing in photshop work on one thing at a time. for example i do the edges and the inking first after im done with that i pick me next step, if what im painting next is something blue i paint everything that is blue in one layer.. and so on all you need is a little planning and patience..and most important IF YOU REACH A DEAD END (BLOCK) STE AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER GO DO SOMETHING ELSE TO CLEAR YOUR MIND AND I PROMISE IDEAS WILL FLOW IN TO YOUR HEAD.

Answer 5

It's really more of a bad habit than laziness. You need to teach yourself how to start and follow through on a project. At this point don't start any new ones, go back and finish those you already started.

Answer 6

u siad u get inspired by music well then listen to the song again. im the total opposite i cant get started but when i do it looks so beautiful. did u kno da vinci had that same problem. hed get started then get bored with the subject.

Answer 7

you'll finish sometime.give it time...