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[Early Access] why art isn't fun anymore (and how you can change that)
Added 2025-04-10 18:39:25 +0000 UTChi patrons! here is a brand new video for your viewing and listening pleasure this week! as always, ad-free for my patrons <3
Will be posted publicly tomorrow, Friday, April 11th, 2025.
Brief Summary of this video:
This whirlwind of fear, perfectionism, learning overwhelm, comparison, and financial pressure are all linked to your art and is killing your drive and enjoyment with creating. In this video, I talk about my own strategies and methods with navigating these negative feelings and creative blocks to get back to enjoying creating again as I work in my sketchbook.
More about the sketchbook spread from this video is in this post here!
I hope you enjoy this week's video! This is a topic that I've been wrestling with continually with still being a newbie to this whole full-time artist thing. But I am determined to make it work and create sustainable creative habits for myself and share what I learn with others <3
let me know down below if you ever struggle with any of the topics I mention in the video and how you deal with them and get back to creating again!
as always, thank you all so much for the support!
love, shay <333
Comments
I completely relate with your experience, Aneirin. The amount of speedpaints I would DEVOUR as a beginner artist smh. I would learn some tricks/techniques from watching other artists' processes but it gave me a bad expectation of speed. And your point about drawing as a conduit and being the only way to express ideas and stories resonates a lot with me. I really respect your plan to use your free time after graduating to fall in love with art again as you pursue a different career. It's all about the process, the journey, and your right, so many of us, including the younger/beginner artists, forget about process and the time it takes to develop your voice and skills purely for your own interest and enjoyment rather than likes on instagram. Great points, and thank you so much for sharing your experience Aneirin! <3
shay
2025-04-11 14:57:25 +0000 UTCsuch an insightful look into the world of art, especially in this contemporary era. it is different culturally, some of the things you mention are not at the forefront in my mind as i'm not in the US, but i have close ties from working and building up community there. how the world events reflect in art is almost inseparable, especially with a social media presence. i think being aware of the effect this has on you and your practice is a bigger step than most people will internalise; your affirmations really emphasise this, if anyone is able to take those words and find peace with their possible reality, then art is less of a chore. i am happy knowing that once i graduate with my degree in illustration, i don't intend on going freelance and making my illustrations my career. i intend to get a stable income at a job i am able to do, and use my free time to love art again. not everyone goes this direction and thats okay!! but making peace with that has freed the dread i get when thinking about picking up a pencil. i generally struggle most with the dopamine side of art. i grew up watching speedpaints, so i learned to draw as fast as i was watching. this meant i didn't really learn to enjoy the process, merely the result (even if those results weren't "good"). i have since been diagnosed with adhd, so, kind of doomed myself there with the ever-scrolling ease of most platforms now. getting stuck in one video and i've lost an hour or two from whatever i was doing before :( taking some personal time to reflect on how i used to do art, outside of the concept of a sketchbook, has made me reignite that passion again. i never started drawing because i wanted to show other people my art. it was honestly the opposite, i just had no where else to put the wonderful things happening in my mind. external forces acted to publicise that art, to keep it concise, compiled together. that doesn't mean my art has to make sense still, and i can have as many empty half filled pages in my sketchbook as i would like. that's the reality of art, i think. opening yourself up on social media has an unspoken rule that if you do this, though, you are not a professional. lies! lies i tell you! there's so much more to art than being pretty and aesthetically pleasing. social media just offers young artists or underexposed artists a "get rich fast" mentality that is really so unachievable for many, and drives away from the fact that most artists never learned art just to share it on instagram. it is lovely having an art community, but i think art community should exist outside of a following or fanbase for those just starting out or learning. your points in this video are so well executed and refreshing to hear. thank you for making honest, good content!
Aneirin J
2025-04-10 19:50:28 +0000 UTC
