Entertainment helps, get inspired. Play a new game , watch a cool movie or show. If depressed or getting over a previous relationship a person could try getting outside in nature for a walk, run or bike. Prolonged stress is also one of the enemies of creativity in my opinion so getting rid of excess projects or tasks can be helpful.
Currently in burnout. I keep trying to change parts of my game project to make it new to myself, but that means the project will never be completed. I've recently gotten back into exercising, so hopefully that will give me more confidence I need to be satisfied with my art. (I have a shockingly low confidence level)
Due to certain circumstances, I’ve been hit with a truckload of physical and mental burnout, that of which I’ve been told will take an incredible amount of time and rest to fully heal from. It’s been months of me doing less than 1/5th as much as I used to and I can’t even handle half of the physical or mental burden of work that I used to. I’m supposed to be going to college soon and I’m almost legally an adult. I don’t know what it is exactly that I’m trying to say when I type all this but I just want to say that resting and not doing the one thing I’ve decided I want to spend my life doing is insanely hard for someone like me who isn’t even that good at anything. I don’t know what to do and wish that I was better. At this point I’m not sure if what I’m trying to say in this even makes sense anymore... I’m in a state of confusion... it’s not like that many people are going to read this and it’s not like the few who do should care about this or me at all. In any case if you’ve gotten this far I have to say I’m sorry for wasting your time since anything I type is just none sense that is coming raw from my brain unedited. Have a nice everyday.....
Yep! Plenty of times. The key for me was to learn to organise and balance my life in the way that's right for me. Sometimes I need to draw less and rest but, more often, I need to draw more TO rest and study less, in order to perform better at both. Of course different people will need different solutions. I don't have a lot of time to draw so generally it's not the source of my burn out but a refreshing change from the usual. I used to avoid drawing while I was studying law because I was afraid of procrastinating. The funny thing is that I was less productive as both a student and an artist when trying to separate those things completely. I learned that I actually learn more effectively, and I'm more focused and less anxious if I'm doodling as I study, or if I regularly switch between those very different tasks. Avoiding drawing so that I could focus was counterproductive and just left me on edge and desperate to draw while studying; and whenever I gave in and started drawing I was anxious that I should be studying. Instead, now I accept that I'm going to do both. It's harder to manage myself when I'm trying to balance both than it was to just ban one activity all together sometimes but I'm much more relaxed, satisfied and attentive now in both areas. It's funny to me that I thought wanting to draw while I was studying was disadvantageous since it turned out that's exactly what I needed. My brain was telling me "you're getting anxious and overwhelmed by uni, just draw something and you'll chill out and have an easier time taking information in!" Art is amazing that way.
now i understand , when i looks at other people art0 i feel a mixture of jealously, and sadness and anger towards my own work, basically it drains me 3 times faster
Hits a bit too close to home... same to me, fella. This is why I refuse to open social medias for more than once a day because.... Oh, you probably know why. Sometimes, I even go full blown sad girl. Crying alone at night seeing how better "they" are than me, then I beat myself up and spiraling down again to procrastination. Ugh.
Mhm, I try not to think that way, instead I think: " what about this is better than my work? How can I encorparate this into my work?" Their art is better than mine I accept that but I will use what I like about this In my own work Everyone works at different levels, don't worry if someone is better than you because you aren't them, you cannot be them
Absolutely feel the same, my inktober art is never as quality as I see others online and it’s so easy for the internet to look easier then the actual art pieces
Boy it's hard to say "hey I have burn out and don't want to do this right now! let's stop!" It feels like quitting but it's best to acctualy rest and let your brain refill with ideas
I just went through my longest burnout yet. It was horrible! I felt like drawing was the only talent that i had, and i thought i lost it forever. It was scary, and i didn't know what was wrong. But after a few months i found out i pushed myself too hard. Sometimes i would draw over 12 hours a day, (almost) everyday for months. It's great to know that I'm not the only one dealing with this problem, and it's completly normal. Thank you so much for the video. 💖
@@pinkzdraws4511 calm down brother keep going have a good rest and keep going rest and keep going, we all will have burnout but disciplines will create motivation, go walk with ur friends, love one or family, enjoy life a little bit and comeback to art, it's okay to go a little slower sometimes
@@zefanyaraysanevadalaput7371 oh bro truthfully my family and I not the best relationship they don't support my art and I lost my friends too well they didn't want anything to do with me after I loved fiction more . Well I don't miss them they only said empty words for my art anyways . I'll try to rest thank you today was especially hard ,one of the worst days but still my love for art remains I'll take it slow ,thanks for ur words ,I hope u do ok and r happy and healthy
When your passion starts bringing you sorrow rather than joy it can get scary. the fear of losing your passion, your greater purpose in life, that is almost comparable to death and it sure as hell feels like that. But hearing and reading how many people go trough the same thing, from beginner to pro, it brought me peace of mind. I am now confident that this too shall pass and I wish all the best to anyone going trough the same no matter what stage in life they are. Stay strong, give yourself some rest, let the inspiration come back to you and be sure that it will, but most importantly don't give up on your dreams, they're what gives us purpose.
procastination is usually indicative of an underlying emotional problem cause theres something about the task that causes you to want to avoid it so people go do other stuff (eg. watching videos) that has more instant gratification, and less chance of feeling hurt/pain/whatever
Mark Guyton idk how true is this of most places, but i think people both irl and on the internet are generally decent or mild mannered enough that they won’t give an honest critique out of nowhere or unasked. The other reactions are on the extremes ie. either praise, or variations on the asshole response of “it sucks” with the intention of belittling the artist rather than helping them improve.
zaqareemalcolm i procrastinate with drawing and animation cause it’s SOO HARD learning how to draw facial features and anatomy and making it appealing and it takes way too much time to get good and I feel like I I will never get good and that it’ll take me months to ever finish an animation so I just procrastinate cause no one ever tells how to really get food at drawing
At the start of this year I found myself telling myself "why I start this career if I obviously HATE drawing" that was my red flag. I really appreciate that you made a video on this topic, its truly helpful.
I am having a huge burnout, i thought it was going to last about a week or two, but it’s been months. Everyday since, I get up, lying to myself saying “come on, you can draw today!” But i cant, and its driving me insane. This video has helped me so much and I will try to implement the advice in it. I cant express how much this helped!
I really really needed this video, and it came out at the perfect time! Lately I've been feeling my art has been getting no where - drawing the same thing again, boring poses, stiff, colorless boring sketch on an empty page. My friend has been pumping out some really wonderful art lately, and I secretly got jealous of it, burnt myself out and now I get unmotivated after one drawing. This made me realize a few things, maybe I do need to slow down and make a couple of mistakes - by practicing. I'm going to start pulling out images as references and practice! I need to set a goal for myself. I started because I love drawing my favourite characters or my own, and I'll try to get better at it! Hmm... So I'll start small. Everyday, I'll draw a couple images from references, I'm not good at humans, so let's say 20 poses I need to sketch out (not everyday! that's the goal!), and id do a few everyday. I think that's a good goal, bonus points if I do shading, oh, and maybe even colouring! Even if it's a small doodle... ...Thanks for the inspiration!
Alright I finished it. I don't have much to add. Brookes pretty much covered it all. I will say that setting goals for yourself is probably one of the most important parts. While taking some time away from your work is a good way to unwind and relax you don't want to end up getting lazy. A few years ago I was going through a burnout myself. It had been half a year since I created anything and I was debating giving up art altogether. Then I started actively looking for ways to get my passion for art back and eventually discovered Character Design Forge along with a small but growing community of artists who were eager to share and discuss personalized characters they had created themselves.
It's so easy to become burnt out when it's so hard to let go and have fun with art. Perfectionism, man! I would love to hear about how you have fun to keep yourself energized and motivated to continue the "grind."
it kinda reminds me a part of recovering from depression was learning to validate my feelings no matter their cause, allowing myself to dwell in them i still get around a week long depression episodes once in a while, it feels like my whole body is drained of energy to even do simple functioning i used to have a bad habit of "pushing through it" from back when i wasnt diagnosed, it made my episodes way longer and worse sometimes you just have to wait to feel better and allow yourself to rest
Wow! It feels like I shared my thoughts and problems with you right before playing the video, everything you said hits the spot. Pushing myself for hours on end without even a day's rest, feeling like I gave it my all but it still wasn't enough, spending weeks on end without the desire to even hold a pencil... I'm so relieved to hear that this is something normal especially when it comes from a professional, I thought I was going insane. You have no idea how much peace of mind this video brought me and how useful the tips you provided are, thank you!
I've struggled with burnout since I've started learning 3D and 2D animation, and storyboarding in college last semester. I think I could keep my motivation going for a week, tops. I was a lot more angry and emotional when I got burned out and eventually I had to tell one of my professors about it. She told me to just focus on school and not worry so much about getting a job. My parents are letting me stay with them while I work on my degree, so it's not like I need it. Still, it's nice to have some extra money. This summer, I've driven myself crazy looking and applying for internships in the web and animation industries...for nothing. I got no answers. I applied to Michaels and GameStop and just stopped there. I start orientation at my part-time job at Michaels two days from now. I only have two days left to relax. Now I'm scared of burning myself out before next semester. On top of that suck-salad, I think my art has been getting worse, or at the very least plateauing. I've decided to teach myself watercolor painting. I can at least see the problems in my work now, but it's hard to not beat myself up over it. I'm also working with a bunch of schoolmates on a side project. If I get burned out this fast just making art for school, I'd hate to imagine how bad it'll be in the industry.
As a full time teacher who arts after work I appreciate the shout out to our profession! I never thought of it that way, as far as expending empathetic energy and it’s so true! Love your dry humor as well haha
I think this is one of the best videos you have done. (Although they're all the best when they premier, and I'll probably change my mind when next week comes around. :) ) I never thought of burnout as being something so attached to emotions, but it makes sense. I wait tables during the day, and I'm constantly thinking about making my customers happy. And your point about social media and unplugging for a bit was well-made! This whole video explains so much, especially when projects seem to take a long time for me to finish and make me anxious. I always look forward to your videos every week; they're the first thing I check in my recommendations. You do an awesome job on these! I can't wait for your next video!
I thought that getting a full-time job as an artist in an animation studio would make all my dreams come true and I have been experiencing a serious burnout -after a year I asked for a week of vacation because I just couldn’t do it anymore. It isn’t even just about not being able to respect my style/time/process or having to redo everything because of change of direction and lack of consistent management, it is also feeling so drained that I don’t have any motivation to do any personal work or development in my free time. I don’t feel like even picking up a pencil /practicing other mediums or having any other projects that would allow me to progress independently. Ironically today is my last vacation day and I stumbled on your channel, am binging everything related to the topics and saving the technical ones to a near future. The community is also great and motivating. So thanks, this was really precious to me and I feel like it is time to have the big conversation as to why and to make my goals. ♥️
My head is always spinning and has always been spinning since I was a little kid, media or no media. Self-Management is controlling what I spin my mind to. Sometimes I play video games for a day to entirely "flush" a project for a short while, sometimes I need to go out and just learn something entirely new, last time I did that I went through the Cryptography videos on Khan Academy cause I thought it was interesting, even though I've never been in contact with that before. I also love traveling cause it will give me a 100% fresh input, or watch a movie for the same reason.
I really love how you talked about burnout and how it was compared to a low battery and emptiness from giving too much. Especially since I tend to do things for others, just wanting to create to please the people around me, rather than just making things for myself.
You have no idea how perfect this video's timing is, Brookes. I'm currently working on a final project for my first semester of my Animation & Videogames career, and this burnout feeling i had, combined with (and probably impulsed by) some personal mental health related issues and family stuff has left me really stressed, in a really bad place. Hopefully i'll get my shit toghether and work my way through it. Anyways, thank you, it's very thoughtful of you to make this kind of video!
Well, this time particulary i'll kinda have to go through it while being burnt because my deadline is only days away, so i know i won't have much time to eat, sleep or be social. But i'll keep the signals in mind so i cant prevent this next time...
I just finished working on a comic for a whole year, posting once every week the whole time. But I am starting my second comic, and it's a bigger project, and some part of me is struggling to create this time. I think it's because I haven't taken a single day off for over a year now. Thank you for this video
This video was so on point as a fitness expert working too much physically and just getting back into art and design working hard to make a career switch. Thanks for the advice and insight! Great video!
Thank you SO much for this video! I'm going exactly through this right now, and I'm forcing myself to take a rest right now... it feels like you're literally saving my life.
Thank you so much for this video. I faced art burnout recently and I didn't even know that's what it was 'till I saw this video. All the struggles you described were pretty much exactly my experience. Your question of "why am I doing this?" is what really resonated with me. I think that for me, what has helped me recover from burnout, is to differentiate what is the art you want to actually be doing, vs the art you think people expect you to do. Or the art you're doing for others' approval, attention, interest, whatever. Jobs/commissions obviously don't really apply to this; an artistic job will still be a job, and it will still feel like a job. But if art really is what you love it'll be better than anything you could ever ask for. Make art for yourself and only for yourself.
I still cannot get out of it, I've spent years trying to make a career out of drawing comics. My first professional (bad, awful, traumatizing) experience on a local publisher left me broken with the rest of my career tarnished. To this day I still cannot regain that fuel that made me go into the art world in the first place and right now I'm working on another comic gig as an assistant for a really demanding market and I'm burned out at levels I did not experience before D:
Did you.... manage? I’m experiencing it to the point I don’t even want to try anymore and just thinking of getting back to work seems like a nightmare. ☹️
@@RaianneKuzer that comic gig I last mentioned was my nightmare, one that the pandemic ended. Now, take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt, regardless of the common ground it is still my own experience and only a frame of reference. No. To this day I haven't recovered. The single worse decission in my life was to make a professional career out of my life-long passion, it became just stressing, demanding, unrewarding poorly paid work. A situation that got only worse through the years. I do not enjoy taking the pencil anymore and thinking about stories to draw gives me anxiety and stress. I PERSONALLY decided to change courses, get a more grounded degree and build stability from there and to draw just for the sake of it. I want my passion to become a passion again. Now, it is not impossible to make it or to recharge (I want to believe that) we all know this path is one of eternal struggle because even in the best scenario you're either chained to a studio or have to survive paycheck-to-paycheck from freelancing. And without basic needs covered it becomes an almost impossible task, to me at least is like that (3rd world country, I lack basic granted conditions other countries have) Since I was a student they hammered in the old-fashioned idea (one we must get rid off) that you have to suffer and work and break yourself beyond and beyond every limit in order to make it. Well... That way of thinking gets us to the point of apathy and hate, to the point of draining the very essential thing we need in order to create. It totally sucks. In my case it wasn't just burnout. It is more like a divorce or the break up from a reaaaaally toxic relationsihp. I know my words are anything but hopeful but if you seek a more positive approach to this an several other matters look up Adam Duff Lucidpixul in youtube, his wholesome channel is one devoted to the artistic journey. the guy is a canadian illustrator and art teacher who gives pretty solid advice and have several videos where he talks about this and related issues. It had helped me a lot.
I really loved the bike comparison. My burnout started after ArtFight. I drew 60 rendered piece in ONE month and I am so burnt out, since. Since then, I struggled with motivation and ESPECIALLY ideas. The ideas just didnt flow like they used to. There were some phases were I actually got some ideas and thought I recovered. But 2 weeks ago I realized, I never recovered. And I finally want to have as many ideas + motivation as I used to
I'm working through this phase right now becuase I started my comic project around 4 months ago, but started my apprentienceship 2 months ago as well. I want to get the apprentienceship even if I don't continue working there once I'm done, while at the same time doing my comic and hoping that can support me as a freelancer once the apprentienceship is over. I really need the money and I can't put either of the two on hold if I want things to work out, and that causes immense stress and a feeling of burnout. I feel good working on my comic, it's relaxing, it's satisfying to get things done, but doing so after a fulltime job and just feeling more and more tired everyday and knowing it might be like this more or less for three years is almost terrifying. Just makes u wish there was more time than 24h in a day so you'd also get some rest.
Irrelevant question: could there ever be a follow-up critique for the people who got one in the past, but felt like they've improved? I'm just feeling pretty good about my recent stuff and I want to make sure it's warranted! (as if positive feelings about your work ever isn't, but still)
i feel this so intense all time and it is even harder if you allready have to deal with depression ... it kind of adds to another and multiplies in sooo many way
ive started feeling burnt out since this video released, and only now have i realized and admitted to myself that I am burnt out. Every time my battery hit 1-5 percent, i would immediately use it up, as my fear for not being productive or not keeping up with others was greater than my sense of self-respect and knowledge. I am really looking forward to getting better, this video helped me realize that there are others who deal with this too. Before, i thought the term Burnout or Art Block only lasted a week to a month or so, and so I never applied it to myself. Now I know that burnout can last for as long as you don't let yourself rest.
I spent the past 4 months endlessly pushing myself to my limit working on my creative pojects, it is all hobby work but felt really important and meaningful to me. Specifically, I feel like I knew I was pushing myself beyond my limit and that eventually I was going to hit my limit, but I kept pushing because it felt important to me and I felt like I was feeling fulfilled when working on my creative pursuits. I think with everything awful going on in the world this year, burying myself in my creative projects felt like the only thing I could do to get away from the stress I was feeling in my life. For the past 2 weeks I have felt exhausted and my brain has felt cloudy, when I thought about working on my creative projects that once felt like they made me happy I just felt exhausted and stressed, it feels like I have no motivation left to work on it and it hurt because I so badly feel like I *want* to be able to work on that stuff but I just can't. I've talked to friends about this and each time it just felt like I couldn't word or figure out what was wrong. When I tried to word how I felt the only thing I felt I could really pin down was I felt drained and stressed. It feels like I'm in a really deep hole and I need to get myself out of it, it feels like a struggle to figure out exactly has been wrong that has gotten me to this point. I don't expect a response, but figured I would write this here so I had it in writing and could get some things out of my head so they're not bouncing around and feeling nebulous and far away. Thank you for this video, it feels helpful to be able to at least somewhat pin down why I've been feeling the way I do.
Awesome video. And i agree with everything you said. I tend to over work myself with art and personal projects. I also tend to get overwhelmed with my hobbies such as video games. Every 2 or 3 months i have to tell myself to slow down and give myself a breather
Not sure if I’m experiencing burn out but I generally am not the best at art I TRY TO IMPROVE But it’s so hard wrapping your head around anatomy and form and facial features and making it look right and appealing I just think about how much stress it’s gonna be that I put it off and procrastinate because it’s sooo difficult and I don’t wanna look at my terrible art I also want to animate but you have to know how to draw good for that And learning to draw good just takes too long
As someone who hasn't experienced burnout in my creative work yet I will keep this video for reference since the reason I haven't had burnout is because I have fully given myself permission to fail and therefore made my creative work a priority. I'm barely realizing I need to accept that I've been in denial of my fears and I need to let those go in order to let myself persue my dreams. Best of luck to all you creative types out there and get your REST you deserve it! Just cuz ok our society likes to pretend the value of art is lower than what it is don't let it convince you! If we didn't have art we'd have tons more people killing each other for going crazy at the absurdity that is our existence.
Gosh, art burnout is such a problem with projects. I did a comic for 108 pages and when I switched from phone drawing to tablet, I just couldn't bring myself to continue...
Looking at your own recommandations can be a way to evaluate your curent state of short-term exaustion, which can be caused by various things even not related to art/work, and with lack of rest can lead to artblock/burnout. If you're intentionally looking at tutorials to learn, they (and videos like this) will appear, no big deal. But otherwise, you may have certain types of videos (like music related or ones of shows you usually watch) appearing regularly. If most recommendations start to get replaced by videos like this (question videos and top/numbered videos) you're probably procrastinating is search of confirmation or comfort about something. And it's ok, everyone have their ups and downs, it's even how I ended up here today, actually. But it's good to reflect on what you seen and why you seek it when you "browse videos mindlessly" as opposed of trying to get informations on subjects you chosen to search. Don't just paint the wall that blocks you with all those video thumbnails, reflect on what makes you anxious or exaust you, then about solutions and be smart by taking care of the keystone holding the wall instead of bashing your head against it. Because the video itself may guide you into certain mindsets, but you're the only one having the answers to your own questions and struggles. Now if you excuse me, I'll need to leave the video train and get back to work on a picture I did put aside for days. Have a nice day, random reader from the internets!
Thank you this helped me a lot. I watched this before a few months ago and then now I was trying to come up with a design for my OC when I noticed I couldn't think of anything and my mind was clogged up then I thought "wait...do I have burnout?" And aftef watching I realize I think I do and I'm gonna take a break...a small one cause i can't keep away from my device but i think it's enough :)
I really needed this video right now. #3 especially applies to me. I don't know why I'm doing this right now. I need to figure out the answer to that question. Unfortunately I'm drawing a blank.
I know this video is old, but it feels very relevant. Feeling burned out momentarily, I'm a freelance graphic designer and artist, and boy, I struggle making simple shapes sometimes. I think I need to go to the open fields and stargaze for hours lol.
Oh no! I have burnout right now. I hate this so much. I am going to be brutally honest here. But burnout is a bi***. It is right when I was going to work on a fantastic scene. It is my favorite scene in my main story. I start out with this powerful scene. Then the rest of the story goes around that. Then bam! There is burnout at such a bad time. I am exhausted. I can't do any more. I know it is time to take a break. I do like this video. I am upset now. However this video helps me feel better. It encourages me to do the right thing. It is interesting that this video compares burnout with depression. That is fitting. I figured that out. I can be more specific. There are two main kinds of depression, unipolar and bipolar. Unipolar depression is the regular one. One feels really sad for a long period of time. It is difficult for them to go out and do the stuff they need to do. This period is long and stable. I have unipolar depression. Art therapy is my favorite way to deal with this issue. I think I am recovering. Bipolar depression is the other kind. It has periods of intense sadness and inactivity. However it doesn't last for long. One eventually bounces back. Then they feel really happy. They can get productive. Art burnout is a lot more like bipolar depression, at least it is in my experience. The artist would feel sad and tired in burnout. However it doesn't last long. The artist gets thier mojo back. Then they can get back to work. Before burnout artist work really hard on thier art. They may even get swept up in the passion for art. This would not be sustainable. This state is like mania. Mania is the opposite of depression. Both states cycle through in bipolar disorder. I am figuring out that art has a cycle with highs and lows. I learn how to better ride the wave and go with the flow. There are periods of activity and periods of rest. It is interesting that this video mentions that jobs prone to burnout are those that require a lot of emotions. A bipolar state has extreme emotions of mania and depression. Maybe the intense emotions help. Bipolar disorder is traditionaly thought of as something bad. It is something that harms the person and makes them unable to function. Yet I wonder if there is another side. There may be hidden strengths. There are examples of people who have bipolar disorder and who also are brilliant artists. Vincent Van Gough may have been one. Maybe this is another way of thinking, and it is part of neurodiversity. Maybe the emotional cycling helps one ride the cycle of creativity. Maybe the intense emotions help one to put emotion in the artistic work. I am all for useing traditional treatments for bipolar disorder. There can be talk therapy, drug therapy and so forth. As long as it works, one should keep doing it. On top of that I wonder if having accomodation on top of that would help. Maybe a flexible work schedule can help with accomodation. One can work long hours with lots of over time during a period of mania. This makes the most of the good mood. One can take a vacation during a period of depression. It makes it easier to get through this bad mood. I wonder if this would work. I am not an expert though. It may be fair if the overtime makes up for the vacation time. I recommend people to ask their shrink first before trying stuff out.
Is watching artworks, reading stories and listening to themed music helping along with trying not to think about it every day? (not stopping totally because I noticed that if I take three of four days of break or even weeks I get more and more ideas to use to create something new)
I've biked over 25 miles in a day before and didn't collapse. In fact, I did it a lot because I had a job 12 miles from where I lived and I biked to and from it. It was part time so I only did it 3 days a week, but still.
I got my burnout in 2016 while working on my bachelor-thesis and a lot of bad things happened in my life. I studied animation & game in germany. I rested for a half year, befor i could continue but at this point i realised that i cant really afford a job in this business. Everytime i see someone, selling his artworks on convention under 50€, i really get sad about the amount of invested work, time and passion, and on the other side, how many people are really interested to spend 50€ for a great work... Now i am working as a bikemechanist and i still miss my creative passion. But three years have gone by, not being creativly active and now, i cant draw anymore with happiness, the bad taste of unworthly work and that fact, that i was really good many years ago keeps me from getting in again :(
when i was younger, drawing was the only thing that made me matter to others. only thing that got me any attention, really. ive struggled to draw at all ever since ive grown up, its just.. exhausting. i dont like to do it anymore. but im good at it, i want to like doing it :(
I never believe burn out was real, I thought it will not happen to me, it was not my thing to be unmotivated and if I was it would not affect me at all, because its something what I love. Worked for 2 years with poor sleeping and.... i burn out to the point of almost hating it. Im recovering now but Its hard and almost have passed 1 year. I can say that burnout is real and really fucked up. But I think most people call burnout to anything that happens unmotivated in a short period of time, when actually its just the untrained discipline kicking it, thats why this topic is not that covered. Now I know I was doing many things wrong, working by two years without having a vision to the future hurt me the most I think.
I'm supposed to be doing concept art(I'm not getting paid for this due to age and I was asked I wanted recognition stupidly ) for something but I keep putting it off or procrastinating I dont know if it's that or burn out but the guy keeps asking me hows it going and I have to say I'll show you the progress later
What do you mean permit damage? Like I'll never create again? Or something more physical? Because I use to push myself pretty hard and now I have constant migraines. Is that linked to burn out? Or just a coincidence?
Thats something every artist goes through at some or many points- its typically a sign of a plateau. Usually working on deepening a skill or diversifying your influence and inspiration is a good way to break out of it!
Tbh i didnt this. Ive been dealing with this extreme burnout im been going through for months and months. For so long ive tried to create new art then not finish it cause i got burned out and then creates a new art same thing happened. Rn i have 10-11 unfinished art works. I tried to rest and eat but i it doesnt work for me. So rn im lost in the sea of emptiness.
I just landed a deal with one of my childhood favorite artist . I’m at a toxic state of burnout . Used drinking to cope. Gonna give this advice a chance . Thanks
Have you ever gone through burnout? What helped you to get back out of it?
Entertainment helps, get inspired. Play a new game , watch a cool movie or show. If depressed or getting over a previous relationship a person could try getting outside in nature for a walk, run or bike. Prolonged stress is also one of the enemies of creativity in my opinion so getting rid of excess projects or tasks can be helpful.
Currently in burnout. I keep trying to change parts of my game project to make it new to myself, but that means the project will never be completed. I've recently gotten back into exercising, so hopefully that will give me more confidence I need to be satisfied with my art. (I have a shockingly low confidence level)
Due to certain circumstances, I’ve been hit with a truckload of physical and mental burnout, that of which I’ve been told will take an incredible amount of time and rest to fully heal from. It’s been months of me doing less than 1/5th as much as I used to and I can’t even handle half of the physical or mental burden of work that I used to. I’m supposed to be going to college soon and I’m almost legally an adult. I don’t know what it is exactly that I’m trying to say when I type all this but I just want to say that resting and not doing the one thing I’ve decided I want to spend my life doing is insanely hard for someone like me who isn’t even that good at anything. I don’t know what to do and wish that I was better. At this point I’m not sure if what I’m trying to say in this even makes sense anymore... I’m in a state of confusion... it’s not like that many people are going to read this and it’s not like the few who do should care about this or me at all. In any case if you’ve gotten this far I have to say I’m sorry for wasting your time since anything I type is just none sense that is coming raw from my brain unedited. Have a nice everyday.....
For me Burnout feels like my imagination goes dark like a blackout
To help I take a break
Read a book
Relax and think
Sleep
Yep! Plenty of times. The key for me was to learn to organise and balance my life in the way that's right for me. Sometimes I need to draw less and rest but, more often, I need to draw more TO rest and study less, in order to perform better at both. Of course different people will need different solutions. I don't have a lot of time to draw so generally it's not the source of my burn out but a refreshing change from the usual. I used to avoid drawing while I was studying law because I was afraid of procrastinating. The funny thing is that I was less productive as both a student and an artist when trying to separate those things completely. I learned that I actually learn more effectively, and I'm more focused and less anxious if I'm doodling as I study, or if I regularly switch between those very different tasks. Avoiding drawing so that I could focus was counterproductive and just left me on edge and desperate to draw while studying; and whenever I gave in and started drawing I was anxious that I should be studying. Instead, now I accept that I'm going to do both. It's harder to manage myself when I'm trying to balance both than it was to just ban one activity all together sometimes but I'm much more relaxed, satisfied and attentive now in both areas. It's funny to me that I thought wanting to draw while I was studying was disadvantageous since it turned out that's exactly what I needed. My brain was telling me "you're getting anxious and overwhelmed by uni, just draw something and you'll chill out and have an easier time taking information in!" Art is amazing that way.
now i understand , when i looks at other people art0 i feel a mixture of jealously, and sadness and anger towards my own work, basically it drains me 3 times faster
Hits a bit too close to home... same to me, fella.
This is why I refuse to open social medias for more than once a day because.... Oh, you probably know why.
Sometimes, I even go full blown sad girl. Crying alone at night seeing how better "they" are than me, then I beat myself up and spiraling down again to procrastination. Ugh.
Same here too. How do those good artists have time and energy while still maintaining social lives?! Dafuq does that work? 😤😓
Mhm, I try not to think that way, instead I think:
" what about this is better than my work? How can I encorparate this into my work?" Their art is better than mine I accept that but I will use what I like about this In my own work
Everyone works at different levels, don't worry if someone is better than you because you aren't them, you cannot be them
Absolutely feel the same, my inktober art is never as quality as I see others online and it’s so easy for the internet to look easier then the actual art pieces
Boy it's hard to say "hey I have burn out and don't want to do this right now! let's stop!" It feels like quitting but it's best to acctualy rest and let your brain refill with ideas
Very true!
I just went through my longest burnout yet. It was horrible! I felt like drawing was the only talent that i had, and i thought i lost it forever. It was scary, and i didn't know what was wrong. But after a few months i found out i pushed myself too hard. Sometimes i would draw over 12 hours a day, (almost) everyday for months. It's great to know that I'm not the only one dealing with this problem, and it's completly normal. Thank you so much for the video. 💖
@Mariapalito Studio Jesus I feel this now can anybody give advice drawing doesn't feel exited anymore 😭 but I don't want to give up art
I'm currently going through it rn and it's horrible really , I am so scared I will never return to art forever really I'm so scared and lost
@@pinkzdraws4511 calm down brother keep going have a good rest and keep going rest and keep going, we all will have burnout but disciplines will create motivation, go walk with ur friends, love one or family, enjoy life a little bit and comeback to art, it's okay to go a little slower sometimes
@@zefanyaraysanevadalaput7371 oh bro truthfully my family and I not the best relationship they don't support my art and I lost my friends too well they didn't want anything to do with me after I loved fiction more . Well I don't miss them they only said empty words for my art anyways . I'll try to rest thank you today was especially hard ,one of the worst days but still my love for art remains I'll take it slow ,thanks for ur words ,I hope u do ok and r happy and healthy
When your passion starts bringing you sorrow rather than joy it can get scary. the fear of losing your passion, your greater purpose in life, that is almost comparable to death and it sure as hell feels like that. But hearing and reading how many people go trough the same thing, from beginner to pro, it brought me peace of mind. I am now confident that this too shall pass and I wish all the best to anyone going trough the same no matter what stage in life they are. Stay strong, give yourself some rest, let the inspiration come back to you and be sure that it will, but most importantly don't give up on your dreams, they're what gives us purpose.
I think I have burnout... then again it might just be my chronic procrastination? Focusing is not my forte...
procastination is usually indicative of an underlying emotional problem
cause theres something about the task that causes you to want to avoid it
so people go do other stuff (eg. watching videos) that has more instant gratification, and less chance of feeling hurt/pain/whatever
@@zaqareemalcolm Ok, so maybe its because I draw things, but I don't like to show those to other people because they don't critique my work?
Mark Guyton idk how true is this of most places, but i think people both irl and on the internet are generally decent or mild mannered enough that they won’t give an honest critique out of nowhere or unasked.
The other reactions are on the extremes ie. either praise, or variations on the asshole response of “it sucks” with the intention of belittling the artist rather than helping them improve.
zaqareemalcolm i procrastinate with drawing and animation cause it’s SOO HARD learning how to draw facial features and anatomy and making it appealing and it takes way too much time to get good and I feel like I I will never get good and that it’ll take me months to ever finish an animation so I just procrastinate cause no one ever tells how to really get food at drawing
zaqareemalcolm due to how hard it is I generally just don’t feel Like dealing with the stress of figuring out how to get good
At the start of this year I found myself telling myself "why I start this career if I obviously HATE drawing" that was my red flag. I really appreciate that you made a video on this topic, its truly helpful.
I am having a huge burnout, i thought it was going to last about a week or two, but it’s been months. Everyday since, I get up, lying to myself saying “come on, you can draw today!” But i cant, and its driving me insane. This video has helped me so much and I will try to implement the advice in it. I cant express how much this helped!
Im so glad! Check out the video from the beginning of the pandemic, it hopefully can help a bit more ruclips.net/video/-u54Vhvx1RQ/видео.html
I really really needed this video, and it came out at the perfect time! Lately I've been feeling my art has been getting no where - drawing the same thing again, boring poses, stiff, colorless boring sketch on an empty page.
My friend has been pumping out some really wonderful art lately, and I secretly got jealous of it, burnt myself out and now I get unmotivated after one drawing.
This made me realize a few things, maybe I do need to slow down and make a couple of mistakes - by practicing. I'm going to start pulling out images as references and practice! I need to set a goal for myself. I started because I love drawing my favourite characters or my own, and I'll try to get better at it!
Hmm... So I'll start small. Everyday, I'll draw a couple images from references, I'm not good at humans, so let's say 20 poses I need to sketch out (not everyday! that's the goal!), and id do a few everyday. I think that's a good goal, bonus points if I do shading, oh, and maybe even colouring! Even if it's a small doodle...
...Thanks for the inspiration!
Alright I finished it.
I don't have much to add. Brookes pretty much covered it all. I will say that setting goals for yourself is probably one of the most important parts. While taking some time away from your work is a good way to unwind and relax you don't want to end up getting lazy.
A few years ago I was going through a burnout myself. It had been half a year since I created anything and I was debating giving up art altogether. Then I started actively looking for ways to get my passion for art back and eventually discovered Character Design Forge along with a small but growing community of artists who were eager to share and discuss personalized characters they had created themselves.
It's so easy to become burnt out when it's so hard to let go and have fun with art. Perfectionism, man! I would love to hear about how you have fun to keep yourself energized and motivated to continue the "grind."
it kinda reminds me
a part of recovering from depression was learning to validate my feelings no matter their cause, allowing myself to dwell in them
i still get around a week long depression episodes once in a while, it feels like my whole body is drained of energy to even do simple functioning
i used to have a bad habit of "pushing through it" from back when i wasnt diagnosed, it made my episodes way longer and worse
sometimes you just have to wait to feel better and allow yourself to rest
Wow! It feels like I shared my thoughts and problems with you right before playing the video, everything you said hits the spot. Pushing myself for hours on end without even a day's rest, feeling like I gave it my all but it still wasn't enough, spending weeks on end without the desire to even hold a pencil... I'm so relieved to hear that this is something normal especially when it comes from a professional, I thought I was going insane. You have no idea how much peace of mind this video brought me and how useful the tips you provided are, thank you!
I'm going through burn out at the moment and its hell. I know i want to draw and get some projects started but my brain is says nah.
5:27 Brookes pauses the camera and throws a chair. Haha.
I've struggled with burnout since I've started learning 3D and 2D animation, and storyboarding in college last semester. I think I could keep my motivation going for a week, tops. I was a lot more angry and emotional when I got burned out and eventually I had to tell one of my professors about it. She told me to just focus on school and not worry so much about getting a job. My parents are letting me stay with them while I work on my degree, so it's not like I need it. Still, it's nice to have some extra money.
This summer, I've driven myself crazy looking and applying for internships in the web and animation industries...for nothing. I got no answers. I applied to Michaels and GameStop and just stopped there. I start orientation at my part-time job at Michaels two days from now. I only have two days left to relax. Now I'm scared of burning myself out before next semester.
On top of that suck-salad, I think my art has been getting worse, or at the very least plateauing. I've decided to teach myself watercolor painting. I can at least see the problems in my work now, but it's hard to not beat myself up over it. I'm also working with a bunch of schoolmates on a side project. If I get burned out this fast just making art for school, I'd hate to imagine how bad it'll be in the industry.
As a full time teacher who arts after work I appreciate the shout out to our profession! I never thought of it that way, as far as expending empathetic energy and it’s so true! Love your dry humor as well haha
Hey fellow full time teacher, I felt the same way!
I am VERY bad at balance lol. I am consumed by work and because my work is my hobby the separation is blurred lol
I wasn't belled to you, and yet I just got this video on the home page, and it's just what I need. Thank you. I'll bell now.
awesome, that helps a ton kimi!!
I think this is one of the best videos you have done. (Although they're all the best when they premier, and I'll probably change my mind when next week comes around. :) ) I never thought of burnout as being something so attached to emotions, but it makes sense. I wait tables during the day, and I'm constantly thinking about making my customers happy. And your point about social media and unplugging for a bit was well-made! This whole video explains so much, especially when projects seem to take a long time for me to finish and make me anxious. I always look forward to your videos every week; they're the first thing I check in my recommendations. You do an awesome job on these!
I can't wait for your next video!
Really appreciate that, thank you! Glad it helps you with sorting things out!
I thought that getting a full-time job as an artist in an animation studio would make all my dreams come true and I have been experiencing a serious burnout -after a year I asked for a week of vacation because I just couldn’t do it anymore.
It isn’t even just about not being able to respect my style/time/process or having to redo everything because of change of direction and lack of consistent management, it is also feeling so drained that I don’t have any motivation to do any personal work or development in my free time. I don’t feel like even picking up a pencil /practicing other mediums or having any other projects that would allow me to progress independently.
Ironically today is my last vacation day and I stumbled on your channel, am binging everything related to the topics and saving the technical ones to a near future. The community is also great and motivating.
So thanks, this was really precious to me and I feel like it is time to have the big conversation as to why and to make my goals. ♥️
Brookes, the god of analogies.
My head is always spinning and has always been spinning since I was a little kid, media or no media. Self-Management is controlling what I spin my mind to. Sometimes I play video games for a day to entirely "flush" a project for a short while, sometimes I need to go out and just learn something entirely new, last time I did that I went through the Cryptography videos on Khan Academy cause I thought it was interesting, even though I've never been in contact with that before.
I also love traveling cause it will give me a 100% fresh input, or watch a movie for the same reason.
Seriously needed this one. Thanks a lot Brookes.
I really love how you talked about burnout and how it was compared to a low battery and emptiness from giving too much. Especially since I tend to do things for others, just wanting to create to please the people around me, rather than just making things for myself.
You have no idea how perfect this video's timing is, Brookes. I'm currently working on a final project for my first semester of my Animation & Videogames career, and this burnout feeling i had, combined with (and probably impulsed by) some personal mental health related issues and family stuff has left me really stressed, in a really bad place. Hopefully i'll get my shit toghether and work my way through it. Anyways, thank you, it's very thoughtful of you to make this kind of video!
Well, this time particulary i'll kinda have to go through it while being burnt because my deadline is only days away, so i know i won't have much time to eat, sleep or be social. But i'll keep the signals in mind so i cant prevent this next time...
I just finished working on a comic for a whole year, posting once every week the whole time. But I am starting my second comic, and it's a bigger project, and some part of me is struggling to create this time. I think it's because I haven't taken a single day off for over a year now. Thank you for this video
Dang! Try and take some time inbetween!
@@CharacterDesignForge I have, and the burnout is gone! Thanks for the help
This video was so on point as a fitness expert working too much physically and just getting back into art and design working hard to make a career switch. Thanks for the advice and insight! Great video!
Thank you SO much for this video! I'm going exactly through this right now, and I'm forcing myself to take a rest right now... it feels like you're literally saving my life.
Thank you so much for this video. I faced art burnout recently and I didn't even know that's what it was 'till I saw this video. All the struggles you described were pretty much exactly my experience. Your question of "why am I doing this?" is what really resonated with me.
I think that for me, what has helped me recover from burnout, is to differentiate what is the art you want to actually be doing, vs the art you think people expect you to do. Or the art you're doing for others' approval, attention, interest, whatever. Jobs/commissions obviously don't really apply to this; an artistic job will still be a job, and it will still feel like a job. But if art really is what you love it'll be better than anything you could ever ask for.
Make art for yourself and only for yourself.
I still cannot get out of it, I've spent years trying to make a career out of drawing comics. My first professional (bad, awful, traumatizing) experience on a local publisher left me broken with the rest of my career tarnished. To this day I still cannot regain that fuel that made me go into the art world in the first place and right now I'm working on another comic gig as an assistant for a really demanding market and I'm burned out at levels I did not experience before D:
Did you.... manage? I’m experiencing it to the point I don’t even want to try anymore and just thinking of getting back to work seems like a nightmare. ☹️
@@RaianneKuzer that comic gig I last mentioned was my nightmare, one that the pandemic ended. Now, take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt, regardless of the common ground it is still my own experience and only a frame of reference.
No. To this day I haven't recovered. The single worse decission in my life was to make a professional career out of my life-long passion, it became just stressing, demanding, unrewarding poorly paid work. A situation that got only worse through the years. I do not enjoy taking the pencil anymore and thinking about stories to draw gives me anxiety and stress. I PERSONALLY decided to change courses, get a more grounded degree and build stability from there and to draw just for the sake of it. I want my passion to become a passion again.
Now, it is not impossible to make it or to recharge (I want to believe that) we all know this path is one of eternal struggle because even in the best scenario you're either chained to a studio or have to survive paycheck-to-paycheck from freelancing. And without basic needs covered it becomes an almost impossible task, to me at least is like that (3rd world country, I lack basic granted conditions other countries have)
Since I was a student they hammered in the old-fashioned idea (one we must get rid off) that you have to suffer and work and break yourself beyond and beyond every limit in order to make it. Well... That way of thinking gets us to the point of apathy and hate, to the point of draining the very essential thing we need in order to create. It totally sucks.
In my case it wasn't just burnout. It is more like a divorce or the break up from a reaaaaally toxic relationsihp. I know my words are anything but hopeful but if you seek a more positive approach to this an several other matters look up Adam Duff Lucidpixul in youtube, his wholesome channel is one devoted to the artistic journey. the guy is a canadian illustrator and art teacher who gives pretty solid advice and have several videos where he talks about this and related issues. It had helped me a lot.
This video feels like a big hug when I really needed one. Thanks Brookes, your content means a lot to me
I really loved the bike comparison. My burnout started after ArtFight. I drew 60 rendered piece in ONE month and I am so burnt out, since. Since then, I struggled with motivation and ESPECIALLY ideas. The ideas just didnt flow like they used to. There were some phases were I actually got some ideas and thought I recovered. But 2 weeks ago I realized, I never recovered. And I finally want to have as many ideas + motivation as I used to
I'm working through this phase right now becuase I started my comic project around 4 months ago, but started my apprentienceship 2 months ago as well. I want to get the apprentienceship even if I don't continue working there once I'm done, while at the same time doing my comic and hoping that can support me as a freelancer once the apprentienceship is over. I really need the money and I can't put either of the two on hold if I want things to work out, and that causes immense stress and a feeling of burnout. I feel good working on my comic, it's relaxing, it's satisfying to get things done, but doing so after a fulltime job and just feeling more and more tired everyday and knowing it might be like this more or less for three years is almost terrifying.
Just makes u wish there was more time than 24h in a day so you'd also get some rest.
Irrelevant question: could there ever be a follow-up critique for the people who got one in the past, but felt like they've improved? I'm just feeling pretty good about my recent stuff and I want to make sure it's warranted! (as if positive feelings about your work ever isn't, but still)
Yeah I wouldnt mind following up with your work!
@@CharacterDesignForge Sweet! I'll send you some stuff soon. Would it really matter if I sent it over Twitter, Patreon, or somewhere else?
i feel this so intense all time and it is even harder if you allready have to deal with depression ... it kind of adds to another and multiplies in sooo many way
ive started feeling burnt out since this video released, and only now have i realized and admitted to myself that I am burnt out. Every time my battery hit 1-5 percent, i would immediately use it up, as my fear for not being productive or not keeping up with others was greater than my sense of self-respect and knowledge. I am really looking forward to getting better, this video helped me realize that there are others who deal with this too. Before, i thought the term Burnout or Art Block only lasted a week to a month or so, and so I never applied it to myself. Now I know that burnout can last for as long as you don't let yourself rest.
Precisely!
I spent the past 4 months endlessly pushing myself to my limit working on my creative pojects, it is all hobby work but felt really important and meaningful to me. Specifically, I feel like I knew I was pushing myself beyond my limit and that eventually I was going to hit my limit, but I kept pushing because it felt important to me and I felt like I was feeling fulfilled when working on my creative pursuits. I think with everything awful going on in the world this year, burying myself in my creative projects felt like the only thing I could do to get away from the stress I was feeling in my life.
For the past 2 weeks I have felt exhausted and my brain has felt cloudy, when I thought about working on my creative projects that once felt like they made me happy I just felt exhausted and stressed, it feels like I have no motivation left to work on it and it hurt because I so badly feel like I *want* to be able to work on that stuff but I just can't. I've talked to friends about this and each time it just felt like I couldn't word or figure out what was wrong. When I tried to word how I felt the only thing I felt I could really pin down was I felt drained and stressed.
It feels like I'm in a really deep hole and I need to get myself out of it, it feels like a struggle to figure out exactly has been wrong that has gotten me to this point. I don't expect a response, but figured I would write this here so I had it in writing and could get some things out of my head so they're not bouncing around and feeling nebulous and far away.
Thank you for this video, it feels helpful to be able to at least somewhat pin down why I've been feeling the way I do.
Very helpful, thanks.
This really helped me recognize my problems as I haven’t taken proper care of myself via sleep and exercise. Thank you for this.
Awesome video. And i agree with everything you said. I tend to over work myself with art and personal projects. I also tend to get overwhelmed with my hobbies such as video games. Every 2 or 3 months i have to tell myself to slow down and give myself a breather
I’m so glad I came across this video and this channel! Thank you 🙏🏽 💖 You sir have a new subbie 💪🏽🥰
I’m burnt out from trying over and over and just not feeling inspired while doing art anymore it’s sorrowful
Not sure if I’m experiencing burn out but I generally am not the best at art
I TRY TO IMPROVE
But it’s so hard wrapping your head around anatomy and form and facial features and making it look right and appealing
I just think about how much stress it’s gonna be that I put it off and procrastinate because it’s sooo difficult and I don’t wanna look at my terrible art
I also want to animate but you have to know how to draw good for that
And learning to draw good just takes too long
This vid was so good!
Thanks King, I'm glad it was helpful!
As someone who hasn't experienced burnout in my creative work yet I will keep this video for reference since the reason I haven't had burnout is because I have fully given myself permission to fail and therefore made my creative work a priority. I'm barely realizing I need to accept that I've been in denial of my fears and I need to let those go in order to let myself persue my dreams. Best of luck to all you creative types out there and get your REST you deserve it! Just cuz ok our society likes to pretend the value of art is lower than what it is don't let it convince you! If we didn't have art we'd have tons more people killing each other for going crazy at the absurdity that is our existence.
Gosh, art burnout is such a problem with projects. I did a comic for 108 pages and when I switched from phone drawing to tablet, I just couldn't bring myself to continue...
I'm Blessed I dont burn out. I know I'm always 1 eureka moment away from motivation. I experience it ever day and overcome it just as fast
Brookes and Mark!!Brookes and Mark!!
What did you think about Spideman Far from Home?
I kinda miss Character Select btw
ah man such a good callback XD We need to do CS again... I LOVED FFH! It was so good!!
Looking at your own recommandations can be a way to evaluate your curent state of short-term exaustion, which can be caused by various things even not related to art/work, and with lack of rest can lead to artblock/burnout. If you're intentionally looking at tutorials to learn, they (and videos like this) will appear, no big deal. But otherwise, you may have certain types of videos (like music related or ones of shows you usually watch) appearing regularly. If most recommendations start to get replaced by videos like this (question videos and top/numbered videos) you're probably procrastinating is search of confirmation or comfort about something.
And it's ok, everyone have their ups and downs, it's even how I ended up here today, actually. But it's good to reflect on what you seen and why you seek it when you "browse videos mindlessly" as opposed of trying to get informations on subjects you chosen to search. Don't just paint the wall that blocks you with all those video thumbnails, reflect on what makes you anxious or exaust you, then about solutions and be smart by taking care of the keystone holding the wall instead of bashing your head against it. Because the video itself may guide you into certain mindsets, but you're the only one having the answers to your own questions and struggles.
Now if you excuse me, I'll need to leave the video train and get back to work on a picture I did put aside for days. Have a nice day, random reader from the internets!
Fantastic video! This really puts into words on how im feeling.
Always a delight to hear solid advice from coming from you, and those tangents you go on haha, add that lil' something extra. :)
Had to spice things up here and there 😝
thank you
I’ve been looking forward to this
Thank you this helped me a lot. I watched this before a few months ago and then now I was trying to come up with a design for my OC when I noticed I couldn't think of anything and my mind was clogged up then I thought "wait...do I have burnout?" And aftef watching I realize I think I do and I'm gonna take a break...a small one cause i can't keep away from my device but i think it's enough :)
Thank you so much for making this video, I'm sure i really needed it.
I really needed this video right now. #3 especially applies to me. I don't know why I'm doing this right now. I need to figure out the answer to that question. Unfortunately I'm drawing a blank.
I know this video is old, but it feels very relevant. Feeling burned out momentarily, I'm a freelance graphic designer and artist, and boy, I struggle making simple shapes sometimes. I think I need to go to the open fields and stargaze for hours lol.
now i know where that sudden out of nowhere urge of collecting bonsai tree of my come from, it's all make sense now
What helps me is doing something fun that I enjoy other than my work.
Playing Video games mainly. Not sure if this is real rest, but it helps me.
Oh no! I have burnout right now. I hate this so much. I am going to be brutally honest here. But burnout is a bi***. It is right when I was going to work on a fantastic scene. It is my favorite scene in my main story. I start out with this powerful scene. Then the rest of the story goes around that. Then bam! There is burnout at such a bad time. I am exhausted. I can't do any more. I know it is time to take a break. I do like this video. I am upset now. However this video helps me feel better. It encourages me to do the right thing.
It is interesting that this video compares burnout with depression. That is fitting. I figured that out. I can be more specific. There are two main kinds of depression, unipolar and bipolar. Unipolar depression is the regular one. One feels really sad for a long period of time. It is difficult for them to go out and do the stuff they need to do. This period is long and stable. I have unipolar depression. Art therapy is my favorite way to deal with this issue. I think I am recovering. Bipolar depression is the other kind. It has periods of intense sadness and inactivity. However it doesn't last for long. One eventually bounces back. Then they feel really happy. They can get productive. Art burnout is a lot more like bipolar depression, at least it is in my experience. The artist would feel sad and tired in burnout. However it doesn't last long. The artist gets thier mojo back. Then they can get back to work. Before burnout artist work really hard on thier art. They may even get swept up in the passion for art. This would not be sustainable. This state is like mania. Mania is the opposite of depression. Both states cycle through in bipolar disorder. I am figuring out that art has a cycle with highs and lows. I learn how to better ride the wave and go with the flow. There are periods of activity and periods of rest. It is interesting that this video mentions that jobs prone to burnout are those that require a lot of emotions. A bipolar state has extreme emotions of mania and depression. Maybe the intense emotions help. Bipolar disorder is traditionaly thought of as something bad. It is something that harms the person and makes them unable to function. Yet I wonder if there is another side. There may be hidden strengths. There are examples of people who have bipolar disorder and who also are brilliant artists. Vincent Van Gough may have been one. Maybe this is another way of thinking, and it is part of neurodiversity. Maybe the emotional cycling helps one ride the cycle of creativity. Maybe the intense emotions help one to put emotion in the artistic work. I am all for useing traditional treatments for bipolar disorder. There can be talk therapy, drug therapy and so forth. As long as it works, one should keep doing it. On top of that I wonder if having accomodation on top of that would help. Maybe a flexible work schedule can help with accomodation. One can work long hours with lots of over time during a period of mania. This makes the most of the good mood. One can take a vacation during a period of depression. It makes it easier to get through this bad mood. I wonder if this would work. I am not an expert though. It may be fair if the overtime makes up for the vacation time. I recommend people to ask their shrink first before trying stuff out.
It really helped. Thank you. :)
Loved this vid, shared it on my FaceBook, hopefully it'll help others like it did help give me a different perspective!
Is watching artworks, reading stories and listening to themed music helping along with trying not to think about it every day? (not stopping totally because I noticed that if I take three of four days of break or even weeks I get more and more ideas to use to create something new)
Yeah thats a good way to creatively recharge, although something fully disengaged like hiking, etc, is good to do as well
I've biked over 25 miles in a day before and didn't collapse. In fact, I did it a lot because I had a job 12 miles from where I lived and I biked to and from it. It was part time so I only did it 3 days a week, but still.
I had burnout the whole march cause i draw a character every day for 30 days i had a video about the challenge but not the burnout
This seriously came out just when I needed it
This makes me N U T THIS IS such spicyness
I got my burnout in 2016 while working on my bachelor-thesis and a lot of bad things happened in my life. I studied animation & game in germany. I rested for a half year, befor i could continue but at this point i realised that i cant really afford a job in this business. Everytime i see someone, selling his artworks on convention under 50€, i really get sad about the amount of invested work, time and passion, and on the other side, how many people are really interested to spend 50€ for a great work... Now i am working as a bikemechanist and i still miss my creative passion. But three years have gone by, not being creativly active and now, i cant draw anymore with happiness, the bad taste of unworthly work and that fact, that i was really good many years ago keeps me from getting in again :(
Great analyzing
thx for ths man it helps a lot
when i was younger, drawing was the only thing that made me matter to others. only thing that got me any attention, really. ive struggled to draw at all ever since ive grown up, its just.. exhausting. i dont like to do it anymore. but im good at it, i want to like doing it :(
thankyou for this video
I'm currently going through it rn and it's horrible really , I am so scared I will never return to art forever really I'm so scared and lost
My friend told I rely on shapes to draw a character but not sure how I can learn different styles of drawing
Going out in nature today despite the video. Already planned. ☺️ Can confirm your words. Unplug.
I never believe burn out was real, I thought it will not happen to me, it was not my thing to be unmotivated and if I was it would not affect me at all, because its something what I love.
Worked for 2 years with poor sleeping and.... i burn out to the point of almost hating it. Im recovering now but Its hard and almost have passed 1 year.
I can say that burnout is real and really fucked up. But I think most people call burnout to anything that happens unmotivated in a short period of time, when actually its just the untrained discipline kicking it, thats why this topic is not that covered. Now I know I was doing many things wrong, working by two years without having a vision to the future hurt me the most I think.
I'm supposed to be doing concept art(I'm not getting paid for this due to age and I was asked I wanted recognition stupidly ) for something but I keep putting it off or procrastinating I dont know if it's that or burn out but the guy keeps asking me hows it going and I have to say I'll show you the progress later
Yeeeeeah politely discontinue that project if you arent being paid
I have become a burn out machine c': and the description is accurate.
I'm so careful taking care of myself now tho
What do you mean permit damage? Like I'll never create again? Or something more physical? Because I use to push myself pretty hard and now I have constant migraines. Is that linked to burn out? Or just a coincidence?
I think I'm having burnout, especially when I think about productivity :
I am going thru one right now. Animation drains me so much. Being a one woman thing it takes out so much.
When I start feeling burn out, I go online and make people cry. If that doesn't work, well then existential dread kicks in.
riend thank you sooo much*
What do you do when you've grown to hate your own art?
Thats something every artist goes through at some or many points- its typically a sign of a plateau. Usually working on deepening a skill or diversifying your influence and inspiration is a good way to break out of it!
@@CharacterDesignForge So try going out of my comfort zone? I think I can handle that👍
My toes are cold... help
Tbh i didnt this. Ive been dealing with this extreme burnout im been going through for months and months. For so long ive tried to create new art then not finish it cause i got burned out and then creates a new art same thing happened. Rn i have 10-11 unfinished art works. I tried to rest and eat but i it doesnt work for me. So rn im lost in the sea of emptiness.
it sounds like a little bit more like block to me! I hope things get better for you!
Brookes Eggleston - Character Design Forge thanks.
Ive watched this video like 6 times in the past month lol the burnout is reeeeaaaaal
I don't have burnout I can't even get up to working in the first place
I just take weekends off and Friday is half days
Need them boundaries- theyre a good start
I just landed a deal with one of my childhood favorite artist . I’m at a toxic state of burnout . Used drinking to cope. Gonna give this advice a chance . Thanks
i feel like you made this video just to rant in the middle
Yeah nah.
I'm the 1,000'th person to press like on this video. Neet.
7:00 even better and more nutritious is backstory.
I needed this real bad. Thanks Brookes!