We are often the biggest judge of our own art! Even in this video I said I didn't really like what I made, but the last spread I actually really like now!
I have struggled with this for YEARS. This was the year I forced myself to draw in my sketchbook either everyday or.. more often. I can see that I'm improving and it's so exciting but here lately I have been feeling a bit low.. Maybe the change of season? Idk. But I will say that the fear of never improving and then never drawing is crippling. If you try to draw everyday or every other day just more often it really does help!
One way that help me draw more in my sketchbook, was stopping myself from taking photos. If I saw something that I wanted to draw later, I used to take a picture, but forget about them when I got home. So now, I try to quickly doodle it in which not only reminded me the next time I opened my sketchbook, but added to my visual library as well.
One thing for helping your motivation to keep drawing is to not watch videos where artists talk down on their own work. I used to watch a bunch of RUclipsrs who were CONSTANTLY unhappy with the art they made in EVERY. VIDEO. Their negativity and harshness on their own work wasn't very inspiring as you can imagine. I enjoyed art a lot more after I stopped watching those people. Love your videos! Keep up the great work
That's always such a tricky thing, 'cause no matter what your level is, you're always going to have some art that you aren't proud of, and whenever you vocalize it, there's always people who actually like the art and see it differently from you. But I totally understand how that can be a bit discouraging for any beginner artist, especially if the artist they're watching is constantly negative about their own work and never has anything nice to say about themselves! It's really hard to not compare your art to other people's :')
@@JelArts That's not really what I meant. I mean when people are negative on their work, ALL their work, it makes you think that "maybe I should be more critical of myself as well?" and then you end up being mean to yourself and your artwork.
Oh man, i remember watching your videos since middle school. I just recently graduated high school, and i'm in college now. The time flies by, doesn't it?
I have a job that demands many hours from me. So I find I don't have as much time for art. But also even when I have time sometimes I'm too tired. So with not much time to draw, or spend my money on many things, I had a year or two there where I kept buying art supplies and now have my next 5 or more years worth of sketchbooks all lined up lol
Yep, same here! I'm sure I have enough art supplies to last me a lifetime! I wished I had more time to actually use them and wasn't so exhausted after work. But in July I started the "one line"-challenge, and it has worked quite well so far: draw at least one line a day. The start is the hardest. But once I started, I usually continue for half an hour or more. Very rarely it is really just a few lines. As they say: He who walks just one step a day gets further than he who doesn't start at all.
@@anjapinkau3737 I’ve never heard of the one line challenge. Except with journaling/writing. I don’t think it would be something I would be able to enjoy. Though I am doing one page a month minimum at the moment. So I AM drawing. I just want to be drawing MORE.
@@devALLjapan The "one line"-challenge is something I came up with after watching an endless number of videos about how to establish a daily art habit. I too wanted to draw/paint on a regular basis, because it feels good, makes me happy and helps me to relax. Several youtubers referred to "Atomic habits" by James Clear. The basic idea is to start small and make it as easy as possible to adapt the new habit. Some said half an hour a day every day for a month or 100 days, others said ten minutes, one suggested 6 minutes. It is quite embarrassing but sometimes even 6 minutes were too stressful because quite often I was simply too tired to concentrate. When you are tired, it takes a lot of energy to do something that requires "an effort". Energy you feel you don't have. But if it doesn't need much of an effort, you are more likely to do it. First I thought "every now and then when I feel like it" should be okay. But "every now and then when I feel like it" does not create a regular habit, the hurdle remains high because the habit is not yet there. I wanted drawing/painting to be as natural a part of my everyday life as brushing my teeth. So if 6 minutes a day were too high a hurdle, then one single line would be enough to fulfil the challenge. And it's working! I think since July there have only been two days when it wasn't more than a few lines. And I did not have a bad conscience for not keeping the challenge, because I did keep it. I do draw more, much more, and it is in fact becoming a habit that comes increasingly more easily. I'm not yet at teeth-brushing-level yet, but I do believe that the hurdle is dropping, I'm needing less energy to pick up my sketchbook and pen and get started. And once I'm at it, it is easy to continue. And that feels good!
Also, in addition to what she was saying about putting stickers on the cover, it doesn't just have to be stickers of art! I don't have a lot of artsy stickers, so a lot of stickers I've used have been off of fruit, clothing, one off of a microwave, pretty much any stickers that might be on a product or package. It can make an interesting layered background for art stickers or anything else you might put on there. For instance, one of my favorite sketchbook covers includes a taped on Vans tag and some stamps I cut off of some college advertisements sent to me. Another idea is you could tape your own drawings to the cover (covered with tape to protect it), tape pictures or advertisements, or use paint or paint markers too. My last idea is that you could add even more textured bits to your cover, like puffy stickers or stick on gems, fabric, or buttons or beads, things like that. I hope this helps anyone with feeling more excited about your sketchbook!
One thing that helps me is using fun supplies, but in a limited fashion. When I used just pencil, I could get obsessive over details and bored by the gray - using coloured pencils, especially in shades I love, helped with that part so much, and I find I enjoy my sketchbook more. If only to finish it and flip through all those fun colour sketches! Also, I loved that illustration of the cat relaxing in the grass!
I was literally just commenting on Lavender Towne that I feel like AI art took away a lot of my motivation to draw. I was scared to draw for awhile. I just started drawing again after entering an art competition at work recently and it make me remember drawing is fun! I won the competition by the way 😊
For me AI is also a problem. Especially just because I like to draw from photo references, but nowadays on many platforms it seems like most "photos" are AI generated, and I'm not trying to draw what a computer thinks a cow looks like.
i cover my sketchbooks completely with stickers, there is usually none of the cover showing through at all. Makes me happy and that in turn makes me want to use the sketchbook
What has helped me is using my sketchbook as an art journal/scrapbook/mental health journal. I literally glue pretty leaves in it, write about my day/feelings or just fill a page with stickers lol
my motivation is putting sketchbooks everywhere (dinning table, bed, desk, coffee table), also making my creative space cute and aesthetic inspires me to draw more.
I think that going through my 'old' art (sometimes it's not that old) inspires me a lot. Some of it because it's a lot better than I remember, and others because I think, "Oh! That was a really good idea! I should do a new/updated/more finished version of that!"
I got a really small square sketchbook as a gift (just a little bigger than my palm), and it fits right in my pocket (or my purse's pocket). I assigned it to be the "sketch wherever you are" book - as in, sketch your surroundings, for when I don't know what else to draw. I can always draw the place I'm in. I took it to NYC where I had a LOT of time to kill before going to a show, and decided to cafe-hop for 8 hours, drawing each of the cafes I visited... then caffeine-vibrated to the next one, lol.
This was such a great video and definitely full of awesome ideas! I am an artist, but I am also a full time cashier and sometimes it can be difficult even finding the time to sit down and draw with my busy schedule. Most of my days off are used for chores or appointments which sadly drain my energy and when all is said and done, I don't really have the inspiration or motivation to draw at all. So hearing all of these ideas has definitely my boosted my confidence in trying to finish a sketchbook soon when I can. Great vid, and love your art!
I've been hitting a big slump recently with motivation as someone who used to draw professionally but had to stop. However, filling my head with animated movies, old and new, as this was the media that got me into art in the first place, really kicks things into gear for me! Also, I really love those dressed cats you did!!
Absolutely love your videos! ❤️❤️ Your channel gives me such a big inspiration and because of that I started to draw more animals and experiment with different media ❤️❤️❤️
I finally got the 100 pack of ohuhu double point pens!! I'm sooooo excited to use them as soon as the arrive!! ❤❤ We don't have them in my country but I finally got the chance to get them ❤❤❤... Your videos made me fall in love with them a long time a go !!
I agree with so many of these points! For me, I try to do a page of studies before I draw anything else, and by the time I’m done I’m warmed up and excited to move on from the boring stuff :3c
This is really helpful! What I do recently, is drawing together with others. This somehow gives me motivation to be at least a little more creative and productive. For digital artists I recommend Magma. Really nice page where you can draw on the same canvas.
I love love love your cat sketches! Couldn't say which one is my favourite. Thank you for sharing! For me art challenges are a good motivator (like Inktober now). I wanted to fill a sketchbook before buying or using a new one. And therefore I had the same rule: I was only allowed to draw/paint in that one sketchbook. It didn't work. On some days I'm too tired to make something good and I don't want to "ruin" a sketchbook where I have nice finished pieces in. So I'm using different sketchbooks for different purposes now. But still hope to finish them.
something i really struggle with is getting more color in my sketchbook. it feels so boring for everything to be black and white/graphite gray, but i never manage to actually color my stuff. and i love painting but I'm so perfecctionist with it that it takes the fun right out of it.
I've long since gotten over worrying about drawing in my sketchbook and I found that once I genuinely removed myself from social media (I watch YT for an hour tops) I've really gotten into the sketching habit. Now the only thing that stops me is that chronic pain can just make my hands straight up not work ;~; Pro and cons to getting old: You don't care about what others think about your art because you're more concerned about the next chance you have the free time to do the art.
I try and remind myself that sketchbooks arnt that deep! At the end of the day you dont need expensive sketchbooks with perfect pages, have sketchbooks to scribble and sketch and plan no need to be precious with it :) i am trying to keep that mindset!
The cats are so cute! They remind me of Night in the Woods, have you played it? If not, you should check it out:) What sometimes helps me is drawing with nice coloured pencils or pens, and keeping my desk free of stuff I would otherwise need to clean up before drawing.
honestly what has killed my sketchbook motivation is i bought into the moleskine hype in university. i have several empty/barely used moleskines ... but i became a multimedia artist and the paper is jast way too thin and cheap to take anything other than graphite . But I feel terrible wasting them so every month or so I work up the energy to slog through another page or two. in a few hundred years i might finish one 😂
I try to find a community in social media but a lot of people are never active in groups or answer you if you wanna hit them up just for conversation. Not to mention the only active artist groups I find are doing unserious purposefully bad art for laughs and that just makes you hate being there. One can be funny but if that's all the group is then there's no point in being there.
I struggle with remembering that no one is going to judge my art and I won’t get better without practice.
We are often the biggest judge of our own art! Even in this video I said I didn't really like what I made, but the last spread I actually really like now!
same! trying not to let my own inner criticism keep me from making art full time haha
I have struggled with this for YEARS. This was the year I forced myself to draw in my sketchbook either everyday or.. more often.
I can see that I'm improving and it's so exciting but here lately I have been feeling a bit low.. Maybe the change of season? Idk. But I will say that the fear of never improving and then never drawing is crippling. If you try to draw everyday or every other day just more often it really does help!
Yeah same here...I want to get better and I have so many ideas...but Im so afraid Ill mess it up...I just waste my time away with RUclips :::(
One way that help me draw more in my sketchbook, was stopping myself from taking photos. If I saw something that I wanted to draw later, I used to take a picture, but forget about them when I got home. So now, I try to quickly doodle it in which not only reminded me the next time I opened my sketchbook, but added to my visual library as well.
This is a great idea! I have tons of photos but painted or draw just a handfull of them.
the cats in their little whimsical outfits turned out so good!! now im motivated and inspired to draw some too 🥹
One thing for helping your motivation to keep drawing is to not watch videos where artists talk down on their own work. I used to watch a bunch of RUclipsrs who were CONSTANTLY unhappy with the art they made in EVERY. VIDEO. Their negativity and harshness on their own work wasn't very inspiring as you can imagine. I enjoyed art a lot more after I stopped watching those people.
Love your videos! Keep up the great work
You are right about this. Because maybe the artist didn't like his painting but for someone else the result would be a great progress.
That's always such a tricky thing, 'cause no matter what your level is, you're always going to have some art that you aren't proud of, and whenever you vocalize it, there's always people who actually like the art and see it differently from you. But I totally understand how that can be a bit discouraging for any beginner artist, especially if the artist they're watching is constantly negative about their own work and never has anything nice to say about themselves! It's really hard to not compare your art to other people's :')
@@JelArts That's not really what I meant. I mean when people are negative on their work, ALL their work, it makes you think that "maybe I should be more critical of myself as well?" and then you end up being mean to yourself and your artwork.
Oh man, i remember watching your videos since middle school.
I just recently graduated high school, and i'm in college now.
The time flies by, doesn't it?
Woah!!! I started my channel in grade 9, and I'm now almost 4 years out of college :D
I have a job that demands many hours from me. So I find I don't have as much time for art. But also even when I have time sometimes I'm too tired. So with not much time to draw, or spend my money on many things, I had a year or two there where I kept buying art supplies and now have my next 5 or more years worth of sketchbooks all lined up lol
Yep, same here! I'm sure I have enough art supplies to last me a lifetime! I wished I had more time to actually use them and wasn't so exhausted after work. But in July I started the "one line"-challenge, and it has worked quite well so far: draw at least one line a day. The start is the hardest. But once I started, I usually continue for half an hour or more. Very rarely it is really just a few lines. As they say: He who walks just one step a day gets further than he who doesn't start at all.
@@anjapinkau3737 I’ve never heard of the one line challenge. Except with journaling/writing.
I don’t think it would be something I would be able to enjoy. Though I am doing one page a month minimum at the moment. So I AM drawing. I just want to be drawing MORE.
@@devALLjapan The "one line"-challenge is something I came up with after watching an endless number of videos about how to establish a daily art habit. I too wanted to draw/paint on a regular basis, because it feels good, makes me happy and helps me to relax. Several youtubers referred to "Atomic habits" by James Clear. The basic idea is to start small and make it as easy as possible to adapt the new habit. Some said half an hour a day every day for a month or 100 days, others said ten minutes, one suggested 6 minutes. It is quite embarrassing but sometimes even 6 minutes were too stressful because quite often I was simply too tired to concentrate. When you are tired, it takes a lot of energy to do something that requires "an effort". Energy you feel you don't have. But if it doesn't need much of an effort, you are more likely to do it. First I thought "every now and then when I feel like it" should be okay. But "every now and then when I feel like it" does not create a regular habit, the hurdle remains high because the habit is not yet there. I wanted drawing/painting to be as natural a part of my everyday life as brushing my teeth. So if 6 minutes a day were too high a hurdle, then one single line would be enough to fulfil the challenge. And it's working! I think since July there have only been two days when it wasn't more than a few lines. And I did not have a bad conscience for not keeping the challenge, because I did keep it. I do draw more, much more, and it is in fact becoming a habit that comes increasingly more easily. I'm not yet at teeth-brushing-level yet, but I do believe that the hurdle is dropping, I'm needing less energy to pick up my sketchbook and pen and get started. And once I'm at it, it is easy to continue. And that feels good!
Same here on some days. Sometimes I grab a pencil during a videocall and doodle on a little note. Even if its 3 minutes
Also, in addition to what she was saying about putting stickers on the cover, it doesn't just have to be stickers of art! I don't have a lot of artsy stickers, so a lot of stickers I've used have been off of fruit, clothing, one off of a microwave, pretty much any stickers that might be on a product or package. It can make an interesting layered background for art stickers or anything else you might put on there. For instance, one of my favorite sketchbook covers includes a taped on Vans tag and some stamps I cut off of some college advertisements sent to me. Another idea is you could tape your own drawings to the cover (covered with tape to protect it), tape pictures or advertisements, or use paint or paint markers too. My last idea is that you could add even more textured bits to your cover, like puffy stickers or stick on gems, fabric, or buttons or beads, things like that. I hope this helps anyone with feeling more excited about your sketchbook!
One thing that helps me is using fun supplies, but in a limited fashion. When I used just pencil, I could get obsessive over details and bored by the gray - using coloured pencils, especially in shades I love, helped with that part so much, and I find I enjoy my sketchbook more. If only to finish it and flip through all those fun colour sketches! Also, I loved that illustration of the cat relaxing in the grass!
I was literally just commenting on Lavender Towne that I feel like AI art took away a lot of my motivation to draw. I was scared to draw for awhile. I just started drawing again after entering an art competition at work recently and it make me remember drawing is fun! I won the competition by the way 😊
For me AI is also a problem. Especially just because I like to draw from photo references, but nowadays on many platforms it seems like most "photos" are AI generated, and I'm not trying to draw what a computer thinks a cow looks like.
i cover my sketchbooks completely with stickers, there is usually none of the cover showing through at all. Makes me happy and that in turn makes me want to use the sketchbook
that kitty is gorgeous ☺☺
What has helped me is using my sketchbook as an art journal/scrapbook/mental health journal.
I literally glue pretty leaves in it, write about my day/feelings or just fill a page with stickers lol
my motivation is putting sketchbooks everywhere (dinning table, bed, desk, coffee table), also making my creative space cute and aesthetic inspires me to draw more.
I think that going through my 'old' art (sometimes it's not that old) inspires me a lot. Some of it because it's a lot better than I remember, and others because I think, "Oh! That was a really good idea! I should do a new/updated/more finished version of that!"
I got a really small square sketchbook as a gift (just a little bigger than my palm), and it fits right in my pocket (or my purse's pocket). I assigned it to be the "sketch wherever you are" book - as in, sketch your surroundings, for when I don't know what else to draw. I can always draw the place I'm in. I took it to NYC where I had a LOT of time to kill before going to a show, and decided to cafe-hop for 8 hours, drawing each of the cafes I visited... then caffeine-vibrated to the next one, lol.
This was such a great video and definitely full of awesome ideas! I am an artist, but I am also a full time cashier and sometimes it can be difficult even finding the time to sit down and draw with my busy schedule. Most of my days off are used for chores or appointments which sadly drain my energy and when all is said and done, I don't really have the inspiration or motivation to draw at all. So hearing all of these ideas has definitely my boosted my confidence in trying to finish a sketchbook soon when I can. Great vid, and love your art!
I love your cat illustrations so much ❤ Great topic too.
Thank you!! I appreciate it!
I've been hitting a big slump recently with motivation as someone who used to draw professionally but had to stop. However, filling my head with animated movies, old and new, as this was the media that got me into art in the first place, really kicks things into gear for me!
Also, I really love those dressed cats you did!!
SO CUTEEEE AA love your art style sm omg
AAA thanks that's so nice of you to say!
Your drawings are so cute!
This is a great video to come out right now because I’ve been working a lot lately and I haven’t worked in my sketchbook much at all lately
I love the cat characters!
Absolutely love your videos! ❤️❤️ Your channel gives me such a big inspiration and because of that I started to draw more animals and experiment with different media ❤️❤️❤️
I get inspired by going through books about artist sketchbooks, it's inspiring seeing how many ways a sketchbook can be used.
I finally got the 100 pack of ohuhu double point pens!! I'm sooooo excited to use them as soon as the arrive!! ❤❤ We don't have them in my country but I finally got the chance to get them ❤❤❤... Your videos made me fall in love with them a long time a go !!
My favorite artist? POSTIG A VID ABOUT MOTIVATION? YES PLEASE
I agree with so many of these points! For me, I try to do a page of studies before I draw anything else, and by the time I’m done I’m warmed up and excited to move on from the boring stuff :3c
This is really helpful!
What I do recently, is drawing together with others. This somehow gives me motivation to be at least a little more creative and productive. For digital artists I recommend Magma. Really nice page where you can draw on the same canvas.
Perfect timing! I graduated from my BFA in May and haven’t been had the motivation to keep drawing in my sketchbook consistently
I relate to that for sure! It took me a bit to recover from burnout after art school :(
I love love love your cat sketches! Couldn't say which one is my favourite. Thank you for sharing!
For me art challenges are a good motivator (like Inktober now).
I wanted to fill a sketchbook before buying or using a new one. And therefore I had the same rule: I was only allowed to draw/paint in that one sketchbook. It didn't work. On some days I'm too tired to make something good and I don't want to "ruin" a sketchbook where I have nice finished pieces in. So I'm using different sketchbooks for different purposes now. But still hope to finish them.
something i really struggle with is getting more color in my sketchbook. it feels so boring for everything to be black and white/graphite gray, but i never manage to actually color my stuff. and i love painting but I'm so perfecctionist with it that it takes the fun right out of it.
For me it is exactly the opposite. Sketchbooks get more exciting to me the longer I work in them and I try to work in them for as long as possible. 😊
I've long since gotten over worrying about drawing in my sketchbook and I found that once I genuinely removed myself from social media (I watch YT for an hour tops) I've really gotten into the sketching habit. Now the only thing that stops me is that chronic pain can just make my hands straight up not work ;~;
Pro and cons to getting old: You don't care about what others think about your art because you're more concerned about the next chance you have the free time to do the art.
5:05 oh hi! thanks for reading my comment :D
I try and remind myself that sketchbooks arnt that deep! At the end of the day you dont need expensive sketchbooks with perfect pages, have sketchbooks to scribble and sketch and plan no need to be precious with it :) i am trying to keep that mindset!
YYES YES NEW JELARTS VIDEO 🗣️🗣️
🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Cute cats and helpful ideas =)
Thank you! 😊
How long did the breaks from not drawing in your sketchbook take?
I want a srimp cuz it is bugs
The cats are so cute! They remind me of Night in the Woods, have you played it? If not, you should check it out:)
What sometimes helps me is drawing with nice coloured pencils or pens, and keeping my desk free of stuff I would otherwise need to clean up before drawing.
YES I was channeling some night in the woods energy, especially with the black cat standing with the red shirt!
I’m just lazy ahahahahha
honestly what has killed my sketchbook motivation is i bought into the moleskine hype in university. i have several empty/barely used moleskines ... but i became a multimedia artist and the paper is jast way too thin and cheap to take anything other than graphite . But I feel terrible wasting them so every month or so I work up the energy to slog through another page or two. in a few hundred years i might finish one 😂
Glad I'm not the only one who isn't a fan of moleskin. I remember buying it, feeling the paper, and going huh? 🤨
Me too!! I think there's two different paper types in moleskine (an "art" one and the regular one), but I just wasn't a fan of either?
What is this do you live in my walls??? I’ve been looking for motivation forever thank you!
Ur 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
I try to find a community in social media but a lot of people are never active in groups or answer you if you wanna hit them up just for conversation. Not to mention the only active artist groups I find are doing unserious purposefully bad art for laughs and that just makes you hate being there. One can be funny but if that's all the group is then there's no point in being there.