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Author Topic: Creative troubles  (Read 872 times)

Kolnukbyne

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Creative troubles
« on: October 12, 2012, 01:30:16 am »

So I consider myself to be quite a creative and imaginative person, something which I'm at least somewhat proud of. My friends tell me that my writing is great and I don't doubt that, but I really have trouble appreciating my own writing and the motivation to actually write anything at all is near non-existant.
Now, I have absolutely no talent in drawing whatsoever; I can barely draw something that's vaguely human, much less something that looks good but for a hell of a long time I've thought that writing doesn't really cut it, I've always been excited at the thought of illustrations to go with it or something. If I had that capability it would probably give me the motivation to create something again, too. Of course, the standard response to this is "Well you should practice, you're bound to improve", and of course I have tried, but the results are so damaging to my morale that I can't keep it up. I have tried following tutorials and so on but that does absolutely nothing for me, much to my dismay.
As good as my writing may be I can't say I've ever honestly felt proud of it at all. For starters (and this is admittedly quite a frivolous complaint) it attracts just about no attention whatsoever as far as deviantART is concerned, that's not to say anything about me should attract much attention, but even the (very) awful pixel art I uploaded there gets more attention, and other writers get the same: people just don't want to read unless there pictures with it. Part of the reason (though definitely not the main reason) I've always wanted to be able to create a comic or something; it's a means of telling a story I've written but it also has the appeal to people who aren't interested in reading and there's so much you can do with it.

Anyway this is kind of just my venting of my creative woes. Not too sure of the kind of feedback I expected to tell the truth, so um... yeah, that.

The Fool

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Re: Creative troubles
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2012, 01:57:06 am »

Drawing isn't for everyone. It's something I've always had a knack for since around grade 2. If you're just starting out, it might not be too late to get good, but it'll be a long road. Be prepared to spend days drawing basic things, like skulls, eyes, mouths, hands, etc. It takes a good amount of practice to get any of it right. If a picture doesn't turn out you still learn a lot from drawing it. Just take it in stride and push forward.

A lot of writers aren't good at drawing. In fact I've seen a lot of people using other people's pictures for their stories on dA, crediting the creator in their description. This isn't a bad way to go. You get art to draw the eye, and the original artist is given credit.

As for getting attention on dA, I don't understand it either. I'm better than a lot of artists on dA, yet someone with much worse drawings has thousands more views and comments. It just puzzles me how it can be like that. It's like there is a rift between the good and the bad where you're just not noticed. You might just have to ignore it for now like I have to.
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Steam ID: The Fool [B12]
A Flexible Mind (Suggestion Game)

Kolnukbyne

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Re: Creative troubles
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2012, 02:27:18 am »

I have actually considered having someone (most notably my best friend who is probably the best artist I personally know) draw for me but the idea of it just seems awkward to me. I don't like asking for help with anything to begin with and I know he has more important things he uses his talent for.

Something else I feel I should note is that there was actually a time when I was actually alright at drawing, though admittedly I was nine or ten years old but I could actually draw pretty well for someone of that age; I once drew a Hassat (an anthropomorphic cat-person from Dungeon Siege) which was damn good (even if one of the legs was fairly messed up) but I seem to have lost whatever talent I had. It's that kind of stuff though that makes me think or at least wish I could replicate it and improve but any attempts at that have been futile.

Also, damn, I looked at your dA and I feel guilty for how much attention I have now, you need way more, you're definitely deserving of it.

The Fool

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Re: Creative troubles
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2012, 02:39:03 am »

Also, damn, I looked at your dA and I feel guilty for how much attention I have now, you need way more, you're definitely deserving of it.

I appreciate it. Let me know what your dA is and I'll watch your posts. I need to get back into reading at some point, and feedback and criticisms are really what you'll want if you're starting to draw again.

You never really lose a skill, just the nuances behind the skill. If you can teach yourself again then you'll be fine. I haven't really had a drawing lesson since high school, so I think I'm doing alright just being self-taught. If you do want help or criticism, just let me know and I'll try to help.
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Steam ID: The Fool [B12]
A Flexible Mind (Suggestion Game)

Kolnukbyne

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Re: Creative troubles
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2012, 03:28:55 am »

Much appreciated! I'm Kolnukbyne on dA as well, I've already watched you and favorited some of your stuff so I shouldn't be too difficult to find.

Kolnukbyne

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Re: Creative troubles
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2012, 08:25:37 pm »

every attempt to draw a person results in some sort of slenderman-esque monstrosity.

Well I suppose if you wanted to do something about an eldritch abomination of some kind you'd be set?