When you're starting out with art it's easy to get discouraged. Success seems to be so far away, especially when the art you're inspired by is made by artists who've mostly been drawing for years longer than you. Here are some things to remember on your art journey for when you're feeling doubtful.
1. Things won't turn out exactly the way you want all the time and that's okay.
Some artists are never satisfied with what they make. That isn't to say you shouldn't "kill your darlings" i.e., you shouldn't be afraid to start over on a piece when you know you can do better. But sometimes, you just have to let certain pieces be.
2. Don't compare yourself too harshly to other artists or be obsessed with "adopting" a style.
Of course all artists copy others at one point or another or do masterworks studies as a part of general art education. It's a good thing to have a repertoire of styles under your belt--especially if you go into a field where you have to match styles--but your personal style happens gradually, depending on the libraries of images you keep, and the people you follow. You tend to adopt certain parts of styles unconsciously. Think of searching for styles like sampling a buffet. If you try to copy an artists' style in it's entirety, i.e., eat the whole pie, you have less room for mixing in other styles and letting your own emerging style breathe.
Okay so maybe that analogy was really clumsy, but take bits and pieces from who you're inspired by; if what really attracts you is the way they detail hair or frame a page, work those elements into your own work.
*note: this is not the same as or condoning art thievery. if a piece isn't yours, don't try to claim that it is.
3. Be open to using ideas/techniques that make your life a little bit easier.
You don't have to recreate the wheel! If using Photoshop is more cost effective than using real watercolors and oil paints, or vice-versa, then don't feel ashamed for using either method. If one artist has a tutorial for lighting/coloring that you like, use it and springboard from that to make it suit your work.
4. Making good art is like running--you have to do warm-ups before you run.
Some warm-ups go from 30 minutes to an hour or two depending on your mood! Some ways to warm-up that will serve well for your art in general are quick gesture drawings from fashion magazines, online figure databases, or real life reference. Then launch into some longer timed poses. Reference other things for your warm-ups like cars and animals, or even do quick color studies of pieces you're inspired by to improve your color sense. Doing these warm-ups everyday will help you draw more fluidly when it comes time to do real work and will make you an artist to be reckoned with.
5. Know when it's time to sit down and work.
They say if you do something you love, you'll never work a day in your life, but in reality you will work. If it isn't just a hobby for you that is, you'll be constantly wanting to improve your craft and the way to do that is to make a list of your weaknesses, or ask a professor or friend what they think you need to improve on and attack those weaknesses, whether it's in your warm-ups for the day or your longer works.
6. Conversely, know when to take a break! Repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) are a real thing.
Whether you're sitting down animating for 50 or more hours a week or shelling hours into a landscape painting, you are at risk for carpal tunnel and joint pain. If you aren't already making it a point to go outside and be active for maybe an hour out of each day, it will benefit you to start. Here are some great exercises for artists, animator or other. Take time to talk to other people, watch movies, especially if you're art blocked. Your mind needs the rest.
The art struggle is too real, but you are not alone on sleepless nights and those days where you can't draw hands and feet right. These tips are defintely not the be-all-end-all ,but might be a push in the right direction. Reference and practice, practice, practice!
