How To Challenge Yourself Creatively!

[@tabbyraks]

Everything I make feels "cringe" despite my friends and family liking my characters. I've always been one to figure out on my own how to continue improving and creating challenges for myself, and that's why I've improved so much at anatomy, construction, and gesture over the past year; however, I feel like the overarching ideas behind my designs are lacking somehow. Despite my stories being compelling, I've always felt that the characters in the stories I make are basic, even though there's clear ideas and stories behind them. A good way to put this feeling is that my characters *feel* the same as the "stereotypical" OCs you'd find from a kid that just hit puberty, again, despite my characters not *looking* basic at all. Sorry for the wall of text, but this is my number one issue with my characters and I feel like my creativity is being held back because I'm afraid of being put in the same category as the basic "Mary Sue" artists. If anyone has (or had) the same issue as me, is there a way to challenge my designs to stand out? Cheers!

[@tabbyraks]

@Gull2 I got over that specific hurdle by realizing that, of course, any character I'd create is somehow an extension of myself. For you, I feel like you'd benefit from maybe removing some of your own qualities from your characters. Good luck finding your way through your struggle, and cheers!

[@thelostmessenger]

I also went through this after I looked over my old art from middle school. I settled with it by with doing a lot of revisions of the same characters and made them further from just a "self-insert". They are now a little more like their own character. I have heard this somewhere from a writer is that a character comes to life when they make their "own decisions". Also, good characters can be anything from overpowered to just normal. It's the story and writing that counts.

[@daegan_ftw]

I was struggling with character writing for a while and realised I needed to know my characters better in order to find a good story for them. I got really granular and tried to flesh out in as much detail as possible what makes them tick. From there the ideas for plots and arcs came pouring out of me! Start with basic questions you would ask when getting to know someone IRL and then just follow those to the next step in the line of inquiry.

[@2fortsmostwanted]

Sort of tangentially related, but I recently started with a DnD campaign and because I didn't have the time to fill out a character sheet, I just downloaded the first prerolled one I saw from DnD Beyond. This character is totally not me AT ALL, so it's forcing me to think completely differently in the game in my decisions, the way I act the whole time, how I give my character their voice. If you could figure out a way to do this kind of thing visually/in writing, it might really help.

[@2fortsmostwanted]

Also, I've 100% felt that way about my work, and if you think your work isn't indicative of what you can do, that's a sign that you are seriously improving. You know you're capable of more, you're conscious of what things feel derivative and what feels like your voice. That's really good.

[@BubblingBrooke]

To be honest I'm in an art dip. I don't know if I'm simply in a spot where my eyes are farther than my skill level or what, but its been difficult to see where my strengths are currently! It's been a struggle to even find the right ways to challenge myself and improve in the areas I want to improve in!

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Those dips are super relatable. The good thing is they often precede big moments of growth!

[@BubblingBrooke]

@@CharacterDesignForge I certainly hope so!

[@stencilfox5]

Perfect timing motivating me to get my ipad and procreate out to finish new challenges!

[@stratovolcano7813]

I also recommend having an art peer/friend who is as enamoured with art as you are to help inspire you! Art discords or art streams are good for building this. But you have to be careful not to become overwhelmed by negative emotions bc it should be fun, so make sure you're not lost in art grind culture or something.

[@CharacterDesignForge]

That's definitely helpful!

[@peculiarcanine9443]

Honestly, that "Shiny Object Syndrome" thing feels like a personal call out lol I have SO MANY THINGS I want to do. Recently I did commit myself to a little project though, a Comic (thanks to that Minimum Viable Project video you made) so I've got some more focus now. P.S. Good luck on the Stormfellers project. I only recently found out about it and honestly, I'm super intrigued. Excited to see how it'll turn out :)

[@wumbothewombat1280]

I always wondered why I could never work up the motivation to do practice exercises to help improve my art-things like drawing a hand over and over again, things that didn’t result in a finished project. Hearing that goal-oriented progress is legitimate too opened up my eyes. I always assumed I was being lazy and stupid, and that doing projects wasn’t enough. Now I’m excited to focus more on doing specific projects to improve on specific things 😊

[@hyzmarie]

I just try to make a “study” more fun. Like, I needed to practice hands, but for me, humans are just not very fun to draw. I decided instead to take mythical creatures, like a Minotaur, and just not hide the hands. Bonus: I learned I really needed to revisit hooves.

[@sylvanshroom]

I've been feeling hungry to challenge myself lately, and I've actually found a way to do it via my brand work! It's very encouraging and keeps art fun and my curiosity and student mindset alive

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Awesome!

[@2fortsmostwanted]

This is good advice, thank you. For several months in 2020 and 2021 I was seriously going nowhere with my art. I was creating a lot, for myself, but in no particular direction, and nothing was improving. I was like "Is this my cap?" I didn't know how to make any new progress, I had a couple very vague glimpses of natural style coming through but everything else seemed forced. So I learned a tip from a friend and what I've been doing recently is slowly inching myself out of my comfort zone by using random character description generators and only working with the information I'm given. It's (kindly) forcing me to do things I never would have thought of doing, things I've never wanted to draw, characters I never would have imagined. A lot of the time I think "do I really have to do this? I don't know if I can get it to look good," but I try anyway. And even if I can't get the drawing to work, in a way I think I end up liking every single one of them just because they're fresh to me, and I had to problem-solve to get there, which helps develop my style immensely. I never walk away from an exercise like that feeling like I haven't grown at least little. My skills have shot up in the past month. If I get to another place where I feel like I've plateaued with my ideas, I think that's always gonna be a good boost to get me thinking more flexibly again. Also, I love your Leyendecker study.

[@AZUREPHOENIX777]

I needed to hear this, challenging myself in an artistic way is something I should absolutely be doing more of.

[@Sgt_Viper000]

Been very obsessed with Namco classics as my drawing subjects. They mostly remind me of my childhood, but I've also just been fascinated with their various shapes and designs (game play and memories aside).

[@CharacterDesignForge]

That's awesome!

[@fmbray_]

I always feel like I've got the "shiny object syndrome" but it's more of a case of me just having a limited amount of energy to work with to begin with. The fact that thinking/planning is a free action for me just exacerbates it all. I have all the plans coursing through my head at any given moment, but I always fail to choose the smallest to begin working with because I always feel paralyzed that I'm going in the slightly wrong direction. I've lately realized that maybe if I start with something personal to me and go from there, I can start--which is why many of my projects that are interlinked have parts slowly forming from the ether. I'm just taking what I like the most and fleshing things out, even though it's slower than most people.

[@saulisce]

Just before I watched this video, I got a random feeling to make semi-realism art, the PRACTICE BEGINS

[@sfisher923]

Same thing but with Water Coasters in OpenRCT2 (Only made 2 and they weren't good looking)

[@rachelthompson7487]

I recently started watching your channel and I love it so much.

[@dynamicsketch]

Been watching your videos all this past week. I've been trying to use some of the tips I have picked up. Today I took an old character drawing and reworked it with that character's current design. Right now I'm working on an old character's design to make them fit in to that same world as the previous character.

[@CharacterDesignForge]

That’s awesome, I’m so glad!

[@dynamicsketch]

@@CharacterDesignForge Thanks. I guess I challenge myself by trying to improve my style further rather than find a comfy place to stop. There are always new things to try. I should try making use of my KZbin channel and make more time lapse videos.

[@dyscotopia]

Very inspirational. I love how so much of your content is valuable to any form of art. Visual, literary, cinematically, even musically, with a strong dose of psychology. It's not your typical art tube channel.

[@time_for_toast4922]

I've been sort of challenging myself with my internal story building. I've made several characters now, I have to find a way to make a plot that both connects them all, but keeps them individual and independent. That's my next goal.

[@ladyseshiiria]

I've been challenging myself and drawing stuff that I don't find interesting. Lol Do that without rushing! Or being sloppy and cutting corners. I'm not drawing fantasy which is my favorite right now. I'm sitting down and doing fundamentals, and learning lighting, and textures.

[@2fortsmostwanted]

^ This. It feels like doing pushups, it's painful and I'd rather be doing anything else, but it's building muscle.

[@alchemicmercury]

Hello fellow artists, I just want to tell you to not give up if your in a slump! Because the craft is worth it! I'm not saying this lightly or disingenuously, I know how hollow this sentiment sounds. Drawing has always been one of my biggest outlets and joys since I could hold a pencil and like most artists I was critical of my own work and comparing it with others that I admired. Blah blah creative angst blah blah. I didn't realize how much I took my own art for granted until I couldn't DO it anymore. I suffered a TBI in my 20's and this renderd drawing so difficult as to be impossible for nearly a decade for SO many reasons.(hands shook so much when I gripped stuff that it was impossible to draw a straight line, I couldn't mentally envision stuff the way I used to mentally, I had a hard time connecting my physical actions with what was in my head ect. Not to mention that trying to do ANYTHING was exhausting and still very much is and SO MUCH MEMORY LOSS) It's only been in the last year and a half that I have been able to FINALLY draw again in a relatively normal way! Honestly it took me an hour to draw a little monster and afterwords I had to sleep for 4. But I have never loved my art more! And I am actually so proud of the little guys I made that I almost considered setting up a Deviantart account! Look guys just don't give up! And love yourself and your art. Because you are both worth it. TLDR Appreciate yourself and your art, don't be like me and have to lose it in order to love it.

[@ThePseudonoob]

I find that I kinda challenge myself with every "big" piece I do. My mindset with such pieces is thinking of them as experiments, opportunities to try new things and see if I can grow little by little as an artist. Could be an anatomical detail I keep missing out on, some way to add steam and droplet effects for a waterfall or shower, or simplifying how I do finger and toenails. When I finish them and show them off to fellow artists, they say I'm "improving quickly," and that's how I know my experiments work.

[@sfisher923]

Sure I'm not a Character Artist You motivated me to enter a RCT2 scenery contest and got me back into Minecraft Thanks for giving Creativity tips to help anyone who needs it (Whether is the Minecraft Builders or traditional Artists) and very much earned my subscription back in October

[@crazyeeveelady3636]

Currently our assignment in drawing is doing master studies. I'm struggling hard when it comes to prying myself out of my comfort zone, but after watching this I think I can come back to class a bit more confident than I was earlier today

[@moonflower8968]

Your videos are very inspirational 🤗 Ive decided to challenge myself with creating a short Animatic/animation about animals and Autumn! I want to persevere with my idea and not give up! ❤

[@CharacterDesignForge]

You can do it!

[@teacupanimates]

SHINY OBJECT SYNDROME HITS ME IN THE FEELS

[@DerekBrony]

Already challenging my own creative skills with video game console's graphic limitations.

[@Mjumiman]

Really appreciating the thoughts in this, especially about daring to be obscure for a while and not producing stuff that can be shown off. I'm currently giving myself some breathing space, pondering ideas for a new game project (after finishing my last one for a Game Jam in September) and practicing skills here and there. As much as I love projects, there are some art studies/veggies that I never take the time to do while I'm focused on one, so this off-time is a great chance for me to do that. Getting some input for once instead of fixating on output.

[@EvasiveBlue]

Also bonus points you mentioned the main villain to Donkey Kong Country. Love those N64 games and now I see some of your inspiration!

[@JaafarTheToon]

I don't know why I am making art, I started drawing because it was fun, I had a moment where I made it not fun, constantly telling myself "Improve imrpove, you have to get better." I don't know what I need to improve on! I have so many things I want to get better at, but I don't know where to start or how to start.

[@a.j.morrow5533]

I've been wanting to move away from line art for a while now. It's been hard for me to make time for my art with all the personal projects I'm working on in the background, as well as personal necessities like my job; but I need to find time to work on it if I'm ever going to improve.

[@SirMasi]

I need to do more master studies. I know I should be studying good examples of how pros solved problems, but a big part of me really wants to be out there creating wild new things. I actually do enjoy studying other styles, but for whatever reason I'm resistant to starting 😓

[@LasagnaTheArtist]

I want to start creating big projects (most likely a comic) but I have no clue where I’d start. My most developed characters are also my most private, and I don’t want to share a story based on them with the world. A lot of my other worlds are ones I’ve dreamt up, gotten really excited about, proclaimed “this time it’ll be different!” And promptly abandoned. I feel like there’s so much I’d need to learn not about art, but about storytelling in order to make this work- but by the time I improve enough at storytelling, my ADHD will have moved on to the next thing. I’m usually fine with making smaller one-off drawings and characters, but sometimes, I catch a glimpse at something more. And I get sad, because I feel insecure about my inability to attain that. It’s just one a’ those days

[@2fortsmostwanted]

Ayy ADHD gang~ Making artists lose interest in projects since the beginning of time.

[@feanaro2712]

Oh wow, shiny object syndrome. I had no idea there was a name for it, but I feel like I understand myself better now. I hope to look into master studies, it sounds like a really useful tool. Also, off-topic from the video, but every week I get more hyped for the Stormfellers pilot.

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Thanks Jake!!

[@veggsbacon1891]

Apes in Space! feat. Donkey Kong from the Devil May Cry series & Chuckles!

[@inkythoughts]

I usually Don't Like to design logos but I wanted to design some business cards for myself and by chance made a logo I really like for my art. now I'm wrestling with a portfolio website to match xD am I procrastinating my bachelor thesis? yes. but at least I'm working on something annnndddd it's for my professional future ;u; also tbh I want to draw more for my portfolio simply because uni projects just suck too much to put them on there and my personal art feels also kinda lacking. a project for sure!

[@godahlrogue8587]

Heck of good advice, brookes! Im very motivated by personal projects, personally, though sometimes i dont totally challenge myself with them lol My immediate plan is to improve a bit on color theory as i wrap up my current project, but moving forward, i really want to hone my construction skills. 👍

[@CharacterDesignForge]

You can do it!

[@godahlrogue8587]

Rewatched this video twice today--its a good video lol! Ive been having a self evaluation of my art the past few weeks but im still not sure what i want out of it exactly--eh ill figure it out.

[@aRBy125]

4:30 - Ahh, reverse engineering. I've done that a few times with some of my favorite artists to pickup on their styles, and I've sorta subconsciously starting incorporated some pieces of their styles in my own works. It's a fun learning experience.

[@WilloWik]

Yo props to the Splatoon octo expansion music 😎😎 you've got good tastes 💛🦑

[@joyfulvision]

Can’t wait to see the stormfellers stuff!!!

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Can't wait to finally share it!!

[@emilymonahan5232]

i will DEFINITELY be buying allll the stormfellers merch/books/whatever. its the least i can do to thank the channel for all the help hehgngfkdsalldkf also. biko is so cute i gotta have a biko plushie

[@emilymonahan5232]

summon the will to spend money on brookes stuff by thinking about one day holding a biko plushie

[@CharacterDesignForge]

@@emilymonahan5232 you rock Emily, thank you so much!

[@emilymonahan5232]

@@CharacterDesignForge no, thank YOU >:) but seriously, all the advice you give is incredibly valuable and it's even more incredible that you share it for free. these tips are absolutely essential and its so hard to find any other tips for intermediate artists out there! you've really helped me level up my art, and again, its the least i can do! (also stormfellers looks so cool i cant- i would get it either way tbh)

[@MissMokate]

lol I saw the first golf club being sketched and immediately went LEYENDECKER

[@lioedevon4275]

Now I need to go see if Brookes used to exclusively draw DK fanart

[@geryuthetzakandi2769]

Insofar, I'm in the process of forcing myself to move on from lineart to digital color. It's hard, but I'm figuring it out.

[@thomaslecomte1570]

I spent a whole year polishing a novella for a publisher. Now it’s sent, I need to go back to the novel I was writing. It’s a chore. It’s very difficult to get back in the mindset, and it’s kinda daunting to meet the expectations I had when I started this project. My main objective right now is to make the time to have writing sessions, however short and hardly productive they may be. I need to get this train rolling again.

[@CharacterDesignForge]

That’s super understandable! I hope it goes well for you!

[@thomaslecomte1570]

@@CharacterDesignForge thank you!

[@TheZiiFamily]

Wait irl me loves cephalopods and calamari A LOT and that was partly inspiration for a self insert character but their still human (mosty), so does that mean “in universe” me is a cannibal?

[@krisymac3514]

I was just watching you when I got the notification!

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Like, out the window? 😋

[@krisymac3514]

@@CharacterDesignForge 🤣🤣

[@TheZiiFamily]

Ok this give me an idea 👀

[@EvasiveBlue]

I'm currently making animations where my protagonist is interacting in little holiday themed discoveries. He is an alien from another world trying to figure out why we do holidays the way we do.

[@ash-nr4us4dy1o]

Really good

[@zadock6370]

Would it be a neat concept to have a hero protagonist who is a sociopath, but has a "decent" moral compass?

[@ivanperilla2258]

i loe ur videos man, keep going youa re so good at motivation and tutorial creative

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Much appreciated Ivan :)

[@sirelfinjedi]

Random question, but I've been wrestling with it this week: do other artists (not me) see an image on the page before drawing or does the image only become visible after you've constructed it?

[@CharacterDesignForge]

I used to ruminate on a mental image of something for so long, and then finally try to make it look that way on the page. Not only was that almost always disappointing because of my skill level, I think as I’ve gotten better I much prefer to figure things out on the page.

[@sfisher923]

I was in an OpenRCT2 contest (Which has several art aspects combined with Physics because of Roller Coasters) and I was struggling with a station because It wasn't what I imagined it Took a trip which deliberately passed by Abandoned Factories (Which is easy to do because of City issues) because I was visioning that for a Zombie Apocalypse theme and when I came home I just started placing walls (Which is basically figuring things out on a Isometric page until I had the results I wanted and It took me a few days to process what I needed to change and I was busy elsewhere)

[@godahlrogue8587]

Watching this a second time and i wanted to say i mega-relate to the story of the person whose love of donkey kong led them to create a story about apes only in my case it was a love of sly cooper and it led me to make a story about animal pickpockets lol

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Hehe that’s amazing

[@2fortsmostwanted]

Making fanfiction and fanart have led me to the genres I want to pursue in my own work

[@Eeveechuvoli]

I struggle with poses :'D

[@rachelthompson7487]

I need to practice drawing people.

[@Kart19kdhavv]

Can you try to design a playable Grand Theft Auto character, Not a existing one, A new one.

[@chainstheblackknight1127]

My answer: maybe

[@fossilco.artrelateddocumen331]

Fastest click in the west

[@SarahAbramova]

Hi

[@pudge1344]

Early!

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Thanks for being here!