This is WORSE than art block + more common than you know!

[@yevvieart]

most of my art burnout comes from food insecurity and financial insecurity. on the times when we're kinda OK i can do 2-3 artworks per day. when finances are tight, there's no juice to work on anything. it's pretty tough to balance self-compassion with the overwhelming negativity.

[@abe6281]

Same, sometimes I'm so tired from my 1-9pm work that I feel I can't draw anything and I rather do something else. But then I feel guilty from not doing anything and then the cycle repeats.

[@TheArtMentor]

So sorry to hear you have to struggle with that. My heart goes out to you, and I hope you can get into a more comfortable place where that issue doesn’t exist for you. It’s definitely a bigger priority for you to address your living circumstances

[@TheArtMentor]

So what are you doing to interrupt that cycle?

[@yevvieart]

​@@TheArtMentor okay, real talk. your replies seem very passive aggressive (i peer reviewed that to make sure it's not just me) but i'll clarify because it just lacks context: my mother has stage 4 cancer, diagnosed over a year ago. we're deep in debt. the cost of medicine alone is more than her retirement payout. i am disabled with no way to work other than art. i take care of my mother full time. we've been denied disability funds, disability aid, and we're allowed only once per year use of food bank services. we're currently in process of 8th appeal within a year. what am i doing to interrupt that cycle? my best to survive and do art despite consistent art block and dying parent at my side. i tried to crowdfund, i tried nearly every way i could make money without denying my mother the help she needs. financial insecurity is not a choice i can just "interrupt". i can only hope that i can push through to survive to support myself and my family despite that.

[@TheArtMentor]

Hey so it seems we have a miscommunication, as that response was to the person below your comment, not yours. Did you see my actual response to yours where I acknowledged your hardships and confirmed that you're doing the best you can? 😅 it seems youtube didn't add the @ in my responses, so I can see the confusion. When speaking about interrupting a cycle, that was to the person who said they work and then get caught in a cycle where they feel bad. Does that help make sense? I would never make you feel bad for your tough circumstances. In fact, can I say how awesome it is that you're still making art despite that? You should be proud of that and hopefully your art can help lift you up

[@magnus1383]

Oh, like inertia. I am going through the mass is slow phase of art where it just feels impossible to really start. Haven't drawn in a long while because college was just awful. I'd go on and off again. Forced myself into taking part in artfight again with a friend so I have a low stakes drawing thing to do. Chose to only do face shots for the moment. Made a very nice piece yesterday. A face angle I generally avoid around the nose and no linework either. It's rare that I make things without lines, but I do it on occasion. Some shorts of a guy improving submitted art pieces has actually helped with the shading on a piece I want to post before going on a trip. So far, it's funny seeing the stark contrast between my first artfight season last year and this one. The last one I mostly did wholesome characters and now I only have horror. I love both, of course. Also, I do avoid success. Mostly public success. I am mostly just farming and that success is more private. I dislike where I work and there is little I can do other than just keep it clean, but the plants outside make it a bit better. I can go out to them, pick some radish pods, prune my pumpkin. They also require me to be up in the morning more, since the flowers bloom then on a sunny day and I need to have them open to pollinate them. I've forced myself up and out in the pouring rain just to look after those plants. The radishes will be dying soon, but that brings mature seeds for a future harvest. I will soon see if the first pollinated pumpkin fruit works out too, most likely. I will harvest its seeds and from those will grow another pumpkin yield once the winter passes. Though, I really did admittedly neglect decluttering the past few weeks as well. Having pieces of own art that I like on my wall helps a lot too, actually! Which reminds me I need to reorder a poster I made after testing the colors more. It was too dark for print last time. Maybe the combined forces of a clean space, art on the walls, sun and plants outside will make me able to pick up my tablet without immediately going :/ Also, the lighting on the piece in this video is very pleasing to the eye. It's actually rather calming.

[@TheArtMentor]

You have some great ways to help bring yourself out of your shell. Good for you!

[@Eldr1tchGl1tch]

I think most of my art burnout comes from homelife problems and having a hard time managing my adhd and depression while being denied medication. I've been improving and I'm proud of myself for that. I did forget to clean my desk so thanks for that, cleaning my section of the room really helped. and I'll do my best to change my inner word to I want to, because I say I have to, because I want to, it makes me happy to see a finished art. I'm choosing one challenge at a time, draw a box to relearn my fundementals and then proko for anatomy and then learning animal anatomy, blender and then smaller things, like expression, hair textures, fashion, advanced colour theory and prespective and all that fun stuff. I want to be a jack of all trades, because art and learning is fun, I may be best at character art because that's what I started out with, but I don't want to do just that.

[@TheArtMentor]

first off, good for you for working with your concerns! Second, you don't have to deny everything fun in art and abandon it completely, okay? You can keep them as side tasks and projects. However, if you want to grow, specialization will give you more opportunities, and then you can expand. How does that sound?

[@Eldr1tchGl1tch]

@@TheArtMentor I actually enjoy challenges a lot when I do them at my own pace. Tho I've learned that I learn better when I absorb the tutorials and watch them over and over again instead of yknow copying them or practicing. Like I learned anatomy by researching proko's anatomy videos and understanding anatomy on a deep level without copying it, then I applied it to my art since I mainly do character art. There isn't a lot of deep teaching tutorials on backgrounds tho, I might have to look into engineering students stuff. I've already found my specialisation in character design and illustration and general concept art.

[@digitalbrinjen3245]

I did give my art office a bit of a spruce a little while back. I replaced my desk with a wing-shaped desk. Got my Cintiq in the middle with another monitor on both sides for a triple monitor setup. I also ran a strip of led lighting around the back of the desk and setup a cheap floor lamp nearby. Nice lighting which I can have either white or with flashy colours (depending on my mood) and no screen glare anymore. I'm also working on some paintings for the walls with scenes from my favourite games.

[@TheArtMentor]

I like that a lot! Must be cool. I bet that inspires you a lot doesn’t it?

[@digitalbrinjen3245]

@@TheArtMentor It does. It's my favourite room in the house.

[@TheArtMentor]

awesome!

[@twitchew]

end of a play or theater performance run also will cause that "recoil". great to see some talking about this feeling and how to identify it can work through it.

[@TheArtMentor]

Oh is that what they call it in theatre as well?

[@HannahMorenDraws]

I think I have been lucky, since I had the worst of job of my life and then did a 100 day challenge I feel like my ideas and desire to make has just been a bottomless well. Even when I've had some editorial work that was hard and not my favorite, I am so hungry to work and experiment (and get that $$$), I am happy and willing. Where I do find the exhaustion is the finding companies (right now magazines), then finding a contact, and then send ing those cold emails to. I will spend a day sending these emails and just feel awful afterwards. I know it's different than this topic, but if I love making the work but cant GET the paid work, I'm afraid this is just a side hustle I spend A LOT of time on.

[@TheArtMentor]

I hear your concern, and can I offer you a counterpoint? What if all of those little unsuccessful efforts were needed for you to get the hang of exactly how to get the ones that did bring you the success you want? Myself personally, it took me 2 years to gain momentum on my freelance work, but that’s also where I learned everything that doesn’t work. How does that sound?

[@LillenArt2]

My art space is smaller than I would like, but it's somewhat organized. Eventually I would like to get a better wood desk top, so I can utilize the underside of my desk better, and potentially get an arm for my tablet.

[@TheArtMentor]

That’s a great idea! I used to want an arm for my tablet too, but then I decided on a book mount. Have you considered that as well? I’m curious how the arm holds up

[@FuzzyImages]

I’ve been feeling crazy burn out this year. Think it’s more my ADHD and just feeling like there is more and more and more to do, and art is hard to make my priority… :(

[@TheArtMentor]

Have you considered that your belief in that is actually what’s stopping you from being more creative?

[@FuzzyImages]

@@TheArtMentor …. I don’t really think I can change that I have mental disabilities….

[@TheArtMentor]

so in that vein of thought, you can't change that any more than you can change your eye, hair, or skin color, right? So then, how about we switch the paradigm: how do you better operate with it, because you can't change that? How do you manage yourself to be more effective and not see yourself as defective? Be empowering about yourself, my friend 😁

[@richbailey819]

30 second in: oh I know that feeling, Sean. I feel it every day. It's called PARENTHOOD!

[@RobotTanuki]

Same lol Just holding out hope that, if you frontload all the nurturing and teaching the little people, they will be responsible and good people, then you can be more hands off for them down the line.

[@TheArtMentor]

Yep that comes in strong doesn’t it? Did you enjoy my segments about parenting as an example?

[@Wendy_de_Boer]

When I'm experiencing artistic recoil, I will still sit down at my regular drawing time each day, but allow myself to do something mindless, like circle warm-ups, or hatching warm-ups, or copying Bridgman drawings. Within 2-3 days this gets so boring, I'm ready to jump on the next thing. 🤣

[@TheArtMentor]

Haha I like that! So you use boredom as a weapon to force yourself to seek an interesting challenge? That’s a wonderful strategy!

[@akiraohalloran]

For me personally, I love doing art but sometimes I over do it and forget to feed myself. I've need to learn a work life balance so that I don't get too ingrosed in art, or any task for that matter. XD

[@TheArtMentor]

I can relate! On the other hand, sometimes I overeat when I get engrossed lol. It's a nasty cycle isn't it? haha

[@akiraohalloran]

@@TheArtMentor Yes XD

[@GilbertOng-p3z]

Just a question for personal understanding, does flawed character proportions (despite having drawn for years) also be a potential by-product of artistic recoil?

[@TheArtMentor]

Why do you ask?

[@GilbertOng-p3z]

@@TheArtMentor It is because this feels like a cycle. Whenever an artistic recoil hits, it feels like my skill level is affected (an example would be the flawed character proportions). Hence just wanted to inquire for ur insight if there's a relation to that.

[@TheArtMentor]

Ah thanks for the clarification! I would say yes because your brain is consumed and needs to have the zones addressed in this video to help replenish you. How does that sound?

[@natzu10]

The moment to look back at the results after finishing a big project and starting on a new one, aside to life responsabilities, is definitely the most challenging for me. I find your tips and guidance always helpful to shift that mindset. You are an amazing teacher, no words to stress it enough!

[@TheArtMentor]

I’m thrilled to hear that advice helped you!

[@TadpoleArtz]

Interested in the perspective on art burnout being more about life burnout

[@TheArtMentor]

Can do! Is that the first time you’ve heard that idea before?

[@deviltrope]

I think "artistic recoil" is not a feeling, but an accumulated fatigue of the brain. If you're doing a big long project with no breaks, your mind is always occupied with it and stresses out. The cure is rest and occasional change of activity. Also breaking a big task into several small ones helps.

[@TheArtMentor]

That has truth, although, what feeling isn't also contained without the brain? An emotional event is also a cognitive event, so they're both experienced as fatigue as you said and I described in this video. Glad to hear you have some cures that work for you!

[@MarcMcKenzie-qb6or]

Thanks for this, Sean. I know exactly what this feeling is--I've had it after I return home from conventions where I've displayed my art and worked on commissions (as well as having completed a major commission--like the one I recently finished for a client). I also noticed that you used the word "resistance" in regards to this--that's the same term Steven Pressfield uses in his book "The War For Art" which I highly recommend. I will definitely follow these tips. I do hope to take part in your art mentorship program when I can!

[@TheArtMentor]

How keen of you to pick up on my Stephen pressfield source! Yes I love that book and read it recently. A seriously great book for all artists! Ironically, I’ve found myself using that word, resistance, prior to reading it as well. The word is very accurate, isn’t it?

[@MarcMcKenzie-qb6or]

@@TheArtMentor I agree with you on that, Sean. I picked up "The War For Art" after seeing it a couple of years ago at a Barnes & Noble warehouse where I was working. I've read it at least three times already, and it has definitely helped me. And of course I'm reading it again...

[@TheArtMentor]

lots to learn there! It's a heavily highlighted book of mine