As others have said, your main issue is that you constantly seek validation from other people instead of just being proud of yourself. The first step to a good healthy life is to love yourself and be happy with who you are and what you do. I know that’s way easier said than done, but even forcing yourself into that mindset a little can help (fake it ‘till you make it)

Never do art just because you want to be famous and want money, that (to me) goes completely against what art is and what it stands for. People can make their art into a career, but if you only draw just because you want to turn it into a career, it won’t make you feel better in the long run because although you’re getting attention you aren’t enjoying what you’re doing. You don’t have the passion.

With your current mindset, your job as an artist of any medium will become exactly like an office job at a big company (except slightly more glamorous).

Trust me, your life will become so much easier if you just learn to be proud of yourself and whatever you do. I, for one, think your art is wonderful.

I mean, yeah, what else can you call having commissions open for well over a year with no contacts of any kind but discouraging. And unfortunately, I don't have the financial luxury to just 'be okay with it.'

I already know what I'm going to do when the eviction notice shows up, but here's hoping for a miracle anyway.

I’m trying to figure out who I might know that has money and might like your style. I’ll try to spread the word around.

I actually relate to this problem to be honest. But it might not be for the same reasons that you have because here I am trying to get exposure by joining different collabs and projects, while still trying to keep up my own personal projects only for me to feel less motivated all while trying to network.

I'm not necessarily aiming to get front page however I would like to up my consistency in getting more projects done and uploading on a more regular basis but I haven't quite found the right way to go about that just yet for all my struggles. And that's just it because it becomes one thing after another and then when I really want to work on my own personal projects I find myself either dropping it all together or putting them on hiatus.

If I do get front page then that's great but it's not my end goal concerning the mastery of my craft per say.

Maybe you could make a collab that has to do with your own personal interests/things you'd like to draw! There's lots of art collabs popping up recently, and I've just found that Tom is pretty easy to talk to about putting events on the NG calendar!

Thinking back to when I did a request thread drawing a bunch of people's OC's and twisting them into nightmare fueled drawings and putting some of them into one piece was fun when I did that. Somewhat of a collab in that regard but not quite.

To be honest I was thinking about doing a request thread again on that note, but when I do I'm going to make sure that it's planned out in advance because when I did that I barely organized it at all and it just led to massive chaos to the point where the collab was less fun for me to do and I started drifting into doing other projects.

Far as actual colabs go...

I could host a collab in the future however I think I would want to hit a specific mark of followers before I consider doing that so maybe in the near future that could be an idea I'm willing to do.

Actually while I am here this is one thing I wanted to get into it's own post.

One of the things I've been struggling with lately has been sticking with an idea I created and fleshing it out. Because I have a ton of inspirations and ideas I'd like to put into a comic or animation of sorts, but ultimately with the above in mind about how much time I have and how much I'm doing, I just haven't gotten to that point where I have an idea I can stay consistent with and you know, drawing the character constantly in different poses.

And that's just it because it takes a ton of time to make a good character and make a convincing comic or animation with a good story. Which is tough because really, I just want to be able to make my own story of sorts but it just hasn't really been panning out the way I'd like it to.

I don't know if this is something I'd have to find someone I can work with to help with making sure my work is good or what but frankly it's been a thorn in my side for sometime now.

well shit I was going to use this thread to give advice for some people but now I’m here with my own insecurities.

I took the year off from college because I was genuinely not happy at all with what was my major and to save up money to transfer elsewhere. My major was computer science and I decided to instead go somewhere else where I can learn Animation/3D modeling and design. I’m a bit worried since I I’m leaving a stable major to instead pursue something that is more fulfilling and more worthwhile to me.

I guess I’m scared that I’m gonna fail but honestly I think I rather fail multiple times at trying to achieve what I want. Rather than have something stable but always ask myself “What if”.

But yeah been feeling a bit uncertain about the future but I’m just hoping everything is gonna be alright

Best of luck. My dad taught me that one of the consequences of pursuing a degree you’re not really interested in is that you’ll enter an industry you’re not really interested in. Some creatives with a secondary interest in a more lucrative industry can do that as their day job and have artistic endeavors be a side hobby, but if you find no joy in your job at all, it’s probably gonna be harder to feel like sitting down and making art. I think you’re making the right choice.

Oof, this post just summoned me back to the thread.

As someone who has been finding very little joy in his job for years now, I can very much confirm that the dissatisfaction and hopelessness seep into every aspect of your life, including making art. I alternate between two modes at my job: sucking it up and giving it my all every working day, and feeling completely unmotivated and not doing anything at all. The former leaves me too tired to really do anything when I come home from work, but it's the latter that really kills me. When you just waste eight hours of your day doing nothing and then come home, whatever you want to do with your free time just... doesn't feel earned. Leisure time doesn't really feel like leisure, because it's not like you did anything at work. Soon enough you're just floating through your life, doing nothing.

I don't think I would be able to turn art into a career because I don't want to make a chore of something that I genuinely love. Having it be a side hobby and building up a following on a site like Newgrounds would be ok for me - not ideal, but ok. But I feel like I need to find purpose in what I do for a living in order to form a healthy core that all my hobbies and leisure activities will orbit around. I need to feel that my abilities are being put to use, that I'm achieving something and that I'm at least contributing to something with my work. To this day I've no idea what kind of job could provide those things for me. I've been struggling with it for ages and I really hope I'll make it out the other end someday, because it's no fun being in this tunnel.

Thank you for the opportunity.

I only have my story to share, nothing too wise or know-how. I started small, hobby artist, never learned doing art, anathomy or anything. I quickly got into NSFW art and oh boy that stuff has a huge community. Been goofing around, opened for commissions for for very cheap because I didn't believe my art is worth much. I got so many buyers, I was in awe, my sites were BUSTING, 2K followers on twitter, my discord server was crowded. I felt worthy, I felt successful as a hobby artist, y know? Then, I slowed down with art due to really serious mental health issues. Kept my low prices, got better in art so people who came to me were very satisfied, but since I haven't advertised, only my follower circle knew about what I do.

During my absence, my pages literaly died. As I was feeling more motivated, I tried to get back, sharing new stuff, interacting, engaging, and there was... silence. Not a reaction, no response, as if I was invisible. This was hard to accept, as I was blaming myself for not being strong and determined enough to keep up the good work and the wide smile. That costed me my popularity, which I struggle to build back now. I am trying and doing my best, but it's a humbling experience to come back from the spotlight, and now not finding my way in the dark. And the only person I can blame is myself.

All I want to do is being seen, interact, have friends, do fun art projects together. I am not doing this for myself, I do this for the entertainment of others. But how should I perform to an empty audiance? Feel like I can't.

Self pity will not help, I know that well. I try not to get into that. But I barely see any opportunity to be seen, and it makes me question if it is worth trying.

But I love you all :<

I wanted to make a comment after reading this.

I used to post a lot at the forum Level1Techs, which used to be known as Tek Syndicate. It was newgrounds but for hackers, basically. Eventually the guy who ran the servers decided to clout grab when the owner wasn't looking and trying to do something stupid, and used that to kick him out and take control of everything. Only, all he did was make it a corporate shit hole and completely killed the community that was there. Where it used to be hackers building Halo Warthogs and CRT TV AIO computers, now its "my homework is hard, help" or "Googleable GPU Driver Issue #387683763876"

Eventually they got tired of me and kicked me out. ATP I'm fine with that, but at the time I was really angry because they were continuously trashing what had been previously established. Now wendell is getting ~interviewed~ and is getting cameos on channels like.... LinusTechTips! A place he's said he wanted to be rather than TS previously if he didn't run his own business.

So instead, his solution was to take what wasn't LTT and mash it into as close to LTT as he could manage. All he ended up doing was making a github boys club though, ands anything that would have gotten views in threads previously either goes completely un-noticed, or one person from the boys club social lounge comes in and actually blows your post up. Like I'm not even kidding when I say getting views on that fprum is as fucking retarded as establishing a youtube channel these days.

Back when TS was around, I posted my hacking projects and my blobs of thought that couldn't really go on facebook on there, and hell sometimes I made such a big deal post that they made an episode. And that wasn't very damn common.

........

Actually I went to go find the video I was thinking of, and its completely gone. I don't think it was in the TS library, I think it was in the L1T library, and its just..... gone.

See back in the day TS was like NG, like I said. If someone in the community started a company and did something cool, they showcased it, if there was a letter someone sent that was cool, it got read live, eventually all of them did though. Posts were showcased when they were a big deal, etc. _People Mattered_

but as they drifted away, more or less only wanting raw output like a corporate studio, more than a forum for hackers, it just became an awful depressing experience. It was like the worse apple got in reparability the worse the forum got in usability. It weighed a lot, and eventually was just impossible to use as a creative person.

All in all, the lesson here is to recognize the environment you're in. I absolutely couldn't ask fulp for a documents page, so my Documentation and Hardware Research will go.... well.... somewhere. Probably Lemmy / Mast, IDK yet. But I still want recognition, literally of any kind. I have a lot of random skills that are hard to use for much except hacking stuff, so IDK what else to do. Theres just..... no where for me to go. Been like that for years. TBH, its like peoples interest for me wained as much as their interest in their old tech.

But, atp for me, I plainly have to figure out do I even want to anymore. I have more interest in my skateboard right now than honestly ever opening a laptop again. I'm just burned.... maybe singed is more appropriate.

read my post below yours, many are just disenfranchised. Honestly, there needs to be a new platform made. Or, platforms need to adapt.

Now that we’ve got enough people talking to each other, I’m going to take a break from being personally available to reply to the thread. I’ve had some off days where I got snippy for no real reason and I need some time to just chill.

I’ll be back!

I should probably be careful about venting here so that I don't make so much of a fool of myself that I have to make a new account like I did last year...

But I'm not sure if the reason why I draw is "sustainable". I draw so that I can get good at it, not because it's fun. "Why do you want to get good at it?" So that I'll stop feeling so envious whenever I see cool art online. "Why not do something you actually enjoy instead?" I don't enjoy anything, so does that mean I should never do anything?

Also I feel stuck as I have yet to find a single resource that helps me understand how to draw. Irshad "Uncomfortable" Karim's online course drawabox.com didn't work for me. Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain didn't work for me. Bert Dodson's Keys to Drawing didn't work for me. Stan Lee and John Buscema's How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way didn't work for me. Since I don't have a visual or creative imagination is it just impossible for me? Will I forever just be poorly copying .pngs of anime and cartoon characters? One of my dreams is to contribute to an NG collab one day, but since I have no talents or creativity it's unlikely to happen, and even if it did I still wouldn't be satisfied since I'm already 21 and many have been featured in NG collabs at much younger ages.

One thing I'd like to tell you is that age is completely irrelevant here. It's probably true that many artists were featured in NG collabs at, say, 19 years old. But I'd wager that many were featured at 21, or 25, or 30, or even older. The only thing they have in common is not their age - it's the fact that they make quality content. This has nothing to do with how old someone is; quite the contrary, it's very rare that anyone produces something truly great in their youth. Most creative types do their best work past 30, sometimes even past 40 or 50. There is no rule.

I'm sorry that you're struggling with your art. I tried typing some advice but then deleted it because I didn't want to play armchair psychologist based on a few paragraphs of text describing your issues. What I will say is that I'm sure you can work on your motivation, and replace what is currently compelling you to make art with a healthier, more sustainable driver. It's not an easy task, because self improvement never is, but I hope you pull through. Best of luck on your journey.

Thank you so much for the kind words. I’ve been debating about switching majors for a good year now. And to be honest I was actually a bit depressed last year. Stupid yes but yeah. I’m honestly excited to see where this leads to me! Again thank you so much for responding!

I will say that age does not matter when it comes to creating art, and especially on Newgrounds. Also you’re 21!! You’re very young and you have loads of time to get better if you feel like it. As for collabs here I know that there were some collabs that were very beginner friendly.

Right now, I don't know what I'm getting myself into after getting into state college and posting on social media like TikTok. An ugly divorce between both Twitter and Instagram, but honestly fuck both of them. It's hard to start somewhere when I don't have any social platforms to get in as some platforms, you know, might take a turn on you for the worst.

I'm left with Newgrounds, possibly TikTok, Behance, and Tumblr. I will question whether I should join Artstation and Deviantart since I wanted to post my portfolio there.

I wasted my time waiting for the right time to post my art, but I have my fair share when it comes to practicing active collaboration and feedback from Discord. Even though my relationship with social media is not perfect, I have at least a bit more functioning once I eliminate a few bad influences. I don't care if that platform has a terrible history; I just want to fucking network. I'm motherfucking jobless for fuck sake. So what more could I do?

It wasn't necessary to buy into this college with an open door policy, nor was it vital to get into social media when I could've just opened my shop or joined in slave wages. I just wanted to do the right thing for me. I can't afford any more losses or heartbreaks when I don't go to school or college. I should be grateful, but I wanted just to be where I wanted to be, and it's not working, or at least what it might feel like.

I hate living in this doomed feeling when I know it will fade off again and come back with just another kick in my kneecaps.

Least you have relationship with social media. I am so bad with it that I may (or may not) know how to doodle, but someone on Instagram said that "You must be best unknown artist there is" and there's that. i remain internet ghost just because I am obnoxiously bad at self marketing. While there is friends discord, where I post my doodles, and some private chats, but what comes to public social media - I am like "uh?"

I am surprised I even make those posts in NG. The whole 'missed me' joking in 'what have you drawn recently' thread is quite huge "not-the-way-I-am" thing for me and I actually feel bad every time I post in there ...

I went on a similar vent on another thread...

that said, there are plenty of ways you can contribute to a collab without being a creative, "original" artist, such as trying another skill set (programming, for example, since i've seen a few artists wanting to make games while having no programming skills who would appreciate the help) also,

Will I forever just be poorly copying .pngs of anime and cartoon characters?

if yes, that's usefull for animating. animating takes forever and I'm pretty sure the main artist would appreciate the help.

since I'm already 21 and

and you're barelly old enough to have gotten a college degree if you joined as soon as you finished highschool. you still have plenty of time to learn things. if not art, something else. there are ways to learn things outside the internet and depression-inducing social networks, so try looking them up. maybe that will even get you employed, depending on where you live and what you try to do.

It does sound like you’re doing the right thing, and I can understand how the struggle to make it work feels hopeless. I’d encourage you to keep networking. Maybe even try some collab events on NG if you haven’t already, or offer to do art for someone’s game, etc. Since a lot of big names often participate in these, the people you meet there can definitely help you get a boost.

Imma be real with you, thats kind of a normal response. I don't know where to go with any of my shit either.

Here I'm editing this. Warning, loud music.

https://youtu.be/kdA0mW-9jRs

This is a band I'm reallyt into right now. They're all jazz fusion and polyrythmic hypermetal, like yes oh my god. I just saww someone's video on what they think about the band, and I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking about it.

CC exists solely because we will die someday. In a time where we know what space is, what its made of, and how ungodly small and inconsequential we are, at the end of the day, time either doesn't matter. or you are dying tomorrow. The question is, what are you going to do in your small space of time?

The band plays their albums in small confined spaces like a van or a portapotty, not just for the challenge, but as an artful recognition of how much we really don't matter. The drummer is from Knower, at least, everyone's pretty damn sure he is, and that band is known for gunning it when they're half sunk in quicksand. Got a full tank and 4x4, fuck it lets see if the transmission breaks kinda feeling.

Well, where one band is to go as far into the absurdity of america. one is to the absurdity of your own self worth and what you can do if you really just stop giving a shit.

Recently I was working for a gas station and it felt really good to be appreciated for something. But, corporations are literally my living hell, so I tried to quit a few times, eventually I had to make them fire me so I could get out of there and not feel guilty. I'm ATP skating, and I'm about to try doing ethernet runs for a company that only has night shift and does travel jobs. If I can roll down the road, skate, draw, hack shit, while on the job? Dope.

This thread is what I love about NG, lots of support and like minded creatives. Def jumped ship onto here last year and have been really happy with the change tbh. Im still ASS at communicating and even ASSER at SM but this def feels more organic, idk what to call it but feels like I shoulda joined in at the beginning of my art journey instead of about 10 - 15 years after the fact, but whatev.

I have a comic that im slowly working towards but def hit a little bit of an Art Block over the last month, and def feels like it might be at the point where i can just Start but im still nervous to put myself out there like that. I'm working through most the main cast onto Digital and really just wanna break into it next year (fingies crossed). I tried to do a shorter comic before diving into my big story but my brain just keeps defaulting back to the story ive wanted to make since HS.

Id love to collab on a short comic for practice and focusing on de artz but that would require that communicating shizz i mentioned lol.

I hope you find someone to collab with. The reason I have no comic show case really despite my stories and posts above was that, when i felt I cannot manage it alone I sought some aid, I faced a sad truth of human nature.

I was inexperienced and aimed too high, but to salvage my aim, I thought i find some people to assist me. I was willing to do the heavy lifting - the doodling and even the base narrative, dialogues all that. I needed help with someone just do lettering and maybe placing pages and panels together.

Now what happened, people offered to help, BUT ... with cost of changing the story. So they eventually (plural, several people said they'd help me) wanted me to draw THEIR story, ... not help with mine.

This is why i now try to make a short, really short story that I can manage and I no longer ask help as I am afraid that people would just enter with own ideas and takes.

this tweet got over 150K likes

this person made a short film with dozens of millions of views

this person animated for a $100 million dollar film that raked in nearly $700 million

the following people have done work for professional anime studios:

• this 19-year-old
• this 19-year-old
• this 20-year-old
• this 19-year-old
• this 20-year-old
• this 19-year-old
• this 20-year-old

What would you consider a "healthier" source of motivation?

What if I want to be able to draw something original? (which I'm not sure is even possible since I have aphtantasia)

I was trying to remember which skilled artist I heard of had aphantasia and came across something that may be of use to you (from a site focused on artists with aphantasia): Visualisation and Why We Don’t Need it to Make Visual Art. which... seems to be useful even for people without aphantasia o_O

not to mention the thread about it here. I don't know much about aphantasia, so maybe replying to the last topic of that thread asking @CosmicRot (who has severe apahntasia) to show you their sketch process may help you?

I was also going to say something about originality being a myth, but I got distracted by the article on aphantasia and forgot what it was. probably about everything being based off something else?

...

anyway, a quote from the article linked above:

What is clear is that many painters, architects, photographers, illustrators and other visual artists haven’t been hindered by their non-visual imagination. And it is crucial to remember this fact. Especially as aphantasia is becoming more known, people are realising that they may have different ways of developing their creativity. This is wonderful, as many people find it a relief and a joy to identify how their brain might be processing information. At the same time, we mustn’t fall into the assumption that having aphantasia will limit what we can do.

I hope this helps you with your goals.

ACK!! No matter how hard I try to stay motivated and finish big projects (Like animations), I can never finish anything because i cant stay focused!! And even though I try, my work always looks amateurish (I don't even know how to shade that well :()