Anxiety, Perfectionism and the guilt of distraction ...

[abcnocturn]

Not sure how to start this one ...

I'm looking for some opinions, experiences and ideas of people who know the struggle of either
 - to start drawing
 - finish drawing
 - give up and start to do some distraction

I really love pixel art. I love to see what I can achieve, what happens when I have an idea or when I just start to scribble around. I had nearly to no passion for a hobby with my 30 years, but when I startetd a few weeks ago I just had a hell of fun!
But now problems start to occur ... . Sometimes I'm reading tutorials and see beautiful art and always think something is wrong with mine.
Here are some examples of my beginner work :




It's not like I'm a genius, but it's fine for a beginner.
But I'm never satisfied. Sometimes I just start, have no idea and give up in minutes. Or I want to start but, just can't and start to distract myself with gaming. Don't get me wrong, I love to play games from time to time, but in these cases it's more like running away and get my mind onto something besides PixelArt.
I have an idea for a game ( kind of Dynasty Warriors in space ) and I guess it will never be finished ( or in 5 years or so ), but everytime I start it's like I'm afraid, I have no idea or I just feel like everything I draw has a fault. One pixel here, some shadow there, a proportion here, something I can figure there ...

Has anybody experienced the same ?
Does anybody have some "tactics" or "strategies" against those behaviors or mindsets :/ ?

Cheers
Daniel

[32]

I think everyone experiences this when they start. The only thing you can do is remember everything is practice, there will always be faults because you will never be a perfect artist. As a beginner you'll find that often it's extremely difficult or even impossible to create what you see in your mind but that is okay, no one becomes a great artist overnight. You need to accept that it will take many years before your skills have reached a level where you can create anything you want, but just trust that every bit of work moves you a step closer to that day. For now just do what you can, try lots of different stuff and always push yourself.

Your work is really good for a beginner so I wouldn't stress too much about whether you've got the talent. If you have an idea I recommend not starting with the impression that this drawing will eventually be the final drawing. Experiment on paper and in pixels, delete your work and start over, try different things. If you put too much pressure on the idea that you need the first drawing to be right you'll always hit a wall. Create many drawings and choose the best one.

And sometimes it is fine to abandon work. If the piece is really working out and you're enjoying it you'll always have the drive and energy to finish it. Treat your current period of work as experimentation and learning, rather than stressing about creating high quality completed works. If you're having trouble focusing I recommend just opening up your art program. Don't give yourself anything that will distract your eyes or your hands. Listen to music, podcasts, audio books etc. If the blank page is there and you're enjoying yourself you'll draw eventually

Also just one simple quick tip for critiquing your own work: Flip it horizontally. You will see it with fresh eyes and will be able to pick out the problems far more easily.

[Ai]

The only thing I would add to what 32 said is:

Go outside pixel art. There are many important aspects of art that it's hard to pursue through pixel art. For example, muscles, anatomy and how form turns in general.

Ideally, you keep cycling through different mediums and restrictions. This is a way to keep experience fresh rather than becoming stuck in whatever beliefs/methods seem most convenient to your favorite media.

[abcnocturn]

Thank you both for your opinions.
Never thought about just drawing instead of drawing to fullfill my goal to create a game.
Yesterday I draw a small sand monster just for the sake of it, I had no problems doing it without the pressure ...

Thanks for your advices !