Saturday, June 19, 2010

I was searching, you were on a mission

The last 10 days have not been good for art (...or almost anything else). As soon as I started packing up my things in Eugene, my art productivity did a nose dive, and I have only eked out a couple of for-fun illustrations since then (the majority of which I HATE). I forced some Between Gears pages yesterday, but they look TERRIBLE. :( The state of my art life affects other areas of my life, and this kind of inactivity/dissatisfaction is literally depressing me.

Last night, I went out with friends to celebrate being home. Terry gave me some advice that I really needed. He said that when he finished school, he gave himself a month to just be like, "I just finished 4 years of school. I am going to take a month off and only draw when I want to." It's hard for me to be idle...in some ways, I'm like a workaholic...but I need to RELAX and not beat myself up for needing that relaxation after this ridiculous year, the thesis, etc. A daily autobio comic might be really rough work by definition, but I shouldn't hate the way that it turns out. I need to want to be drawing it at least a little bit when I'm drawing it! I want to like it and be proud of it when I'm done.

Sidenote: CHECK OUT THIS AWESOME ILLO I GOT FROM TERRY LAST NIGHT!

5 comments:

Matt said...

Take your time, Tally. As much as we want to see your work all the time, we can be patient. The important thing is you enjoy what you do and not get burned out. You rule!

Natalie Nourigat said...

Thank you for that comment! ;__;

Bren said...

Yes, take your time and keep drawing fun! We all get the inevitable art slumps *IfeellatelyI'minaconstantslumpstate*, but let me tell you something: the progress you've been making is really inspiring to me! You're art keeps getting more and more beautiful~ You make me want to work harder and keep pushing my own art further! :D

Take care, Tally!! Enjoy your summer!! :D

Christian LeBlanc said...

Agreed on the whole 'inspirational' vibe going on in these comments. I can't compete visually, but I've always been inspired to make my music sound as good as you draw.

And as far as slumps go - it's natural to go through them once in a while, especially after the hard work you've been putting in with school and everything. You can either wait for the feeling to pass, or, work through it until something hits you and the feeling passes. In this case, I think everyone would suggest the former, but you do what feels right either way.

Natalie Nourigat said...

Thank you guys. You're really the best! (It makes me want to work harder to repay your patience, haha!) <3