I feel this on a level that hurts, I’m sorry dude. I’m afraid I don’t possess a bank of experience but I can at least offer some honesty about my own trouble with this.THIS IS GONNA BE LONG, I’M SORRY;^;Also I’m talking mainly about digital drawing as an example but this can apply to any number of art types. 1. If you had a reason, a goal, just something that was enough of a spark for you to start in art-do you still have it? Sometimes an interest/skill/hobby/job/whatever you wanna call it; can end up as something that’s just not for you. Aaaaaand that’s okay, be honest with yourself when you answer.———I started drawing after my dear fam taught me to draw as a kid and it became a way where I could be fearlessly creative and express myself, I am autistic amongst other things and traditional expression never worked out for me but ~my art~ did.(I’ll continue this point later)2. Alrighty this one is a lot more nonspecific but if you’re still doing art yet cannot get anything beneficial from it you gotta look into why. Is your schedule always the same? Are you making art of stuff you actually like? Sometimes the pressure of what other people want or even environments can interfere, but if you have the time to focus in on this to find what’s up I suggest you do so.3. Are you making art for the right reason/is your content for you or for others? Making art that’s meant for others is a neat thing to do, I see a lot of potential good in this for all parties but there’s also the chance of doing this for what in my expience was the “wrong” reason. You do not exist to pander to the interests of other people or draw/sing/animate/etc strictly for them to make them feel happy or better about themselves. This part can be really varied upon person to person but perhaps it’s a case of the “if no one sees me do this and gives me attention for it what’s the point?”, which is really hard to answer.——-For the longest time I would feel a pressure whenever I was in furry art communities to draw what/who was popular, one day I had to fill a whole gallery with zootopia art, the next there’d be like 1,000 submissions of majira(he’s just an example here, don’t you dare bother him), after that there’d be nothing but paws because that’s what people told me they wanted and I hated it. I love it if my submissions can have a relatively positive impact on people but this was not that at all, it was basically fanservice fueled by the fear that the second I stop drawing what everyone else likes and draw what I care about or drop the persona I hide behind to show the real me-that I will become invisible with my art and neither of us will matter. If you’re not relevant or relatable or popular you don’t matter, I know that’s untrue but the pressure got to me and I believed it, and eventually it ripped my passion and confidence away almost entirely.4. Don’t force yourself, imo one of the fastest ways to ruin the things you genuinely enjoy doing is forcing yourself to do them. Sometimes the pressure is unavoidable especially if you have an art centered job or a large audience to satisfy but you gotta look out for you and that’s just fine. Breaks are important, mental health days or however long you need are important, hiatus are important too, and sometimes all you may need to help you along is just putting art on a pause to focus on yourself and your something completely for you. You don’t need to share it with social media, you don’t need to record it for YouTube or stream it on twitch, of course if you have owed artwork I’d really try to finish it or explain to the people you owe what’s happening+offer refunds where necessary. You don’t have to be perfect, you’re not a bad person for having off days or experiencing the unwelcome visit of procrastination, your quality of life matters more than the quality of your art imo and you absolutely don’t need to apologize for looking after yourself.5. Try something new, be adventurous!0: If you’re unhappy with your current art style try feeling out another, work on anatomy and prompts or awkward new poses, try out color schemes you don’t usually use, varied characters, different environments, find tutorials for a new shading technique or learn how to make 3d models. Even if change doesn’t stick for everyone it can still be a good experience, showing you what you are and are not comfortable with or reestablishing the interest in maintaining what you’re currently doing and improving on that.My apologies for how long this is but it’s all I got, I’m sorry you’re having a rough go
