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Being exhausted from drawing?
I know, people say you have to draw more then 6 hours every day to become an professional artist. What I am doing is basically exactly that. As soon as I'm coming home from school, I eat something and learn what's needed, maybe skip something as well. I turn on my pc and I begin to draw. I make breaks every 30-40 minutes for 15 minutes or so and keep going. That's what I do for almost 2 months now, but I somehow feel bored and exhausted when drawing. I think at every pencil stroke how can I make it better, is that line right, maybe change some colour etc.. When I am not drawing I think about drawing and how I can get the most out of my time. But really, is that the way to go? Sometimes I want to play some Overwatch but I just dont want to end up playing 2 hours straight. How much drawing is needed and how much is not enough? Everytime I finish for example the pants or a weapon of a character I have to make a break because it takes so much power...




Great Question! Answered on today's question catapults: https://youtu.be/e0YAisJXYuM?t=29m2s
I've been drawing at least 5 hours straight (taking breaks, but total amount of time spent moving stylus is >5) every day for 7 months now, progress is astonishing, at this rate in one year I'll hit somewhat 2000 hours of practice which is +- half what is needed to become somewhat professional, I know what you mean when you say you feel exhausted, what works for me is to change subject, like: I do fanart, then life study, then anatomy study, then some design and switch between every few weeks, also getting commission shuffles routine a bit. Also when I really don't feel like drawing I collect references, watch some videos like knkl or fzd, then get depressed because 3d is most likely push out 2d by the time I can start looking for job >.>, anyway, in short: when feeling down and low energy, try new things :)
Thanks man, I will try that I think it works to have some side projects. Good to hear that 5 hours a day are enough, thats what I'm doing right now. Do you have some example pictures of your progress then and now? I would be really interested to see it!
yeah, well it's bit extreme comparison as first picture is 1-2 years old http://i.imgur.com/sPAgYvv.png , in general I was drawing occasionally for 2 years ~ like 1 drawing every few months and taking good 10 hours to get it done, checking some tutorials etc over time it grew on me and I have improved somewhat over that period of time, real deal started last summer when I finally decided that I want this to be more than hobby, never looked back so far :). I find 5 hours to be decent amount, but when you add up all things like looking for references or reading tutorials on things, taking breaks .. it's basically whole day.
Yea I understood that it's a whole day, I meant like 4-5 hours of raw drawing
Definitely take breaks if your body is hurting or weak. You should not be sacrificing your health to draw.
As far as your question about "how much drawing is needed" - I'd say as much practice as needed to get the results you want. It doesn't have to be 6 hours a day, but you need to overall be putting in serious practice if you want professional results.
I'm not feeling weak when I'm not drawing, it's just that it makes me kinda tired because it's so power draining...