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When I first joined deviantArt five years ago, I weighed in on a forum regarding the ubiquitous lament of artists: motivation. It's a common refrain I hear, particularly from young artists, that they used to draw all the time and now they go weeks or months without inspiration. They are looking for some thrill, some newness that art used to give them when they were kids, but that kind of excitement can't last in the face of years and decades of doing art. Eventually, it becomes a job. And as with every other job, some people hate that, and some people care enough for the end product that they sail past the day-to-day disappointments.

I can't tell you at this stage in my life where I fall, as I am neither established and comfortable nor young and passionate nor even middlingly motivated. But over two decades of struggling with this angst, I do have a few pointers. And I think I can sum them up for you, under four main categories: Fear, Dissatisfaction, Validation, and Mood. As I learn more, I will try to update these articles.

Fear

One of the biggest barriers in producing art is fear: fear of being a failure, fear of ridicule, fear that you can't repeat past success, fear that you can't give your ideas the attention they deserve. Some of this fear comes early in a career from lack of experience, some comes later from the first glimmers of success, some from at the end when you are settled and have everything to lose. But it's the same destructive inner monologue, and it is never good to hear.

Myself, I hear it everyday, every time I pick up a pencil. And here are some ways I work around it.

Note: most of these are from the perspective of a beginning artist; if I ever move on to professional, I'm sure I'll have some later stages to add.

1. Practice.

   You can build your confidence, increase your skills, and fill time otherwise spent on angst by engaging in practice work that may not directly further your dreams.

   1. Trace an Artist You Love.

      Practice makes perfect. If you love an artist, they have something you want to learn to do. Copy them until you figure it out. You don't have to spend the rest of your life being a derivative Disney artist - you can master the style and then move on to something even better.

   2. Color a Comic Page Drawn by Someone Else.

      Ink a comic page sketched by someone else. Draw a page scripted by someone else. These are repetitive tasks that make you more comfortable in a particular medium and more familiar with the "language" that you need to learn.

   3. Read The Blog of an Artist You Admire.

      Look for tips, strategies, life lessons. Most artists have blogs these days - in fact, most of them are on deviantArt and you can follow them! They may post works in progress or tutorials or retrospectives - you can learn a lot and see that the end result you so admire is just a series of tricks they've learned from years of experience, which you can apply to your own work with similar success.

   4. Reach Out For Advice.

      Go to comic conventions, send out emails to artists you admire or artists who achieved things you wish you could do. Most people love to talk about themselves and what they've done, and making friends in the community can give you a great support group of encouragement and promotion. I would caution on asking for critiques: make sure a critique is what you want! If you are inspired by criticism and aren't discouraged, by all means ask for it-! But don't do it just because someone told you it's the thing to do. Stick to asking for advice if all you are looking for is conversation and support.

2. Stop Making Fun of Other People.

   A friend sent me some poetry once and I was not very nice about it. Not only did I probably crush this person, I additionally made it that much harder for my own poetry to ever be good enough, for myself. Stop criticizing other people for doing bad work or taking stupid risks. Everywhere in your life: movies, television, fashion, dating, karaoke. Realize that everyone looks stupid on the way to achieving something amazing. When you start making allowances for the ridiculous failings of others, you will be less afraid of your own.

3. Deliberately Humiliate Yourself.

   Take an awful picture you've done and post it online. Post some awful fanfic or poetry from your teenage years. Seriously, what's the worst thing that could happen? Face it and realize it's not that bad.

4. Finally, Jump in.

   Get your feet wet doing what you want to do. You won't be perfect, but we learn by doing. Eventually you just have to give it a go.

   1. Start With Baby Steps.

      If you want to write a comic, try writing a 4-page sample short. If you want to paint, do a small version of a big painting, or a rough version of something complicated you have in mind.

   2. Lie to Yourself.

      Tell yourself you are just going to do something "for practice." If you completely fail, who cares? You don't have to show it to anyone. You will just try it out.

   3. Get Out There.

      Even if it's not perfect. Every week. It takes a long time to build up an audience. Decades. Get out there now - even if you aren't happy with your work yet - and start recruiting your future fans. We'll talk about this stage more, but frankly, you may never be happy with your work. But if you never share it, then you will forever be a hobbyist closet artist, and miserable. Just put aside your ego and post your successes and failings for the world to mock and/or praise.

   4. Ignore The Naysayer.

      Seriously - forever! A lot of this section has been about busywork - exercises to help you get past your fear. But the end result is that you need to accept that you feel this way, that you will ALWAYS feel this way, and you just need to work past it. Sometimes you are right to be afraid, and there are things you can do to improve. And sometimes it is just holding you back from doing something great. So stop listening to the fear and just work!

Next up? Dissatisfaction. Sometimes you just hate EVERYTHING you do.