“…it is a species of fear– the fear that your fate is in your own hands, but that your hands are weak.”
As a designer, illustrator, storywriter, I know this feeling too well. On the surface I see it as frustration, but I know that it’s a type of fear deep inside. It’s not the same fear I feel when I look over a tall ledge, but a fear that even though I know I’m capable of being as good as I want, there’s nothing else that can possibly make me better at any of these things if I don’t consciously learn it. I’m basically alone no matter whose guidance I receive and what tutorials I read and watch. In the grand scheme of things, no one but me can make me a better designer, illustrator, or writer than me. And that really sucks sometimes.
“The sane human being is satisfied that the best he/she can do at any given moment is the best he/she can do at any given moment. That belief, if widely embraced, would make this book unnecessary, false, or both. Such sanity is, unfortunately, rare.:
This quote made a lot of sense when I first read it. I interpreted it as: if someone is comfortable with what they’re able to achieve right now, there would be no need for this book to address those common feelings.” However, now that I’ve read the sentence again, I have no idea if my interpretation was remotely on the spot. If anything, I agree with my interpretation of the author.
“The best you can do is make art you care about – and lots of it!”
I used to practice illustration by trying to make each piece or even doodle as best as I could imagine it. I realize that’s why my growth stagnated greatly and I eventually lost motivation. Now I’m on a “draw literally as many things as you can” and it’s doing me wonders. I can draw a more diverse set of things than ever before, and somehow the quality of the work started rising along with my motivation too