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Post by John E on Oct 7, 2009 11:19:32 GMT -5
Here's a thread to vent about creative failures and frustrations, and maybe to get advice on how to fix them.
Lately, mine is this: I can't draw cartoon foxes.
I can do cats, bunnies, dragons, snakes, etc. but canines, particularly foxes, escape me. I spent all day yesterday sketching cartoon fox heads trying to find something that worked and they all came out looking like deformed mutants. Every now and then I'd stumble upon something that would kind of work, but when I'd try to modify it, sketch it from a different angle, or even just draw the exact same thing, it would go all mutant again.
I even tried looking at some other people's artwork and copying it, and even then, I couldn't get it to look anything like their drawings. I can draw human beings from life. Why can't I even copy a cartoon of a fox?
Foxes are my artistic bane. I love them, but I can't draw them to save my life.
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Post by Tiberius on Oct 7, 2009 15:23:23 GMT -5
*hmmms* Might... you post pics of some of these 'mutants'? May give us a better idea of how to fix 'em.
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Post by Hades on Oct 7, 2009 15:37:29 GMT -5
Clothing. I can't make clothing look like it's actually on a body unless I'm using a reference. I'm pretty bad at hands, too.
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Post by spaniel on Oct 7, 2009 16:25:18 GMT -5
I can't draw at all and I have a hell of a writer's block right now.
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Post by Admiral Lithp on Oct 7, 2009 22:26:41 GMT -5
The prologue to KtC is pissing me off. Every time I read it, the dialogue sounds cheesier. I printed it off as a Creative Writing assignment on "conflict," so I'll have an opinion from an English teacher soon, though.
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Post by Caitshidhe on Oct 7, 2009 22:36:01 GMT -5
I'm too easily put off of continuing something. Or trying anything to begin with. I draw and write but I'm not good at either, and I'm so ridiculously easy to discourage from trying again or continuing. One negative observation and that's it, I'm done.
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Post by Armand Tanzarian on Oct 7, 2009 22:57:42 GMT -5
I can't write lyrics. I can write music, and can take someone's lyrics and put them to song, but I can't write lyrics. I'm terrible or not confident at that.
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Post by John E on Oct 7, 2009 23:13:14 GMT -5
I can't write lyrics. I can write music, and can take someone's lyrics and put them to song, but I can't write lyrics. I'm terrible or not confident at that. Ever seen the movie Music and Lyrics? It's about that exactly.
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Post by John E on Oct 7, 2009 23:15:32 GMT -5
*hmmms* Might... you post pics of some of these 'mutants'? May give us a better idea of how to fix 'em. Too embarrassing. That's how bad they are. It's really a matter of details and specifics. I can't get the snout to look right. They also tend to come out generally misshapen in a way that my other drawings don't.
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Post by Thejebusfire on Oct 7, 2009 23:54:05 GMT -5
I'm terrible with feet and shoes. Infact, all my characters shoes look almost exactly the same.
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Post by Tiberius on Oct 8, 2009 0:14:38 GMT -5
*hmmms* Might... you post pics of some of these 'mutants'? May give us a better idea of how to fix 'em. Too embarrassing. That's how bad they are. It's really a matter of details and specifics. I can't get the snout to look right. They also tend to come out generally misshapen in a way that my other drawings don't. Ah... in that case... [artscam] what about I take a couple sample shots of my avatar in SL from different angles (I'm a raccoon... close enough). Might help you get it right >:3 [/artscam]
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Post by Amaranth on Oct 8, 2009 0:33:36 GMT -5
I can't write lyrics. I can write music, and can take someone's lyrics and put them to song, but I can't write lyrics. I'm terrible or not confident at that. I'm better with lyrics than music. I can take a single idea, phrase, oremotion and run with it. but trying to come up with music that's more than just "generic progression" is hard as fuck. Part of that is mitigated because I write a lot of straight up rock, and so I can get by with "power chord power chord, minor chord, open chord, power chord..." Ever seen the movie Music and Lyrics? It's about that exactly. I thought it was about overcoming your fears and inhibitions and writing something straight from the heart.... (Yes, I'm irritating that way) So yeah, I wish I could draw well. People, animals, objects... I go in and out of writer's block. I'm rewriting large chunks of my second novel to make the flow better, and I did three chapters in three days, then I stayed stuck on the same one for the last, I dunno, month or two. When I'm good, I am fucking prolific. When I'm not, I really drag. And I can't mix and edit music well for the life of me.
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Post by Vypernight on Oct 8, 2009 7:06:14 GMT -5
When I write, I'm good at creating characters, dialog, and story, but I'm awful at details. The book I'm working on has chapters that are only a few pages long. Heck, the prologue is the longest chapter thus far, at a whopping 5 pages!
I know that I hated reading Stephan King because I felt like I was reading more about 5-page description of chairs and other objects than anything else. However, I seemed to go in the opposite direction. I need to find a happy medium point.
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Post by skyfire on Oct 8, 2009 11:51:52 GMT -5
I can't get my parents to take it seriously that I'm trying to be a writer.
I spent six months off-and-on writing my first novella and another six on #2. #3 will end up taking me a little over a year at the rate I'm going.
To my parents, however, I was merely "goofing off on the computer."
They simply fail to comprehend that each novella represents a minimal investment of about 100 to 200 hours on top of college and work. Not only do I have to get at least a rough plot put together (which can take several days), I actually have to write each and every last thing out. I then have to go back and edit / proof-read, which in and of itself can take the better part of a week.
To make matters worse, I have a few mental issues due to stress and chronic sleep deprivation. I need peace and solitude in order to focus. If I can't get it, then there's virtually no point in even making the attempt to write as it's all but guaranteed what what I'll produce that day will be shit.
Instead, what I get is my parents assigning me project after project because they feel I'm not actually doing anything with my time. On occasion they will literally tell me that since I'm not "doing anything," I will be doing something they want me to do instead. Alternatively, they'll guilt-trip me into doing something else.
Writing anything up at the college is out of the question; Word 2007 (what they have) and Word 1997-2005 (what I have) are incompatible, meaning that I'd be stuck with having to use Notepad. And the city library places a one-hour time limit on their computers.
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Post by mistermuncher on Oct 8, 2009 11:57:06 GMT -5
2007 will export in RTF and older Word formats if you pick 'em in the "Save As..." box.
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