Hey, @nnnnnnnadie, I wish I could add something new, but the people just said it all: don’t focus on motivation, focus on getting it done. Just draw. Motivation should come by doing. And if it doesn’t, that’s okay too - after injuring your hand, you’re a “new you” somehow. Let go of what it used to be like and try to face this as a whole new experience. In mindfulness, it’s called “beginner’s mind” - and getting back into drawing after so long can often feel like beginning again indeed, but with the benefit of having something in the back of the mind to build upon regardless. Hope this helps. Go for it!

Lots of useful replies here already but thought I'd throw in my two cents. When I start to hit a rut, it usually helps me to think about why I want to be better at art and drawing in the first place. What is your goal with your art? I usually find that by meditating on why I want to be an artist combined with setting small goals - for example, do a portrait sketch every day this week or sketch for 15min every morning after a hot beverage - I start to feel motivated again and get back into the routine of things.

you just need to realize its only you and your mind stopping yourself from drawing. if your hand is fine and in your heart you know you want to be drawing and making progress, then do exactly that. You won't know how to get back into it until you get back into it.

Intrinsic motivation always follows action. That's why it's such a pain in the butt. You wont feel motivated to do it until you've started, but we dont want to start until we feel motivated. This can be especially true after a long break, or starting something completely new; instances where you feel like you wont be as good as you used to be or as good as you are at something else, which actively de-motivates you. The first step is acknowledging you need to start again, and will need to brush up a bit because not only have you taken a break, but you took a break because you injured your hand. It probably wont be the best work you've ever done. It also wont be the best work you're going to do once you get back in to regular practice. The second step is trying to find an extrinsic motivation and see if it helps kick start you. This can be iffy - the wrong extrinsic motivation can backfire horribly. For me, I have things I think about and "want" that I know wont make me feel bad in the long run. I imagine the work I want to be able to produce, and how it will feel to have the finished panels and characters in front of me on the page. I make sure the extrinsic motivation is something entirely independent of how other people think or react. Eg, I dont think about "If I get good I can sell this for money", I think "If I get good I will have this painting I have desperately wanted to be able to create". Make sure that kick-starting motivation doesnt depend on something that can fail (you'll only sell things if other people buy it, which you do not control) and has a defined success (I will end up with these paintings because I will be doing them, they only wont happen if I dont want them anymore). This attitude has helped me enjoy what you would consider the more boring, repetitive, and painful parts of practice as well. I have to draw something terribly 100 times to put out a decent one? The more terrible drawings I do the more motivated I get, because I know that drawing I really, really want is only available on the other side of these awful ones. I see all these failures as the steps on the pathway to achieving what I want, and it becomes very easy to pick up a pencil and do some bad goofy drawings. It can be demotivating to do all the hard work that doesnt end up in something flashy or inherently rewarding. Linking it to your goals and wants helps you enjoy it. My intrinsic motivation to draw has increased with continued practice - it has become habit, something I do without thinking. This only happened because, for ages, I made myself pick up a pencil or a brush and go do it regardless of whether I wanted to or not. When this ebbs, these days, my extrinsic motivation is there to give me a kick start.

To understand better how motivation and habits work, and how to tailor make a new drawing habit for your circumstances, perhaps consider Stanford Professor BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits, and also its really fun to gamify your drawing habit by tracking streaks in journal or on your phone.

@nnnnnnnadie Perhaps check out Stanford professor BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits book or youtube content, info on great advice on how you can easily design new habits you want, and the interaction between behavior, motivation, ability and prompts. Also, the Streaks app in ios is really motivating and fun way to keep daily habit tracked and see as completed, which has gamification element to your habits. I hope that helps.

doodling! Start seeing painting as a game, ask your family and friends for random words, like ask your mom for one word, lets say she says tomato! And ask your friend for a random word and lets say he says knight! and draw a single image that mixes those topics. example you draw a knight eating a tomato, or you draw a tomato as a knight! Or you draw a kid playing knight using tomatoes as a prop for blood. And such. this type of game ignites your imagination and fun. dont even worry about the techniques! just pour ideas out. Have fun seeing what type of ideas come out of your mind. for example I had fun imagining those 3 examples I gave you, and now I want to draw them myself. why don’t you start also? ill give you two other random words - space - dog

Just start. The motivation comes from the doing. :)

I try to think of the reason why I have started drawing and I also watch a lot of drawing related videos. E.g. Proko's asking pros series or interviews from artists I admire. Wish you all the best!

Motivation and inspiration don’t mean much when it comes to drawing. It’s great when it comes by and you should ride the wave but you can’t really rely on it. I can’t force myself to be motivated or inspired but I can force myself to do the work. Short term - sucks. Long term - I’m drawing better than I did a year ago so… progress! :)

When i d’ont feel motivated i just scroll on pinterts! I look up good art that will motivate me! But sometimes that motivation does not come and … i kinda need to force myself to draw. And it is not just me, even pro artist do so. Motivation normali is not something who will just spark with out effort. You need to do something.

I hadn't picked up a pencil for 3-4 years and then I faceplanted into Ethan Becker's channel https://www.youtube.com/c/EthanBecker70/featured So I'm blaming that guy for my motivational spike because now I'm working on my drawing and dp skills to get into concept art (preferably gamedev industry) Send help