Hi @Alexander Andreasson I can see how this can be a frustrating cycle starting out and I'm going to try to offer some advice that maybe you'll be able to apply to make the process more pleasant. So, I personally find that doing studies without a real 'end goal' to be really boring as well. I really only do studies when there is a really specific area that I'm lacking in, and I want to get better at that immediately. For example, if I wanted to make up my own character design but I find myself having trouble drawing this character's head at a specific angle, I know that I'll need to do a study of a head at that angle. This makes my studies feel more fun because I can learn something, immediately apply it, and I can immediately make one of my personal paintings that much better. They key is that my study needs a purpose, so maybe when you're drawing 'freestyle' take note of where your drawing might be lacking, do a study to improve that area, and then re-draw 'freestyle' with this knew knowledge. Additionally, try to make your studies as easy as possible. I find that if I don't know what to do, I tend to draw easy things to give my brain that endorphin rush that says 'wow I'm pretty good!' and it gives me the confidence to tackle harder subjects (even if it doesn't turn out nearly as well). I hope you can find at least some of my advice helpful. Art really should be a fun process so if you take this advice (and a lot of the advice from the previous comments) into account and you're still not having fun, it might just be a good idea to take a small break and try again in a few hours (or maybe the next day). Good luck!

I can relate to this. Every time I "freestyle" it's just basically a garbage mess. If I'm lucky something might turn out interesting. I have been focused recently on my visualization skills. Instead of a total "freestyle" I picture what I want on the page first THEN I let go a bit and be loose with the pen. I have found that to be much more likely to produce anything legible with any consistency.

I am sure almost everyone can relate to this, I know I can. Learning art is very taxing mentally and emotionally. Studying all day every day can burn your brain to a crisp and worse, it can completely separate you from the reason you fell in love with art in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, studying and practicing these skills are extremely important, but I think cultivating the love and the creative aspect is just as important. Between these two things I think is a balance, but that is different from one person to the next. If you’re feeling burnt out with the studying take a break. Do something entirely different like go camping, play guitar, write in a journal or some other activity you enjoy that is stimulating (key word is stimulating as we don’t want to fall into the trap of 18 hours of video games or TV, bad sleep, bad food, and thus feeling worse off). For me personally, when I’m feeling fed up with the studying I’ll read or listen to music, I’ll take long walks and bring my sketchbook and just draw whatever I find personally interesting. I’ll go lift some weights or listen to some podcasts on subjects that interest me. All of these things stimulate my brain and give me more creative thoughts. So even though I’m not spending all my waking hours drawing it doesn’t mean I’m not doing something that can benefit my artistic endeavors. Or alternatively you can step away from studying and give yourself a personal project, something YOU want to do. It doesn’t have to mean anything to anyone else. Learning to pursue art requires a lot of discipline, a lot of which is aimed toward drawing fundamentals, but that’s not all there is to it. It’s also learning the skill of creativity and developing new ideas from external stimuli. Anyways, sorry for the long winded answer, I tend to write such long replies, perhaps I need to work on simplifying that! Keep your head up! When all else fails Mother Nature gives you countless things to draw outside.

Hello :) I have been there and still am from time to time. I think everyone who learn something will feel like that at least one day so it's okay :). I can give you tips but regarding what to do, you are the only one who can have the answer. I suspect that when you say draw "freestyle" you mean that you let your unconscious brain take over and draw like you always did before you learned something. First when you learn you will Know what you're working on, that is the "easy part", it's like on kindergarden when you're able to tell poetry without you knowing the meaning . Then what I think being a crucial step wich is sometimes missed : you'll have to work on understanding on the meaning of what you're doing. Ex here : why a bean ? is it mandatory ? can you replace it with something else ?. Only when you understand you'll then be able to add this efficiently to your drawing, and at first you will have to think on applying the principal your learned on the drawing multiple times. Then with time it becomes second nature and show up automatically on you're "freestyle". This is my own thinking on the subject, you'll have you're own. You have to discover how you learn things and what's the most fun / effient way for you ( is it book ? videos ? real classes ? a mixture of that ?...). Learning is easy what is hard is that it takes time and the problem is we all want immediate results.Obviously if you feel burned while saying that you haven't learned enough, the first give you a clear signal that you did too much and the second is you hitting yourself because you think that it is still not enough.Psychology take a major part in learning any kind of subjects, things like takings breaks, good sleep, knowing when it's too much. Basically learned how YOU function is important. You'll discover that by keeping at it and staying alert on how you're feeling :) Hope this help in any way :)

I feel like an important part of keeping the passion alive is to save some play time and have fun with your art, no matter how bad it may look to you. It is especially important to cultivate that because as you improve, your critic sense will too and you might feel like your art is never good enough. Cultivate having fun with it sometimes. Notice not only the flaws but also what went right, what you are good at. Learn to be patient with your progress and enjoy the process! Those are skills too :) Good luck

Hey Alexander, I get why you feel burned out, its because you are learning stuff that's really, really hard. Are you saying that you have spent only 4 days doing gesture and 2 days doing the bean for a total of 6 days? Or are you saying you do that every week? Just to put things in perspective, as a pro artist, you draw for 8 to 10 hours or more a day, 5 to 6 days a week. Every week. You have to really love what you are doing to tax your brain that much every day. You have to be creative on demand, all the time. I suggest you remember why you want to be an artist and try to regain the love for it that drove you to come here and learn. Remember, being an artist is really hard, so make sure you love it !!

I kind of struggle with this too. I can be very hard on myself. Something that helps me when I get frustrated is looking at my old drawings to see how much progress I've made. Either that or taking a break and doing something that takes my mind off drawing even just for a little while. Hope this helps!