The bit at the start hit me. I've have all the time in the world (unemployed and doesn't look to change any time soon for reasons I won't go into) but actually spending it on self improvement, including art, has been a real struggle. I'm even watching this rather than doing actual practice. Anyway. One thing it took me a while to realise was how addictive video games and social media are. And how if you are addicted to things you struggle to get satisfaction from less stimulating things (including putting in the hard yards in art) for various dopamine reasons. I binned social media and gaming almost entirely and kind of faked enthusiasm for hard practice (making myself have a positive emotional response early in art practice and at the end). Now I crave doing art where as I'd crave 'a quick look on reddit' that would end up being an hour before. I actually feel sorry for kids these days. So much is targeted to them with addiction being a part of the design (like tik tok or vapes) that its a real minefield.

Music really helps me stay motivated while drawing. There’s so many times I would’ve stopped drawing if it wasn’t for the music. Listening to these helps too this is the first day of me trying and it’s great!

i've got ADHD and can't focus if i don't have something else happening. i call them "hand tasks" and "brain tasks", and they tend to vary in strength. so if i'm drawing, that's a strong hand task, so my brain task needs to be quite low. it can't be nothing, because then my brain is searching searching searching. so i tend to get music, orchestral with no words for hard focusing on my hand task/my favorite playlist of pop/rock/etc for when i need to focus on my hand task between 60-75%, and a podcast or whatever for when my hand task is still the majority of my brain space but not by a ton (like if i'm coloring something or just doing random doodles to loosen up etc). but i do tend to do my best to have my secondary task be one that will support my main task so that i can actually do it.

I was listening to music a lot in the beginning, well I am still a beginner but my point is I was thinking, if I will not listen to music then I cannot focus or get the hype of drawing. On the other hand, last couple months I have stopped listening something, esp when I am drawing or just practicing.

I was defiantly multi tasking while listening to this lol! Will be trying to write and draw without music and distractions for a change too!

I'm picking up a low cost one-handed keyboard for digital painting. Excited to test it out with my setup and free up some desk space.