#115 - Certain Parts About Making Art Burn You Out - How To Avoid Burning Out As An Artist
Do things you find fun and relaxing, and try to ignore what you don’t like about your work and how it is received by others.
Recently, I decided to focus less on promoting my work on social media, as it was a disheartening and demotivating experience.
Also, making finished pieces designed for others to be seen was less than satisfying for me. It involves making underdrawings and then inking over that, which is not as much fun—for me at least—as drawing directly in pen.
I shrunk my activities to drawing and writing, mainly for pleasure.
I love filling sketchbook pages and feel satisfied with each finished page. I post the pages but do not waste much time on social media.
And I love writing articles like this one. The ideas for articles just come flowing out of me! I have around two years’ worth of articles scheduled to be published every week on Sunday. Each time I come to a realization I think might be useful to artists, I write it down. I still have so many ideas to pursue, so many artist book reviews I am planning, and so many analyses of art.
It is satisfying to finish writing articles.
And I now realize promoting my art and newsletter was burning me out. It was only one part of what I did, and I immediately felt better after it was removed.
When you are burned out, it may be just one of the many things you do that is burning you out. You could practice fundamentals too much, for example. Just stop doing that thing that burns you out. Find another creative activity that brings you joy and pleasure and, just as important, leaves you satisfied with the result.
It is okay not to do that thing that burns you out for a while. You can return to it later when you are refreshed and recharged and have a new perspective.