Taking A Break from Art ?
polycounter lvl 12
I just wanted to ask if you really feel sometimes want to take a break from doing what you are doing everyday. It could be 2D, 3D, music, design, performing etc. Especially towards the end of the year.
So ?
So ?
Replies
If you are sacrificing free time to do more art and aren't playing many games, I would suggest to find a balance between the two.
Breaks are overrated, and robots shouldn't be thinking about this kind of strange things. Only faulty robots need to take breaks.
Your thought module seems to be malfunctioning, I will inform the authorities so that they can replace it with a new one.
So you're saying artists should work 365 days a year? I'm sure they are very bad artists when they want to rest a bit from their work. For some people their lives aren't orbiting around art.
everyone needs breaks from art, you will eventually lose motivation. might not happen in the beginning because you got so much to learn, but after some time you'll need breaks.
playing games and watching films is considered as a break. at least for me it is.
Did you mean to say vay-vva-vaccine ? It's flu season, man. Get a flu shot.
:thumbup:
i notice now that i go through phases of interest, sometimes i feel like modeling but sometimes it's easier to get lost in coding or writing. i try to start projects based on what type of work i actually feel like doing at the time. i think moving between mediums and interests helps you with constant output and avoiding burnout.
But now I am rather happy making my own game as there's so many different things to do its hard to get bored of it, one day im doing chr design, next rigging animation, next hand painting tiled textures and of course coding which is refreshing and new to me.
This!!! I forbid myself from doing anything that resembles "work" at weekends. It's so important to unwind, relax, see friends, appreciate the outdoors, go out and get drunk or whatever floats your boat
The "going study some random shit" part is hard when you don't have A. free education or B. a shit ton of money though. The activating your brain in a completely new way though,t that was the key for me.
Also in my opinion, I feel that managing hobbies like hiking, cars, sports, general fitness, etc are crucial to keeping a fresh mind. Allows you to temp escape from your daily routine and get some fresh perspective.
Resetting your brain or charging it in a different way is good. Its honestly something I don't do enough...but when I do I feel re-energized creatively. Every time I go on a vacation I get super inspired. Not to mention...you just don't want to burn yourself out. Its not a good place to be in.
Completely disagree.
problem is getting back on that horse, competitions usually do it for me, they kinda gives me the right amount of pressure to not slack off, which I kinda eventually do mostly, but it gets you back at it.
Playing regularly keeps me going, but if it wasnt for MOBA games with their endless replayability and some FPS in between I wouldnt know what to play really to calm down
Its frustrating to have so few games I find fun for a prolonged duration for myself as designer
*grumble...
I think that's bullshit. We're humans and we are very complex. Especially when it comes to creativity. If there's a blockade, we can't just guilt force our way trough it. Believe me, I've tried. That made me loose the joy of making art.
Not settle, not slack of (when you have a good groove going) and not giving up are all great things! But life is about balance as well, and it's all different for everyone of us.
This may come as a surprise to you, but all of us are very different. Different cultures, different upbringings, different mental states. I just told my story and that was what helped me find that passion again. It's more then just doing game art and fining inspiration. It's about life and well being as well. I would NOT be sitting we're I'm sitting right now if I took the advice to power trough my art. A good life is key to great art, at least for me.
My time studying philosophy was not about fining out more about philosophy. It was about getting my brain to process something completely new and that inspired me to do what I love. A "break" is about finding new energy and new inspiration to do art. That exactly what I did.
Lol, yeah..
in order to create and be productive, we need to feel as good as possible, motivated, on top of our game. Exactly like athletes, sometimes its good to work out like crazy, but when its important to produce, we might get worn out from practice. I try to be aware of that as much as possible. As many have said, balance is key and that balance is different from person to person.
When your batteries feel low, it might take just a day or two to feel fresh. Breaks are important. As a side note, some studies have shown that the more efficient people take as much as 15 minute breaks for every hour they work. Some companies might want to try that out : )
I guess I will write stories !
This should help !
I had done that all my childhood and and even had some nice degrees on some contests ( national and local) .
So why the hell not doing that a bit more ?
So if you guys need sophisticated, full or semi-realistic, emotional and long stories pay me a visit ! I prefer stories dark and humorous by the way !
Ja nee !
This is absolute nonsense and the typical attitude of someone in their teens-20's that has the 'stamina' to sit, glued to their PC for 16-20 hours a day. sltrOlsson has pretty much nailed it, so I can't add more than that.
When I started I was happy to spend crazy amounts of time on my PC, but lately I feel I want to be on the PC a lot less. I still love this line of work and can't imagine doing anything else, but I guess value of life becomes more important as you get older.
Tan - if you need to take a break, then take a break... you'll come back much more refreshed and put your all into it... just try not to make the break period too long
...and I'll tell you something else, I bet if you spoke to some of the greatest artists in the industry they would have a happily balanced lifestyle, rather than spending every waking moment doing art!
Nobody ever get to the top of their field working 40 hours a week.
YES SIR !
imagine eating chicken and chips every night for a decade or humping your girlfriend/boyfriend every night for a decade :poly122:
what really confuses me how you have the "will"(?) to create awesome artwork AFTER 8-10hours of work
after modelling 8-10hours straigth at work, i usually dont feel like modelling at home
dont get me wrong, i love what i do and i have many ideas which i would like to make,
but iam really exhausted after work and rather watch a movie or something like that
if i do art, its mostly some quick stuff, like 10-30min things i want to test.
i do personal work almost every day, by doing it before going to my job
you have to wake up earlier but that part gets easy, and having the extra energy makes a huge difference
that way too, after work is just for de-stressing, there's no productivity guilt.
That's a fairly obvious point, but yes. My main underlying point was that its important to have balance, that's it. Likewise if you want to spend tons of time working doing little else and that makes you happy, then great
Can you give me an example of 'getting where you want to be' is? Do you think that an artist just gets to a certain point and goes, "Yep I've reached my potential. Time to take it easy!"
No, its a lifelong path - what has already been said by others in this thread is that everybody is different - if you want to spend your life working on art and that's it, you're entitled to, just like if you want to break up your day with other stuff and have more balance, you're also entitled to do that, for aspiring artists and veterans alike. Your opinion of 'balance is bullshit' is very subjective, if that's how you choose to conduct yourself then kudos to you, but others are different.
All I know is that the best artists, programmers, whoever that I've ever worked with didn't have much balance in their lives. 40 hours a week doesn't get you to the top of your field.
That's all I'll say in this thread. Thanks for responding!
-I agree with you both.
If you have the energy and need to improve fast (because you need/want a different job), you should put more than 40 hours a week doing art.
BUT, at some point your body and your mind will need a rest from that intensive studying/push. In my experience at least.
Or maybe he works with fathers and mothers, don't want to offend anyone but from experience most game developers I have known are never well off financially, yet they are just satisfied with their current position. (Single, living with roommates still in their 30s, etc)
This might not makes sense for some, but working hard is not something you do just to get into a particular industry, work ethic should be your lifestyle and it reflects your career. If you get layoff and have an out of date portfolio or mediocre work, you have yourself only to blame.
A prime example of work ethic is with athletes, Some only work out during competition than usually get fat/out of shape after retirement, others continue to work out, not because they are getting paid, but because they sincerely enjoy it and have made it as essential as eating.
At the end of the day, difference of opinion and philosophy can pertain to why not everyone is just poor or rich/successful. Some get it others don't. I guess you can call that balance, imagine a world where everyone was successful and followed the same principles, not cool
get sleep, see your kids, have some fun so that when you actually work you'll be awake and alert, paying attention to what you're doing... takes you way farther than just dumping hours into the office chair
im curious what time you wake up and how long you spend on it?
There's no reason you can't do personal work outside of your job and live a balanced life at the same time. The important thing at the end of the day is to be happy with yourself because no matter what, your own life is more important than any job. Some people have fun making art or programming, if they weren't working, they'd be doing the same thing anyway simply because they are passionate about it. If they are happy with spending 80 hours a week on art or code, or anything else, then there's nothing wrong with that.
Similarly, if somebody wants to relax after a long day at work, there's nothing wrong with that either. I'm sure most people end up somewhere between the two extremes where they will work on personal projects after work on some days, and relax on other days.