Those who are self-taught, tricks to self-discipline? 1+ year and not satisfied with results.

jiggywattart

I've read a lot of posts here on staying motivated but personally there's only so much motivation can do for me. It's the lack of discipline that's been kicking my ass. 

I'm not a lazy person. I graduated college last year with honors and a 3.9 GPA in biochem while holding a couple jobs-- but learning on my own with no criteria, no homework, no exams, no courses, no concrete path, no instructors who instantly answer questions, no study groups... I can go to sleep whenever I want, work on whatever I want, make excuses or give up whenever I hit a roadblock or feel tired of the project. I've made multiple schedules I tried to follow but with no repercussions, I've just neglected them after a while.

I feel helpless! Learning on my own is WAAAY different from being fed material through instructions built off a digestible path.

I feel a large part of it is that I'm literally on my own. No one I know personally is remotely related to any artistic career. My family doesnt support me. I've joined various internet forums (not this one yet, forgive me!) and discord channels, but it's not the same as a classroom setting where I'm almost forced to find a few study buddies (who are at my same level of knowledge) to partner up with and depend on to prepare for an exam.

Anyone have any experience on self-discipline who can share some secrets? I swear, if I had the option of having someone threaten my life with a crowbar on a daily basis to force me to not slack, I'd choose it. But the slacking is so tempting when there's no fire under my ass.

Meloncov

First, join competitions. That'll give you a some structure to work with. An Artstation competition just started; go join that.

Second, get people to hold you accountable. Doesn't have to be another artist, just tell one of your friends to shame you if you don't hit your deadlines. If that doesn't work, tell the friend you'll give them five hundred bucks if you don't hit your deadline.

Aydhe

What did it for me, was quitting stuff that were my biggest distractions. So I basically asked Steam to remove my 3 most played games from account, since then I've found myself doing a lot more than i used to before. Of course, you can never fully escape procratination but it's about reducing it.

Personal tips that a lot of people give is, set yourself 'work hours' to imbue some sort of routine. Join competitions and everything that gives you deadline. Make few creative friends, either online or in real life with whom you can regularly trade your work.

Quite frankly nothing pushes people into action more than having a whip on their back.

There's one more thing that you can do but from my experience, it can be hard to digest. Start streaming... but that can make work really difficult, especially when you aren't confident on your skills. (speaking from experience)

PyrZern

If you use Facebook, join https://www.facebook.com/groups/RetrogasmArtCompetition/

Our very own HazardousArt started this whole thing. We're in the middle of a competition right now. (About 30-40 days til deadline)

He also started a discord server (where artists chat, post 3d progress and getting feedback). Ask him for server invite.

Also, post link to folio. xD

Ruz

lol, 20 years plus still not satisfied( me), so you have barely started. just keep plugging away at it. if you really love it then you will carry on and achieve success

sacboi

Now if you're not comfortable going it alone then as touched on previously, try joining a team activity be it an online modding project/indie...something-or-rather or even find/get together with a local group of like minded people interested in 3D CG/Game dev stuff...etc, etc.

If nothing else you'd essentially be accountable too others which may somewhat alleviate the absence of a routine and perhapes also instill a sense of self discipline into the bargain whilst at the same time maybe learn a thing or two along the way.

PixelMasher

im in the process of putting together an article on this stuff, its a common problem. I struggle with it myself on multiple fronts, and I think everyone does to some extent. 

along with self discipline, consistency is key. together they build habits which are even more unbeatable than a ton of self discipline. get in the habit of every day sitting down at the same time to do work, even if its only for 30 mins. It will give you a sense of momentum and accomplishment, which builds self confidence. making lists of things to do and not doing them does the opposite and has been proven to destroy self confidence.

habits take about 30-60 days to take route, so say every day you sit down at your computer at 7pm to work, after a couple months you will probably find yourself requiring way less willpower to sit down and get started and it will just be part of your reality. Don't try and go 0-hero and force yourself to commit to 5 hours of cg work a night, thats gonna set yourself up to make a mountain out of an molehill. commit to 30 mins and if you are in the groove after that (flow state) just keep going. If you are not, dont feel bad about going and doing something else, you have already accomplished your pre-scribed 30 mins of work.

 If you can delay gratification and stop letting your feelings influence your actions, you will be on the right track. The more you can start to enjoy the actual process of making art instead of only the finished end result/getting a job/money, the happier you will be.

there are a few great books on the subject that really helped me:

No Excuses: The Power of Self Discipline - Brian Tracey
Flow: the psychology of the optimal experience
The war of art - Steven Pressfield 
The Dip - Seth Godin

Those are all worth a read for any creative, like I said, it's a common problem. A lot of people struggle when self employed, or working on their own stuff with no structure/boss/schedule etc.

jiggywattart

Thanks for all the advice.

Along with just being on my own, I think one big challenge is that there's no organization, both on a daily and long-term basis. I dont know what to study in what order. Instead of "okay, we're getting proficient at Zbrush basics and the workflow into Maya this month", for me it's "I want to make a car. Let's spend 2 weeks on this car-- and I've just wasted 2 weeks doing repetitive motions."

I think I have the passion but it's the rate at which I'm learning which is demoralizing. I've seen students who went an art school after I started and they're already landing jobs which shows just how sluggish my improvement is.

A game plan is something I really feel I need (i.e. a curriculum like below):
 

Alex_J

You've got to have goals that you believe in. Goals mean deadlines, and deadlines mean work. Getting better at art isn't a good goal. That is an outcome that derives from meeting goals. A good goal is, "I will participate in an Artstation challenge and finish top 20." Doesn't have to be realistic, but you have to believe it to be realistic. Another good goal is, " I will get a CG industry job by next year." So then you research what current applicants ought to know when applying to jobs, and you can figure out what you need to do to be over-prepared for application time. 

Lastly, you need to have time. There is some people who have every moment of their life jam packed with activity and deal with it well or even like it, but I think to really get your mind to focus on something you need to have your life in a place where you can sit down for five hours or more at a time on a regular basis and think about nothing but making your art. If you have other distractions going on, well, you get distracted and lose valuable time. I've been working 5-10 hour days 5-7 days a week for about 8 months now, doing nothing but learning and practicing 3d game art, and I wouldn't say I am a particularly disciplined person. What I have done is gotten things in order so that I can do this, and I have very specific goals that give me deadlines I have to work hard to meet. In the very beginning there was some conflict with me not focusingn and getting distracted and wandering off on the internet for hours at a time, but as I started to develop stronger goals and start believing in myself more, I just stopped with the distractions without really trying. 

To help get over the hurdle of wandering off with video games or websurfing or whatever you do, try to develop a habit of reexamining your goals, and putting your current behavior into perspective. So you are about to start unwrapping a model, and you think, "ehhh, maybe I'll just check the news for a minute." So you start scrolling through your browser, and at some point you get that little feeling that you know you aren't  doing what you ought to be doing. When you get that, stop what you are doing and think aout your goals. Do you really have enough time for this and still be able to meet your goals? If so, fine give yourself a break. But if that is the case, I'd say you need better goals. Remember, somewhere there is a young artist who is smarter and more talented than you. The only way to keep them from getting your dream job is to outwork them!

Taylor Brown

Dude I've been there too. I got into art about a year and a half ago through my community college. I was killing it the first semester but then I had to drop out due to work demands. I thrived in that structured environment so that left me feeling very lost, I had just started to feel like I was understanding all the foundational stuff of 3d modeling and then it was straight to figuring out HOW to learn on my own. It took until recently for me to stop chasing tutorials and getting stuck in the theoretical shit to finally sit down and make myself produce something. Since that point it has been feeling easier and easier to make the time. I only look up a tutorial when I don't know how to do something rather than spending my entire night following along with some cookie cutter stuff.

Also, to echo a few other folks, join an art challenge. I just entered my first one on attestation and it is a huge driver. You could also consider taking an online class through CGMA or something.