What keeps your motivation going during big and long projects?

Alander787

Hello.

Two weeks ago I started working on a spaceship for the CG Boost challenge and I didn't finish it in time, however I still want to, but after some time I don't feel motivated enough. When I'm working on the project, my progress is so slow, even though it isn't something that hard to take this amount of time to finish it. I also don't have much time during the day.

What could possibly help me to speed up and keep me more motivated.

I want to finish, I want to see it textured and rendered and have something actually good in my portfolio.

rollin

No carrots or sugar anymore.. 

I keep them dangling in front of my head but I only get them when I finish

sacboi

Treat the process like a paid job.

Which by the way has nothing to do with motivation or even an incentive toward finalisation but rather just plain old self discipline. An intrinsic trait that differentiates a professional from the amateur, when the former will habitually complete a given task like it or not, whereas the latter will typically attempt too finish if they 'feel' like it. 

Eric Chadwick

Motivation is Bull

PixelMasher

enjoying the process of making art, not the results. having a long term 10 year view of where I want to be. building up my self discipline and confidence by finishing projects I start even if they take me several months to grind through. there really isn't a magic bullet for this stuff unfortunately.

in a studio you will often work on the same level for 6 months to 2+ years, or a character for 6 months with tons of revisions and changes etc, some games the main character completely changes and all that work gets thrown away and started over with new creative direction, character changes etc.

 you don't really have the option to not continue to work on it even if you are tired of it or "not feeling motivated". it can be a hard thing for some people to adapt to. I also wrote an article on this exact subject
https://www.polygon-academy.com/tips-for-artists-struggling-with-motivation/

Alex_J

It helps to have a clear goal you can visualize and that you believe you can accomplish.

Regularly reassess where you are in relation to the goal. Putting things into perspective helps avoid getting lost in the weeds.

When feeling moopy, take a walk outside, or stretch, or do anything to get the blood moving.

Always experiment to find new ways to keep yourself fit, motivated, sharp, etc. For example, if taking 2 hours to cook decent food each day means you are feeling way better during your work time, do that rather than sit in front of screen extra two hours feeling burnt out and tired.

Andreicus

Mmm i simply enjoy the overall process of creating a scene, adding tons of details where needed and telling the story that I want to tell. 
Than when I actually finish any kind of artwork but especially complex scenes, I feel happy and more confident about my skills and this push me to do new works.

When you are creating something the first question you should ask yourself is "why am I creating this?".
And when you feel stuck or you are procrastinating you should remember the reason why you began working in the first place. 

Regarding speed for modeling it will increase with experience and by learning new techniques. 
Nowadays it takes me only 1 hour and a half to model a good looking sword working relaxed, when I started out it took me... Lol

Spag_Eddy

Go search similar projects that people have added to their ArtStation portfolios, find a few that you really, REALLY like, get inspired AF by them and feel the butterflies in your little tummy tums. Take that motivation back with you into your current project and start kicking ass and chewing all the Bubble Yum.

Biomag

I guess you either understand that your portfolio is part of your job and not optional or you stay someone with a hobby/interest.