A waste of time dilemma?
Beanoutback
Posts: 61
Yep, that dreaded feeling has hit me again: Am I wasting my time doing this art/rendering/tweaking etc?
This time I have decided to attack it head on.
No, I am 'spending time' not wasting it I say. I enjoy what I do - that's what's important I say.
I have had some images published recently by Cambridge University Press so pat on the back for that and let's blow that trumpet.
Other people do much better stuff than I do but that's ok I admit to myself.
Life is not a competition I remind myself.
Am I making a living from this? No absolutely not even remotely asamatteroffact I spend more on it than I make.
Are there more important things I should/could be doing? I ask myself - well that answer will always be a yes and no ....maybe.
Does the creative process bring positive psychological benefits? Yes they do. At least I'm pretty sure they do.
Am I thinking way to much about this? Oh yes. Yes I am.
Is there a secret switch I don't know about?! (Psychologically ... not the PC off switch)
And that's the irony... I'm actually wasting too much time thinking about if I'm wasting time. (Which really is a waste of time).
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Comments
Yes. And no.
In my opinion self reflection is never a waste of time.
Gaining the ability to produce art or an animation is an award in itself. If you enjoy doing it and getting fun out of it, then it's not a waste of time. For me, I like being able to turn my imagination into reality instead of having them all stay stuck in my head and never bring them out into the world.
Wow, time to get outside and stop and smell the roses. Way to much time second guessing your actions and choices IMO. It never has to be all or nothing. The fact you have actually done something with your images and had them published is way more than the majority of the users here, if that's not enough, well.........
All is for naught in the grand scheme of the universe... which is a greater waste of time... to spend one's life collecting riches at the expense of other's misery, striving for fame and fortune all so one can convince themself they were the greatest that ever lived, to spend all that effort and cast all that ruin, and yet still to be forgotten in the blink of an eye? Or to spend one's life on simple pleasures, that bring joy to some and at the expense of none, that never ruin another's life... ultimately to never take more than one gives and to be remembered by those who actually matter?
There is an ancient saying that I was once told... its hard to translate, but comes out closest as "there is little difference between he who spends his life entertaining the humble mouse and he that seeks to rule the universe"...
I suppose it's means everything is a fool's errand in the end... or mice will eventually take over the universe... also the shamanish individual who professed this was pretty high, so who knows what the hell that meant.
Enjoy your art on your own terms, at your own pace... life is short and too many of us are in a hurry to get to some grand conclusion... try you best to find some measure of satisfaction in what you do... and in the end if you are lucky, you'll have lots of mice at your funeral.
What more can one ask for?
(Besides bacon)
Hey thanks. Some very interesting, inspiring and well put together replies.
The real question is why do you do it? Is it because you can't find anything else that satisfies you more? Is it truly something you love and would hate to have to give up for a real job? If you said yes to all of these questions the answer you seek is no. It is not a waste of your time. But iIf what fuels the passion is financial gain, prestige or the money, you are indeed wasting your time.
I'm no art pro, so doing "tinkering" for a living was never an option. But I have a very limited "spare time" for doing the "spare time things", like, walking, visiting people, binge TV, play games, write, read... and doing art. Because of the time restraints, I am pretty restrictive in regards to what I do, i.e. if it's something like art where you need to spend hours on end practicing before you see any results that are "lookable at", and most of the time without getting cheers and praise to boost the ego.
So I'm pretty good at ditching hobbies that don't bring me satisfaction. Stuff I can live without. Stuff that begins to bore me. Sometimes, I take a break to figure out if it's a fluke, and learn, No, I really want to do that stuff. Sometimes I am struggling with "but I already invested X hours and y amount of money into this, wouldn't that be a waste?", but in the end I realize, no, it's not really mine, I can spend my time in a better way.
Why am I telling you this?
From what you describe, you do not seem to get out of art what you expect, or what you think it needs to give you. You're struggling with "not being good enough" while there is "but I got published a few things". As if you think you have invested X, but you are not getting Y (well not really, maybe a tiny fraction of the y you expected). Maybe doing art professionally isn't the thing you really want to do, because you are not doing "your art", or maybe the images inside don't get to the page just precisely as you had them in mind. I don't know, but those things contribute.
If doing your artwork was taken away from you this very next second, what would be the consequence? And, as others aid, what do you want to get out of doing your art? ArtAngel's questions are a really good test for yourself.
In my case it would be get outside of mow the grass in 90 degree heat and 90% humidity that has grown way to fast again so, ya, I think I'll waste more time doing partial renders of scenes I setup and posting in the forum and reading about how to do more faster with 3D than I manage now because I am slow and these processes are slow...it's like waiting for a glacier to grow.
I used to take long breaks but there is an attraction pulling me back to have another go so my breaks used to last as much as six months, now they last a few weeks before I feel the pull getting stronger.
Another thing I have noticed is that I enjoy the creative process far more than the end results.Indeed, I often delete the end results shortly after finishing a project. I rarely show any of my renders to anyone, nor post them to online galleries or this forum - unless it helps make the point I'm discussing. So really, this hobby is quite a private pleasure but it keeps my mind active in my autumn years.
I'm a hobbyist and so are you, from the sound of it.
All hobbies are "pointless" if you look at them from a certain angle. But of course they're not. They're fun things we choose to do beacuse they're fun and fulfulling!
It sounds a little like you might need a short break from DAZ and there's nothing wrong with that, either!
This feeling of wasting time:
Is it because someone else considers it to be so, quite possibly because they want you to do what they feel worthwhile?
Like I read recently: Follow your own dream, or someone else will pay you (poorly) to follow theirs.
Making art is never a waste of time.
"dilemma" or anything does not matter. Some people are born with creative element(s) and this/these element(s) is/are stronger than anything else. Instead it has some pros and cons.
Until it becomes narcissism.
...+1
Which is part of why I never pursued a career in "commercial art" as I would have ceased to love what I was doing.
It was like that when I worked in the restaurant business, rarely ever cooked at home and now cooking for me is a very creative relaxing, and enjoyable endeavour.
I, for one, love wasting time.
It's a joy to play around and not have to show anything from it.
Eh. "Art for art's sake" isn't one of my mantras. I have projects, and most of them need illustrations.
Doesn't matter if no one else gives a damn about the projects. They aren't theirs, after all.
And why should I care what they think, anyway?
If you like what you're doing it's never a waste of time.
This really.. life it too short to worry. Be happy.. enjoy it.
Watch Bob Ross, here is his channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxcnsr1R5Ge_fbTu5ajt8DQ
It wll get you out of the mental merry-go-round
“I can’t think of anything more rewarding than being able to express yourself to others through painting. Exercising the imagination, experimenting with talents, being creative; these things, to me, are truly the windows to your soul.”― Bob Ross
time goes on
the world revolves and circumnavigates the sun
the seasons pass and so will we
nothing is wasted
just enjoy the trip before its over
'nuf said.
quoted cause its worth repeating. Find what brings you joy and makes life worth living. If it's not 3D then go out and find it.
Is there a secret switch you're missing?
Yes. Where is it - How should I know? It's secret. If I knew where it was, it wouldn't be a secret.
'Making 'art' is never a waste of time.'. Sorry, that statement is one I have to disagree with. Mostly. There is a lot of stuff labelled as 'art' that is a waste of time to look at, let alone a waste of time for someone to have created in the first place. Many of those producing such 'work' are self labelled as artists, and are often the loudest and most vocal in the media about how good their work is. Pfft. However, real art (however you define it - but you'll know it is you see it) isn't a waste of time. Unless it's a choice between survival & producing 'art' and then 'art' can go hang for a while.
I then reach a question. Why do you need to be justified doing what you like to do? If it harms no-one & gives you pleasure in the doing, isn't that enough? Does external approbation make you feel better? If so, why? Maybe it's more of a matter of feeling comfortable in your own skin. Crack that & you've got life sussed. [And give the rest of us a hint how you managed it once you've got there]
Regards,
Richard
I understand your question seemed rhitorical, so I'm not responding to contradict or argue the point, I agree with what you said, I just wanted to give my 2 cents :)... I believe "external approbation" makes us all feel better, to some degree. If not, we'd just be printing our pictures out to hang on the fridge without ever looking back. Even the notion of "feedback" so that you can improve is at least adjacent to the idea of validation, otherwise why would anybody try to "improve" in the direction that somebody else suggests? To simply be happy doing it isn't enough, at least for me. It might sound shallow, but for me it's the truth. If it weren't, I wouldn't dip a toe in DeviantArt LOL
We could easily get into a discussion about what is and isn't art; to my mind, that is a waste of time. Doesn't matter if you think it's art or not, someone, somewhere will. I expect it would be tough to find something no one thought was art. After all, the only person that needs to think of it as art is the creator...
... As long as they're not trying to sell it.
Nah I don't think of my art as art, more in terms of "controlled folly", still enjoy it, what does that make me?
..comfortable in your own skin. The best place to be.
Regards,
Richard.
Wow. Some really insightful and interesting comments. The Daz community shows their wonderful wisdom! Interestingly the "Is it because someone else considers it to be so..." question threw open door for me.Thank you Nicstt. The nail was hit bang on the head. So now I'm putting to use a lot of this wonderful advice. Many thanks for all the feedback.