Simple is as topic says.

I want to stop drawing.

Drawing is oftentimes stressful, and even when the act itself isn't by some miracle, it puts me into contact with things that frame my mind for misery.

The last straw comes today.

As i for the first time in a long while find myself cheerful in the face of art, over the course of 2 months i've done two drawings i like, drawing hasn't stressed me out but once on an offbeat boredom doodle. It was seeming like a great time to be had, maybe i was over whatever had it's grip on me, i was ready to start going again, moving forward even, h***, i'd even started an artist alley thread ( i deleted it for reasons i hope will be clear soon).

However, all it took was a single tutorial to make that all go to s***.

That was it. a simple tutorial that reminded me that it was all a f***ing lie, and the only way to fix that is to master a skill i haven't yet been able to, the key to which is a concept i can't seem to wrap my mind around.

I DON'T NEED THIS!!!

Plain and simple, i don't need another thing in life to stress me out and silly goose me off. given my mood and outlook right now i wouldn't be surprised if i didn't pick a pencil up for a month or so, but then i'll pick one up and the circus starts all over again. maybe i'll get lucky and it'll be the condensed show where day after day my drawings go sour and i give up in frustration, but why even deal with it anyways.

There is a problem though.

i can already sense the blithe 'well then just stop' remarks waiting in the wings, problem is one hand doesn't listen to the other. I'll say i want to stop and commit to it, but it's always like some little corner of my brain doesn't get the memo, or forgets it. 'wouldn't this be a cool drawing' it says, and it's right it would be, or at least it would be amusing. therein lies the problem if i listen and try and make that idea a reality, well we've discussed that outcome already, but if i don't the idea just sits there festering and decomposing at best, being reevaluated and improved till i can't ignore it at worst.

does this give you a clear picture?

if so help me out please.

<insert mine here>

No seriously, dude. Maybe you need another creative outlet. If you can picture it in your head, try writing or something.

I have this all the time with music composition... sometimes it just seems to much, another mountain to climb which I don't want to...

I stopped thinking I should do this and that everyday and just begin when I WANT to begin ^^ who don't you let it rest for now ? and when you feel like drawing again, you just start ^^

Take saint-drawings advice and take a break from drawing. Sometimes, you just need a break from things to get back your creativity and interest. I actually make some suggestions at the bottom of this article. Try them out.

You don't have to stop drawing altogether; that's a silly goal. Just stop drawing whenever it is becoming stressful.

Whenever I get bored of drawing, I work on music, whenever I get bored of working on music, I work on a game, whenever I'm bored of that, I try some 3d, and if I get bored of that......I draw.

You just need enough creative outlets to keep you going in a cycle so you never get bored. You might think that it's better to work at mastering one thing, but it's easy to burn yourself out that way.

Why must i break this rule just to remember why i have it...

but i should at least try and get something useful out of this...

@Saint-drawings, Rio: As sensible as your suggestion may be, it's what i seem to spend most of my time doing, taking a break from drawing... of course there is a certain level of gun-shyness factoring into not moving when i feel like drawing, but regardless.

@Alexander Hamilton: And what if it tends to start so stressfully 75+% percent of the time (note numbers are from fuzzy unscientific study) really wish i knew why it's changed to that though...

@Celestial-Fox: You make a blithe comment to one of my posts...perish the thought, thats as absurd as me making verbose posts. all sarcasm aside i actually used to write, thing is to a certain extent writing was always a necessary evil of story telling; i was decent enough, but it wasn't my favorite thing to do. As i learned more about various story telling mediums beyond the written word (in particular comics and video-games) i moved on and all but stopped writing. as it stands most of my story ideas are more adapted towards other mediums than the written word. so the most i could get out of writing would be the scripts for some of these, but i lack the means to see them made so it's to a certain extent depressingly pointless.

@ Kiiryu: with the exception of music (heck don't even listen to it much) to some extent or another all of those are creative outlets i partake in but lets consider how many of those fall back to drawing. 3D work, and this may just be me preferring character modeling and heavy reference, but fundamentally you need reference and especially if your making an original character you need to draw that. As for working on games, setting aside conceptualizing game mechanics, you need graphics to work at this, and that requires 3-D ( see above) or sprites which again fall back to drawing. Out of curiosity how do you handle that fact?

hopefully despite essentially looking the proverbial gift horses mouth here you lot are still willing to aid me.

Answer the question: what is your problem?

Really, you blow straight in and out of this subforum with complaints and things to blame ranging from your psychological state to your techniques. Are you the problem, or is your work? If it's you, none of us are qualified to help much. If it's your work, get out of the tutorial section and start interacting with other artists that are willing to help--attention is almost 100% reciprocal.

You're only really sabotaging you, your work, and your creative goals as a whole if you refuse to get involved.

If you must quit drawing then it's not for us to keep you from doing so, although as artists we like to support our fellow artists.
I occastionally get bored of just drawing which is why I do other stuff, it doesn't have to be any kind of craft or art, silly goose I just go skateboard or walk around. Either way it sounds like you yourself don't know exactly what you want to do. If art was your found passion then no matter how rough it gets you won't even think of stopping, but I don't think that's the case. You gotta do some searching man.

Not to seem too condescending, but if i knew that we could have all gotten on with our lives a long time ago.

That said I am not completely in the dark as to it's nature, and i am fairly certain it's me (even more so in the either or scenario you present; i am not 100% happy with my drawing, but i am usually pleased when i can actually get something done) and i am rather aware none of you are really qualified to help because of that. So then why keep coming here and doing this, well honestly i don't know what else to do psychological help isn't an attractive option seeing that past experience puts me at a 20-25% success rate ( which given the cost is not really a good option) and self analysis and aid can only go so far, and that isn't that far in the first place.

I should really apologize to and thank you all on this forum for putting up with me, and trying to help me when really i was just (in my own way mind you) screaming at the top of my lungs and relieving stress that i couldn't otherwise in my day to day life. Most likely alot of my problems stem from internal and lifestyle issues, but alot of them are seemingly unsolvable (how does a shy, distrustful, mildly misanthropic, slight agoraphobic with no money and esoteric inlets to his own hobbies deal with not having sufficient meaningful social interaction?) and in all honesty seem to leave drawing as the only real casualty in day to day life.

I used to love drawing, and i'm not throughly convinced i ever truly stopped. yet no matter how much you love something if it keeps burning you when you touch it, logically you will want to stop.