#even though the original piece that broke the streak was fanart and i didn't know who they even were at the time

[pluralthey]

hey uh. as an artist with depression, how do you sorta. make your brain have the capacity to acutally devote energy to doing art/coming up with ideas/being creative in general. my dumbass brain isnt even able to like. devote energy to typing sentences when its really bad ya know. if this is an odd question then uhhh yea you dont have to respond yeet

depression is not my biggest problem so i’m not sure i’d have good advice.first of all probably address HALT protocol to make sure all of the basics are taken care of and not making it worse.

coffee can be a good pick-me-up but you’ll develop something of a tolerance over time so it can’t be a perfect every day solution. probably divorce from your mind that you need to draw every day to be a good artist too. i hate hearing this from other people though because it feels like they’re not getting that i’m trying to say NOT drawing every day is usually making me feel worse cuz i like Want to draw every day so… grain of salt.coffee doesn’t even last long enough to do a whole illustration in one day so aim low, draw things that are fun and easy for you at first to build up Artist Confidence. also, drawing shit about being depressed might be easier to draw since it’s like you’re already in the mood anyway, very prepared, committed method acting.exercise also helps clear the fog or make me feel the emotional weight just bearing down on me feel a little lighter, but it’s just as hard to get motivated to exercise when depressed. i’m not talking like a jog or hard exercise, just a brisk walk for 10 minutes. this one gets easier once you’ve figured out it helps you feel better, if it does, ime. it also gets my appetite working sometimes which goes away when i’m depressed and it obviously gets worse from not eating enough or not enjoying the food enough.

try being nice to yourself also. i often have serious issues with repressing happy emotions out of fear that i’ll get hurt, so this is a huge one for me. human brains r really programmed to live with freedom or to just not want to live at all…find some good friends who know your immediate happiness and sense of security is more important than what they find Cringe and stay in contact w/them so you have some reinforcement when you finally do something you wanted to and go like “HOLY FUCKBALLS I HAVEN’T DRAWN IN 8 MONTHS AND I JUST MADE SOMETHING AND I THINK I MIGHT BE GOD NOW??” add some intentionally goofy voice to it or like a ton of exclamation points and 1′s to make it sound more satirical if it’s too embarrassing. don’t undercut it with “but this is bad” or “but i gave up here” internally in the moment, it’s okay to think critically about ur art but there are appropriate times and places and “when art is really hard to do AT ALL” is not one of those times.this one has been really important to me cuz it helps art feel like something that helps me feel better, it can be something i crave like less productive things such as video games if i let the actual mental reward happen.

all this shit has been just basic depression advice tho. my one thing that i never see anybody mention and one thing that really helps me buckle down on some days when it’s the worst is i will literally just livestream my canvas while a trusted loved one watches me work on it (or not work on it). when it’s really hard i just choose a more private site to stream on.disclaimer that i have SO many meltdowns and i cry and i yell at myself and i angrily scribble all over the canvas, it’s embarrassing and stupid but it’s become a reliable way to do something when i am REALLY desperate as long as i’ve taken care of myself otherwise. this is stuff my brain is usually trying to keep me from doing by just shutting down when staring at the canvas so it has to happen either way or just go months without confronting it, basically. this might be just a thing i experience because of a different disorder though.at all times aim to make sure you don’t have to handle this alone, even if it’s only for a few minutes while somebody helps w/a small thing by offering input, whatever.

that’s really all the advice i have from personal experience. sorry if it doesn’t help, doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you personally

#i had an ex who was too depressed to draw and i managed to help them do a few new pieces before we broke up #but they got really... upset at me about it #it was like since i had helped motivate them to draw something #it was my fault when they didn't draw more b/c i didn't want to make them feel like it's all i wanted #even though the original piece that broke the streak was fanart and i didn't know who they even were at the time #so sorry i'm pretty skittish about the topic now #not art #ask #asks #theoreoarmy