I used to draw so much when I was a child and a teen, but as I got older I stopped drawing a whole lot. has that happened to anyone else ? it's like, i still really want to draw because I'm kinda good at it.. but I just never do it anymore, lack of inspiration maybe ?? idk.

anyway, i'm kinda new here, and i'm currently working on stuff for my pets' pages :) here's a preview of my (hopefully) soon-to-be harvest neela !

Automne

feel free to give me any kind of constructive criticism, i'm not really sure what i'm doing tbh it's been so long since i've had to come up with a character like this.

Hi!

I've definitely been there. I drew all the time as a child, and then growing up. All the way into highschool, in fact. Then I just... sort of stopped. For a very long time. I'd try here and there in fits of pique but it never stuck, and ultimately I was frustrated and very sad and just not "feeling it."

(I'm only very recently beginning to creep back into the shallow end of the pool here, so I feel new myself, all over again.)

It might not be just a lack of inspiration on your end--it might be depression, anxiety, or another related mood issue that's compounding the rest! That's what it ended up being for my experience. It could also be a bunch of other factors like not enough time to really sit down and devote to it, or too many distractions, or not enough distractions (some people learn and perform and create far better and easier with a bunch of things going on at once, also just like me!), etc.

You could try turning on some of your favourite music that gets you really motivated and pumped, and see if that helps. I know that helps my roommate out a lot sometimes when they're stuck. Or maybe a favourite movie or book, something that really resonates, and then think about all the things you like about it, and try to recreate that feeling.

There's also the possibility that art (in general, or specifically drawing) just isn't as much your passion any longer as it used to be! Maybe there's a new thing that you feel much more for.

If just specifically drawing, you could try different mediums (sculpture, crochet, music, etc.) to see if you can find some more inspiration that way!

Also: welcome to the site! (Unless you just meant, "kinda new here" wrt the sub-forum. In which case, oops.)

I'm no good really at critique, but I can totally give suggestions for inspiration/ideas on character making.

For example: when I'm trying to think of something to translate to a pet on this site--usually because I saw a colour/species that hooked me--one of my favourite and ongoing themes for inspiration is cryptids and mythological beasts.

So most of mine are (eventually) going to reflect those! I have a few tribute pets, too--which seems to be a popular thing here on this site--that I'm devoting to some of my favourite existing characters, so you could always try that, too. c: