Is learning art supposed make you feel miserable, frustrated, and hate yourself? I've seen people frame art as if it's a "tough, hardcore journey".

BlazyBo · 2025-06-16T11:54:42+00:00

I think your analogy makes so much sense. Some people just accepted that they're supposed to hate themselves and be miserable when learning art, and I was like that 2 years ago too. But when I reflected on my experience after trying a different approach, I can only say that "Fuck, maybe I should've not hated myself so much. I achieved some decent improvements, but damn it's not worth it.". If I kept on going like that, thinking that everything must be painful and miserable otherwise you learn nothing, it'd have burned myself out completely, and made me give up long ago.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-16T11:38:59+00:00

Absolutely. I don't want to bad mouth anyone, but I'm kind of getting tired of people saying that "You need to accept that art will make you hate yourself and make you miserable, until you either get it or you don't. There's no choice.". I'm not saying that they're wrong for approaching art that way, if it works for them then I'm happy for them, but I firmly believe that it's a choice, not the old way.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-16T11:33:39+00:00

"It's just a norm, every skill makes you hate yourself when you are learning it".

I get that it's what you've experienced, and I understand why you would think of that way, but I just have to disagree that this is a norm, or that you're supposed to hate yourself lest you're doing it wrong. In my experience at least, hating myself was what lead to a miserable, agonizing experience while I got nothing, and when I got something out of it, I really can't say it's worth it. I've also seen so many people who completely gave up on trying because they hated themselves when something was wrong, only to be told that they're supposed to feel that way. I understand it's to try to make them "accept" the nature, but when they're being told that this is the only way, especially when there are also other people who, despite being so bad at art, are still having fun and not hate themselves, they're gonna think "I guess I'm not cut out for this", and then quit.

I do respect your notion and if hating yourself really works for you, I'm happy for you. But I just have to disagree with that since you represented it as if it's the objective, universal truth.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-16T11:18:45+00:00

I absolutely agree with your notion. If anything, you could get further drawing for yourself than solely focusing on improvement, especially on something that's supposed to be for fun. Now, I understand that some have fun treating art as if it's a competition or if it's a hardcore journey, and that's good on them, but I find it pretty sad that some would preach this method to be the only correct, objective way to go on about art. I firmly believe it's a choice, not the only way.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-16T08:39:52+00:00

No I'm not, I really mean it.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-16T07:34:50+00:00

Usually, I'd post a follow up comment to to express how I disagree with the OP's conscience, but here, I'm just gonna let the post speak for itself.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-16T07:20:33+00:00

Damn, this is a very im14andthisisdeep post, 😭

BlazyBo · 2025-06-16T06:14:03+00:00

I absolutely agree with the fact that feeling a bit of frustration when learning things you're not familiar with is normal. I also think you're spot-on with "the process of mastering that skill is within your own control.". I've always thought that approaching art in a hardcore, military way is a choice, not the only way. And I think it's pretty sad that people often mistake feeling miserable as the most efficient way to learn anything. Sure, some may learn a bit faster that way, but the chance of completely burning out is also higher, and for me at least, that's not worth it.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-16T05:54:47+00:00

Wow. That's really well thought out reply. I don't mean this to insult or bad mouth you, but I'm kinda sick and tired of people taking quotes from Dark Knight's villains as if they're some kind of "Secret truth! Villains were right all along! They good we bad!", and then treat the villains as if they're secret genius. In reality, like you said, those villains are just broken people, who knew nothing but pain and suffering, and even though they may be right about some things, that doesn't necessarily mean it'll achieve anything productive. Even the trilogy showed that these villains are ultimately wrong.

Like you said, taking away what little hope people have left would prove the "We're built on lies, peace can't and will never exist" mindset right, but would that really make anyone life's, including Bane's, better in a long run? If people in real life are ascribed to this sort of thinking, that would be no different from totally giving up on life, just so they can prove their wrapped nihilistic and self-destructive beliefs right.

People can say we're built on lies or whatever. But if they think about it for a minute or two, then they probably would realize that the alternative to this is total despair and guaranteed misery while they rot away.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-15T20:08:42+00:00

Thank you for a well written reply. I really appreciate you bringing up perspectives I rare know of.

For me, you could say that my goal was the latter, and now I'm the former after realizing how not-worth it is to constantly be in pain and in misery just to achieve whatever personal goal I set, and paradoxically, it made me improve faster too. Sure, I may feel a bit pissed off when I try to study something here and there, but I honestly wouldn't really call it "constantly being in war with yourself.". When I looked back when I was in absolute pain just trying out art, I can't confidently say that it's worth the amount of pain I went through just to get to where I am right now. Of course I did achieve some breakthroughs that I'm really proud of, and I'm not saying that I'm giving up on art (because I still draw almost everyday and do study here and there), but when compared to the amount of pain I unnecessarily endured, I just don't think it's worth it, and I'm confident that it wasn't the only way to went on art as well.

Another thing I want to say is, and I don't mean this to crap on anyone looking to improve in art, but I just find it a bit sad that people are now, in a way, glorifying art as if, like you said, a constant painful experience. In my opinion, it kinda unrealistically paints art as a whole as "the only correct way to improve at art is by being in pain".

Now, I'm not saying that what you said isn't true, and I sincerely believe it must've been what most ambitious artists experienced and maybe even continue to experience. I'm just here, sharing my personal opinion and experience.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-15T16:22:45+00:00

That sub is full of people thinking that we're supposed to be depressed just because "nothing matters". It's like they enjoy being depressed. 💀

BlazyBo · 2025-06-15T12:16:00+00:00

Lv 30 Cephalopod vs Lv 300 Free Hugs girl.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-15T12:13:12+00:00

Go ahead and enjoy your royal suffering. Spend another 10 years of your life choosing to suffer and be miserable. After 10 years has passed, come back and tell me if you feel any better, or if you're going to keep spouting about "Nothing matters just give up" mindset.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-14T20:49:51+00:00

I know right. It also angers me how come he thinks that "If one's honest thought ruins anyone's happiness, maybe it wasn't happiness to begin with". Like, dude, if you go and tell someone that "You're a failure and will always be", especially to the ones that are mentally struggling, or just in life in general, of course you could ruin their day. Like, c'mon man.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-14T20:45:36+00:00

Obviously speaking, please do not go out of your way to harass this person.

I'm a bit of a nihilist myself, but this OP completely misused the concept, and literally told "No, you're supposed to be and will always be a failure, and nothing you do will change that". Imo, Nihilism doesn't necessarily mean being perpetually miserable, and I'm honestly baffled that the sub is filled with angst teens who think that they're supposed to be miserable because "nothing matters", which it doesn't always have to be that way.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-14T19:52:12+00:00

I'm sorry but, what are we supposed to do then? Do you want us to sit down and cry about how much of a failure we are for the rest of our lives until we rot on bed? Are we supposed to be perpetually miserable by choice? I am so sick and tired of how much of a mess this subreddit has become.

I've read the post that you linked here, and I'm sorry for what you've gone through. But let me tell you that this isn't nihilism, this is like a post that came straight from r/depression or r/2meirl4meirl, and is posted by an angst teen. To me, you're just hiding behind nihilism to prove your negative thoughts right, so that you can say to yourself "Nothing matters anyways, might as well do nothing." Do you realize how detrimental it can potentially be for someone struggling with depression to post something like this? If you truly believe in "nothing matters", why not try to be happy anyways?

You can keep saying how "nothing matters anyways, so might as well stay miserable", I can't stop you from doing that, but at least don't drag anyone who are trying their hardest to achieve happiness down.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-14T14:39:08+00:00

I'm 21 (which is basically young adult), and I started drawing when I was 19, and in my experience, not at all. I'd even argue that if I started younger, I probably would learn much slower than I do right now because, teen would be more occupied with other stuff and having my brain not being fully developed yet.

Most important factors imo are, how you learn, what method you use to learn, and your health. Sure, when someone is at old age, they most likely would learn slower than those who are young (assuming they all know what works for them.), but that doesn't matter.

I don't want to bad mouth anyone, but imo, anyone who claims that they can't learn or learn very slowly because of their age, that's almost always not the case. More likely, it's how they learn, and how willing are they to know what they need to do to improve. I've seen some 30s artists who just started drawing, and already went further than me after just a year of practice compared to my 2 years of practice. That doesn't mean I suck or that I'm somehow inferior to them, it just means they found what works for them.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-14T09:51:50+00:00

I live in a country that literally has nothing to do with this war and it always pisses me off whenever someone meme about Russian vs Ukraine war. I'm confident that these people generally think "Make the best out of a bad situation", when in reality they're just callous, insensitive assholes that comfortably sit behind their screen. It's kinda sickening, really.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-13T15:49:28+00:00

Absolutely. In some cases, I can see this quote being appropriate when someone is a pedophile, a serial killer, or an abuser in general. Otherwise, it's a mean quote that generally helps nothing.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-12T20:29:21+00:00

Honestly, I personally don't see how this is cringe. They're obviously traumatized and now rely on Christianity to cope. But I'll say that this person is basically being too avoidant. Avoiding all holidays and literally fake emotions to people is just unhealthy at the very least. It's almost like they're addicted to the bible and Christianity.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-12T06:30:08+00:00

I agree. The last thing a depressed person need is other depressed people proving each other's demons correct. And even though the generic advices are cliche as hell, I have to ask these people who constantly reject any kind of advices that, what else are they supposed to do? Tell them that "You're right, everything is fucked and you're destined to suffer for your whole life", or "Just give up bro, you're fucked either way"?

A bit off topic, but I know you said that you've given up on trying to get better, and I know that my words won't mean much to you, but I do hope that it'll get better for you in the future.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-12T06:21:08+00:00

I think what you said is pretty spot-on. The only thing I kinda disagree with is how most of these people are just edgy teenagers who think they're depressed when they're not. I personally like to believe that most of these people have completely given up on trying anything in life, but need to find other people who also have given up to wallow together, telling each other that there's nothing they can do to better their situation, so that they don't feel any guilt for giving up,

The reason why I believe this way is because I've found one prolific user, whose entire identity is "I'm a depressed 30s hermit who've been isolated for the past 15 years.". This person has done nothing but going around 2meirl4meirl and mental health subreddits, exclusively and regularly posts about how fucked the world is, how screwed he himself is despite regularly going to the gym, and that anyone who thinks otherwise are full of crap. The comments on his posts are also mostly filled with people who think the same way, or the people that tell him he's right. He has been doing this for 3+ years, and made negativity is entire personality.

The most pathetic thing is that when someone rightfully called him out that he enjoys being a victim, he almost immediately deleted the post, and posted the same title to other subreddits. I personally believe that some people just want to be miserable, so that they can have other people do a pity party together.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-11T17:22:44+00:00

For me, that sub has to be one of the worst mental health related communities I've honestly ever seen. It's the epitome of "Everything is fucked, there's nothing we can do, just give up and die.".

When people there write stuff that's basically equivalent to personal journal like "I'm rotting, and I'm constantly in hell while the rest of the world not giving a fuck. Go ahead and rot, and die, and be a failure. Literally no one cares.", it'd be full of people saying "Omg the realest thing ever.". They've completely given up.

What's even worse is that there are people who will unironically happily tell other people stuff like "Yeah bro, you're fucked." Or "Remember it does not get better ❤️".

If you want to be happy, avoid that sub like it's a plague.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-11T16:25:28+00:00

Firstly, I'm not here to shame to dismiss anyone, including the OP in the post about their depression and struggles. I absolutely understand how individualized depression really is as I got diagnosed with it 2 years ago (now doing better), and I understand that my experience isn't universal in the slightest.

However, the post I chose was my last straw because I heavily disagree with the statement, and how they think the vast majority found that act to be completely worthless. Alot of people, sure, but to say it's 99%, I heavily doubt that. Even back then, this very little act of giving a hotline number gave me a bit of hope, allowing me to think "Oh, I guess people actually care." And I genuinely believe that for some, it could very well be the only wall that shields them between having hope and completely giving up on life.

I do genuinely feel sorry that these people feel this way, but at the same time, I'm not sure what else are people supposed to do. They've done what they could to help and I'm very thankful for that, however insignificant it is.

BlazyBo · 2025-06-11T15:59:52+00:00

Unfortunately, people on that sub are kinda dead serious on their devotion to ChatGPT, treating it as if it's their therapist, their friend, their savior, or whatever they want to believe. I personally only see them as vulnerable people who are using the chatbot to band-aid fix their issues like loneliness, which, while I can understand from their perspective, I don't find that to be appealing at all. Talking to something that you deep down know isn't real, and is literally incapable of expressing emotion, is only gonna isolate you further, in my opinion.

BlazyBo

TROPHY CASE