Trouble Getting Started? Tips to Get your Artwork Moving.

One of the most difficult things I have trouble with as an artist is just getting started. To me it’s something that drags me down like quicksand. The struggle of pulling myself together is a fight I deal with daily, and the more I fight to get started I find myself procrastinating more. In my case I feel as if I start one project I am neglecting myself of another. As of now I have split my talents into several different locations, that I am completely scatterbrained at times. It’s as if I am stuck in a dark tunnel with ten paths to choose, and rather than take the chance of taking the wrong path I stay in the same spot. Unfortunately choosing the safe spot moves me nowhere and nothing gets done, and every project suffers.

If you are new to my blog, or website my name is Derrick Rathgeber, and I am a husband, father of four great kids, a colored pencil artist, comic strip writer/artist, blog writer, free online art teacher, web designer, graphic designer, and soon I will try my hand at writing a book. All that is true I have done all those things, and you can find them on my website and right here on this very blog page. What the funny part is that I have put my hat in so many pots that I have overwhelmed myself to the point where I don’t know what I want to do. Each of these things are my hobbies, and I really do enjoy them all equally. I love making people laugh with my comic strips, I love designing characters for my story, and I love drawing detailed pictures with my colored pencils. So how do I choose? When I finish one project, how do I choose what to do next? When I start one I put all my energy into it, energy that I could have put into another one.

This was a problem for me for a very long time. I tried different things, and ultimately what worked best was just being down right organized. First of all my greatest enemy is procrastination. That to this day is the hardest enemy to kick in the rear, but you know what I am learning. I’ll start tomorrow, I never do anything for myself, I am tired, I don’t have what I need and so on. Some great tips to help with this little demon are as follows.

1.  Ask yourself: Is what I am doing now beneficial? What would be more rewarding? How will I feel if I continue to put this off?
2. Put off Procrastination: It may sound funny but think about it. Turn off any devices that may lure you away from your projects ie. Tv, internet, PHONE! All these things will be there later.
3. Reward yourself: I always tell myself if I draw today for x amount of time then I get to have x amount of time to do something I like GUILT FREE.
4.  Break it down: Sometimes we are overwhelmed by a large project. So overwhelmed that we don’t start it. So break it down. Say I am going to sketch it today, color this section tomorrow ect. This also helps you take your time and enjoy your new project.
5. Share your Success: Let people know how important it is to you. Sometimes we feel guilty for taking time from our friends and family. Sometimes they don’t understand what it means for you to be productive. Let them know, and ask for support. Say don’t call around 2-4pm I will be working, or can you watch the kids for a bit. And once you are finished working thank them by giving them your full attention. 

When it comes to deciding on what to work on next that is another hang up us artists deal with. Do we start on that commission piece? Do we draw that picture your mom has been asking for? Do I dare ignore everyone and draw that image bouncing around in my head? Again it answers the question how do I spend my time and energy? In my case I pulled myself so thin at one point that I just fell apart and did nothing. I had to get focused, and combat this problem because I wasn’t getting anything done. So what I did was I got organized. This was very important for me because I was all over the place. I didn’t even know what projects I had half of the time, or what I finished. So these are some of the things I did, that you can do yourself, to get organized.

1. Make a list: Write down a list of projects you have. This can be commissions, drawings you would like to do, blogs, website, ect.
2. Prioritize them: Number these projects from 1-10+ based on which projects you would like to get done, or maybe ones you were putting off that you would like to finish.
3. Make a Time Table: Next to each item write down how much time you need for each project. If it’s unknown it’s not a big problem. Ones that you can finish fast are good ones to knock off in-between larger projects.
4. Make a calendar: This is actually fun. Make yourself a weekly calendar giving yourself that day to work on a specific project, and be sure to add a FREE DAY on this calendar to give you the opportunity to work on projects that are behind, to work on whatever you want,  or just take a day off to rest.
5. Don’t make it Law: If you have to make adjustments it’s okay. Life changes and so can your schedule. So don’t feel guilt about changing the calendar, or missing a day or two. It’s mainly a tool to help you decide on what to work on that day. If your heart is in another project follow it and finish that project, you should never force it.

Once you have everything in perspective you will find your days going much smoother and a lot of guilt that goes along with starting something new will start to pass. You want to get into a good routine of developing yourself as an artist, but also find yourself being productive. Above all try not to make it work. A reason some of us find it hard to start up something new is fear, and worry. We worry that it won’t come out right, or fear that it has become work instead of enjoying it. When you feel that pressure, and fear building up just sketch. Don’t feel obligated to share it, just grab your sketchbook and just draw. This helps relieve that pressure we all feel to be at our very best all of the time. As artists we are our worst judges, and that can do nothing but hold us back.

So today if you are holding back a great new design that can wait, push through the muddiness and get through. Today it’s harder than ever with the many distractions that we face, but we have to close that world off and dive into our imaginations and pull it out. It’s not an easy fight sometimes, but this world of technology needs more creativity. Just remember every time you start a new project you are making the world that much better and more imaginative. That itself is a great reward, and incentive to start today.

Thank you for reading,

Derrick Rathgeber

Feel Free to find me on my website at http://DerricktheArtist.com

Superman Returns, I am Back

I have been away for a while, and it feels like it has been far too long. It pains me to say this but I got overwhelmed, and crushed with the weight of always trying to be on top of everything. Moving moving moving, I was always moving. Moving to get income again, flying to make sure the kids had everything they needed for home and school, Running to get some drawings in, and Fighting to push trough this pain of old and new injuries to be healthy again. I thought I was invincible, and I could keep going, but you could say I found my limits, and had to push some things aside and refocus my life.

After a long year of fighting I was finally recieving my Permenant Disability pay. For an entire year we were living off scraps, my kids missed birthdays, holidays, and so much more. My wife and I hadn't gone on a real date in all that time, and as far as profession in the art industry how could I compete when I couldn't even buy a photo copy of my artwork to sell. I did feel good that in that time I did reach a wide audiance and gained a lot of respect having not spent a dime, but I did find out the harsh truth. If you don't have money to invest in your self, you are not going to sell. You can share all you want with the power of social media, but unfortunatly with the changes in internet marketing every form of advertisment costs money. I did all the techniques you would do aside from buying ads, and I had a lot of success, but not enough to make a career out of it. But now that all changes. Now I have a small budget to buy business cards, prints, and online ads. I can even make my website ad free. It feels good to know that it won't happen right away, but with all I have learned over this year, I can now implement that with a strong plan, and you will get to see a whole lot more coming from my website, this blog, and every social media page I own.

It's funny how something so simple can change your life for the better. Not just for my artwork, but everything changed. I could actually feel myself getting stronger and healthier with the weight and stress being lifted off of my broken back. I am no longer walking with a cane any more, and my energy levels are the highest I remember since the accident. I have been able to walk the kids to and from school each day, and excercise lightly again. Even my wrist doesn't bother me as much. I drew two hours the other day without any issues. That hasn't happened as long as I can remember. I tell you one thing my kids, and wife noticed it before I did. I thought I was doing what I usually do and push trough it. I feel like the kryptoninte is finally being expelled from my body. I can be Superman again.

Superman is who I will always be. I was born to be him, and to my family I am him. I forgot that along the way somewhere and had to be reminded. A funny story that happened on Halloween. I walked my kids to school for their costume parade, and my kids were in costume, but I was wearing my Superman shirt, and jeans. One of my daughter's friends asked me if I was going as Superman this Halloween and I said no, (I was a Swat Police Officer this year,) Then my daughter made my my day by saying why would he dress up like Superman for Halloween, he is Superman everyday. Talk about choking me up a bit right. I think she was trying to get a bonus on her allowence...Which she did. ha ha. But what this really meant to me was how much my kids believed in me. The wanted me to prove to them that there was no giving up, and being stronger than your situation is what makes a hero. I didn't have to leap buildings in a single bound, I only had to leap hurdles. I didn't have to be more powerful than a locomotive, I just had to show them I was more powerful than my injuries. I didn't have to move faster than a speeding bullet, all they ever wanted was me to slow down and take my time enjoying life with them. So I did. I slowed down, and the rest took care of itself.  I was able to listen, learn and better myself.

Sometimes it's good to just fly up above the Earth and just drift in space quietly listening to the world.Just get away and relax until it's your time. It wasn't my time yet and I got discouraged. I let the world place it's weight on me, but now I choose to fly above it and make things happen.

So in the next coming months a whole lot is going to happen. New is the theme. New art, new comics, new lessons. All of it will be new. I will even add some new contests just to make things more fun, and interactive. So I hope you join me as I grow. I would like to see a lot of you grow with me.
I made a list of all my social media sites if you want to link up, and share your art, and talents with the world. Check out the image below.

Thank you for reading,

Derrick
http://derrickr.webs.com