Hello! I apologise if this has been asked before. I did do a search and don't seem to see anything similar, but as an artist yourself, how do you cope with working on a piece of art that isn't a hyperfocus? I really struggle with procrastination and maintaining attention on a piece, and that makes commissions feel like a monumental task. Thank you so much for this amazing blog. x
Hey! That’s a lot of trouble for me as well and usually when I feel a bit more „into it“ I have to go back and fix my art from my „this is tedious“ days. I’ll post the comic how I got my diagnosis soon but basically I had so much starting troubles on a freelance job (an AMAZING one) that I was about to lose my job.
It’s ok to not be hyperfocused. If you’re having bad days and time, take an evening off
The next day, get up, move a bit or go for a walk (mmmh that dopamine) Buy yourself a pudding or small reward for when you are done
Turn on the best music you’ve ever heard. Your guilty pleasure music. (For me that’s the Tokyo mew mew and sailor moon opening)
Try and do your guilty pleasure. Got a briefing on drawing elephants and you love sparkly things? Make a goddamn sparkly elephant, the client might just love it (ofc pitch it to them first)
Don’t hate yourself or beat yourself up over it. It doesn’t make you more aware, just more sad.
Ask the client for a closer deadline (sketch deadline, color deadline...)
I also want to answer another art ask I can’t find again for the life of me:
How do you deal with other artists (neurotypicals) learning faster and being more productive than you:
This is part of what sent me into mourning after getting my diagnosis. I spent an insane, unhealthy amount of time on studying art fundamentals and everyone else seemed to get it all faster. Not only that, i keep forgetting things I already knew. Realizing medication stops me from forgetting things I already knew and letting me understand things much faster was a huge punch to the gut. A lot of my fast learning had to do with weak internal self talk. I’m bad at explaining this so I’ll have to draw it—
Here’s the good news though: no one cares that much for your pure productivity or art skill. (For reference I’m a visual development artist for feature animation.). People, clients, studios want to see how you see the world. They want your unique look, what do you feel about certain topics? What can you make people feel?
I believe everyone can one day (even if it takes a million years) be an amazing draftsman. But you’ll have trouble finding someone who sees the world exactly as you do. In this case, ADHD is your blessing.
