Booooring

Gale also got an immediate far-side-of-the-face job once I merged the layers down. Maybe one day I will catch the wonky perspective during drawing.

Gale's story is most important to me because to me it is mostly about the relationship of a man and his beloved craft. If you are passionate about something - no matter if it's painting, music, learning a language and being able to express yourself in it - and you get better at it, it can be bliss and become mentor, muse and friend to you, and quite easily your whole world. You might even feel beloved and blessed by your craft herself. Otoh a phase of stagnation might feel like your craft is a cold, unkind mistress, dangling the secrets you desperately need just out of reach - and you have to do everything in your power to climb to those heights because otherwise, you are nothing but the sum of your failures.

I feel the internet does not make it easier because while it offers inspiration and community, it also forces constant comparisons with all the masters of the past and present on to you - there might even be a handy metric to put numbers to your self esteem. So you can easily feel like you have to proof something. Especially if you pursue your thing with professional ardour, this can send you down a very negative feedback loop and make you hunt down those "three little tricks" instead of just enjoying your slow but frustrating growth.