corablue
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Perfectionism Demon and Analysis Paralysis
🕑 Added 2023-11-17 08:43:13 +0000 UTCI don’t normally write blogs, but it’s been a quiet month or two. I’ve put stuff out there, but not on the level I want to be. At this point I’ve identified the issue, I just don’t know what to do about it. Perfectionism. It’s coming in the form of redraws, analysis paralysis, and endless sketches of ideas that will ultimately never see the light of day because I always feel like there’s something wrong with them.
I’m working on something now, but slaying the perfectionism demon is a double-edged sword. Perfectionism is in the soul of all artists. It’s what makes us want to improve. I am learning, but I have to balance that with delivering the content I promise. Here. Maybe this can at least be educational.
A is (in my opinion) a better piece of art. But I’ve redrawn the frame twice now, finally settling on B, because at the intended distance and against a background the ‘good’ art just causes eye strain and the details are lost anyway.
And backgrounds are a thing with me right now. Without assistants if I want good looking backgrounds I need to use the industry secret - shortcuts. So I spend time leveling up in that arena and feel like the backgrounds are almost too good.
So then I feel like I have two choices. Rapidly attempt to level up my character and technical drawing to match which causes delays, or purposefully draw worse backgrounds, which the perfectionism demon has a really tough time accepting.
I have trouble getting much actual work on Turn done because… well. Look.
I am very confident saying that if I was happy with the demo I would have finished Turn by now and it would be at least as good as any other random adult platformer on Steam. The problem is that adult platformers on Steam are bad, which is what made me start Turn in the first place. Now Turn looks like a proper game, but it’s hard to stop fiddling with it and actually work on content.
I know this probably isn’t super interesting, but there’s so much fucking work that I haven’t been comfortable showing because of my own hangups. It might take another couple weeks before I get something out the door, but I promise it’ll come, and hopefully it’ll be worth it. I’ll leave you guys with a bunch of my doodles from the last week. Check the next post.
Comments
Wat
You should try making a comic and just leaving the whole thing in the sketch phase :V
ComicTF
It's fun to hear about your process, and (at lest in my experience) sharing thoughts with others is a great way to help you reassess your priorities. Remind yourself of what you like about your work. It can be painful to fall short of your own expectations, but growth IS painful, at least sometimes. It can take time and you might have to walk away from things for a while to reset, but otherwise just try to shrug when you get to critical and promise yourself that you'll do better on the next project (as if the current projects weren't already great).
ecko17
Honestly if it took another year or so for you to make another post/update/build for turn I'd be quite happy. It's one of the few porn games where the game side actually interests me. Also all the art is done by one of my favourite artists and is quite hot so that's a bonus.
Sly
I'm just starting my journey making comics and I can honestly say you've always been a huge inspiration to me. I feel that same paralyzing drive to perfectionism and I've never even published a single page. I think it's a feeling that never really goes away as an artist or as a story teller and yet we all navigate our way through it because it's just so important to make anything at all. Even when it's hard we do it to ourselves You've made so many great stories and worlds that people really truly enjoy. They come back to it again and again because they find themselves in it, find pleasure in it, it makes them laugh, and it's so much fun to look at. You've beaten perfectionism so many times before and even though though it has evolved along with your skill level I'm sure you can do it again. ❤️
Little Napoleon
It is, if anything, a relief to know that other artists, especially the ones I look up to, are in the same boat! In my own work, I've settled on deadlines as the way to balance the creative process with actual output. It does add some stress, and I don't always hit those deadlines (I better hit this next one though XD), but it gives me a "pencils down!" moment that forces me to call something done. I'm never 100% happy with it-with Changeling Tale, you should see how huge our list for things to revise/improve is! But my wife always reminds me that I'm very lucky to have a great community of followers (as do you!) who'll still love what we make no matter what. Good luck finding your balance in all this, and know that we're all cheering you on!
Grimm-Ace
Yes I understand this an I remember a speech I keep that helps me on the matter that is perfection that I will share I apologize for it being long an hope it gives comfort. "There is no such thing as perfect in this world. That may sound cliché, but it is the truth. The average person admires perfection and seeks to obtain it. But what is the point in achieving perfection? There is none. Nothing. Not a single thing. I loathe perfection! If something is perfect, then there is nothing left. There is no room for imagination. No place left for a person to gain additional knowlege or abilities. Do you know what that means? For scientists such as ourselves, perfection only brings despair. It is our job to create things more wonderful than anything before them, but never obtain perfection. A scientist must be a person who finds ecstasy while suffering from that antinomy.”
Kullax
Hurray for blog like content. It's a nice update and I appreciate it. I can relate to your struggles. While I'm in a different field, I too aim for perfection which can cause issues in deliveries or projects not staying in scope. What I personally focus on is making it as good as possible, within a given scope. I can't always make it perfect. But I can make it as well as I can within a given budget of time, sweat and tears. Even if it turns out bad, I always have some take away which helps me next time. I hope you find your own balance. As always, you're awesome! Thanks for the update.
TolpRomra
I'd be having a tough time too. Knowing your time isnt infinite, there is a good enough, and knowing where to invest your time is definitely a skill. I vaguely remember seeing videos of artists being given a certain time frame and trying to draw the prompt within that limitation, maybe it'd be a good exercise?
Alice Alysia
All your art looks fantastic Cora, you're already so, so much further ahead than the majority of artists. As you know from mark brown of gmtk, sometimes all it takes to get out of a rut is a good game jam, Perhaps it's time to try something similar?
Lagovulpes
I speak for myself of course, but I'm here for the quality of your work. It's a few tiers above other furry tftg art. I don't mind waiting cause I know you'll deliver something great. That said I think the way you did the Zelda TotK comic was an improvement on your release model. Keep taking and making their willies Cora, your great at it
kurogetsui
I for one find it interesting. I can see why you like image A better, I think it looks higher quality as well but I do see your point that backgrounds make it less noticeable. I can't tell you what is more worthy a choice to make on the matter aside from saying I believe in you and your drive, and I'll have your back for as long as I am financially capable of doing so.
CoraBlue
Patreon is squishing the images fsr, but it is what it is :P
