There’s a stage in every project where I lose interest.

It’s usually shading, I spot small issues with shadows and just leave them. They’re still visible but you gotta really look for it to see them and I just can’t be bothered fixing them. If I enjoyed drawing shadows I’d refine them more, but I just don’t.

I used to think that’s just who I was. Some artists like to draw. Some like to have drawn. I figured I was the second type.

Then I spent 7 hours painting a wall and completely changed my mind.

Medium changed everything

I don’t really care what happens to that graffiti piece now that I’ve taken photos of it. It can get covered over, destroyed, painted on top of. I’ve already had my fun and enjoyed the process, and that’s completely satisfying to me even if the final result won’t stand for other people to see.

With digital art it’s the opposite. I want to preserve everything, post it everywhere, keep it in my gallery.

So maybe “like to have drawn” isn’t a personality type. Maybe it just means you haven’t found a process you actually enjoy yet.

My current workflow is slow and it makes me very bored. Sketch, shading, flat colors underneath the shading, then refinements, all on separate layers. The only part that’s actually fun for me is the sketch.

Mogoon does it differently. He makes a sketch, adds flat colors, then paints right over them with a clipping mask. His shadows are more painterly, they don’t aim at being absolutely perfect but they end up looking like it. He finishes an illustration in 8 hours that looks better than what I’d do in 20.

I took his course a couple years ago and tried his method. It didn’t work. It was a bit too freeing for me. I couldn’t focus on doing correct shadows and keeping colors consistent at the same time.

I think I’m more skillful now so I’m going to give it another try.

The actual problem

If you consistently lose interest mid-piece, it’s worth asking whether you dislike drawing, or just dislike the way you currently draw. Those are different problems. Try a different process, or a different medium entirely. You might surprise yourself.