Exercise, or other things to purge that negative energy.

I draw all the bad things.

Find something you like.
Something you want more of.
Grab something that makes a mark on paper and rub it around for a while.
It'll probably look terrible (Depending on skill)
Keep doing it.

Okay. Now what you should do is to buy a sketchbook. A smallish one that is hard cover, book bound, and full of good, sturdy, bleed-resistant paper. Then buy a pen and doodle the fuck out of it. Bring it everywhere, even if you don't intend to use it, so that it becomes a part of you. Draw things from life and things from your head, and try your best to fill every nook and cranny of every page. Do not move onto another page until the page you are on is full (pic related.) You can't erase because you're using pen and you can not rip any pages out. You don't need to show this to anyone if you don't want to. You can take as long as you'd like to fill it out. I tend to fill a sketchbook every month, but that's just me.
Why does this work? Because not only does it preempt excuses for not drawing, it also makes drawing fun again. You draw without a specific subject, allowing yourself more freedom to jump from subject to subject. You lose your need to make everything perfect when your goal is just to fill the page with neat stuff. When you are having fun your art will look better and you will regain confidence. Finally, you will end up being dependent on your sketchbook, and that means you will need to draw. Momentum is a wonderful thing.
Pro-tip: if you can get into any venues that play live music (not metal though, great as it is, metal doesn't work for a variety of reasons.) Just make sure you have a table and your sketchbook. Trust me, live music is so much better for drawing than the canned shit, and drawing is more fun when you're not in your room.

>>40902
>Pen
Y wud u do dat.
Not only can you buy 30 mechanical pencils for the price of one good pen with one ink well, but you can ERASE.
That's pretty critical for someone that's learning.
I like how smooth pen makes things but for a beginner it's like giving a Magnum to a girl.

>>40903
Okay, let's think about this. The entire point of using pen is so that you can't erase. If you can't erase you will learn to live with mistakes and improve faster. Erasers are good when you're working on a finished product, but they are the fucking devil when you just want to practice. Personally, I don't suggest any beginner start with pencil, especially with this exercise since pencil marks will smudge even when you are just carrying the book around.
Also, when I said 'pen' I meant a ballpoint pen. I certainly didn't mean a high-quality art pen with inkwell. That would be ridiculous, and you would not be able to take it everywhere with you.
Finally, you need to work on your analogies. "Giving a magnum to a girl?" Come ON. Not is the implication potentially offensive, it's hardly evocative. Try "Giving a magnum to a baby" or something equally trite yet serviceable. I sure hope you meant the gun, or my suggestion is going to seem awfully strange

>>40905
>Offensive
>The internet
Whoa, breaching new territory here.
>I meant the condom
What I'm saying is that with a pen you can't erase, making it near impossible to presketch anything.
Shape drawing? Pretty damn fundamental. It's exceptionally hard to do that with a pen. Even if you're not getting a $30 gold plated plasma infused awesomesquirter pen they're going to be somewhere around $2 for any pen that's worth a damn.
http://goo.gl/Fi7jN
I bought one package of mechanical pencils. Eight months ago. Cost $2. I'm on the second one, and that's only because I lost the first.
Erasers are good, yes. Kneaded rubber erasers. Gum erasers just smudge the lead and destroy the paper, they're not meant for drawing they're for correction.
I carry around both a mechanical pencil and a pen, pencil for life sketches and such and pen for finished, smooth lines.
I will give you the fact that pencil smudges, but like you yourself said, they're nonsense practice sketches. Why are you concerned if, in a week, the gradient goes a few shades down? Personally I put a piece of paper between the drawing and the opposite page, keeps the lead on page and keeps it from rubbing off.
Living with mistakes is good but learning how to correct them is even better. If you just make a mistake and move on you'll have no idea what to do next time that situation arises. You'll make the same mistake, "Live with it", and then move on to make that mistake again. Those that fail hard learn hard. Those that learn hard win big. Bla bla bla inspiration.

>>40907
Okay, you make some fairly good points, but I still prefer pen since the point of the sketchbook is to have fun and to force yourself to draw, not to to learn the basics (which you can still do with a pen.) That's why I suggested it to the OP, who is not learning to draw, but looking to get out of a rut.
Additionally, pens are not that expensive, and as long as you remember to put the cap on they won't dry up too soon. You can buy a ten pack of BIC pens for $2, and they will work just fine for quite some time. Personally, I don't mind spending a bit more for a slightly better quality pen.
As for the issue of smudging, it's just kind of annoying when you want to reference one of your old sketches or compare your new stuff to your old stuff. I did one sketchbook completely in pencil, and since I was traveling at the time it's in pretty poor condition now.
Yeah, and I don't really give a shit about potential offense, I thought the analogy was kind of juvenile. My sentence should have read "Not that the implication is potentially offensive, it's just not very evocative," or something like that.
Long story short, I'm recommending pen specifically for this exercise. Just about any medium you can name has its relative advantages.

>>40908
I still have my old sketchbook from 6 months ago, looks alright.
I keep it in a shoulder bag and don't treat it all that rough, along with all my other papers.
I'm just saying that if you learn entirely from pen you'd need to learn shading and correction later on, instead of as you go.

Art block?
It usually has something to do with personal life. You have other things you know you're suppose to be doing, but you want to relax, BUT you keep thinking about those things. One thing that sounds weird but works personally is to start drawing while standing up. You're focusing on two things (Balance and drawing) so all of the other things take a backseat.
Other than that blocks are personal. There really isn't an endall solution to it. If it goes on for a long time study your personal life and see if something is bothering you that you may not be thinking about.

>>40909
Looks pretty great, actually.
I'll leave it at that, since I don't have much more to say on the matter.
>>40897
Try finding an artist you admire who streams when they're drawing. That always cheers me up/ motivates me to work harder.

thanks for the advice so far, y'all!
i went out yesterday but instead of buying a sketchbook i... got video games
f..............uc.......k
hopefully i'll buy one today though
i wonder, do you guys have any tips on doing digital lineart? i use paint tool sai and i have several "pens" i do lineart with but lately i'm having a lot of difficulty getting my desired result
sorry for asking so many questions aaaa

>>40919

SAI is an awesome digital medium for doing line art with. I use it when I'm lining my art or other peoples. ((they usually request it)) But I would advise you to learn to make your sketch lines (traditionally and digitally) as clean as you can while still keeping them quick and effortless. I myself have pretty messy sketching and it takes longer for me to correct then it would if I had just sketched it cleaner in the first place. Also because that has become a habit now it is more difficult for me to break my old habit then it would have been for me to start that way.

Basically, try to keep your sketches clean and quick, and also get good at inking traditionally. It makes digital inking all the more easier.

ya know what fuck tutorials fuck lineart fuck coloring fuck drawing i can't do this i can't do anything AT THIS POINT I'VE TRIED MY ABSOLUTE BEST AND THEN SOME BUT LO AND BEHOLD I'M ONLY FEELING WORSE BECAUSE OF IT kill me

>>40961

one of my number one problems is LITERALLY spending DAYS on ONE stupid little sketch and i have to make it as crisp and clean as absolute possible or i cannot for the life of me do any lineart
also i don't use the vector layer for my lineart, i like that i can edit the lines as much as i want but i hate how it makes them look so i just poop around until something happens in a regular layer, example being this picture
i'm willing to try traditional inking but i need some good, basic pens /but i would need to buy them/ and i cannot do that

i'm a lost cause piece of shit

>>40965

I don't mean in that way to make your lines crisp. you need to practice using your full arm in sketching instead of just your wrist. Most people think "oh im drawing a little curve, I don't need my full arm to draw it and it becomes shit, when in reality using your full arm to sketch curves and circles and lines allows you more control and more precise lines.. try sketching with your arm and not caring about your sketches. if your having trouble just move on.

>>40968
>Linuxguyinterjection
Speaking of digital, why do I suck so much at it?
I always get to about HERE and then when I try to outline with black it looks like hell.
Like so:
http://i.imgur.com/q2Pm5.png
I'm marginally good at pencil.

>>40968

i see what you mean now, thank you so much for the help so far! c:

>>40969

i think i can provide a few tips and whatnot in the digital department even though i suck at it myself
when doing lineart, you have to really find your fluidity. you really have to let your wrist and arm flow to do quick, clean strokes and whatnot
also there's always the stabilizer that can work WONDERS. it sort of makes your actions "lag", i guess?, so if you don't have a steady hand, a quick stroke can turn out a lot straighter
my explanation was really terrible so check out this tutorial, it rocks
http://fyuvix.deviantart.com/gallery/534615#/d4947ep

>>40969

Linearting a sketch is not just redoing your sketch with darker lines. It's more of like putting frosting on a cake.

You have your basic sketch, this is the simple pattern/form/shape you want. It might have detail but that's just to help you remember where those details are. The Lineart is the frosting. A plain cake is fine but without the frosting it doesn't look as tasty or as good as it can be. You need to decorate the cake to make it more appetizing and appealing. follow the basic guidelines (your lineart) but you don't need to stick to them rigorously. have fun and experiment with them.

>>40970

That is a fantastic resource! Thanks!

ALRIGHT so i'm starting to do little bit better with drawing more often and whatnot even thought i just sort of poop on my sketches half way through, eat a sandwich, then forget about it because i don't care
also i still don't have a sketchbook because i spent my money on video games AGAIN help me i have no self-control

i sort of need a few tutorials/guides/whatever on line of action/making poses less stiff, 'cause that's one thing that's bothering the absolute hell out of me

also my friend asked me to draw this thing

also who wants to teach me wtf a "legs" is
and "torso"
and basically everything

Pretty sure there's some of that in the toots thread.

http://amadong.tumblr.com/post/15103862839/i-still-havent-posted-these-yet-im-gay-these
a little update on things i've gotten done i guess
i'm just gonna work on colouring for a while.

buh.

it's either i forgot about this or i really haven't drawn in a while
how is everyone lately

a wip ┏( ´Д`)┛

i may not get to work on this for a while since i may or may not be in the hospital soon hmmmm
does anyone have tips on fixing the neck i'm dumb

That happens to me all the time, I recommend looking at other people art for inspiration, I usually look up shit-tons of tutorials and read heavily into detail on them, but that's just me.

>>41585

Oh well that looks pretty good so far, the perspective on the nose is a little off: it should be at more of a 3/4 angle than the head on view you have going thus far but overall I think it's looking good. I think your next step should be to add a little more definition to the eye-sockets and bridge of the nose but overall I th-

>>i may or may not be in the hospital soon hmmmm

Wait, what? Is this a major hospitalization? Are you going to be okay?