"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."

This is a quote i pulled from the art blog of a friend of mine. When I first read his a few months ago, it inspired me beyond belief. I was trying (failing) to get into animating, you see, and Isaac Traenkenschuh (Great guy, great artist, great friend of mine) stopped by. we exchanged friendly words, trade secrets, ice cream and email addresses. he gave me the address to his art blog (http://http://youvefoundit.tumblr.com). after he left I opened my laptop and, scrolling down the page i saw that quote by Ira Glass (among other cool paintings and sketches).

This is why i animate.

Both points are great and inspired me too continue even though I keep getting so much difficulty animating correctly

Thank you for that Jombo, I never thought of it that way. I keep trying to set weekly goals for myself to get better, but i just end up dreading every second of it.

Hewitt, you should write an inspirational speech. really. get the whole forum going.

Keep the lights on guys!

Quote from Milo

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."

This is a quote i pulled from the art blog of a friend of mine. When I first read his a few months ago, it inspired me beyond belief. I was trying (failing) to get into animating, you see, and Isaac Traenkenschuh (Great guy, great artist, great friend of mine) stopped by. we exchanged friendly words, trade secrets, ice cream and email addresses. he gave me the address to his art blog (http://http://youvefoundit.tumblr.com). after he left I opened my laptop and, scrolling down the page i saw that quote by Ira Glass (among other cool paintings and sketches).

This is why i animate.

This is very truthful. Very very true.

Quote from Jombo

I completely disagree with this though. It seems a lot of animators/artists are so determined to "become good" that they lose all the fun in it.

Messing around and having fun isn't how you improve to the sort of level that quote is referring to. You might get good at a hobby if you treat it like one, but you'll plateau and never become great at it.

Don't burn yourself out, obviously, but you do need to push yourself. You need to sit down and force yourself to practice even if you don't want to in the moment. It's about long-term goals, not short-term recreation.

Exilement does bring up another good point. if you are planning to make a career out of animating, or even if you are just trying to be the best at what you do, you need to push yourself.
However, doing that is why I stoppedd animating for a while.
One thing that I use to cope with the burnout is being proud of my accomplishments. I remember the first time I animated a perfect run cycle; the only thing I wanted to do after that was animate more.

@jombo, I think you're talking about something that's contextually irrelevant to what OP's quote is talking about.

A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.

This is specifically directed towards people who become disillusioned with their own work to the point of frustration and disappointment. "Messing around and having fun" isn't something you can do when you're consistently unhappy with the end result. I've been there.

You're basically disagreeing with the quote while agreeing with it at the same time. All it's saying is, you're going to suck for a long, LONG time before you get good. Keep at it, remember it's something you enjoy doing, and you'll get where you want to be with enough time, dedication and patience.

And all I'm saying is if you settle for complacency while also envying those who put more effort into their work than you ever do, it's your fault and any disappointment that comes from it is self-inflicted.

Oh I read this quote before. I like it.

I've been animating for 4 years now and all of this is actually true. The way how my past 3 years was bad animating. Now I have improved a bunch.

wise words.

That pretty much sums up everything.
we can't say who's way of doing things is better or more proper because no person is going to have the same response to the situation.

in other words, you're unique, just like everybody else. :p

i love the quote you gave .. :D