Anyone else an artist with OCD? If so, I'd love to hear about your experiences. How does OCD impact your art-making process? How have you been able to cope with OCD while you make art? Does art help you cope with OCD? Has making art or being proud of what you create been difficult because you have OCD?
im actually new to noticing how ocd affects me in daily life so i have no clue lmao hbu?
Well, welcome to the club. I wish you luck on this OCD-discovery lol. Man, OCD has made me STRUGGLE with making art and my confidence. It feels like nothing I make is good enough. I hyperfocus on errors and can not let them go, it isnt until months or even years later that I'll look at my art and be like "hmmm, okay yeah, maybe I have some skills and I am good enough" but in the moment, making art feels like mental torture. I think art could help me to cope with OCD, but I have to get serious about incorporating it into ERP i think. Im working on just making stuff, no matter if I think its bad or not. I have to constantly remind myself that its probably not as bad as I think, to keep going because i just need to MAKE, not stress if its perfect, and the hardest part, which is sitting with the feeling of discomfort that what I'm making SUCKS but resisting the urge to keep erasing and changing it over and over and over again (cause I'll never finish if i do that).
Unfortunately I haven’t done art in a bit and I think it’s due to my OCD, but when I did, I drew myself with my OCD. If you got any recommendations to help me get back into art
Things that have helped me are practicing affirmations, and setting my intentions differently. Instead of makingbart to look good, I have to make it just to enjoy the process of creating SOMETHING, ANYTHING, and not judging what I make as I make it. I think pre-planning also helps a bit. Planning something out and WHEN i'll make time for it (setting time limits helps a little, too) with a sketch with precise details and ideas (already decided on) helps me focus on just bringing the art to fruition, not getting caught up in the details as much. Pre-planning helps me avoid the constant doubt, and trust the original idea that doesnt need to be changed/tweaked over and over and over again until its "perfect."
The hardest part is sitting with the emotion of like, disappointment or disgust or frustration that the art doesnt look good/perfect likr I want it to. You gotta sit with that feeling frequently, is what Im learning. Dont let that feeling stop you or make you hide the art or throw it away. You gotta resist that urge to fix or conceal and go out and show it off. Thats the harfest part tho, and im working on it still lol
Yeah, I take photos, I find I spend a lot of time deciding which ones I want to keep vs which ones should be deleted (they’re usually identical) but then I feel bad about deleting them lol. Then I spend an insane time editing them sometimes. Sometimes if I feel trapped in my thoughts or spirals I’ll go out and take photos to help. It does help but I don’t do it as often as I would like. Yeah I definitely find it hard to be proud of my work lol it never feels good enough
I relate to everything you just said fr. Ugh, im sorry you deal with that too. I like that you take breaks by taking photos. That might be something I try when im getting stuck in a drawing - just doing a stupid little doodle on the side to break the spiral for a bit.
OCD made me struggle making art. I storytell through drawing. its been very difficult. I even tually managed to cope with it by expressing what is like to have ocd through my art
I relate to that, too. I have grown up watching my grandma being a struggling artist, too, because even tho shes not diagnosed, she definitely has OCD, and it seems like its just caused her to be so hyper critical of her own work, she never sold or showed any of it. She always encouraged me to do that, tho. Still, the encouragement doesnt solve the intrusive thoughts and mental spirals. I love that you story-tell about your OCD through your art. That's something I'd like to do as well. Hardest part is making time for art these days.
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