The best explanation for that is your ability to recognize good work outpacing your ability to create work of that level, creating a perceived dip in your ability goldseven.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/a...

This ties into the whole debate re: whether “draw every day!” advice is actually useful. The short answer is yes, it will help you build muscle memory and refine technique in the “this is great!” Part of the chart, but eventually you’ll know when you’re bumping against the side of your tank

📌

I wonder if there's a similar curve to how being mentally blocked wrt creativity goes.

Was definitely kinda in this zone in 2022 and last year. There were pieces I cringed at where I was struggling & no type of workarounds seemed to be acceptable to me.

Im at the bottom of a What the Hell at the moment.

I regularly reference this, it’s a great reminder of “where that skill went” when you’re feeling down about art.

I think this is true for many things that take skill, practice and critique. I've encountered that when it comes to my cooking. As my skills have improved, I see my flaws. Add in being exposed to better versions of the things I make, I'll get hyper critical of everything.

I... I needed this

being aware of this phenomenon does not make it any less piquant, alas

Some friends of mine shared this graph with me when I was trying to explain my current slump. I can see a lot of what I wanna draw and how I want to, but my technical skill is not at a point to meet it and it's beyond frustrating. Looking at this made it less so.