So I am not an art person. I didn't grow up drawing and go to school for art, I am not a creative person in that aspect, but I like digital things and I wanted to try it. I've tried lots of things, lineart, digital painting, manips a combination of everything.

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I have images in my head of how I want things to turn out, I understand that they are not going to be Tier 1, and I know the steps to execute this, it just doesn't work, hair goes straight, lighting goes flat, I just cannot figure I out. I'd I can copy something of trace over it step by step of course it turns out and then I try it on my own and it goes to trash. I'm losing motivation.

Any tips or ideas?

My advice is to practice the things that you need to work on the most. Maybe look at some tutorials of some kind, or just look at regular pictures or examples of other artists to look for crucial things that you might find are absent in your own art. I've done this a few times, and it has definitely helped me out. Another thing I would suggest is to become more familiar with the different art tools, and experiment with them. For instance, when I used the smudge tool for the first time, I was surprised at what a difference it made.

I've been in this exact same position before! I know exactly how frustrating it can be for something you imagined not to come out the way you had wished, but I know I have some things I do which helped me with this :) first I always like to focus on small details until I have them exactly the way I like. For me it might mean re drawing a chunk of hair like 10 times or adjusting the lighting on one portion of the horse until I think it's just right. Just fixing one small detail at a time, which will eventually make the piece look better all together. And if I'm ever really unhappy with a piece I'm working on or start to loose motivation I like to put it away for the day and start working again on it tomorrow. This might not be a problem you have but I know after staring at a piece for to long I start to notice a million little things I don't like, and getting a fresh look at it in the morning helps me to see to big things I still need to fix, and takes my attention away from something that might not even be noticeable to other people. I just recently was able to confidently re create something I had pictured and it is very rewarding so my biggest suggestion is don't give up! I hope this helps a little bit :)