As creatives we all understand, and have probably experienced 'that'
horrible feeling. You know the one, ‘Nothing I do is going to be good
enough, BOLD enough, why doesn’t my hand do what I’m telling it to! AHHH I
CAN’T DRAW!!!' Yes it's the old and familiar artist block and the
horrible feeling that followers...doubt in yourself.
We all have or will have it at some point in our creative journey (and if you haven't so far consider yourself extremely fortunate) and hit the road block that is artists block.
So what is it? Why does this horrible thing happen and how can we avoid it. And why the heck am I writing about it?
My artist block last week
Being blocked creatively for a creative person is seriously debilitating. Our creativity is our power, our voice and our way of making an impact on this wide world. When we can’t express what we need to, we feel like we’re getting hit in the face with Lucille, Negan’s bat... (Don’t know Negan? that’s cool, it’s a bat with wire on it basically. ow ow ouuuwch!)
But why
does it happen? Most of the time I find it's overthinking what we need to do.
Letting the left hand side of the brain take over and not listening to the
right side. But there are many reasons for all types of people. Here is a link that will depict it better then I could. 7 Types of Creative Block (and What to Do About Them)
What I did...
I knew I had to paint something to go on my YouTube channel for the week. But last week I had this feeling. Everything I tried wasn’t working for me. Luckily I record everything; pretty much, so I have a few pics and a vid to show on how I struggled.
So I started with an acrylic painting,
that seems
to be my go to a.t.m .
I decided portrait.
That’s cool.
Then I tried to paint the position
I wanted. And
that is where it started
to go downhill.
Here is the video, now I look back on
it, I could
have forced a painting out,
but I was trying to paint something from
my head,
no reference, and wanted the
girls face in a certain way, and it
wasn’t
helping.
 |
| Where I left it... |
I got
quite frustrated at this point. BREATHE! So I took a walk... 'That could help
‘I thought. And so I did. When I got back I tried these.
Here is Rapunzel I jumped into this
one with no lines, I just wanted
to get painting! Anyone..... Can
you even see what I painted here?
I think I was trying to paint some kind
of galaxy here... I don’t feel I
was
successful. Nope! Just wanted to get stuck in
there with the pigment but... nope!
In the end I gave up. A walk usually does me good but for some reason it
just wasn’t working. That was my Sunday gone. I tried to paint something on Wednesday,
and was slightly more successful. However I knew that I could do better so I
was disappointed in myself.
So how did I overcome it?
In 2015 I really struggled creatively and I knew I didn’t want to go back to that place. I developed a few hacks to try and get out of that negative head space. So here are my tips and tricks to shove away those artist blues.
Drink a tall glass of water. This may sound un-impressive, but sometimes the
brain needs a drink to keep going! Stay hydrated, using brain power uses more
then you may think.
Take a walk. This is my go to tip/trick. Usually it’s all in the head and
airing out the cobwebs in some fresh air does you wonders. Take a trip to the
park, cafe if it’s raining, even a museum if you’re in a really difficult head
space. Bring along a sketchbook and try some observation drawings. No need to
think just copy.
Instagram, Pinterest, YOUTUBE! |These are great places to see other artists
going through the mill. These are my favourite sites to check out because I
follow some amazingly talented artists, and I am ever so slightly competitive.
(⊙.⊙(*ₒ☉)⊙.⊙)
But you have your own vibes and interests! What sites do you
like to scroll through? Just make sure you are looking at images, or
reading articles that pertain to your type of work.
DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF!!! I can’t stress this enough. You are amazing
in your way, there amazing in their way. If you try to be them, you can’t be
yourself! It’s very easy to fall into the trap of trying to be like other
artists and not being able to get out of this habit. Try by all means, but stay
true to yourself and your art work style.
Inspirational wall quotes. There are lots of good quotes out there. Find one
with meaning for you and pot it into a picture frame where you will see it often.
And lastly I would like to recommend grabbing a very cheap and
ugly sketchbook. Why? Because you won’t care how badly you draw in it.
It’s a fudge ugly sketchbook! (If you’re like me you like pretty ones!)
Get a sketchbook that you have no attachment to. What do I mean by this?
Well if you’re even a little bit like me, when you see or think of stationary
or art supplies, you give birth to a little unicorn! It's that amazing. ∩(︶▽︶)∩
So try not to make such an attachment. Hard I know, but I find if there
is less pressure on you to create something wonderful; with wonderful pens and
beautiful sketchbooks, it is a lot easier to get into the flow of creation and
create something fabulous.
So, go check out your nearest pound shop. Buy the cheapest book you can find, one that you can stomach working on, and then dive in. And the great thing is, you don’t care if your drawings are good. All you are doing is filling up the pages to get your creative brain into gear.
Shamefully I must admit. It was new paints that got me out of my week’s
rut. I know this is bad but don’t you just love new paints?! ❤(ˆ‿ˆԅ)
~~~
And those are my tips! I will probably suggest a few more tips in the
future but those are my main go to tricks to get my creative juices flowing
again.
What tricks do you use? Do you have a way to get out of the horrid
artists block? Leave a comment and let me know! I sure would love to hear what
other ways there are out there that I could try next time this happens.
Until then, stay beautiful my beautiful readers.
~Chow4noW~
