This concept might be one of the biggest to prove the point, “Mind over Matter.”
Oh Artblock! The artist’s woe – the void of creativity – the death of imagination. Art block has got to be one of the biggest, AND most non-real issues I’ve heard people running into.
The thing about Artblock, is that it only exists if you believe it exists. And it’s only powerful, if you don’t try to figure it out.
The first thing that we need to do is actually understand what is happening when we’re experiencing “art block.” The sooner we can put a reasoning behind our feelings, the sooner we can rid ourselves of this “all-encompassing magical curse.”
I want to point out, that a concept like this is one of the sole reasons I’m making these journals. Someone coined a term, tons of people circulate it – and it ends up being a crutch. An unexplainable, uncontrollable, thing that just strikes fear as some inevitable thing that you will have to suffer through time to time.
In reality, “Art Block” is an imaginary thing created to absorb the blame. This becomes more apparent when we look at “art block” more closely.
First off, let’s dissect some of the common concepts of Art block.
· Lack of creativity/imagination. You literally can’t think of anything. · Lack of ability to physically create – Everything you’re making doesn’t come out well. · Lack of motivation. Nothing sounds fun.
Sounds familiar eh?
Well first I’d like to talk about how your mood affects a lot of your general activity. For example. It’s a lot harder for me to work if I’m frustrated. It’s a lot harder for me to teach if I’m feeling unaccomplished. Humans are simple things, we can only concentrate well on one thing at a time. If our emotions are occupying us, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to focus. I think this is why a lot of people listen to music while they work – it can be easier to get in the zone. (Now, there is a time and place for everything. I won’t delve into this much, but there are many times when even music can be a distraction and can impede your concentration.)
Keep in mind that the more you run into “artblock” while working, the more unsatisfied you’re going to be – which will add to your lack of focus. It’s the same as being on a losing streak in some game. If you’re tilted, you’re gonna get more frustrated, and you’re gonna play worse, and you’re gonna get even more mad. First and foremost – take a break if you’re finding yourself in this situation. But in a perfect world, you’ll just sharpen your ability to spot the problem, and fix it.
So let’s look at each situation individually and figure out how to fix it.
Let’s take the first one for a spin. Lack of Creativity/Imagination (as it pertains to an artblock scenario)
Say you’re generally pretty ok at coming up with drawings, or an idea. And for some reason, you just can’t. Nothing comes to mind.
First, I'd look at your workflow. Do you have one at all? Do you have a method for coming up with an idea?
Seriously, if you were to make a piece RIGHT NOW. What sort of steps would you take? Would you think for a sec, and start creating? I bet that’s what most of you would do.
There is no right or wrong, in fact, jumping into it is a good way to get your brain thinking and working. BUT, going with the FIRST THING you start drawing is almost always not going to be the best. Tons of artists will sketch in an almost “stream of consciousness method.” You might start sketching something, think of something mid-sketch, and once you’re done, hop onto the next thing. Or you might sketch your base idea, realize that you could’ve done it better in some way or form, and done a 2nd or 3rd draft. This iterative process is totally solid. However, if you’re one to get frustrated easily, this process might be the problem.
You can also jump-start this process by looking around. This works for anything art. If you’re brain isn’t in the “mode” – you can get it there by exposing it to stuff. Drawing can be a very intensive task – figuring out the form and dimension of things in space depicted in 2D? Stuff can get very complicated very quickly – and if your head isn’t thinking dimensionally in the first place, you might find it harder to lay some stuff down. Or with a story, perhaps it’s tough to just jump into creating your own world – why not look at some that’s inspired you before? I’m not even talking about reference gathering – I’m literally just talking about exposing yourself to the material that you will be tackling. Get yourself thinking in the language (whatever language) before you speak it for the day.
And finally, DO GATHER REFERENCE – Keep in mind all the things you’ve learned and gather resources that will aid you in your process. Don’t become a slave to your resources though. Learn to use your references as launching points, not as a crutch. And the more you know what’s out there, the more you know what doesn’t exist yet.
The best part about these methods – is that they tend to actually change your mood anyways. Say you’re frustrated, but you HAVE to do something (deadlines) – once you get going into it, and you’ve reached the point of focus, you’ll quickly get over your frustration and just be in the zone.
Let’s move on to the next, Lack of ability to create (as it pertains to an artblock scenario)
I mean your actual ability to create. Be whatever medium, you just can’t do anything as well as usual. On rare occasions – it’s just not a great day. This is typically due to the reasons above though, you’re distracted to some degree, and nothings working, and the frustration is getting to you, and you’re tilted. (Tilted is a gamer term when you’re getting more and more frustrated and salty, typically due to being wrekt) But again, with proper work-flow, you can bust out of this with a solid warm up.
So again, I’d look at workflow. What sort of steps do you take when you’re drawing? A lot of the preparation changes depending on how experienced you are, and what you’re drawing.
Say it’s your main character that you’ve drawn millions of times, and you’re a pretty solid draftsman. You’ll probably never have a time when you’re drawing your character, and you feel like you just can’t draw em that well. Just because you KNOW your character, and you’re experienced enough to not be running into a lot of problems.
Say you’re a pretty solid draftsman, and you’re drawing something you’ve never drawn before. More than likely, you’ll gather up some refs and have a few tries with some rougher drawings. This will let you troubleshoot a decent design very quickly. Pretty quickly, you should be able to command the design enough to get the job done, perhaps even quite well.
Say you’re a bit junior on the draftsman-side, you don’t quite have a solid workflow or way of thinking, you just “kinda draw” and sometimes it comes out pretty good! But sometimes it doesn’t. Often times, we might be drawing a thing that we don’t actually KNOW, nor have we taken the correct time to study. If we’re just taking shots in the dark and essentially guessing while drawing, it makes sense that we’ll only get it right so many times.
This is kinda more relying on “critting” your drawing. (I call a drawing a Crit when it comes out perfectly awesome for seemingly no reason, like a critical strike). Anyone who’s plays a DPS class in any endgame knows that depending on critical strikes (unless the build is meant for it) is never the most reliable method. I’m taking the gamer lingo way too far here, but there are “builds” that work with the crit method – like doing a bunch of thumbnail sketches. Thumbnails are very small sketches of whatever – a scene, a design, a pose. You’re literally shitting out sketches until one works really well – the crit! Of course, with proper iterative analysis (actually analyzing your images, and troubleshooting and making them better) you “increase your crit chance” per thing you are working on.
Focusing on a more solid foundation will allow you to understand your subject more, meaning you’re relying on your knowledge, rather than your luck.
Furthermore, changing up how you’re drawing something can also help a tremendous amount. I find myself skipping a lot of basic steps when drawing, I’ll rely on just doing what I think is right, rather than planning out the base structures via Constructional Drawing. Some poses might be giving me issues, but as soon as I go back to planning out the bigger shapes in the most basic form, it’s always easier to get a more solid drawing.
Now, the last thing Lack of Motivation.
So say you’re on a project, and you have to get it done, and you REALLY don’t care for it. For whatever reason. You don’t like the content, you don’t like the subjects, you don’t like who you’re doing it for, or why you’re doing it etc – Any of these are going to make you less stoked for the project.
This one actually can’t be solved via change of workflow. (unless the above processes help you get your head in the game)
The problem is fundamentally in the thing you’re doing – and the only actual solutions are either A – Trudging through it. B – Reworking the project. Or C – Dropping it all together.
If you can trudge through it, you’re probably better off. The training of discipline will be nice, and if you’re able to make solid stuff that you’re NOT happy to work on – that’ll only help you in the future. Of course, if you’re in the situation where you don’t have to deal with it or trudge through (say it’s a personal project, or working with a flexible person) – then you can look at the options, and make the project more enjoyable, or switch to something new entirely.
Reworking the project can revitalize the love for it in the first place. But when you’re reworking a project, make sure you’re taking all THINGS into consideration. If you have a base idea, swapping major components will more than likely cause issues, unless you’re taking those changes into consideration. Reworking things can add a lot of extra work, but if it ends up making the product better, the rework can be by far the best move for the piece!
Finally, if there’s too many issues with the project, it can be best to drop it all together. If it’s for work, even a full refund can relieve an enormous amount of stress – Lots of times, the money isn’t worth it. If it’s a solo project, then abandoning a broken project is no biggy – You more than likely learned something along the way, and you’ll be able to take that knowledge and apply it to the next project. You could also shelf the idea, and return to it when you’ve had more experience. No shame in that. A good idea is a good idea, execution is tough, and will be easier with experience.
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The next time you’re feeling like you have “artblock” – Take a step back and really focus on what’s getting you down. What doesn’t seem to be working? What’s difficult right now? What’s happening different? What other ways can you tackle this?
Art is largely problem solving. But you do have to know the answers to solve the problems. And you also have to know that there are problems to solve in the first place!
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This article and the future ones to come is apart of an on-going project called Bursting the Artistic Bubble! Where I go around trying to debunk/clarify pre-established notions, and give some different perspectives on em. Things aren't always black and white, and I find a lot of these concepts can't be summarized in a single sentence. Paraphrasing can cause more harm than good, so I'm doing what I can to illuminate these concepts.
good thing you don't have writers block^^ Bad joke I know, but I'm sure everyone was thinking it despite the fact that your explaining how to work around it and probably don't actually have it at this moment in time
good thing you don't have writers block^^ Bad joke I know, but I'm sure everyone was thinking it des
Very nice tips for art blocks. I found that the longer I do art the less "art blocks" I have. Maybe the feeling of safety comming with more experience helps?
Very nice tips for art blocks. I found that the longer I do art the less "art blocks" I have. Maybe
This kind of doesn't address my issues with art block. To me artblock represents when you determine you will draw something, anything, and then realise that there's nothing you actually WANT to draw. I have a list of things I want to draw eventually that gets longer and longer but every time I sit down to DO it, I can't make myself. Its not that I don't like the idea, or the work, or lack a reason to do it. But nothing gets the mojo going. And then I run out of time, or more often get distracted by my references. (Curse you internet, and your gateway to unlimited things!)
This kind of doesn't address my issues with art block. To me artblock represents when you determine
:O see! I don't know if you really WANT to draw it then!
Bare with me here.
When you're hungry, you WANT to get food, yeah? So more than likely, you're gonna go get food. Maybe you can't just yet, or you don't really know what to eat. Or there's nothing around immediately. BUT EVENTUALLY, you're gonna get so DANG HUNGRY, that you're just gonna eat whatever. Because you want to! (in several days, you'll NEED to)
If you really wanna draw something, you're gonna draw it :O
To me at least. That's how I feel. I can't decide your definition of words, but perhaps I can make ya consider different perspectives! For example: What if art was viewed like how food was? In what scenarios would you NEED to draw? How can you shift your values to get there?
Just food for thought!
:O see! I don't know if you really WANT to draw it then! Bare with me here. When you're hungry, yo
Well see that's actually a good way to understand art block though. Some people go for weeks or months without 'needing' to draw, and can't make themselves despite feeling like it. The food sounds really good but you're not hungry. That's art block. The desire to draw but sitting down and finding yourself too full to do it.
Its like, when you know you should eat but you try to decide what you want to eat and nothing sounds good. The worst of crisises! (:P. Being indecisive about food is ALMOST worse than about art xP)
Well see that's actually a good way to understand art block though. Some people go for weeks or mont
Well, then I guess I just revert back to my own values.
I wanna make something big and be someone super cool before I die, so every day I go not-working at that is a bit of a waste. After a few days, I start feeling like a giant turd for not being productive! At that point, I pretty much NEED to do something, or I get uneasy and things suck.
I wasn't always like this, I used to laze hardcore back in the day, but I dunno! My goals changed, my priorities changed, and my values changed. That's how I made art be a necessity like food.
ALSO WAIT HOLD ON. Are you telling me, if food sounds good, but you're too full, you WON'T eat it anyways? If i had a dollar for everytime I over-ate because some opportunity brought up some food that looked awesome, I'd have some extra dough :V
Hmm I see! Well, then I guess I just revert back to my own values. I wanna make something big and
He he. Well, I personally think you've got your goals pretty good. As an artist you're reasonably famous, and you're definitely someone super cool. :P
Iunno, I dunno if I'd call it lazyness, but its not top of the priority list for me. I personally want to be a decent artist, good enough that people who's work I enjoy can look at my work and say "that's some good shit". But becoming an amazing artist isn't number one for me.its one of many life goals. So I guess you could say i'm not devoted enough. But I think this is another topic. Xp. When it comes to art block, maybe I don't want it enough. But its really frustrating when I DO want to draw, and input asside TIME to draw, and then I sit and stare at a blank page wracking my brain for something interesting to draw xP
Its mind of like 'yeah, I want to be an artist but there's nothing I want to actually art....' XP. Which is really strange to be sure but..
He he. Well, I personally think you've got your goals pretty good. As an artist you're reasonably fa
