I see a lot of people post about ‘art block’. It’s like an ongoing inside joke within the art community and I definitely use it as an excuse sometimes as well. Don’t get me wrong.
However, the truth is, I don’t think that art block is that much of a deal.
Let me explain.
As soon as art becomes your job, you can’t just say to your client or your employer: ‘Today and for the next two weeks I will have an art block, thus I will do no work.’ With or without a struggle, you still need to produce good quality work. That’s the reality.
But maybe, first, let’s first try to define the infamous art block. Because what does that really stand for? Lack of inspiration? Lack of motivation? Lack of ideas? Lack of energy to create? Self-doubt? Skill limitation? Dissatisfaction with the work we’ve created? Frustration over the way it looks?
Art block can be caused by many factors and usually will result in the artist not producing art. But again, when you are a hobbyist or a beginner, you can allow yourself to not pick up that pen for 3 months (although I’d advise against it), however, when you are trying to pursue art as your career, you need to find ways to not let an art block affect you. Ever. For the most part, you simply won’t be able to afford it.
And perhaps that’s one of the key differences between a professional artist and a hobbyist/beginner artist. A professional artist will deliver quality art, often on a very tight schedule (depending on the industry) and still manage to come up with creative solutions.
Disclaimer: don’t misunderstand. We are all human, we have our highs and lows, moments when we are more or less creative. The professional artist, however, will tend to get over their lows in a fast manner. Once it’s your job, you are forced to find a way out of it fast.
So, what do professionals do?
Well, first you need to identify the reason for your art block and then attack that specific issue. Let’s go over some of the things I’ve mentioned before.
lack of ideas/inspiration
Lack of ideas is relatively easy to tackle. However, I think we’ve all been there, scrolling through Pinterest for 3 hours, only to close the drawing app with frustration. In that case, you need to stop overthinking it. Good exercise for this is my abstract painting method. You can watch the short video on this here.
The idea is that you put mindless and abstract strokes on your canvas until you start to recognize some from. This can lead you to very interesting outcomes and, because you will paint without expectations, you will be less likely to be disappointed with the outcome of your painting. It’s also a good way to focus on the creative process more, rather than trying to achieve some sort of outcome, like you’d do while painting from a reference.
Of course, another good practice would be going on ArtStation but, what also works like a dream in these situations, is watching speed painting videos. Every artist has a different technique, so sometimes just by observing, how they start a painting, how they put down colours etc. can easily inspire you to try it on your own.
lack of motivation
This one of course is a bit tricky. If you work for someone and you have any sense of responsibility, you won’t struggle with motivation much, because it’s just the things that need to be done. And even if you will struggle to do it, you will still do it because you have to. (Unless you perhaps want to debate quitting).
Different things will help different people. When it comes to art block, I usually try to go to websites like Artstation or film grab and look for inspiration. Finding a nice reference photo with interesting shapes also spikes my interest and motivates me to paint.
If these things don’t work for you, maybe you need a routine to put yourself in a creative zone. Perhaps through music or podcast or going out to a cafe or a different room in the house. Or maybe you work best with a clear schedule and all you need to do is set up that you paint every day at 8 pm for two hours before bed. I did it during school and it worked wonders.
Some people will have to go outside and try to experience something different to get that motivation. You will have to experiment on your own.
self-doubt/skill limitation
Pro or not a pro, we all sometimes forget how to paint. And it’s just because painting is difficult. You should practice every day to keep your skills consistent. So when this art block gets you, try to do studies, break down the forms, focus on observing. Stay loose with your sketches, don’t fix anything, let yourself experiment with different brushes and brush sizes.
You can also do painting studies of full images. For me personally, I found that the less detailed the work is the better I find my way back to my art flow.
Try to limit the time you spend on your studies, you want to avoid thinking too much. If you want to practice poses, this is a good website for it. Set the timer for 20/30 seconds. Definitely no longer than a minute and let yourself make mistakes. The whole reason for the short timer is that you should not have time to start fixing your drawing. Draw it quickly and move to another one.
frustration with the way your art looks
And here, finally, all of the above and master studies. When this frustration kicks in you need to take a step back, stop comparing yourself to other artists and instead put all of your focus on how they got their art to look like this. Not only it’s a great learning exercise but it will also open up your perspective on a lot of different techniques. Here is the time to go into the details. Analyse all of the brush strokes, colour, go with a colour picker over these paintings and take note of everything.
You can create a board with examples of work that you find incredible. Go over them and make notes on different things you notice that they do. Compare between them. Ask yourself: WHY and HOW. Why do you like it? Why does it evoke this feeling in me? How did they showcase this subject? Why not in a different way?
Save that board and go back to it from time to time whenever you feel stuck or uninspired. This is actually good for any sort of art block because it allows you to go inward and really think about what you want your art to look like and where you want to take your art next.
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Remember! Art is great but it’s difficult. It requires a lot of time to master, so don’t beat yourself up whenever things aren’t exactly going your way. Take every failed attempt as an opportunity for a lesson.
Every professional has once been a beginner. Dealing with art block and overcoming it is something every artist had to learn at some point in their lives. Unless they have the privilege of working whenever and however they’d like. Most of us, however, have deadlines and schedules, people in the team or clients, that you have to deliver to. It’s all part of the journey.
Happy painting x
Tori
These two paintings I created using the abstract method. I did not expect these results whatsoever but the painting process was very enjoyable.