Shirt.Woot

How do you guys get over "artist's block"? You know, when you can't think of ideas or draw anymore for no apparent reason. It used to be so easy to come up with decent ideas and execute them the way I wanted... but for the past few weeks my brain just isn't doing what I tell it to do. I've conveyed the problem visually, and yes this is now the extent of my drawing ability:


Anyone else have days and/or weeks like this? How do you fix it? Any help would be much appreciated.

A good way that I have found is to explore the idea with thumbnail sketches first. It's a quick, low cost way to see what is and isn't working, (composition, characters, placement, expression) and it can help lead more/better ideas.
And never just go with the first thing you put down on paper. You might end up investing a lot of time in a not so good idea or execution.

If you can't get over that artists' block, feel free to make a series of comics. I'd enjoy them.

I might catch some flak for this, but I say booze. Not too much of course, just a few beers or glasses of wine. If you have a drinking problem then obviously this is a bad idea.. you can't create when you are passed out on the floor.

But otherwise a little sauce will relax you, remove stress, lower your inhibitions a bit and perhaps increase your creativity as a result.

Drunken drawing may not be the best plan, but you might come up with some great ideas or new ways of looking at something. The sort of thing you could refine later maybe.

Am I crazy?

bluetuba wrote:I might catch some flak for this, but I say booze. Not too much of course, just a few beers or glasses of wine. If you have a drinking problem then obviously this is a bad idea.. you can't create when you are passed out on the floor.

But otherwise a little sauce will relax you, remove stress, lower your inhibitions a bit and perhaps increase your creativity as a result.

Drunken drawing may not be the best plan, but you might come up with some great ideas or new ways of looking at something. The sort of thing you could refine later maybe.

Am I crazy?

lsd.

no1 wrote:lsd.

too much!

Sleep.
Really.
If you aren't getting enough sleep, it will negatively affect your performance review....minus review.

Good advice

@Radscoolian: You're right. I was never much of a thumbnail-drawing person in school and my teachers warned me that this can result in much time wasted on bad designs. I will totally make more thumbnails even if I only have 24 hours to make the design.

@4khaos: Maybe I will! If you like my ridiculous comic you'd really like hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com. I love her work.

@bluetuba: No, you are not crazy. I've made many designs using this method of inspiration, lol. Not in excess, of course.

@no1: I do like Alex Gray's artwork, but I don't have the time to make stuff like that so I'll have to pass on the lsd.


@j5: Make derby designs AND get enough sleep? :P

Stop believing in it. That's what I did.
Always be curious, always be drawing, and always push beyond your comfort zone. Every artist needs to dismantle their style and the way they do things a few times to really get a sense of why and how they create like they do.
Also don't get too precious about what you create. We all have thousands of bad ideas in us, and the only way to get to the good ones is through exploration and iteration.

i used to spend most of my spare time making music.
never suffered any writer's block though.
still, i think i may have some useful advice.

the most important thing, to me, seemed to be being at it most every day. that made me get better and helped me work more efficiently.

about the alcohol thing: even half a glass made it impossible for me to achieve anything even remotely worthwhile, and even took the fun out of it.
the best way to manipulate your state of mind is prolly meditation, yoga and the likes (BTW have a look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwave_entrainment).

some things may disable your inspiration: e.g. taking things too seriously, not accepting the fact that one piece of art will turn out better than the other, losing sight of the essence by focusing on little rules and aspects...

ochopika wrote:Good advice If you like my ridiculous comic you'd really like hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com. I love her work.

wow, great work!

I like to keep sketching small thumbnail drawings. Very rough sketches on 8.5 x 11 paper. Just keep jotting down ideas and keep it loose. I find when an idea suddenly hits, the sketch is no bigger than 3 inches, crammed on the last bit of paper.

edit: Oops, I do what Radscoolian does.

Hmmm... it's a good question. For me, personally, I like to have something inspiring going on around me while I work. Often this means having something on the TV that visually might get the wheels turning, or putting on piece of music that helps reconnect the discontinuity between what's in my head and what's going on paper.

Some people would say that's distracting, but I find there's a definite way that what you see or hear can inspire.

I agree that sometimes when an idea hits, it helps to draw it, even on just a tiny piece of paper, so as to remember it, and work out whether it might work.

but you're talking about when an idea DOESN'T hit. I'll go and do something else, completely different, and let my mind float. weeding, mowing, mebe some woodworking. often when I go back to drawing a get a better flow of ideas.

bluetuba wrote:I might catch some flak for this, but I say booze. Not too much of course, just a few beers or glasses of wine. If you have a drinking problem then obviously this is a bad idea.. you can't create when you are passed out on the floor.

But otherwise a little sauce will relax you, remove stress, lower your inhibitions a bit and perhaps increase your creativity as a result.

Drunken drawing may not be the best plan, but you might come up with some great ideas or new ways of looking at something. The sort of thing you could refine later maybe.

Am I crazy?

But even having one drink a day, if it is everyday, will lead to alcoholism. But yes many people find that it does help, sometimes because you don't discard an idea because you think people will think it is stupid.

blanked wrote:But even having one drink a day, if it is everyday, will lead to alcoholism. But yes many people find that it does help, sometimes because you don't discard an idea because you think people will think it is stupid.

Tell that to Europeans who drink wine everyday and aren't alcoholics? But anyway, I'm talking about special occasions like writers block, not advocating getting drunk every day.

If somebody has long term block they should probably try to find a more permanent solution. ;)

Here is my advice: Do something different that you haven't done before.

Take a walk or ride in a new neighborhood
Go to a museum that you haven't seen (there are museums for everything these days - comic books, trains, dolls, etc)
Go to a new restaurant and eat something you've never tasted
Listen to new music, try music from another country where you don't understand any of the words
Learn the basics of a new hobby/craft like knitting, carpentry/plumbing, or cake decorating
Do something "daring" for you - skydiving, public speaking, dancing in the street, riding an amusement park ride that has always scared you, whatever tests your personal limits...

I find that new experiences are the best way to move beyond a blockage of any kind. I am not a visual artist (Oh, how I wish I could do what you do!), but I believe we have all been "blocked" before in one way or another. I hope this helps because I enjoy your work immensely.... and I've been to G-burg many times.

caramelarrow wrote:... and I've been to G-burg many times.

me too! every day!
My suggestion is to go downtown to the Smithsonian and see the 2 current Japanese exhibits, one, the 36 views of Edo by Hokusai, in the Sackler, and the Hokusai screens associated with it (in the Freer, I think), and 2, the National Gallery of Art's exhibit of the “Colorful Realm of Living Beings”, both are amazing. oh, and there's a Picasso exhibit in the NGA of his drawings, most amazing.

Everyone has been so nice and helpful I could cry! I won't, but I could.
I super-agree that being too serious and caring too much about what people think is a big hindrance to creativity. I do that a lot at woot now. It's both good and bad to care about how your art is received. I mean, you may not learn how to make readable art that people understand unless you practice making art that people like (maybe you don't want to make understandable art and that's ok too). I've been throwing a lot of ideas out because I don't think they're woot-y enough and I see now that it is bad to do that. Bad Ochopika!

I'll just go make more steel sculptures if I'm stuck in my drawing world. I make chibi-style metal planters *like..bunnies and cats and stuff*...hey I was doing it BEFORE I knew anything about this site.

@camelarrow and josephus: I wish I still lived in G-burg so I could go to DC!!! I'd love to see all those exhibits. I'll look them up on the interwebs, though in-person would be better. I live in Portland, Maine now which is why I talked about Maryland so much. I get homesick once in a while. Portland has a billion tiny museums and galleries, too. They aren't as fancy as DC, but they do have a cryptozoology museum..hmm.

Thanks for the awesome advice, everyone!! Of course, feel free to post more if you'd like.

Here's a view:

As anyone playing Draw Something with me can attest, my drawing skills are nil. But, when I have a problem to resolve, if I've spent about 30% of the time I expect to solve it in without making progress, it means I need to take a break and go for a walk or run. I think better when I'm moving, or maybe it's just the change of scenery. Talking through the problem helps sometimes as well, but really, moving around does it for me.

My advice is to just start drawing something. You don't need to have an idea before you start. If you just start making some lines it'll turn into something. Sometimes it's something good. Sometimes mreh. This works great while listening to music.

Edit: having done lsd at some point in your life helps, too.

Double Edit: Do you realize you started this thread on 4/20? The answer was there all along! ;)

BootsBoots wrote: Do you realize you started this thread on 4/20? The answer was there all along! ;)

Hahaha . I don't do that anymore, not that I'm "morally opposed" or anything. It just makes me stare at my refrigerator door for 3 hours so I guess I'm not one of those people who gets more creative using that method. As for the OTHER thing you mentioned, yes.

Free drawing is a great idea, too. Thanks, boots!

BootsBoots wrote:My advice is to just start drawing something. You don't need to have an idea before you start. If you just start making some lines it'll turn into something. Sometimes it's something good. Sometimes mreh. This works great while listening to music.

Edit: having done lsd at some point in your life helps, too.

Double Edit: Do you realize you started this thread on 4/20? The answer was there all along! ;)

This post puts that "boots loves trees" part of your bio into perspective.

odysseyroc wrote:This post puts that "boots loves trees" part of your bio into perspective.

Yeah! I'm totally like a bleary eyed Lorax with a short attention span!