Artist’s Block, Break Out of that Horrible Slump
What do you do to break out of a slump? Artists block…or whatever you want to call it……it’s got you, what do you do?
A Can’t Think of Anything to Draw!
We all get it and rather than just tell what I do, I am going to list a bunch of ideas and comments from other artists. So lets hear what they suggest and then you can decide what’s best for you.
I just rant and rave. And RAGE!
COMMENTS FROM A DOODLERS LINKED IN GROUP.
Keith Kern • Get out and do something you love doing. Have an adventure, watch a cool movie or whatever it is you like to do.
JB [Jack] Hertz • Kind of depends on what the situation is. It is different if it is for a deadline. Nothing can kill creativity better than pressure to perform. Getting away and doing diversionary things doesn’t work as well for me as I find I tend to obsess on the fact that I can’t come up with anything. And there I am sitting in a movie thinking about not being able to come up with some idea rather than enjoying the movie!!
If I just feel like I have had the last idea i’ll ever have, I will just scribble on a piece of paper. Big swirls, and little tight ones. Then I stare at it for a while. It is amazing what you can see in that sort of thing. It can really get the juices flowing. Another technique I use is to just draw. Free your mind. draw eyes, or other body parts..or faces then I imagine what the faces are saying or doing. Also I try not to throw much of what I have done away whether it is good or not as I can look through this “morgue” and get stimulated as well.
Chuck P• That is very good advice Jack, doing simple little scribbles and doodles would at least get me doing something on paper. It might inspire something…..you never know. I obsess on my block also and that is probably why it is stumping me. I should also work on some faces and hands as well as those are the things I am not happy with in my own critique. I might just have to start a :sketch graveyard” as well…lol…maybe I can pull a doodle back from the dead into something significant!
JB [Jack] Hertz • Glad you found something useful. I am always happy to help. This is a tad off target, but I find ideas don’t always come at the moment you are trying to conjure them up. Some of my best have come just as I am waking up. I guess that’s when my mind is the least cluttered. They may come, however, any time and anywhere. At any rate, I always
try to have a note pad and pencil close by so I can write down any pearls I surely will forget ten minutes later. [ (Shhh it’s a secret). That’s really why there are napkins on tables in restaurants and bars] ©¿©
Our brains are really funny machines. It is impossible to understand why there are somethings we cannot get out of them, while others are gone in a flash..at least that is what happens between my ears.
Keith Kern • “Great ideas Jack”
Wayne Andreason • (that’s me) I say, work on something easy. It seams like you don’t want to draw or paint when you fear that it won’t turn out. A lot of accomplished artists have the same problem. They too fear that it won’t work. They will work on an easy area on something that is easy, not a face. Then as their Left Brain shuts off and the Right Brain engages, they get back into their groove.
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I really like this sketch and I’m going to paint it but I’m concerned that the student’s might not like that I’ve decided to portray a BYU alumni overweight. And as many of you know, they don’t smoke, so I am taking a little risk here. Not to worry, they may be Mormons but they aren’t that uptight. 
This is the finish art demo: It was a lot of fun working on it and talking to students. I was happy that they thought it was funny… or at least, didn’t beat me up for poking fun. I worked on it in class for about 4 hours and spent an additional 2 at home with a few finishing touches.
This is the beginnings of my digital stage where I Scan in my sketch, take that into Photoshop and airbrush some smooth, basic colors and keep them kind of dark. My main concern is getting everything no lighter than about 50% value.