Have you ever just stopped trying?

[megas_imperius]

I was in Art II class, which is a whole lot more boring than it has a right to be, and we were watching a bland PowerPoint presentation when an idea popped into my head for a comic strip.
I decided to go ahead and draw it right there--the teacher was at the board many yards away, so she wouldn't notice--but I ws so lethargic by the events of the rest of the day that I didn't even want to create something good.
So I made this rough, poorly outlined, terribly shaded mess of a disaster in six panels. It can't be called a "doodle", because it has too much ambition, but the storytelling was spot-on, and everyone who's read it has loved it. And, looking at it now, it was actually kind of positive--it was a nostalgic throwback to the old days when I made anarchic, nonsensical comic stories that everyone demanded from me on a regular basis, and the impulsively drawn art has given me insight into my own style.
In fact, when I settled down later to do something "good", my pencil flowed like it hasn't in a long time. It's almost like my artistic mind was recharged by a good afternoon nap.

So has anyone else eer done this? And should I keep doing it whenever I feel stuck, or will it result in serious art damage?

[DSillustration]

There is a lot of sense to that.

I do some of my best work when I am in a complete rush.
It's like drawing a model in 30 seconds, or painting one in 10 minutes.
There's no time to get caught up in your insecurities.
Instead, you just let it flow out of you.
Often times, these are my best pieces.

The notion of not worrying about a final outcome will help the process itself.
You can also try other exercises that promote freedom, like drawing with your opposite hand, or your eyes closed.

[Dandilion]

Wow. Don't I recognice that or what!
I'm currently in a dry period, and it really sucks because I really want to create, but nothing is coming out of me. I guess over analyzing and over thinking is holding me back. But at the same time, nothing inspires me - at all! Really frustrating! Feel completly numb to be honest..

[dashinvaine]

I get periods of having no wind in my sails, no inspiration, and other times when I have too many ideas at once that seem to cancel each other out and lead to the same inertia and minimal output. What is nice is a happy medium, and what I could do with would be the discipline to persevere with a particular piece without wanting to either give up altogether or to rush on to the next thing.

[Stark]

I never stop trying. I just wait and sketch quick doodles or not-so-ambitious drawings that take no longer than 5-10 minutes. That kind of lifts the feeling of nothing coming along, but it doesn't really allow me to open up and do something more ambitious that I would like to.

[entdroid]

Well when I decided to get "serious" about art I had a lot of struggle and times when doing certain things (the "proper things to do") became really boring... then I did something silly and funny and that kept me going on the "serious" stuff. And i went back and forth with this till I decided to stay with what I enjoyed the most. So now I do the stuff I have fun doing and try to develop that and grow from there.
It's just what has worked for me so far, of course every experience is different and I'm no pro, but from where I stand my advice would be trying to incorporate that stuff you like so much to the other things and see what comes up. Enjoying the process is really important!! Just my 2 cents! :)

[Costau D]

It's all about confidence from what I've noticed. Why do you think so many creative people take amphetamines, snort coke, drink, or smoke. I'm deffinetly not condoning that, because obviously it has draw backs. But you always do your best work when your not worrying about it. A sort of relaxed concentration. Like DSillustration mentioned about the gesture sketches in Life drawing, you have no time to worry about anything. Once you do this enough you actually tend to gain an intuitive understanding of whatever it is you're concentrating on. Which is probably why so many good artists, sometimes can't explain themselves or how they do something. I'm sure someone here knows what I'm talking about. You ask a really good artist how he did something, and he stares at you like deer in headlights, and he says I dunno. Haha.

Actually a good quote I got from Feng Zhu, can't remember where. He's always asked how he keeps his inspiration. He says something along the lines of "when I have a project to work on that has a tight deadline, I don't have the time to have a creative block."

Always sketch freely, and whatever thoughts come into your head. It's good practice and it trains you for developing ideas.

Plus if your in a rut and cant come up with anything creative. You are probably being too hard on yourself, a perfectionist. At times like those it's good to go back to basics, or learn something new. Once that dry spell goes away you'll have new tools and skillsets to work with.

[Elwell]

Do or do not... there is no try.
194814

[Jason Rainville]

In painting class, my prelims were ALWAYS better than my finals. With my finals I was just trying to copy my prelim and change a few things based on suggestion, and never let shite just flow like I did for prelims...

So I don't do prelims anymore. Some sketches and thumbs to get a very basic idea down, but my first try is my only.

[Justin.]

Flow also has alot to do with not overworking something. Rough sketches will, more often than not, have more life and gesture to them in a finished piece.

[central]

I've found that the longer I take over a picture, the less passionate I become about it. Some of my favourite stuff, I just did for the heck of it and didn't move till it was done (and they didn't take all winter or anything btw). @Rhineville ya I find a deeper connection with my prelims than anything finished. So these days I'm kinda doing the same too, just a few basic sketches to know what elements not to leave out and then I get right into the picture to try and find other elements to add.

May ur creative mojo never dry .. have fun.

[dashinvaine]

Do or do not... there is no try.
194814

Very wise words of Yoda's. I'm going to make that a motto, although it sounds better in Latin: Agito vel non agito. Conari non est.

[Costau D]

Everything sounds better in Latin.

Futue te ipsum et caballum tuum!

[dierat]

I think in your particular case, megas, you're typically having trouble using the creative side of your brain (usually the right side of the brain). When you sit yourself down with a lot of expectations and really try to make yourself make art, you're using the wrong side of your brain, the left side, which deals with deadlines and organization and making things make sense. When you're bored and your mind "wanders" it's because the right side of the brain is getting to talk for once. I usually get my best ideas when I'm falling asleep (or in dreams). There's a lot of great theory behind this in a book called "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain".

http://drawsketch.about.com/od/suppliesbooks/fr/draw_right_side.htm

[otis]

My best work always comes out when I just don't give a @&$!

[Rich Pellegrino]

My best work always comes out when I just don't give a @&$!

same here!

An old friend of mine used to say "I do my best work stressed out and under pressure". Which was along the lines of what DS said except not nearly as elegant.
;)

I understand where your coming from though. been there. Actually, I learned how to draw in Algebra! :D

[HunterKiller_]

I know for a fact that I produce my best work when the deadline is the next morning. :)

[megas_imperius]

I think in your particular case, megas, you're typically having trouble using the creative side of your brain (usually the right side of the brain). When you sit yourself down with a lot of expectations and really try to make yourself make art, you're using the wrong side of your brain, the left side, which deals with deadlines and organization and making things make sense. When you're bored and your mind "wanders" it's because the right side of the brain is getting to talk for once. I usually get my best ideas when I'm falling asleep (or in dreams). There's a lot of great theory behind this in a book called "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain".

http://drawsketch.about.com/od/suppliesbooks/fr/draw_right_side.htm

I got that at a bookstore a while back. I was quite psyched 'til it told me I had to make some sort of rig involving cardboard. What can I say; I'm no craftsman. And there's no cardboard in my house.

At any rate, I've never considered myself to have trouble with my right brain, as a lefty. But maybe I'm just one of those defective-minded pseudo-right-brained folks who write the way a righty would.

[Elwell]

I got that at a bookstore a while back. I was quite psyched 'til it told me I had to make some sort of rig involving cardboard. What can I say; I'm no craftsman. And there's no cardboard in my house.
:nohope:
All art is craft.
Heaven forbid you should have to go out of your way.
Furthermore, did you bother to read and understand the purpose of that exercise, in order to decide if it was really worth the effort, or if you could safely skip it and maybe go back to it later, or did you just give up on the book as soon as there was the least bit of inconvenience?

[Costau D]

Lazzzzzyyyyy

[megas_imperius]

:nohope:
All art is craft.
Heaven forbid you should have to go out of your way.
Furthermore, did you bother to read and understand the purpose of that exercise, in order to decide if it was really worth the effort, or if you could safely skip it and maybe go back to it later, or did you just give up on the book as soon as there was the least bit of inconvenience?

Well, the instructions said, if I remember, not to skip anything.
I did do some of the beginning exercises, the upside-down drawing and one or two other things, but something distracted me from continuing the course, and it's been keeping to my bookshelf ever since.
You're right. I really should start on the book again.

[dierat]

At any rate, I've never considered myself to have trouble with my right brain, as a lefty. But maybe I'm just one of those defective-minded pseudo-right-brained folks who write the way a righty would.

I believe the theory goes that whichever hand you predominantly write with is linked to the opposite hemisphere of your brain, which is in turn the dominant, or logical, side. So if you're left-handed, than the right side of your brain is the stiff, and the left side of your brain is the one doodling in class. But it doesn't really matter if you call it "left", "right" or "Freddy", you can still be having trouble accessing the creative side of your brain.

I haven't read the book, so I dunno what this cardboard exercise is. I studied the theory in a class at my university, which as last I heard that class is becoming a mandatory course as part of the art and design core. What I pretty much got out of the whole shpeel is this:

If you try to make yourself "make art," it's probably not going to go very well. (I know everyone works differently, but this is how it works for me.) Don't think about how absolutely awesome the end result has to be, or how you suck, or how you should be drawing better than this, etc. You have to relax and open yourself up to the creative side of your brain, which I think is sometimes misinterpreted as being "inspired".

Anyway, if you're not having trouble using the creative side of your brain, more power to you. But it just sounds to me like that's what happened in your boring art class. So, good luck and keep doodling!