Where's my imagination?!?

[Kortez]

A couple of years ago, my sketches looked like utter shit, but they were always really imaginative. Something fresh.

Now that I'm trying to improve my art, recently I've been drawing loads and loads from life and from ref. Really studying.

Now my imagination is just DEAD... I've been trying to draw from my head, but it's blank. I can't come up with anything. If I'm gonna draw I have to have some sort of reference from life or on paper/on screen.

Has this happened to anybody and what did you do about it?

I would really appreciate any thing that might help me.

[otis]

Wow,...Picaso had a quote about this..somthing like "Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist after that child grows up."

just loosen up, and have fun with it again.

[Szyslack]

pay attention to the world around you. like the saying, "write what you know," you should also draw what you know.

i don't know if that will help you though.

[ClocktowerArtworks]

they say an person's creativity peaks at 18 yrs old. thats a dman scary thought...one that i choose to not believe...i suggest reading books...fiction or non-fiction...watch old movies...go sit in the woods or a zoo. do something that is out of your normal schedule of activities. that usually helps me. i find so much inspiration when reading a book. usually just out of an unusual word that i dont recognize, so i look it up and sometimes a whole flood of ideas will come out of a single word.

[daniela]

I agree with otis. You are thinking too much. Throw out the rules for a few hours and just draw. Eventually, after you have practiced life drawing enough, everything from your imagination will look just as good without even trying. Until then you need to relax once in a while and just let it flow.

[Elwell]

When you knew you couldn't draw, you didn't worry about it. You didn't have to think about how you drew, so you could concentrate on what. Now that you're actively trying to learn to draw, your brain is ovewhelmed with the mechanics of it. You are conciously aware of every mark you make. The good news is that eventually you will internalise all that information and won't have to think about it anymore. You'll be able to just draw again. In the meantime, give yourself permission to do some lousy drawings every now and then.

[mtw]

Back in the 1940's or so, surrealist artists would start a drawing my making random marks. They'd keep doing that until they saw something in the marks that they could develop. There's a name for this method, but I forget what it is. I believe Leonardo da Vinci also had students do something like this.

I also read a book (I think it was called "The Pen & Ink Book: materials and techniques for today's artist" by Joseph Smith), and he had a chapter that also talked about this.

And if you're drawing or painting from life, you don't always have to get as realistically as possible. Look at Van Gogh's work, or Matisse's drawings of nudes.

[Atomick]

FWIW, I go in cycles of input/output.

I produce volumes of stuff, then I dry up. Sometimes these cycles last for a few days, sometimes for weeks.

When that happens, I switch to input: movies, books, music, media of any type. Input.

Eventually something digs into my imagination like a fish hook, and I have no choice but to swing towards output again. And so I produce once again.

I also swing between media, so when I'm not drawing, I make music or videos...if you have other outlets, use 'em.

But, sometimes, we just need some mental downtime and need to recharge. And, if we're lucky, be inspired.

My two rupees,
-atomick

[Lung_bug]

actually da vinci suggested observing chaotic patterns in nature... stuff like rocks. he sometimes saw whole battles in them

my two cents would be to draw something very silly... just for fun, not to learn anything. that might kick it back in

[Kortez]

Thanks for all the comments guys! :)

I'm gonna try this stuff out.

Again, thanks :)