artist's block

[shore]

I’m constantly getting myself in to a bind. I’m very fastidious about my art and come across artist’s block commonly. I try listening to music, watching movies, looking at material that interests me (comicbooks, comicbooks, and comicbooks). Does anyone have any advice or remedies for this problem?

[J.Mac]

scribble scribble scribble, try just making random marks or see how many ways you can cross hatch. or do a still life or even better a sp. just try relaxing. that is pretty much all i can say. this is what i do when i i get stuck. hope this helps a little.

-Jesse

[creatix]

I know it may sound weird but try looking at or involving yourself with material that doesn't quite interest you anymore.

Obviously you cannot get into something that you have hated, but perhaps just evaluate something that you "used to enjoy" or you "used to do" before but it has gone away due to other interests.

It has helped me tremendously in creating game art. On a conceptual level and more refined on the technical 3d level. Since gaming and computers and all the technology I have virtually stopped reading books all together. I picked up a few for a few days and that was all that I needed.

I think the statement of "relax" that J.Mac mentioned is where its at. I just think by engulfing yourself in the stuff you always enjoy and always do it can seem tedious and like work. Trying something completely new or a new medium for inspiration that you never tapped into before gets rid of the "work" element.

im rambling now, hope it helps!

[Android]

let go of your mind, embrace the art that exists within your true being. the block is only a manisfetation of your pain body and ego.:)

[geoffd]

:iws:

and to quote bruce lee
"don't think.... feeeeeeeel"

really, just draw and don't think about what you are doing. beautiful stuff will happen.

[shore]

That sounds good. I've been drawing since kindergarden and I have two file cabinets full of sketches from 2 years ago to present day. I think I'll take a look at those concepts and build on the older ideas I had. That way I can find a creative level ground instead of starting totaly from scratch.

thanks for your help, guys. I'll get started right away... right after I nap... and get over this cold... *sniff* ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Hedge-o-Matic]

Perhaps a new inspiration would help. I note that the source material that interests you is all comic books. While I assume you were not being entirely serious, I suggest you go further afield. Try a new medium, perhaps, or an entirely different style. It's very true that people can "go to the same well" too many times. Eventually, it will run dry.

This is something I often see, in beginners especially. Remember, inspiration is an emotion, and it can come from anywhere, but it is only triggered by novelty. You have to widen your range of experiences.

Just because you are interested in, say, comic book art does not mean you need to only go to other comic artists for inspiration. What about movies? Or books (prose, not graphic novels). Play a computer game. Play chess. Learn to box, or do some yoga.

[magnut]

Here's what you do to fix your artist's block problem:

First, take a laxative.

Now, if you're actually talking about the other kind of block, when you just can't get work done... then you need to miss paying your bills because you're not producing any work. When your electricity goes out, your phone's turned off, and you get an eviction notice, THAT will put things in great perspective for you. Then you'll devise a system of working when you're not wanting to.

Necessity breeds improvisation.

There was an excellent comic strip called NON-SEQUITOR, in which there is this guy, sitting in front of his large blank canvas, and this scary old lady (obviously the landlord) at the front door is saying to him, "YOUR RENT IS DUE, ART-BOY!"

Everyone works differently. When you start in the morning, do 'warm-up' excercises with your drawing. Or, do the simpler parts of your piece (again, to warm up), to get you in the mood to take on the more complex things.

Sometimes you feel like a nut (using a brush), somtimes you don't (using a pen)! So do what you feel, until you're ready to tackle the harder stuff.

It's a discipline. Like it or not (if your work isn't just a hobby), it's something you're going to have to work through, like we all have to.

If you have a wife & kids, bills, a ne'er-do-well relative always asking you for money, and that wonderful expensive 'toy' you're wanting to buy sometime before it becomes obsolete, then you're going to have to JUST GET YOUR WORK DONE.

The good part is, you get to bitch and whine while you're getting your work done. It makes things more tolerable.

Good luck...

[MadSheep]

http://madsheep.scifi-meshes.com/ArtBoy.jpg

I hope they don't mind me posting that, but I love that one :)

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