Ever get the feeling that....

[Svanur]

... you have just lost it? That no matter what you do you are just going to get worse? and so on. Having that kinda period lately. Been trying to "draw" it off but it has only made me more suicidal if anything.

anyone have similar experiences?

[kaini]

every single day

[davi]

honestly take a break. I draw a piece or two about everyday and my art skills are limited, so i end up doing the same things over and over and it gets a bit frustrating. seems you've already drawn what you want to draw.

Just sit back for a bit. Maybe if you feel artsy you could even study art. Whenever I "burned out" with drawing i'll study some prespective or even do reference research, downloading images to help me in the future. Building an image gallery of references is a must for a conceptual artist.

[Svanur]

Actually been on a break the last 2 weeks doing drama classes, trying new stuff and so on. Still I want to draw and with my depressive source of thinking it just get's me in a f***ed up mood when I do badly. I am honestly hoping it is just a short period.

[Lono]

got any other outlets?

when my art starts suckin,, i bury myself in music.

if i cant write music either, i go skate...

if i cant skate i go play some foosball and drink beer.

if i suck at foosball and miss my mouth with the beer,,,
i go camping or some shit and try to remind myself that i like ME,,, and that i am ultimately alone,, reguardless of the quality of my preformance on this planet,, so id better learn to live with myself. then,, once im willing to let it all go,,, it all just magically wants to come back.. and there i am,,, at the top of the hill once again. i could be walking on an expansive plateau, or jogging blindly towards a cliff.. its just the nature of the terrane.
peaks and vallys.

-Lono

[SamusNeo]

Yeah, I know that feeling. If you want to draw but aren't happy with anything that you come up with try these two things: Don't care how it turns out. I mean, scribble nonsense to start...eventually you will see something in it. The other thing is to try and think of something outside of the normal range you draw in. I find that I hate my art most when I feel like I keep just doing the same basic thing over and over again.

There is something I read that Ernst Fuchs said about contradicting your own style. If you never contradict your own style you will fail to grow, become stuck, and paint endless versions of the same basic image year after year, decade after decade. If you check out his work (http://www.ernstfuchs-zentrum.com/) you can see how he really sticks with this idea by the sheer variety of different types of work.

Another good thing is to make sure you have somewhere to do drawings for yourself only. This is good for doing things you might never care to show anyone else. This way you can express yourself freely doing anything you want and never worry about how others will react. ( I know at one point I got REALLY sick of people reacting only to the fact that I put genitals in my drawings, even though it was usually just because I was doing nude creatures...)

Honestly though there is no real "method" to get through these periods. Life changes, art changes with it. Something will give, eventually, and you may never know why you got stuck in the first place or how you overcame it. Who knows...

[davi]

do more drugs











like advil..

[RipperMcGuirl]

Whenever I hit that place, I totally stay out of my house for a week, just do anything with anyone as much as possible, then I go home and do nothing for 2 days, and don't leave. Usually by the end of that, I've gotten everything out of my system that needs to be purged, and I am inspired again.

[Lono]

you could take some laxatives...

a little fire in the hole will get things moovin.

start fresh..... avoid red meat and cheese..

-Lono

[Tedsuo]

Whenever my art is bumming me out, I start from the begining again. Just draw spheres, boxes, cylinders... for hours until I can just whip them out. Seems to help. Sometimes. Screaming to my favorite song and bouncing around my room also seems to help.