Artist’s Block. It’s the bane of every artist everywhere. Worse than that stupidly annoying stray hair in your paint. You just want to make art, but for some reason you don’t have the motivation or the inspiration to make it happen. All you have is a brain that feels like it is imploding and an imagination that is sputtering and wheezing. If this sounds like you, you are not alone. It happens so often in our little art world that almost anyone can relate to it.
What can cause it and what can we do about it? I have a few notions regarding artist’s block that I think may help. Let’s go through some causes and ways in which we can combat these situations.
Leonardo was brilliant because he worked and worked and worked
The Brilliance Dilemma
Alright, so you’re standing at your easel, a canvas sitting in front of you, paint to your side, and all you want to do is produce a quality piece of work. You want to bring something to life, you want to wow your friends and relatives, you want to make something that’s never been seen before, and you want to let it come from the pit of your soul. That’s a tall order. But isn’t that how the greatest artists work? They’re just so brilliant that they produce work of the highest quality by letting their paint and brush become a vehicle through which their spirit descends upon the face of the canvas, anointing it with a beauty so pure and definitive that books are written about it and the masterful painters that produce it. If this sort of thing ever crosses your mind, I think you may be coming at art from the wrong perspective.
Alright, so you’re standing at your easel, a canvas sitting in front of you, paint to your side, and all you want to do is produce a quality piece of work. You want to bring something to life, you want to wow your friends and relatives, you want to make something that’s never been seen before, and you want to let it come from the pit of your soul. That’s a tall order. But isn’t that how the greatest artists work? They’re just so brilliant that they produce work of the highest quality by letting their paint and brush become a vehicle through which their spirit descends upon the face of the canvas, anointing it with a beauty so pure and definitive that books are written about it and the masterful painters that produce it. If this sort of thing ever crosses your mind, I think you may be coming at art from the wrong perspective.
Art is editing. In every way, from concept to finish, the artist must be editing. To think that art just happens is unrealistic. This should not prevent you from creating art, but should propel you to take chances and work consistently. Feel free to sketch, experiment, mess with colors, paint to your heart’s content, but don’t expect that you can stand at a canvas, void of ideas or preparation and create a work that will engage your audience or fulfill your expectations.
Is this the state of your visual understanding?
The Vacant Mental Library
Art requires knowledge. Knowledge of colors, lines, marks, subjects, structure, proportion, juxtaposition, composition, perspective, intent, expression, visual grammar, vocabulary, intuition, communication, materials, etc. From abstract art to the most intense realism, artists must exercise some form of knowledge in order to produce their work. To approach your art without knowledge will only cause frustration. Research, practice, experiment, find reference, sketch. Do these things and you will begin to create a mental library from which you can draw in order to produce art that reflects your intentions. You’ll learn more about the world around you and you’ll feel more comfortable in your creations.
Stuck in a Moment
Analysis Paralysis and the Curse of The Masterpiece (feat Nancy Drew?)
The artist that only wants to make a masterpiece will find themselves frozen. I think this is the most common reason for artist’s block. As artists study history and view the impressive works of their heroes, it isn’t hard to become enamored with the idea of the “masterpiece”. The mind is overcome with ideas and paths and options and subjects, but none of them measure up to what the artist thinks will contribute to the world of art. In the world of board games, this is called “analysis paralysis”. The gamer is so overwhelmed with options and consumed with getting the highest score that they are afraid to make a move and instead weigh their options for a prolonged amount of time, making the game run long and the fun run short. When we find ourselves doing this in art, we have to break ourselves of it because we’re just preventing ourselves from growing as artists and from producing art. And we’re sucking the fun out of it.
"This is a fish!"
Our world is different than it was in the time of the masters. In many ways, life has been made more convenient, bringing an ease to things that were once very taxing and time-consuming. Yet, with all of our technological advancements, we still find ourselves gasping for air and overwhelmed by responsibilities and arrangements. We should probably take a step back and view the ways in which we spend our time, with a critical eye towards cutting fat. Does the cell phone consume your every waking moment? How about facebook? Or twitter? Maybe it’s Netflix. Or Amazon. Or you-name-it. All of these things vie for your attention and fill your brain. Some of these things can be good, giving you inspiration in different ways, but often they aren’t used properly and end up choking our creativity and our imagination. If this doesn’t happen to you, disregard this point, but hopefully you give it some thought. Find time to breath in the wonder of life, the simple pleasures, the classics, the timeless. You may find yourself recentering a bit and enjoying life more, freeing up your schedule and your mind to create art that reflects your spirit.
In Closing
By no means is this an exhaustive list of why you are experiencing a block in creativity. These are just some simple notions that often contribute to those moments. I hope that some of this spoke to your situation and you find yourself growing in these areas. Pursue what is good for you and keep at it. You’ll have peaks and valleys, but those times when you hit your stride are going to be fantastic.
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