On the Matter of the Art Block

Hi folks! Hope everybody's doing well. Winter is here, and with it a lot of snow (well, depends on where you live) but I'm almost certain you will get an artist block some point between Winter and Spring.

Creativity is something alive, so it seems. It has a will of its own. Sometimes it's as transient as morning mist - one moment you get this blast of inspiration, and the next it's gone and you're left with a pencil in your hand and nothing on the paper. Sometimes it's that feeling that hits you like a brick at night as you're trying to go to sleep. You spend the whole day with nothing and as you lie down in bed, you're attacked by ideas and images. Other times it disappears for days, weeks, months. Those I find are the nastier monsters because it's hard not to feel empty inside. At the same time, you can rarely force it to come back to you.

So with Winter Art Blocks on the way, here's some advice on how to deal with them.

1) 36.media.tumblr.com/120f789fd1…

Draw. Get up, pick up a pencil, draw a line. Draw two. Draw a circle. Draw a cloud. Just get your pencil or tablet pen moving. It's like static and kinetic friction, if you pardon the Science. It takes a lot of energy to get going, but when you start, there's far less resistance than since when you've begun. This isn't the best advice for everybody, but do give it a try.

2) Creative exposure. Watch a movie, read a book, walk outside and look around at what nature or the urban landscape has to offer. Listen to music. Cook something. Basically, /do/ things. Do things not art related, and let them stir up inspiration on their own time. Do something else you enjoy! You might be able to get ideas for a new pursuit from these things.

2.5) Half joking, but try doing the opposite of art. Science, technical work, programming, mathematics. Back in High School I always had an urge to draw after doing calculus problems, and on the reverse, I'd want to do my math homework in art class! I'm 99% sure this applies to at least 5% of the artists out there. Remember, if you use one side of your brain a lot you'll end up getting exhausted really quickly. Switching between them frequently keeps both fresh and ready to go, so who knows maybe this is sound advice and I'm not crazy.

At the end of the day, we're all different. We all like different things, and we get artist blocks for different lengths of time, if at all, and we deal with them in different ways. You should take a cue from your other hobbies and pursuits to find a way to break the block, but remember! Don't force creativity. It's alive. Tempting it with a carrot is probably better than chasing it around to throw it back into your head! Odd metaphor. Hope this helps someone.