What do you do when you have artist block?

How to get over an artist block ?

• i am an artist and have been in artist block for almost one year and i just want to paint again i think i am getting over it and now starting to paint again but its not going well with me .... how do i make myself like art like i used to... i am Professional artist and i don't want to lose my art talents .... and i think this artist block is not doing any good for me ...

• Answer:

  That's heartbreaking, and I have been there. I just wrote a post about this topic on my blog, Peanut Butter for the Artist Soul, at kathrinemcdowell.blogspot.com but because its a new blog it might not show up in search engines yet, so I will copy and paste to make sure you can read it. I hope this helps. Also get the book "Art and Fear" by David Bayles. Its Super Helpful! Many Artists and Writers get to a point where their work hits a wall. No matter what Ideas they may have, if any, seem uninspiring. If they are producing any work they are not happy with the results. Short Answer, Creative Blocks tend to show up when you stop making art for yourself. Only make Art you would display in your home the same goes for writers if you like your story so will others. Long answer, It was September 2000 and I found myself sitting in the strangest and most eccentric classroom I have ever seen. There were 3 couches and several stools around the room. Every ledge, shelf and cabinet top was filled with small figurines. The knick nacks were mostly dinosaurs, army men and white glass vases in the shape of Greek women. Each vase contained some sort of plant. This was my first photography class at the University of South Dakota. I had transferred there specifically for the photography program. I wanted to learn everything I could and I wanted to be the best. This is where my problem started. At NSU I was one of the top students. My professors loved my work and I loved what I was doing. At USD I was a small fish in a big pond. I tried so hard to make art people would love and buy. Art that would give me an “A”. It seemed like it was getting harder and harder to pick a topic for my Art work. The Art I was making was ok, it got the grades I needed. I knew it wasn’t the best I could do. I was increasingly unhappy. I kept comparing myself to the other students. They just seemed so certain of themselves and so much more creative. I had one year left of school, and then I hit the metaphorical wall. I had nowhere to go with my art. I sat there on that couch in room 174 and listened to my eccentric professor give his lecture. It was a small class so I would be totally paranoid in thinking that lecture was about me. He was talking about whether or not being good at photography meant you should be a photographer. It takes more then bringing able to use a camera and develop negatives. He went on to say that it would be a waste of a person’s life to do something just because they are good at it. When it comes to Art if you don’t love what you are doing- it shows. The title of photographer carry’s some amount of prestige and glamor. People sometimes get into photography because they are in love with the idea of being a photographer. The reality is they were meant for something else. I felt terrible; I was convinced he was talking about me. He could see that my work had little heart. How can this be? I thought. I love photography! I love everything about it; the smell of film, the feeling of developing your own pictures, everything. So why was I so unhappy? I kept thinking about that lecture-was I meant to be an Artist? To me Art and Photography are one and the same. I thought about doing something else with my life. It just didn’t seem right. I looked back through my negatives and suddenly it hit me. I was creating art for other people. Somewhere along the lines I began to care more about making Art people would like then about making Art I would like to create. That is when my work became stale I hit the creative wall. I refocused and decided to make Art for myself. Even if I thought no one would like what I was doing. There were and are times I think my subject matter is overdone. I don’t worry about that; I just make things I like. The moral of this story is to make art for you. You cannot truly know what other people want but you do know what you enjoy making. If you are looking for a great book to help motivate you I would try this one. Art & Fear by David Bayles. I found it to be invaluble and still re-read it reguarly