Find solution
What do you do when you have artist block?

If you're an artist & have ever had a creative "block", how long b4 you overcame this?What are some tips?

  • I like to paint ...... and draw.--Have a tremendous amount of ideas-my art work tends to be on the "poetic side", so I've been told. And have had a block for many yrs. now. It's somehow painful, though also painful [oddly enough] if/when I do actually create something. Hmmmmm .... any advice, insight on this? thx

  • Answer:

    Anne Marie, All artists go through a period or two, or a hundred, of creative block. It gets called "blank canvas terror" by painters. If you let it, it can go on for long periods of time like yours. There are a number of components to it. First, you have to decide what to paint/sculpt. With a blank canvas in front of you, and no internal direction for it, we're in the weeds! Been there, done that. Oh, is there a canvas right next to me and I'm on Yahoo! Answers? Uh, yeah...So you've got the canvas ready to go and nothing pops up to say "I'm your passion, paint me!" Most of us got into the habit of relying on the assignments of our professors to inspire our creations. Now, on our own, we've suddenly got to provide our own inspirations. Ask yourself: what has inspired me the most so far? Pick up a pencil and begin to make a journal entry about these inspirations. Now make another list of the opposites of those things. Just these two things can make very interesting art. Explore the ideas that these juxtapositions create in your mind. Writing this down helps to make the ideas gel. You can look back over your favorite assignments, decide new ways to carry them out. Give one of your faves the heading, then list below it how many different ways you can redo that assignment. When I do this, I call it my Idea File. I write down every idea for my work I think up. Often I make small drawings of my idea, and other ways I could do it. Once you get in the habit of doing this, you'll find you develop more ideas than you could do in a life time. If you are still having a hard time getting started, read the blog on creativity that Kendra Cherry wrote for About.com. Need more? You can email me through my profile here on Y/A.

Auntie Marie SueB at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

I think you should go out and try to find something that will inspire you. it helped me

Alexander

Almost every creative type goes through periods like that. Decide what your favorite things are to draw and paint and go find those things in real life and draw them. Go to a place you like that makes you feel good, a park, lake, riverside, zoo, etc, and work on your sketch book. Revisit some drawings or paintings you have done in the past that you feel good about and let them inspire new drawings or paintings. Take out your pencils, pens or markers and see how many different lines and shades you can make. Get acquainted with the all over again. Those are things I do which work for me.

raymond m

Rather than dwelling on your 'block', why don't you try something other than painting? There are many other ways to express your creativity and opening yourself up to a totally new medium can go a long way to overcoming your block. Go to your local community college's website and look at the art classes. They will have credited courses and probably uncredited adult courses for people who want to learn without being graded on it. My school's adult education catalog just came out recently and they have added a silk painting class. I have been wanting to try silk painting for several years. Now I can try my hand at it and have instruction rather than trying to figure it out myself. That's win/win in my book.

rmbrruffian

Never and I've been painting for over 25 years. I have so many paintings planned I'm sure I'll die before I get to many of them. Get yourself a file folder and a photo album. When you are looking at magazines and see something that tweaks your interest and you say that would make a good painting if I did this or that. It can be anything from a car add to a field of wheat or sunflowers. Rip out the page and write yourself a little note and paper clip them together and stick it in your file folder. I also keep pictures of animals and birds. You never know when you will want to add them to a painting. If you have a picture you can draw them in.I also put in sketches I have made that might translate into a good painting Go out and take photos of anything and everything. When you download them look at them for painting appeal. Then send the ones you deem ones you want to keep as painting potential to be printed and store them in your painting album. You can always delete the ones you don't want. You can't expect to come up with a good painting idea in the spur of the moment without something to give you an inkling of what you want to paint. I go through my resource pictures and photos and I can get dozens of ideas of what to paint. Try it I'll bet you will always find something to paint and your paintings will be better for having an interesting subject to paint

Dowlinggram

no need to waste any time dwelling on it :] you can spend the time you're feeling stumped on honing your skills. Practice brush strokes, use a variety of brushes, and paint from reference. You're not really 'creating' so much as working from life, but at least your progress won't be at a standstill. When you do get a new idea, it'll probably turn out a lot better on the technical side.

Bloobeduu

I always draw blanks when it comes to subjects to paint so I have a ton of photos already saved so when I do draw a blank I just force myself to paint one rather than think for 2 days. Another thing to paint when undecided is still lifes. Just open the fridge and take some fruit out. You can also grab some books, bottles, silverware, or even random things like crumpled paper or plastic can make amazing works. The idea is to keep painting. lol I just did the still life thing and have ended up doing a ton more as I suddenly started loving it after hating it for years. http://www.jacobbrest.com

Art

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.