#i feel like i overcame my artblock

[nabs-draws]

I think every creative has faced them at some point or another. Artblocks. They are actually quite common reaching from "I don't feel creative" to "Why am I even doing this, I absolutely suck at what I do". And this was a feeling I got stuck in for the year and before I noticed it , I lost my artistic voice. I was still able to improve technically but the soul that I ususally have put in my artworks was completely gone. It's like using empty words in order to form a sentence. They say something but the saying has no meaning.

And this is a feeling I tried to capture in this image. Thankfully I overcame that struggle. For me , keeping a sketchbook, practicing mindfulness and talking to other artistic friends was a huge help to overcome it.

For the "Artblock" I imagined it to be a big creepily smiling monster that just feeds on the creativity of an artists mind.

What are your methods to overcome an artblock?

[brown-little-robin]

Artist asks: 7, 8, 9, 10, 16

Hiii Rebekah <333

7. Who are some artists that have inspired you?

answered here and I will also add: Clay Coyote artists from Hutchinson, Minnesota; artists of The Octagon of Ames, Iowa, including Steve Aitchinson (who makes these incredible tiny vases)!

8. How would you describe your art style?

umm... for ceramics... I guess... smooth? medium-smooth? Cute...? I mean, not all of it is cute exactly, some of it is more serious, but overall it's definitely kawaii inspired. My professor once called my sculpture work charming, and then clarified, not in a cheap, cliche way, but just genuinely charming, which seems to fit :')

9. What's the longest you've ever suffered from artblock?

In ceramics? Oh, only like three weeks maximum ever, which is kind of astounding. My ceramics hasn't ever been very limited by lack of passion or ideas or... or willingness. I've been blocked by life circumstances in college or while we were moving from house to house, which was painful, but not by just... not having inspiration. not yet, anyway! the recent three-week-ish art block was, I think, due more to anxiety about committing to working in porcelain (which is expensive) than to Art Block Proper. after I overcame my reluctance to use the porcelain, I made like thirty sculptures in four days.

10. How do you deal with art block?

Again, in sculpture, that's not really something I face too much. The biggest problem I come across is when I am just not feeling drawn to any particular animal or idea, and that's when I might get out my handy dandy TINY ZINE and just PICK SOMETHING and make five or six of it. I like doing sets of lots of the same thing to break through that kind of aimlessness; it allows me to make multiple sculptures with small variations without devoting too much brainpower to coming up with a new goal every time.

16. What was something you used to struggle to draw sculpt with confidence/ease, but have now mastered?

Big cats' faces! It took me a while to really understand the three-dimensionality of the face of a leopard. I had to spend a while studying their skulls before it clicked that the nose bridge and the muzzle and the cheeks and the eyes and the lips and the eyebrow ridges can be thought of as separate components that come together to create one face, rather than thinking of the face as One Whole Thing.

[gabisart]

All that glitters ain't gold ✨

[viria]

Hey. I am sorry to bother you, because this is a bit stupid, but may I ask for your advice? The thing is that I had horrible art block and now i have no idea what to do, because when i try to draw my drawings look very bad and when I see them I just want to give up and it gives me a bit of anxiety. Though I continue to draw I don't really seem to improve. Is there anything I can do to end this? (I am self tough in drawing, so maybe going to art school will help?). Thank you anyway.

Art school can, so can different tutorials on the internet! There’s so much helpful stuff you can learn over them! For example, if you’re bad at drawing hands, you can find a tutorial that shows how to draw them in an easier way and a simplified form!

And it’s not stupid at all. We all know how horrible art blocks can be. Usually, when I’m art blocked, I WANT to draw, but I can’t, I get all frustrated because I want to draw things fast and great, but it doesn’t happen like this. SO, I guess my first advice is to not rush it when you try drawing while you’re artblocked. Take it slow, you don’t draw for stats. You don’t have to always feel that urge to draw.

Ideas wise, sometimes it’s good to start with random shapes or even faces, sometimes the idea comes in a process and you’re like BOOM omygod I can draw again.

As for not getting better... I think you do. Everyone does, some people faster, some slower, but none the less. You might not see it yet because you still see many mistakes, which is good! Doesn’t feel like it, but it’s good because your eye can see more mistakes than your current skill can fix, for now. I think it’s worse when you draw and don’t see these mistakes. Seeing them means you crave to fix them, to get better, to keep on. While not seeing you just. draw. thinking hey, it’s great! I don’t have to do anything else.

This craving to get better and frustration with your current level of skill is completely normal and can take you WAYS. I can say from experience, I remember how frustrated I have always been, because I couldn’t do that, and this, and I just wanted to be as great as those artists I admired and I wanted to reach them. I think my obsession took me a long way.

So take your frustration and let it drive you forward! It’s okay if you’re over artblock now, it’s not going to take forever. You’ll overcome it as you overcame many of other artblocks that seemed so horrible at that time. It’s a cycle, having an artblock usually means your mind is filtering new information, lets your body adapt to something new you’ve learn. Once it’s over, you’ll get even better! 

Don’t stop, but don’t beat yourself up if you have to take a pause. It’s normal to take your time to re-charge! 

[nureinebenutzeroberflaeche]

Art block & Nick Cave

Writing kinda calms me down, I enjoy writing things down, not stories or anything like that, just how I feel or what happened. today I painted a lot, it felt good, after a long time I could finally paint good, I crashed the art block in front of me. I painted myself, my body. As a painting, I even like my body. I should have studied art, instead I overcame an artblock, so I guess that day wasn't too bad. I also watched the movie "One more time with feeling", it was so great and emotional, I cried. The things he said in that documantary were really thoughtfull. I hope I can go to the Nick Cave concert.