Art block is a term used to describe the lack of motivation or inspiration to create art. Many artists have experienced this at one time in their life or another. Some may have even considered giving up on their passion because they cannot seem to find the time to continue working.
Art block? Not Really a Thing! How To Find the Time?
I am glad you are here and I hope that this information will help you find your way back into creating art!
Art Block is Not a Thing…and It’s Totally Normal!
Artists get blocked for many reasons. Some common ones are:
You’re burnt out from too much work, stress, or lack of sleep.
You’re experiencing depression, anxiety, or some other mental illness.
You’re facing problems in your personal life that are causing anxiety and stress. (i.e.: health issues, family problems, financial problems)
You’ve hit a plateau in your skills as an artist and you feel like you can’t express yourself any longer – this is especially common with writers and musicians.
You feel like what you are creating doesn’t matter/has no value anymore – especially when you’ve been doing it for a long time.
You think that you have “lost” your artistic talent
As a creative person, you probably have a lot of dreams and goals.
You might even be one of those people who has a goal to make it big and get your art in galleries or start your own business.
But sometimes you don’t feel like you are making any progress, or you can’t find the time to work on your art or reach your goals.
I’m not an expert or any type of therapist, but I’ve been there, too.
Art block is something that happens to most artists, but there are ways to fight it!
If you want to know the tricks I use to beat art block and get back into the groove of making art, check out this blog: http://www.art-block-not-really-thing.blogspot.com/
It’s just one blogger’s personal stories about how he battles art block and gets stuff done!
Every artist has experienced the problem of art block. It is a problem that can leave you feeling frustrated and stuck. You are not alone, and there are ways to get around it.
Art block is more of a psychological problem than you might think. It results from the conflict between your creative self and your logical self. The creative side is all about passion, emotions, feelings and ideas. The logical side is more analytical, critical, and logistically-minded.
This conflict of perspectives usually happens in the context of everyday life when you have a limited amount of time to spend on your artistic pursuits as well as other daily tasks that need to be completed like eating, sleeping and working. It’s hard for someone whose mind works in a logical way to understand why we should spend our free time pursuing something illogical or wasteful when there are so many other things that need doing. It feels like we don’t have enough time for everything already or why would we waste it? And this is especially true when there are bills to pay, kids to feed, or pets that need taking to the vet or walking. But in reality it’s not just about how much time you have but how you spend it as well.
Time is not just about hours (or minutes) on
I’m not an artist, but I am a writer and part of my job is to write words. I also have a few side jobs that require me to write, but I get paid for those. Blogging is just something extra that I do because it’s fun.
I have had art block many times in my life, mostly around drawing and painting. Sometimes I’ve had it even when I wasn’t trying to draw or paint. It was always terrible. But what does “art block” really mean? After all, if you’re blocked from drawing or painting then doesn’t it just mean you don’t feel like doing it? And what if you don’t feel like doing anything? What if you don’t feel like writing either?
That’s the thing about feeling conflicted about art: You aren’t sure if it’s your fault or not! You know you should be doing it, but you can’t seem to find the time or the energy or whatever else it takes to do it (most people assume this is time.) The only way out of this problem is to actually sit down and do the work. And that’s true whether we’re talking about writing or drawing or anything else… except maybe sleeping in.
There are a lot of reasons why we
So, you are suffering from art block and all your motivation has evaporated. You feel like you will never be able to create any good art again. You feel like an impostor and a fake.
Well, the first thing to remember is that this is not an uncommon feeling. Everyone feels this way at some point in their artistic career. In fact, many of your favorite artists have felt it too at some point, even though they are doing fine now.
Thing is, you can’t expect to always have lots of motivation and drive to work on your art. That doesn’t happen for most people in any field and least of all in the creative arts. There will be times when you need to push through anyway and there will be times when you simply can’t force yourself to do anything at all.
So what do you do about it?
There are days, sometimes weeks, when you can’t draw or write. You sit at your desk and stare. You’ve made a mess of things, but you can’t even clean it up. You have no idea what to do next. It feels hopeless; there is nothing to say, nothing worth saying. You feel like a failure because there is no art coming out of your life, and you are worried that you’ll never be productive again.
Thing is, though, this thing called “art block” isn’t a real thing. It’s an imaginary diagnosis we give ourselves to describe the experience of being blocked. We use it because we don’t know what else to call it–but calling something doesn’t make it real.
We use words like “creativity” and “productivity” as if they were real things that exist outside our own minds; but really I think they are just words we use to describe our own actions…
Ah! I have to spend my time working on my art! I’ll do it tomorrow, but first I need to clean the house, and finish that email, and get ready for my date tonight. Art Block will be there tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll find the time.
But alas, tomorrow never comes. It always turns out that the house is no longer messy (because you cleaned it) and the email was finished long ago (because you forgot about it) and your date is not as important as you thought (because you broke up with them). And so on.
Thing is, though, there’s no such thing as “Art Block.” There’s only procrastination. We make excuses not to do the work we don’t want to do, and in doing so we forget about the work we really should be doing.
I’m not suggesting that you have no good reason to procrastinate. Some of those reasons are even very good reasons! If you’re afraid of ridicule or failure, then by all means spend a day doing something less risky before you try something more important. Or if you need to eat and can’t afford to spend money on art supplies until next week, then spend this week getting some minimum guaranteed income. Or maybe you