Have you ever lost inspiration to draw for a very long time?

[Klaustasya]

How did you handle a temporary but still long lack of inspiration?
I guess we could call it also art block, and i'm stuck in this type of situation now from about 5 months, where i really struggle to find something really interesting to draw.
I tried looking for inspiration on pinterest, instagram, tumblr...didn't quite stimolated me though.
I tried doing redraws or drawthisinyourstyle challenges too, but really it seems like i never have one single idea for drawing, even though i really want to draw something!
I don't know if i should call this just a very long artblock or if there's something deeper, therefore i'm asking for opinions and suggestions.
Have you ever experienced this sort of mood?

[Kittosaurus]

Yes! I've been in and out of long art withdrawals for the last few years! So I know exactly how you feel. I think a lot of it was related to my depression. For me there wasn't necessarily a quick or easy fix.

Now that I have my comic I basically have to draw everyday to keep up with my weekly upload schedule and I think laying down the habit of drawing everyday has really helped me create even when I'm not necessarily inspired to do so. I am now trying to build in healthy pockets of creativity when I can have fun, experiment and draw stuff that is not related to my comic.

In particular I have found 'draw this is your style challenges' on instagram to be very helpful for days when I want to create but can't think of something. The subject matter, colors and pose are all there for you ready to go all you have to do is make it your own. And I also usually learn from other artists from studying there image to create mine (kinda like a master study).

[mrtoontastic]

I've been out of it once something personal struck me badly. In fact, I most a big urge to draw comic strips, and instead just focused on drawing one-work pieces. Most of the work-work I would do that required my inspiration translated to writing, and since then I've been writing novels more. I still kinda have the art block for drawing, but its slowly going away.

[GamerPrincessXI]

Yes, actually I have. I'm currently working on a sequel to my comic and I spent months between pages. I draw some and give up. Months later, I'd draw some more. Did I mention my best inspiration comes from work.

[Azifri]

I don't really have any advise, but I can say I have been through similar periods of total lack of inspiration (some lasting years). When that happens, I find it hard to have ideas to draw; the tools and the skills might be there, but ideas are just absent. What I've done when that happens is to draw other people's ideas, usually my friend's, or paint using photos I take as reference. Just single pieces, nothing too complex. Eventually, the ideas come back.

[Pandastrophic]

Hi, you've made 3 similar topics including this one the past week about artblock or not being able to draw and I feel like having just one post that includes all the issues you've been facing will help us have a better understanding of your problem and give you better advice since someone visiting this topic might not have seen the other 2 topics.

Since our new flatmate came in, i've been kinda busy with real life social stuff. It's fun! Finally i got the chance to talk with some people. The problem is that we spend so much time talking that we all end up being not in the mood for studying, or in my case, for drawing. And you know, it's a bit frustrating when this happens because you're really trying to draw everyday but you end up being either tired or not in the mood for it. Also i can't focus on my art when i'm surrounded by close pe…

This summer i drew a comic of 64 pages in one month straight. It was fun but the overworking on it totally led me to a burn out afterwards. Now, some people told me that my drawing feels more natural when i make comics and i'm glad about it, because i've always wanted to be a comic artist one day! But somehow i don't feel passionate about drawing my stories....i don't know, normally i should put my heart at ease by saying "i prefer drawing single illustration" but it actually makes me very sad …

[SilentHamster102]

No, I didn't. Since 2014 I never had feeling that I don't want do draw. Only once time in 2016 I almost broke my hand and couldn't draw for a week, that was hard.
But I have a habit to not finish story arcs, if they becoming too long/or boring for me. I'm stopping them fast and moving to the next one. Fortunately it never happened since I started to show my work here

[feuersichel]

No, I was basicly drawing 3years straight until now... (2 h a day because my daytime-job steals time).
I do have times though where I'm not inspired in drawing certain things like my comic (which I should). In those phases I mostly draw sketches rough pose studies and totally random things. I think the problem with artblock is: we always think we have to finish drawings, or draw the super perfect stuff! Always! But it's ok to do stuff that's never meant to be finished.

[Shanny8]

I have periods now where I lose inspiration- coz drawing will start to seem like a chore rather than something I like doing. I have to sometimes take time away to get the mental rest & remind myself/motivate myself of why I like drawing and making comics.

[lotusware]

I stopped drawing altogether about 6, 7 years ago--with a blip back into drawing (pixel art, and video game art assets) for a few months about 4 years ago.

I found the biggest problem was that I didn't have my "wheel of things" in good order. I'll kind of explain what I mean.
I could break my life up into parts --

• creativity
• house work
• food
• friends & family
• exercise
• sleep / relaxation

The more I focused on one aspect, or tried to force my focus onto one aspect (in your case, you're forcing yourself to be creative, and I was the same except mine lasted for years not months) the overall the more that aspect suffered. I felt like I lost all inspiration.

I had an epiphany this past fall--my life was pretty well in disorder and I wasn't moving forward. I decided to start focusing on my life outside of creativity.

• I kept the house clean--putting a half hour to an hour of cleaning/renovations every day.
• I did meal planning and made sure I was eating healthy.
• I made sure I was going to bed no later than 10:00 (tough with me being a night owl)
• Spending more time with my folks on the weekend or good friends an evening or two a week.
• Made sure to go for a walk every day, or go for a swim at the pool every once and a while.

I found my inspiration and will to draw came back naturally--my mind was free from subconsciously being distracted from everything else. As long as I keep my "wheel of things" rolling, the creativity comes back naturally.

Hopefully this long post helps someone but it was a real wake-up call for me to get my act together.

[Klaustasya]

This answer is really inspirational! thank you for sharing!

[LCT_m_a_d]

I started working for a software firm after a few unsuccessful months as a freelance graphic designer and portrait artist. I guess at that point I felt discouraged with the art community and support from my collegues. As a programmer I reached career success and acceptace quickly and decided I just didn't need art in my life, so I pretty much didn't look at or draw art for a couple years.

[storytimebiondi]

Now that I have my comic I basically have to draw everyday to keep up with my weekly upload schedule and I think laying down the habit of drawing everyday has really helped me create even when I'm not necessarily inspired to do so.

It's amazing what a daily creative routine does to the mind. It really opens it up to allow ideas to flow easily in and out.

I will say in general, that I once lost the inspiration to draw for a few YEARS. It's why, as old as I am, I'm still not as good as I could be. I just gave up. I decided I couldn't do it, the weight of other people's art bore down on me to the point where I thought it was pointless to continue. So, I just stopped.
However, I always doodled. But it wasn't 'art'. Eventually, I picked it up again, years later, when people encouraged me to do so. Friends who saw my doodles thought I could do it. So I picked myself back up and haven't stopped since.

Basically, what I want to get at here, is that life is a journey. It has ups and downs. Right now you may feel that you can't do it. You have no inspiration. However, given time, if it's truly in your blood (which we all know it is), you'll come back to it when you're ready. And it will be glorious.

[Klaustasya]

This was amazing. Thank you!

[BobbyjoeX]

i lose it everytime im put is an uncomfortable situation, like now

[danitasibert]

oh yes of course I've have my fair share of artist block; where i don't want to draw, i don't know what i want to do and its hard and frustrating.
this is just me, but i don't push it, i take a break from social media and take time for myself.

I have had a moment before where i watched a show or movie and i couldn't draw for like a month.

[Shanny8]

I made sure I was going to bed no later than 10:00 (tough with me being a night owl)

The story of my life...even with my day job, I'm still getting in bed at 12:30/1:00 AM- which is earlier than when I used to get in bed. Getting in bed early on weekends- not gonna happen; only way it does happen is if A) I'm sick or B) I've been working OT 2 or 3 evenings at my day job and I'm exhausted...other than those, I'm usually up late trying to get stuff done.

[staratlas]

I was very uninspired and gave up on art and drawing completely for a very long time. I'd say about 4 years. What really helped me was being around like minded people that had interests similar to mine. It helped to see the motivation that they still had. It was exciting. I started back up in August and haven't stopped.

[Kittosaurus]

The only reason I consistently go to bed between 10:30 and 11:00 now is my boyfriend lol - he keeps this night owl in line! Without him I would easily stay up until 1:00 am on week nights!

[simplykit]

seems like weve all had the same art "dilemma"

but we bounce back!

were artists , its in our blood

no matter what were going through in life

art will always be there for us

(sounds like a hallmak card)