Talking about creativity and how to take care of it?

[GabiWolf]

I agree with everyone else having “quiet time” is the best way to take care of your creativity. Just let your mind wonder.

I can only really work on my comic in the morning before work or sometimes during my lunch break. Both times I’m outside and usually just let my mind wonder and take in my surroundings, then I get a spark and start drawing. I have tried to force myself to work on my comic after work, but it never happens. It dark it’s gloomy and I’m tired after a long day at work. So I just stopped pushing the issue.

Find your time, your space and your rhythm, and creativity will bloom.

I have seen to much anxiety in webcomics and that’s what kills the creativity. You are not gonna lose a flood of readers just because you where a little late in updating or one of your panels wasn’t the best you could have drawn. Having great art work and updating on the same schedule at the same time isn’t going to increase your chances of making it big, anymore than just finishing the product. People just say that because that’s what they did and how they believed they made it. That doesn’t mean it will be your path. Besides who wants to hit it big when they are burnt out?

[SeraphicMayin]

For me, Creativity is a process. It's how we take our emotional experience of the world and what we think about it, and craft that into a narrative that can metaphorically share that emotional experience with someone else.

In order to do that we need two things:

Source Material (Life lived and media consumed) and
the Skills needed in our given medium (knowledge of plot, prose, drawing, etc.)

I find ideas dry up when Source material dries up. I see my creativity flow well when my Well of source material is full. I try to regularly go out with friends, watch good movies and shows, and listen to good audiobooks.

I also study story craft and practice drawing with different side projects where it doesn't matter if it succeeds or not, it's there to sharpen and hone my skills.

Both these things help me cause I cannot afford burnout nor stopping daily work as it's my only sources of income.

I've learnt that we may not always enjoy the work, but when we are Self-aware and organized we can at least take the next smallest step in whatever project we have.

That and the way I take care of my creativity is to get at least 7-8 hours rest at night on a consistent schedule. And do my house chores. This gives my brain time to relax, replenish energy and provide pockets of boredom where ideas spring like weeds :).

I only ever got blocked when I felt I had nothing at stake or nothing to say cause it had been a while since I did any Self Reflection. I trust my mind to pull relevant things from my subconscious and link it some way in my imagination; sometimes i just have to relax and get out of my own way.

[Klaustasya]

Maaaaybe, like, true enough, i never took a break for more than one week. The thing is that i don't havy any other particular hobby besides drawing, so i take art-blocks or lack of creative energy very bad, mostly because, yeah, i don't have almost anything else to do, so i feel a little lost ^^" also, for me (example) walking around doesn't really spark me anything, neither any physical activity, because everyone is different and though i recognize these things can be very refreshing and useful for the creative process, i still don't gain anything back from these routine activities...my case i think it's a bit complicated hahaha.

[Klaustasya]

Unfortunately i don't have any written scene for my comic yet, like, okay, i have collected some data of course but the lack of motivation makes it hard to wanting to work with it sometimes, even when you apparently like it

[Klaustasya]

Thank you for your answer and support
Also don't worry, i learnt to take art slumps less heavy now haha.
You're right, the best thing someone can do in this cases is to take complete break from drawing, it's probably the most suggested type of "cure" for artists (at the same time i think art-blocks are the first proof that you are an Artist, because you care and worry about constantly produce new works, so yeah, at least i know i don't really hate art hahaha).

Taking a break is fine, but on the other hand, i don't have any particular hobby besides drawing: i've been drawing non-stop foooor 3 years, if i recall? So i don't really remember what i used to do when i was not making art of any kind, sadly.

I could always go for a walk, talk with a friend or read stuff, but since i get very dark whenever creativity falls it's hard for me to feel positive about trying to do something in general (not discarding the advice at all, trust me! But it's a mood thing, for me).

Basically, i think i'm pretty life-stuck more than art-stuck (bigger scale XD)

[claiborneart]

For me personally, it helps to make sure I take the time to write down random ideas, even if I know I'll never draw them, or don't think they're very good.
A while ago I got into a bad mindset of "if this idea isn't good enough it's not worth anything", which led me to reject all of my new ideas for not meeting this unknown standard, which slowly led me to stop having new ideas. I had to take time and scribble down a lot of objectively dumb ideas to get interesting one flowing again, and honestly it took me several weeks to get back to feeling somewhat inspired after a single bad week.

I guess I'm of the mind that inspiration is something that needs to be tended to gently, like a fragile houseplant.

[apbarratt]

Indeed, I'm lucky to have written a fairly details script during one of my super motivated and creative phases, but yeah, it's not very useful advice when you're in the lower phase of it all.

I agree with the other advice that's it's okay to take a break. Ultimately, none of it is important compared to giving yourself some self-care. For example, I've been really struggling with Inktober this year and the more I struggled with it the more I felt bad for it. This morning I posted a message to folk to announce that I'd be dropping out of it, and just the ability to say, "yeah, it's okay, I'm not going to keep that commitment," was a real relief and weight off my shoulders.

Again, I'm going by personal experience and what works for me might not work for others, but it might be that what you need is not approval from others to give yourself a break, but permission from yourself

[Klaustasya]

Honestly it's so nice to see that you can take care of yourself so good ^^ sometimes for me taking breaks that i actually enjoy it's even harder that dealing with art-blocks because i have poor management of myself (working on it, but it takes time of course).

One thing that i've noticed about me, is that i'm so used to be self-absorbed into art or my typical stuff, that i don't feel much interest towards local events, books of certain genres or movies, so i'm always in my own "bubble" and hardly find the inspiration to do something completely different to chill (i don't know if it's a common feeling, honestly i hope so, cause i sound heavily depressed like this haha)

[claiborneart]

Well, I can't offer useful advice on being life-stuck, but maybe if taking a complete break from drawing feels bad, you could just change tack for a bit?

When I didn't feel like drawing any comics, or really anything original for over a year, I still wanted to draw (felt bad if I didn't draw might be a better way to describe it, but semantics), so I would draw nothing but studies directly from photos.

As for mood things, taking a nice walk somewhere you don't usually go to is rarely a bad idea. Sometimes just a change of scenery/routine can help me a lot.

[Klaustasya]

Yeah many artists can't keep up with Inktober...it's a challenge meant to stimulate creativity and discipline but it's hard for almost everyone, i didn't even tried this year, so i feel you! Glad that you feel realived

Well, for sure, taking a break it's important! I hardly take them because i never know what to do to make time pass (sounds weird, but i do have periods of nothingness) but the most important thing to me is to remain calm, worrying about art-blocks only makes them worst, this is what i gained from my past experiences.

[Klaustasya]

I tried taking a break from drawing illustrations and to put down a webcomic (i like the idea of having one! Looks fun and entertaining, this is why started recently) but after 20 pages i'm already having mixed feelings toward it as well. So....hello slump! Haha

I guess you need first of all a positive attitude to throw yourself into doing anything, otherwise it's just gonna feel forced even for the best solutions

[claiborneart]

20 pages is already an impressive accomplishment mate - but yeah, keeping up steam for a longer comic is already hard enough on its own.
I'm gonna second everyone else's advice here on taking some time to relax however you feel like - either a full break outright or some very short low-stakes pieces that you feel comfortable dropping the first instant you want to.

[yansusu]

I don't know if it's common but I do have phases like that. Like, I was a heavy reader in my younger years than read almost nothing for a few years. Then two years ago (during my writer's block) I got into watching lots of series but I can't enjoy any of them right now. In fact, I drop most of them during the first episode even if I try I did get another job recently though and I'm getting lots of inspiration from there right now. So I guess there's ups and downs with that as well.

[Klaustasya]

Thank you! I try to give my best as much as possible XD
Sure i've met even worse art-blocks (like those were you literally trash all your sketchbook and you suddenly state to hate art hahah still i recovered from that in the past, somehow).
I just hope taking a break helps, cause otherwise i have no idea what to do.

[Klaustasya]

This is comforting actually!
Looks like nothing beats a fresh and new experience

[hannahlaine]

Well, I write for fun, not for my current job. In my job, I am a graphic designer. So I live in a creative atmosphere 24/7, though they are very different types. At work, when we get in a slump, we work with one another. For example, yesterday one of my coworkers was creating logo designs for a new client, "Sound Science Laboratories". He was stuck because he could not figure out how to illustrate sound because it meant "sound" as in "firm" or "dependable" not "sound" as in "noise".
He brought his struggle to the table and I suggested he work with Science. He was so close to the project, he had not thought of that.

Writing is a bit different. Most of the time, you are working alone on a project. What I do when I hit a creative slump is I put my book down and start reading. Then I start writing different story ideas down. Sometimes I get burnt out on writing my novel and I'll start working on a different one until I can come back to my main novel.

The best way, I think, to get out of a creative slump is to go immerse yourself in other's artwork. Read a book, go to an art museum, take a pottery class, learn a new style of drawing, or do writing exercises.

I hope this was helpful

[hannahlaine]

I also created a "creative space" in my flat. It is a room that is designed to fuel my creativity. I have inspirational artwork, a fluffy couch, all my art supplies, all of my books are in there, it is like a little haven for me. When it gets really bad, I go meditate in there.

I also have been known to go take a hike, just to get out of my own head.

[Kelheor]

The problem is, you should give yourself a rest, but without boosting that creativity and trying new things you can continue to stagnate.
Aside from taking a break (because we all need one, that's for sure), I think finding new ideas is crucial.
I really love and use Pinterest for that: you find something you like and it will give you more. I make folders for my projects, folders for characters, for other people's artworks, for anything else I like looking at and that may be useful.
If you don't want to work on this particular project, you can make costumes for characters in another universe. Or maybe you suddenly found out perfect places for your characters to be. Do you like this artist style? Try doing something like that! Watch new movies, listen to new music, read about new cultures - it's a must

I already wrote it, but I really enjoy making collages! I have a universe that haven't changed for a long time, since I don't write anything anymore, but then Pinterest happen and I went into the depths of imagination again and decided on the new plot branches for the characters.

So yeah, try to have more fun!

[monotone_ink]

Don't force creativity--nurture and reward it when it comes.

Carry around a pocket book or something you can write or draw on whenever and wherever you think of something genius or cool--record it on paper at that very moment, because you'll more than likely forget the idea a minute later.

More importantly, it ties in with what you said in your post:

Creativity is a natural flow of ideas without judgement

You're right about that, which is why you should learn to indiscriminately record ideas in the spur of the moment. When they fester in your head for too long, it's easy to subject the ideas to various criticisms and discard it immediately--never do that.

Watch yourself carefully and learn to recognise when an idea comes to your head, and act accordingly.

Best of luck fren.

[Klaustasya]

Fun fact: when i'm in shitty situation with drawing, somehow i feel super inspired for comic stories XD guess creative juices keeps flowing in some other ways