Tips for art block?

[DualDragons]

So I've been in a art slump for the past couple of weeks. Hence why I have been drawing less and taking more breaks. But it doesn't seem to help a lot unfortunately and I'm afraid that I might have landed into art block. Which sucks.

Have you been in art block before? And if yes, how did you deal with it?

[BarBarKetrab]

I can thankfully say that the last time I had a proper debilitating block was 2 years ago. I've been going strong since then.

However, when it comes to the smaller blocks that I experience every now and again, here is how I deal with them:

• Don't take the drawing too seriously. Treat it as a boatload of fun that you can do whatever you want with. Even if it turns out 'worse' than you had intended, you will at least be able to rush into the next drawing/panel/page with more motivation.

• Treat it like a shonen battle, or an RPG, with you as the protagonist and the page as the enemy. With every stroke, every line that you draw, consider it a small victory or a power up of sorts. Basically the idea is to stay excited and motivated at all times. Please forgive the ridiculous explanation.

That's what works for me anyway.
I've noticed that when I go into 'block,' the next page I draw usually turns out worse than the previous one, but then after a day or so I come back in full swing and able to do well.

Good luck with your battle!

[CAOMouse]

Hm... I rarely have art block, but when I do, I look at famous artists that I like to find inspiration.

[Kaydreamer]

When I get blocked, I'll try doing something different to normal, artistically. I may do figure studies, or paint landscapes from photos, or experiment with different brushes. That often helps jump-start something, and even if it doesn't, I've still spent the time experimenting and learning

[lynestjules]

I've had tons of them. Usually comes when I'm feeling tired. I find these things help unblock it:

• Listening to instrumental music

• Going for a walk.

• Take a break from everything and go hang out with a friend for a day.

[Kelheor]

If taking breaks doesn't help anymore and I am able to hold a pen (and draw a line) without getting a brain crash, but cannot draw a simple sketch like a shape of a face/eye to save my life, I just find some photos or art I like and use them as a reference to draw some really loose sketches from them. Just to get this blood flowing, you know.
And yeah, as everyone else wrote, searching for some new inspiration ^^

[darthmongoose]

When I have art block, it's usually one of two things:

1. I'm burned out and I need a break. Trees don't produce fruit all year round. Everyone needs a break sometimes to produce good content!

2. I'm actually stuck on something specific but I'm just feeling it as this general "lost" or "stuck" vibe. So it feels like just drawing the page is insurmountable, but actually it's that there's a pose I'm struggling to draw as well as I want, or a piece of scenery I don't even know where to start on creating or finding reference for. Breaking this thing down into manageable pieces can help. I'll think "okay, well... maybe I'll look for reference or assets first, then I'll draw out a rough thumbnail sketch with low pressure to try a few approaches in very rough sketch form. This approach often solves the problem and the rest of the drawing or page falls into place.

Hopefully knowing this helps. I spent years working as an illustrator for my job, so I had to get pretty good at navigating art block!

[Van]

Three things can help:

-Listening to one song over and over and over until your mind melts

-Doodling a bunch of simplistic devil heads or hyper detailed eyes

-Simply taking a break until you feel up to it again (even if it might take weeks)

[Legendofgenii]

Sorry to hear that.

I get it quite often. I had it the last two weeks. I think I drew one thing during that time.

Usually I just don’t draw for a while, because anything I try to draw comes out rubbish.

Also, if I’m stressed or can’t take my time with it (not a fan of time limits and deadlines), this can affect my work too.

If there is a cure I would like to know about it, but my method is just to do other stuff till inspiration returns.

[DiegoPalacios]

To keep myself in working mood, i put music that feels fitting for the task at hand.

When doing action scenes, i look for intense music, for emotional ones, emotional music and so on....

[Eggcyler]

Yes, I've been into art block a lot of times. Sometimes it is so deep, it makes me delete my artwork because it feels like it doesn't represent me anymore.

Time heals everything, so I got used to it. Whenever I feel like falling into art block again, I really let myself fall to feel it fully. Otherwise I won't know when it ends. And I am trying to not delete my stuff again, .

Life is a wave frequency. You just need to know how to ride it...!

[Legendofgenii]

Trees don't produce fruit all year round.

I love that analogy

[darthmongoose]

I didn't come up with it, I think I read it on art twitter years ago! I love it too!

[jkb4753]

I always recommend taking a look at other things going on in your life. Sometimes artist's block isn't about your art, it's about how you feel about yourself. If your life is really stressful and you feel like a trash human, you're not going to think highly of your art. I believe people do better art when they feel good about themselves. Sometimes it takes getting your house in order (metaphorically speaking) before you can feel confident about your work. Hope this helps!

[ebi_nebby]

I would say, even if you have art block, take time out everyday to doodle, even a teeny tiny bit! :3

[rajillustration]

Whenever I have art block I think of something my teacher told me, where he said that whenever you feel like your art took a nose-dive, and everything is being drawn by a kindergartner--that means you are about to improve in a big, big way. What happens is you become good enough at art, that you recognize what you want to fix in your own pieces--that's the slump. Everything looks bad, not because you're suddenly bad, but because you became aware.

Getting out of it is just patience and taking a little time for self improvement. You will draw a thing eventually and be like "hell...I drew that?" It just takes time. Sometimes it takes walking away from it so you stop being so critical of your own art (and I do think that learning not to be critical of our art is a learned skill), and sometimes it just takes just drawing and being OK with it not being at 100% because you are where you're at, and that's OK. But, the art slump will end because you will improve to the point that you will be satisfied. That's the way of things. You kind of just have to trust the method.

As others have said, you don't need to be always producing stuff. I have a tendency to just stop producing when things get rough. Sometimes that time away helps to reset bad habits I may have had in my own art process, so I can start over again with good habits.

[jkb4753]

This is really good advice! I like the idea of recognizing you're about to improve. Like standing on the edge of a diving board before you jump off.