Overcoming artist’s block, my favorite tips.
Even the most creative people experience some trouble overcoming artist’s block form time to time. The difference between the average person and the masters is quite simple. Great artists realize that you have to fight through your block. Sometimes its lack of motivation and other times the cause is the fear of messing up a project we have spent many hours on. below are some of the steps that I like to use.
1 Listen to music.
Listening to your favorite music is a great way to get the creative juices flowing. Its even worth choosing songs that have a similar emotion to the piece you hope to create. I like to get the juices flowing by listing to faster music such as Rob Zombie or Deadly Apples. The picture below was created while listening to the group Shinedown. I decided to listen to the same song over and over again until something clicked.
2 Try not to judge yourself.
The quickest way to get artist’s block is to start judging yourself before you even put pen to paper. Its important to remember that everyone makes mistakes. I like to remind myself that even if my project is a total failure I still did better then the thousands of people that never gave themselves a chance. Its also important to remember that even if an idea doesn’t work out it can often give you ideas for something better in the future.
3 Block out artist’s block.
Another good way to get the creative juices flowing is to just draw random lines. Just take a pencil and move it around the paper without thinking. This is also a great way to get warmed up. From there try moving on to drawing simple shapes such as circles and squares. If that hasn’t cleared the cobwebs try randomly drawing objects from around your house.
4 Get inspired by other artists.
Another sure fire way to overcome artist block is to look at look at works by fellow artists. To get you started click here to view some of my digital paintings. There are tons of great resources for inspiration all over the internet. Just make sure not to take someone’s idea and claim it as your own. That’s not only unfair but its also illegal. And besides if your reading this you’re capable of creating your own masterpiece.
5 Just have fun.
At the end of the day it’s important to love what your doing. If your not having fun being an artist then overcoming artist’s block isn’t the main concern. Granted not every art project is going to be fun. However if you never make time for carefree creativity then your losing out on one of the best parts of being an artist. So whenever possible just have fun with your creative time. And try to remember that sometimes a paintings true beauty doesn’t become clear until long after the paint has dried.
