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The last blog post I wrote was about handling Self-Doubt and Insecurity as an artist, and these two blog posts are intended to act like companion pieces. The two share advice and tips I’ve learned that help me when I’m struggling with my artwork.
This blog post is focused on art-block and burnout. Maybe you have the urge to make something, but when you sit down just can’t bring yourself to create anything. Hopefully there will be some helpful advice for you here!
Try something new
Sometimes when I only draw digitally for a long while, I notice myself starting to fall back into a slump. I had a really rough patch a while back where I just couldn’t get myself to create anything at all. So, I went out and bought myself a physical sketchbook again. I made a rule that whatever I made it in I wouldn’t share online, so it took a lot of pressure off to make ‘good’ art. I could use it to brainstorm for digital pieces, but nothing would be shared from those pages.
Around that time I also tried out embroidery. It was completely new and different from what I was used to and helped me work on my perfectionism. I found it easier to be kinder to myself when it with embroidery – it was my first time doing it so I wasn’t as harsh when I messed up, because it was so new. You expect a certain level of quality when doing “Your Thing“, so introducing a “New Thing” can help break that.
So if you find yourself in a slump and unable to make anything, how about switching to a new medium for a while? Either try something that’s totally different from what you normally do, or go back to a medium you haven’t done in a long time that you used to enjoy!
Do some Art Style Studies
Art style studies have helped me when I find myself feeling unsure about my current art style. They help me get a much better understanding of what I want out of my artwork. An art style study of Studio Trigger helped me realize I wanted to use brighter, more saturated colors. The art style study I did of the animated show Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles helped me realize I wanted to use more expressive and dynamic poses when drawing characters. The art style study I most recently did of the artist droolingdemon (here’s his Bluesky and Tumblr) helped me realize how daunted I typically felt when starting a new drawing, and how much I missed a simpler more cartoony style to doodle in.
So if you’re feeling bored or uninspired with your current style, try out something different! Even if you think there’s aspects of it you won’t like just give it a try, and you might find you like something you didn’t expect! Also keep in mind this is more than just copying a style- you’re going in with the goal to better understand someone else’s style and the process they used to get there.
Make Self-Indulgent Art
If you don’t know what to work on, reach for something nostalgic! Why did you start making artwork in the first place? As a kid I really enjoyed drawing dragons and random creatures I came up with. Even if I don’t end up drawing any, sometimes just looking at some cool creature designs can get me inspired again.
A while back I tried out an art style study for a cartoon show I watched growing up. Remembering old episodes I watched and thinking about how much I enjoyed the show, tapping into that nostalgia, helped give me the energy to make some more art.
So try to remember what you first enjoyed about making art and why you were drawn to it. You don’t even have to worry about showing others- just make something for yourself for fun.
Check Out some Other Art
I wasn’t sure how else to phrase this but basically- go experience art. Anyone else’s art. Go watch a new tv show, or read a book that’s been sitting on your shelf, or play a videogame you haven’t thought of in forever. My go-to is 2d animation. Whether that’s watching a new show or going back to old stuff I’ve already seen, I love watching animation so much and find a ton of inspiration in it.
The way I view it, it’s like I’ve got a meter that needs refilling. I need to consume art to make art. I can only use so much of the fuel in that meter before it’s gonna start running out, and I’m gonna have to go refill it. For me that fuel other’s art; going out and getting lost in the world-building of a story, getting attached to some really cool characters I end up wanting to draw, being inspired by a really powerful story. Figure out what refills that meter for you!
Don’t Worry About Making Anything for a While
Obviously it’s a bit different if your artwork directly impacts your income, but if you’re able to- sometimes it’s best to just take a step away for a while. It’s strangely difficult sometimes to just give yourself permission to not make anything at all. You end up getting caught up just determined to make the next thing, staring at a blank sheet of paper and not knowing where to even start.
Sometimes it’s better to just take a break. Sit with that discomfort and work through it- what are the external pressures pushing you to keep making artwork? Is it the pressure of social media pushing you to feel like you need to keep posting? Is it because you’re afraid if you stop making art, you won’t pick the pen back up? Is it because if you’re not making artwork often enough, then you wonder if you can even call yourself an artist? It may not work for everyone, but it’s helped me to just remind myself I don’t have to always be working on the next drawing.
One of my recent comfort movies has been Kiki’s Delivery Service. Genuinely one of the best bits of advice I’ve heard came from the movie, and while it didn’t mean much when I heard it as a kid, as an adult it definitely hits a lot harder. Honestly you may have heard it online before, even if you haven’t seen the movie. When the character Kiki, a witch, finds herself unable to fly on her broom or use her magic anymore, she takes a trip to visit her friend Ursula. Kiki explains that she used to enjoy flying, until she started doing it for her job. And her friend responds,
“Stop trying. Take long walks. Look at scenery. Doze off at noon. Don’t even think about flying. And then, pretty soon, you’ll be flying again.”
It’s hard not to think of the animators and other artists behind the movie giving each other this advice in the face of the pressures that come from turning their artwork into their job. Finding so much joy in creativity that now you struggle to engage with at all can be such a disheartening and unnerving experience. But instead of pushing, sometimes it’s best to just take a step back and take some of the pressure off.
Every time I stop making art, I’m terrified the joy I have for it won’t come back and I’ll just never pick it back up. I’m so bad about it that even if a week goes by and I haven’t drawn something I’m spiraling. And the funny thing is, often times I find I’ve still created stuff, I’ve just forgotten. Little sketches here and there that I forgot about, or a bunch of digital drawings I started and stopped because I didn’t like how they were turning out. But all of it gets swept to the side in my mind and forgotten, and I’m convinced I’ve simply made nothing at all.
Inevitably though, it does always come back. I’ll play a videogame that gives me an idea for a new character. Or I’ll watch a show and want to do an art style study of it. Or I’ll see a movie with an awesome composition for a scene and want to try and recreate it. Or I just randomly think of a new character and start out doodling them. There’s always something that brings that spark back. Even if I have to manage the anxiety I get that surely this time I’m actually done for and what if I never create anything ever again, I have repeated the cycle so many times I’m getting better at recognizing that my desire to make art just naturally ebbs and flows. During that off-time I may lean more heavily into other interests or hobbies I’ve picked up, but the want to make art always does come back.
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