Artist's Block--How do you get over it?

Art is art, here. If you're an artist of ANY sort (Writing, drawing, crafting, singing, whatever) you're BOUND to get blocks from time to time. What do YOU do to get over it when it hits you hard and seemingly won't go away?

Any special methods you'd like to share? Share away! Maybe someone else might be inspired to try your methods on their own artist's block if they're experiencing it right now.

Hmm, maybe a change of scenery, or just take a break. Ideas seem to crop up when you least expect. Usually triggered by something you see or experience, and you adapt it to your story.

P.S I usually get all my best ideas while sat on the toilet :p

get away from it and do something else thats fun BD

Read a magazine on it, or take a break.

Usually I get bummed out and work on something else until it clears up.

Love these replies, but this one really intrigues me. Maybe working on a side project for awhile will make me yearn for my "main" one again...

Brother... shake my hand.

...

If... if you've washed it since using the facilities, that is. :cutesmile:

Working in a different format or style helps sometimes. Doing art for a VN instead of tilesets for example. Or switching from doing a pixel set to working on an antialiased one. Sometimes doing things that are super easy and fun can help. Breaks can help but they're not always a good idea if you're trying to become prolific or consistent.


Ah, almost forgot. There are many times when artist or writer's block is because you need to work out something that you know subconsciously that you're trying to do the wrong way. In times like these thinking it through to find and solve the problem or doing more research is going to be very helpful.

I also want to add, working on "side projects" in the past has even given me new ideas for my "main" projects. Really big, hugely significant ideas. I've ended up implementing entire plots of my side projects as subplots within my main stories.

Free your mind!

I usually either binge on drawing tutorials and magazines or draw a bunch of dumb, messy doodles. However, I get the bigger jumps of improvement by not drawing for a long time and just looking at other artists' works for awhile before I make another piece. I guess after looking at and studying another person's work, I somewhat 'forget' my set way of drawing in order to adapt a new method. That's just me, though. Sometimes I do studies of art I like, and that tends to help, too.

Can you elaborate? That sounds fascinating.

Well, let's say trying to draw a character doing something specific. Every time you try it comes out looking wrong. But really the problem isn't drawing ability, it's because you're trying to make the character do something they shouldn't. Or perhaps you're trying to draw a tree without a reference but you know deep down that trees don't actually look like that. It's things like that, where you know something is wrong but your conscious mind isn't thinking about it when you try to work.


I'm a big fan of research and reference material anyway. Winging it should be for emergencies only, if you do it all the time your art suffers.

Thank you for the insight. :cutesmile:

I'm not sure if it will help, but I'll tell you how I try to mitigate "Writer's Block".  I go to my real life job.  it's not the job that gives me inspiration...  it's listening to the radio all day long.  Songs will come on the radio or snippets of lyrics snake into my brain and wriggle around.  Sometimes, it's just an emotion in whatever song that comes on.  I'll hear that emotion, hear the sincerity in it, and think "How can replicate that with words?  How can I convey everything in this emotion in a single sentence?"  That thought just sends my brain reeling with possibilities of not just how to do it, but where great places to use it might be.  A simple emotion like, "this must be what love is" by the music artist can send me on a tear to try to replicate the passion, the doubt, and the absolute elation of that piece of story.

Oh, I also go for walks.  Late at night.  Not everyone can do that, I realize, but I live in a small-ish town so I can.  I just wander out into the darkness and disappear into it.  I let my eyes adjust, I breathe deep of the midnight air and the partial silence of a sleeping town of 10,000 residents...  I wander down the sidewalk and go into the park to listen to the small creek run into the bridge.  The absolute silence and wonder that can exist in that pure darkness without visible stars sets my creativity in motion.  ...Or sometimes I just stand there, pull my soul out, and look at it to get my bearings again.  It's not really an exact science, but it does at least help me clean out the cobwebs in my brain even if it may not provide new ideas.

The last thing I do is talk to my Ex.  Yeah, that sounds weird, I know.  Since the day I met her, she's always really been my muse.  It does help that after we got through all the fighting and relationship ending business, we ended up being some of the best friends we ever had to each other.  On more than one occasion, I've grafted her personality (or pieces of it) onto characters of mine.  Sometimes, I've even grafted some of her own artistic ideas into something I was working on and then added my own flair so that they were mine instead of hers.  Sometimes, just a conversation with her can get my brain working on whatever story I am trying to tell.  I'll just listen to her go on and on about her problems and issues and her victories and good news...  It's just so viscerally real that it's hard to not think about how you can apply it to whatever story you're telling.  Or, at least, that's how it works with me.

I hope that helps.

Having tons of clients who want me to produce a song for them in mere weeks, I've no time for Artist's Block. I simply sit down, open up my DAW and force myself to compose. Strange thing is that the more I force myself, the more focused I become. Like, I'm slowly getting into the grove even though I don't feel like it. However, there are times where I didn't open up my DAW; most of these are just me being tired, lazy, sick, etc.

If the worst comes, I simply experiment with various sounds and stuff. Music isn't the only thing my clients want from me. General Audio is my specialty so sometimes they would want some custom sound effect, post production, or what have you. But my primary focus would have to be music.

It happens to me every now and again but I don't treat it like some formidable foe. The bouts usually are short enough and it's a nice time to remind myself that I like doing other activities. If I don't pace myself well I may very well get burnt out on something. But, a good task I like to do is take something old, where all the hardest work is already done, and completely redo it (though remember a lot of that hard work is done). That keeps me in the game and may get me back into returning to working on something from the ground up.

Writers blocks just happen from time to time.  You might get sick, tired or maybe have just composed too much stuff at once.  When it happens (and it usually will eventually) you're best just taking a break if you can, it's best to try not to push yourself too much otherwise your stuff is gonna be sub-par 99% of the time.

While you're on your break it can be a case of either doing something completely non-related, or possibly doing something creative of a different nature. Whatever you do, make sure you don't put any unnecessary pressure on yourself in the meantime, it's best to try and relax during times like this. 

If you're working for people you will need to explain the issue to them and try to get them to be patient, reminding them that they will receive a much better standard of work from you if they wait.  Obviously sometimes you will have no choice but to power through it and when that happens you'll just have to choose whether to do your best or whether to turn down the job.

When you decide to get back to work, take it slowly at first and allow yourself to readjust to things again.  Going in at full force straight away again only increases the chance that your writers block will come back worse than ever.       

Usually I only do art when I'm commisioned to, or when I'm inspired, so artist's block hasn't been an issue thats come up often for me. Some days I will feel like doing art but have no idea what exactly to do, in those scenarios I'll play some of my favourite games or listen to some new sorts of music, and usually that will do it.

Ooh! I found a new way for me to get rid of Artist's block!

SLEEP! :D

Then again, my brain teases me of wonderful music, making me dream that I'm working on an amazing song. Everytime I would wake up, I would immediately boot up my DAW and write down everything I can remember from that dream, only to realize that I've forgotten all of it. DAMN YOU BRAIN ;~;

I thought that was a myth, you mean to tell me people do actually sleep? Thought it was fairytale stuff like Sleeping Beauty to excuse poorly devised plot mechanics.

"I Slept for four days, the world is all better!"

Hmmm... 

Well, if I'm having artist's block, then I simply take a break! When I'm ready to try and draw again, I try and clear my mind, then just start drawing. I usually don't have anything in mind, but I'll end up with something that might give me inspiration. If I'm trying to write a song or story, then I just listen to the white noise around me, and try and put words into that rhythm. 

Yes, I have written stories to the beat of my washing machine. xD