How do you Overcome Art Block?

Hey guys

I wanted to ask because recently I encounter a big Art block I know most of the time people say "just work on something else or do something else" but for the moment I really have to work on these thing's but I just block and this getting me a little "piss off" or in bad mood because I want to continue to works on these story board and commissions...

so how do you generally deal with Art Block? 

Try to get new materials! Work with something new and fresh can awaken your artsy instincts again.

It always works with me.

that's the natural motto! the problem it's after I can't progress in my storyboard xD nor my commissions :c

You can watch Bob Ross paint happy little trees as he talks in his soothing, hypnotic voice.

Find new music to listen to.

You power through it. You practice. Work on perfecting your techniques. We never stop growing as artists.

If it's something with a deadline, I take a break, then return to it. It also always depends on what kind of work is still to be done. If it's design work, I take a break while collecting reference images or arrange a mood board or do some research and return to it at a time I know is good for me to work on design things (for me, that's the timeframe between 09.00am and 02.00pm).

Have a change of things while working may also help: Flip the whole image horizontally and have it stay flipped for a while, change your brush colour to brown, or blue, or red, change the background colour (never forget how much of an influence colours can have on one's mood), put a photograph of a giraffe in the lower left corner of your canvas...

If it's non-design work but also with a deadline, I simply power through. Maybe swear a bit under my breath, or change the music I'm listening to to something more aggressive. If I'm still blocked after that, I throw in photographs to add texture- and/or colour variations, or play around with brushes. If even that doesn't help, I make myself a nice can of tea and take a two hours break drinking tea and playing video games (always set an alarm to prevent playing for too long, though).

Oh, and when I notice the first signs of art block creeping up, I usually check if I remember when I've eaten the last time, and drink a sip of water. Sometimes, the mind is simply pissed at its owner for neglecting the body or something like that.

Note: When I'm so blocked that my mood is really bad, I avoid looking at other people's works and instead look at nature photography or something like that to get inspired or motivated again.

I'm in a constant artblock, so my advice might not help much. But what I've been trying so far, is either doing something different or listening to different music. In any way, getting distracted from thinking too much about what I could draw. Right now, I'm trying something else: (more or less) forcing myself to draw. Not as in "drawing until my hand hurts" but rather "drawing at a regular basis". I'm forcing myself to draw at least one "bigger" picture in a month (not counting sketches or scribbles). That actually helps^^ It would also help a lot if you try to draw something different. Like something you usually avoid drawing or trying out a different style.

Well, I hope one of those methods might help you ^^°

My solution to any type of creative block has always been to force myself to take a break and put the project out of my mind as completely as possible. Often inspiration will come from the unlikeliest of places. How I do that varies a lot, and depends on my mood and other elements, but the thing that's always important is to distance myself from the material I'm working on. So if I'm working on, say, logo sketches and design, I distance myself physically from my workplace, which is my desk, computer and drawing utensils. I take walks, or I go to a cafè, or I start washing the bathroom.

In my experience, the important thing when having a creative block is being able to get the creative problem out of your conscious mind and let your unconscious work on it for you. This is scary because you can't control your unconscious thought processes, so you have to trust in yourself.

Easy, turn that block into something :p

Seriously though, ill tell you what i told my cousin. Dont think. Just start and let the creative inspration come. Dont just do the same things either. Force yourself to do something new by puttinf restrictions

I think a semi-famous person said "restrictions breed creativitt". It might have been Mark Rosewater the guy that does the magic the gathering sets? I dont know

Also, learning new things constantly helps to, as you force your brain to constantly make new connections, it can go in directions you never thought before

thanks guys for your opinion and input this help a lots : D!

With your manga it could be that your subconscious realizes that there's a problem and is refusing to let you move forward until you solve it.

To me, art/writer's block just means I'm procrastinating. I go into it with the mindset of "I don't really want to do this part, so I'm just going to stop drawing."


I don't overcome it, my work production is slowed and I get distracted easily. I end up spending over a week on something that should have taken me a day. I do other things in the meantime, until little by little, I've finished the thing I'm procrastinating.

Normally, when I have an artblock, I'll try not to press on and draw. I'll just stay away from it for awhile. (Several days)


I'll just find some music to listen to til I have mood to continue on.


If it's urgent work, I'll sleep it off to relieve stress. It helps a bit but at least it's better than pressing on and stressing myself.

You don't overcome art block. Art block overcomes you.