Art Block - Motivation and Inspiration Boosters
 

All artist hate it - I certainly do. I've had it for the past two months now. I'm happy with what little I have drawn lately. Maybe because of lack of time or the fact i'm depressed about financial situations. Perhaps the fact I'm living with my parents for the summer is getting to me.

Lack of time also means no listening to music, that good 'ol inspiration. Plus I've been looking for books, but found nothing that suites me.

I not really asking how to cure the art block, more perhaps I need motivation, and discussion if need be.

I'm trying to post more around the different forums after GFF recent threat to closure to, I suppose, get some kind of inspiration. Or just getting non arty thoughts out of my head and onto http.

I draw figurative and anthropromorph mainly - a fusion between american comic art and manga - though my anatomy skills suck as of late and my faces seem to be lacking expression, and I want to broaden my costume knowledge as well. I'm also looking for something more dynamic. I find that I've been writing down ideas as drawing them usually fails because I can be over ambitious.

I was thinking about drawing landscapes, but they aren't my strong point.

To boost my motivation, I was thinking about doing comissions for people, but after a while I get tired of not doing my own stuff

I don't know ><

My deviant art page (http://ryufan.deviantart.com) - please look and see if can give me some lost inspiration. It hasn't been updated lately due to the obvious (and that my scanner is a spaze)

And I suppose commissions are open as well if nessisary - but plz keep it simple :doh:

RyuFAN
P.s - sorry if the grammer etc of this post is a little off - I've been up for about seventeen and a half hours and I'm writing without the aid of my full consious lol. ^^

Poetry.
It's short, sweet, and you don't have to drag yourself through it (unless it's like an epic or something)
I'd say that you have to find some books that you KNOW you won't like.
Force yourself to read it.
Force yourself to like it.
For instance: The Stranger by Albert Camus
Really boring (so far) about the daily life of a guy who murdered some random person. It mostly just gives Portraits of what is happening.
For instance: Albert (the whole thing is in 1st person present) spends the whole day staring at people through a window.

may not be the most interesting thing you ever drew, but it's something.

Try to read some plays.
Think about how YOU would say it, and how you'd act if you were in the situation.
Think of how you look to other people.
Envision yourself how you are currently.
Do a self portrait of yourself without any mirrors, that is, paint yourself painting (or draw yourself drawing).
Then take that and do it from different angles.

May not be exptremely inspiring, but it's something to get your brain juices flowing.

Hmm - I'll give it a shot
Though I find imagery more inspiring than words. Stuff that makes me angry usually gets me going - I suppose that's a kind of hate.
I see how I go with that :)
Thanks agreatguy6

Hmm, remember, you don't have to try to draw "beautiful people". The face and body deform the way it is, and it gives life to the character that you are drawing. Although I think it is important to study some of the morphtology and find reference before hand, because with good reference and research, it makes the whole process easier.

Personally, I think the only sure fire way to overcome artistic block is to develope a somewhat logical thought process that you follow whenever you are trying to come up with your creations. Sometimes you'll kinda have to force yourself to do it, but I think it is good practice.


All the more reason to try.

True - thanks for your advise Magi ^^

Hmmmm.......
Do you paint what I call "Moments of time?"
you know, kodak pictures from a book?

Just finished The Stranger last night, I really suggest that you read some lame books. Although they're really boring to read, they have A LOT of description of the country side.

Or if you do Portraits, really boring books sometimes give inch by inch descriptions of people.

Top Four List of Books that have potential in art:
1)Les Miserables (also winner of the Boring Award)
2)The Stranger (Runner up to Les Mis)
3)Crime and Punishment (Very Interesting!)
4)Everything else by Dostoyevsky (good for portraits)

Something that makes you mad................
Well, it depends on how mad you want to get.
Not angry, depressed: A wrinkle in time (good for Sci-Fi)
Kinda angry and amused: The Stranger
Slightly Indignant: Something by Charles Dickens
Very Angry at the Chain of Events: All's Well that Ends Well and Measure for Measure by Shakespeare.

I seem to see a chain in my suggestions. They're all classics.
It's because they all have better descriptions and usually have more expression than books churned out today.

Don't read James Joyce, though. He's just pointless.

Hope you get out of this phase!!!

PM me if you need anything.

Thanks :D
I'll see how I go

Lightwarmth's Motivation / Inspiration Lecture!

Alright class, let's talk a little about what motivation and inspiration are. They are the feelings you get when suddenly you know that the time is right to produce a piece of art. Sometimes it lasts for days, other times a mere few hours. But what causes this mystical force to bless you with a creational energy?

The answer?

YOU DO.

Motivation is a choice. It is pattern based. Think about it- your body works in patterns for eating, sleeping, concentrating, everything... motivation and inspiration are no different. By subscribing to the mystical concept of inspiration, you are simply feeding your body a non productive pattern. So, you ask, how do you change that? How can I give myself inspiration all the time?

The keyword here is hard work. You must teach your body that you want to produce every day, when YOU want it. This means drawing/writing every day even if it's shit, for a period of time. Eventually, and take my word for it, you'll start having less "blocks". Your body knows the pattern you've given it, that you want to work everyday, rather than the previous pattern of randominity and every once and a while.

To summarise: You choose to be inspired or motivated. Of course there are stumbling blocks, but the only way to get out of them is either waiting (bad for your pattern, as previously mentioned!) or keeping working till something good comes out. Good luck! It's a long process but in the end quite rewarding!

That sure sounds good Lightwarmth, but I think we both know it's not really that easy. I myself go through spurts of activity where I will draw or otherwise "create" every single day, sometimes multiple things a day, for a few weeks or so, then it tapers off and I have sporadic output and then it ramps back up again, so on and so forth.

The key, I find, is to not get frustrated. Unless you are under demand to "produce" then you should just be able to kick back and do something else for awhile. I also find it helps to switch up the medium you are using. If you use primarily pencil then paint something, or draw in photoshop, etc.

For sure. I wasn't meaning at all to FORCE it, I simply mean that sometimes you HAVE to work no matter what. Sometimes you simply have to keep going if it's crappy and eventually you get the right idea. Switching mediums and doing something else are awesome ways to "get inspired" again, you're right.

The problem with that is just that: even if what you're churning out (since you're supposed to do that) is shit, it's still shit. No one wants to read that.

I guess I just need a small push, and then I get going
It's more of an ego boost I suppose

I managed to wake out two descent linearts out of five
I going to proceed to start colouring some things, maybe that will set things going again

cheers everyone

"You are powerful and Important..."

Reminds me of those stupid tapes they used to have.

Well, at least you're producing something. You're then already above 90% of writers/artists who dream of doing something. You're doing it.And if you KNOW it's shit you can change that. And produce enough shit and you'll do something amazing.

It's like photography. No matter how well you set up the shot, many pictures have to be taken because for some reason there'll be one small minute thing that sets one apart and makes it worth keeping.

Look, like Lightwarmth say, Creative process isn't some sort of mythic process that requires a stroke of inspiration so spontaneous, it just simply come to you out of blue. Making art, be it visual, musical, or written, they are not a shot in the dark. If you understand the possbilty of the type of stuff in which you learn to do, sometimes idea just come naturally because you want to try out something new.

I think it was chuck jones who said something along the lines of;

"You get one great drawing out of a thousand concepts"

And I have to agree - alot of things come to me out of the blue, it's just questionable whether or it is drawable

This block is slowly going, and I starting to get a lot happier with my work again. Practice makes perfect; you can improve something by working on it over a long period of time, but of course it is how you practice

Most people in my opinion try to improve on perfect.
(Oh, perfect means unchangeable in Latin. Yay! I learned something!)
It may be very beautiful, but some people just cant accept it for what it is.

My advice that works for me whenever I am having writer's block:

Go watch/listen/look at something that just kind of awes you. For me that pretty much kicks it in.

this may not work for you but My motivation is the thought of what I can do with my art career wise if I work har toward it. Also seeing others who draw alor better than me. This is strange I know because for most it will discurage but for me it gets me wanting to draw better, or whatever the art is.

I used to always draw something and then trash it. I was never satisfied with my work no matter how it turned out. Eventually I just stopped drawing altogether. Lately I've been thinking about getting back into it, although I'm sure I'm pretty rusty these days.