How many times does an artist stare at that blank sheet of paper thinking “What the hell do I paint? Where do I put my first mark?” More often than you can imagine! It happens to all creative people actually, from visual artists, designers, poets, to musicians and writers.
When this situation arises, you are trapped by a creative block. When you rack your brain for ideas but can’t seem to. There may be factors that contribute to this state, such as tiredness, depression, environmental, physiological or psychological problems. On the other hand, you could be experiencing a period of simply low creativity.
When this happens, there are some things you can do to restore your creativity levels at will, however what you should not do is worry or worry about it. If the worst comes to the worst and you don’t seem able to produce any work, simply treat the period as a ‘holiday’ or a break. Your level of creativity will rise again. In the meantime, use the time you spend not creating
do positive things anyway.
Research the work of other artists. Visit galleries or browse the web and see what other people are doing. Join artist chat rooms or visit message boards or forums where you can exchange ideas and views with other artists. Just talking to other creative people can give you a huge boost! You might even make new friends in the process.
Spend the time you’re not producing art increasing your marketing efforts. Send postcards to galleries, research upcoming local art fairs or events where you could possibly take a booth to sell your art. Print some brochures or flyers about yourself and your work. Take a couple of days out of your schedule and do a local neighborhood flyer drop.
Update your website or online portfolio. You may think you’re already perfect, but it’s not often that things can’t be improved or sharpened in some way. Update your artist statement; put new ‘zing’ in your descriptions.
If you really can’t do anything about your own artwork, visit the theater, attend a pop music concert, explore the local museums. Go to a restaurant or cafe with friends and have a mat (not related to art).
Take the time to take a complete break, if this works best for you. You will instinctively know when it is the right time to “return” to your art. When this happens, there are many techniques you can use to get back into the groove of high creativity. I explore these in my article ‘Overcoming Artist’s Block (Part 2)’.
