Artist Block
 

Help! Please tell me that at one time or another you have experienced serious "artistic block". And please tell me how you dealt with it. Three weeks ago I had some minor surgery (really not a big deal) which put me out of commission for over two weeks. I was unable to focus on drawing because of the pain level and discomfort and pain meds. Well I am much better and healing very well, except that now . . . .

I CAN'T DRAW WORTH A DARN ! ! ! ! !

I am trying not to panic. My darkest nightmare is that becoming an artist will remain an unrequited dream.

I have been sketching every evening, even though NOTHING is coming from it. It is very painful, as you can imagine, to see the YUCK at the end of the evening. And getting harder to pick up the sketchpad and pencil.

Any suggestions, tips, exercises which have worked for you?

Stuck in this slump

Panicky Patty ! ;C

Well, you already are an artist so scratch that worry off your list.

My only advice is to do whatever it takes to keep drawing. The surest way to fail is to stop.

When "Nothing" is Happening

This is a transcript of an excerpt from Thomas Moore

Another practical thing to do while "nothing is happening" is to return to something in which you have demonstrated mastery or at least competence. I don't know what you're trying to draw now that isn't coming along for you, but maybe you're trying to re-join the full marathon without doing some mental sit-ups and stretches.

If you can't draw a 3/4 portrait profile right now, so what? Try a chair or a teapot. If that falls over or leaks, try a side-lit sphere, or try randomly stacking three or four cubes (kids' alphabet blocks) and drawing those. Find that place where you're able to keep pace for a while until you get your wind back, and I think you'll be back on track quickly.

Give yourself a break. Even minor surgery commands the body's entire attention, just as do stress and fatigue and heartache. Let the healing process run its natural course.

Don't take "nothing" literally. Something IS happening.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Michele and Steven! Your responses are much appreciated. Your validation, Michele was hungrily accepted!!!! Your suggestion, Steven, to go back to drawing what I know I can draw is one I will do. Part of my problem is that I MISS drawing.

Ah, you've quoted one of my favorite lecturers and authors. I have about three or four Thomas Moore lectures on tape and have read his book Care of the Soul. But it has been a few years. Just reading your excerpt pulled so much out of the old cobwebs. I think his greatest lesson is relative to the admonition to "embrace our shadow side", live the process, find the soul in the emptiness. I find great comfort in your excerpt and your own words. I have printed this out to keep and reread when I get home tonight.

I am going on a weekend getaway with my five sisters and this week I was putting pressure on myself to "do something" knowing that I would not be able to work in my studio this the third weekend in a row. So, the pressure is off, I think I'll try to "incorporate this stoppage into my [our] experience and into my [our] life" and relax!

I appreciate the time you took to transcribe so much. It was serendipitous that you would think of Thomas Moore, who has already greatly influenced me . . .

Thank You!

Visual Journal
 

HI Patricia!

The best thing that you can do for yourself is to just start a visual art journal. Just as Steve said, just draw stuff, make it a morning ritual: While drinking your coffee, draw your cup, slippers on your feet or the salt and pepper shaker. I tell all my students no matter what level they may be at to draw in a visual type journal every day. Spend no less than three minutes per item and no more than thirty. Make it like a stretch before you exercise, walk, jog, swim, etcetera. You can just do one a day if that is all you have time for but draw something every day and it doesn't have to be perfect, a doodle is better than nothing. Doodles can lead to bigger things. Just flex that sore art muscle and you'll get back into it. Take it from a gal who has had to go through an art healing process herself.

Just have fun with your art right now and don't worry about it so much. Your art is there, it's just taking a nap! It'll all come rushing back to you soon! :sunnysmil

Lynn

From dance icon Martha Graham--

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and directly aware of the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open."

And another, from whom I can't recall--

"Chaos occurs on the cusp of change."

And from me--

"Skydiving is the only activity you have to do perfectly the first time."

I lost twelve years of potential painting time because I didn't think I could do it well enough or whatever. I won't make that mistake again. The only real mistake is stopping. Otherwise, all other issues work themselves out with action.

Relax. It's there. Don't force it, just do it.

Flow comes from love. Blocking comes from pressure.

The first point of business in my workshops and classes is to get my students to rediscover the love of creating that they had as kids, where they lost themselves for hours drawing, coloring or whatever. Enjoyment leads to mastery.

Pressure on the other hand stops the flow. This is true of any endeavor. When my kids were younger I used to coach their teams. I merely got them to have fun and love playing. They played great and usually beat the more "talented" teams. The other teams coaches were always accommodating and applied tremendous pressure on their own kids.

Just keep drawing and don't worry about the outcome. (I know, easier said than done). The whole process is cyclical. When you let go you get into the flow, then your ego takes over and demands results. You have to quiet your mind and let the flow take over.

Hope this helps.

The time you have taken, to gift me with these notes of encouragement quicken my heart! What comfort to know that this dryness is not a bad thing, is normal and can be transforming.

Your solid advice brought to mind what I have learned in my practice of yoga. In yoga, there are days when the body is resistant. If I try to push myself too far, I risk injury. Yoga teaches me to relax into the pose and go only as far as my body comfortably allows me to go. Some days that's not very far!! Inevitably, following this "stiff" period, is a burst of growth. All of a sudden I can sink further into a pose than I have ever gone before, and there is an awakening of wonderful energy.

The recent drawing on my easel is Christine. She is beautiful. I want to do her beauty justice. But at the same time the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship is tender and just beginning to blossom. It is psyching me out!! So last night I put it aside.

I am going to take all of your adice and relax, keep the visual journal going, relax, turn off the mental tapes, relax, and "let the flow take over"!!

God's blessings on all of you!!

This is a helpful thread for me, too. Due to recent circumstances beyond my control ( ! ) there is a lot more pressure on me to produce, to crank out commissions as fast as I can.

I know that this pressure is counter-productive when it comes to doing justice to these wonderful subjects I get to paint. So the advice to "relax into the pose", to enjoy and let the "flow" feeling come, is very much appreciated and important for me to remember too, right now. Thanks, everyone!

It

"Reaching the Goal by Giving Up the Attempt to Reach It"

Steven, that's juicy!! I'll be chewing on it all weekend!!!

The website's being a little dodgy this morning -- the full title (which is appearing in the AOL browser edition but not in Explorer's) is "The Paradox of Intention -- Reaching the Goal by Giving up The Attempt to Reach It." It is accessible through Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/IS...rokeofgeniusA/

(Explorer is still not displaying the hyperlink. I'll come back to it later.)

Don't worry, be happy!
 

Patricia,

I do not have any deep words of wisdom for you just something that fosters creativity for me. When someone else's art work catches my attention, I'm done. I get all excited and happy.

When I get this feeling I go to my studio, play a CD I enjoy, and work on something. It is only under these conditions that I am able to enter that place where, when I come out of it, I don't remember working on certain portions of my project (and my children say they caught me dancing when I stepped back to take a look. ) In my opinion, my best stuff comes from me when I am there.

My best stuff comes when I am happy.

I don't know if this is the same for others; but for me, the quality of my workmanship is directly related to how I feel. It is not possible for me to enter that place or produce something I like if I am preoccupied with other stuff. Just make sure you properly identify what that other stuff is otherwise it may surface again at a later date. I've been bit with that one more than once. I have to remind myself to answer the question "What is the root issue here?" only then can I be in control of my own happiness.

Anyway, my simple, and I like to keep things that way, suggestion is if you take the time to do something for yourself that makes you happy, and most importantly allow yourself to enjoy it, then maybe you won't be preoccupied with worrying about it so much and you will give yourself a better chance at getting where you want to be.

Good luck.

Steven--

I believe that most of what you've said here is so, especially the above.

I often feel that I'm playing catch-up when I compare my work to others, but in the privacy of the studio, I realize that what matters is the time ahead and not the past. Like you, I accept that most times, "It'll shine when it shines." And too, that regret for the past--trying to "understand backwards"--is usually a waste of spirit.

As you might expect, when I DID get back to hands-on work, it was there for me in a completely new and powerful way. All the pent-up looking at art and analyzing it that I had done during that "lost" time came roaring forward almost out of nowhere--as much to my surprise as anyone's. So I must have been doing SOMETHING during those years I spent 'getting ready" to work. I was just unaware of what it was.

Just one cautionary note to everyone: If you're feeling blocked, take a cue from Steven and others and take a walk. Just don't make it a TWELVE YEAR walk.

Even though you speak the truth, I've got to give a nod to your dad, too. I have a quote from philosopher Friedrich Engels on my studio wall that goes: "An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory."

Best as always--TE

A final channeling of others

Great quote!
 

Thank you Steven for posting that quote, it gave me just that little push that I need today. That one is going up on my wall.

Joan

DITTO!

Thanks Steve, that quote is so true. Now I will load my brush!

Garth

Oh well, after five minutes it got too dark to paint after all. I will clean my brush and try again tomorrow. No computer for me tomorrow until day's end!

Garth

Tom, you mentioned that when you did get back to the work, it was there and in a powerful way. "All the pent-up looking at art and analyzing it that I had done during that "lost" time came roaring forward almost out of nowhere...So I must have been doing SOMETHING during those years..."

I did not, was not able, to pick up even a simple pencil and paper and sketch for twenty-five years. But every look at a portrait caused a physical pull on my stomach. I just knew I could draw and paint portraits as good as the ones I saw in galleries. Even going to my niece and nephew's art shows in grade school and high school (they are now both majoring in art in college) created an anxiety and a cosmic pull toward drawing again. Maybe that is why the very first piece I attempted was better than any portrait I had drawn 25 years previous. I WAS "doing SOMETHING during those years" as Tom said.

The only mistake we make is to deny the essense, the core of who we are - artists. Even cowering 25 years did not take the artist out of my soul, it only caused suffering. I will never stop doing art, even during these mysterious blocks. I cannot deny that part of me any longer...she is real, and hungry, and oh so eager. I think my greatest anxiety is that I do not have enough time.... to become accomplished...