24 for the artist ask thing? I need some help with that rn lol
oh MAN I hate artblock so so so so much......
redraw a scene from your favourite media (screencap redraw, or come up with a scene for a podcast)
redesign a REALLY old character. I'm talking your warrior cats OC from when you were 12.
redesign a character from media you love!! draw them how YOU would have designed them.
DOODLE PAGE. A4 or A5 piece of paper, whatever works- fill it up. as much as you can. every inch of that paper better be covered in stupid shitty drawings or else
design a really weird alien species... this one is always fun because you get to think about why they would have evolved certain traits, their beauty standards, how clothes and accessories would work.. its a lot of fun!!!
design a makeup look for a favourite character. pidgin doll (youtube) has some incredible designs that I really really love, draw a base with lineart of a character you like and go NUTS with whatever coloured pens/pencils/etc you have lying around. also works for digital art obviously!! create the craziest drag look, its super fun.
REDRAW MEMES. its hilarious and you don't have to think much before starting, there's no pose planning involved!! and the outcomes are always fucking fantastic
There are a lot of different ways to find inspiration when you’re an artist. Some people like to go on walks, others like to listen to music, and some people even like to get out in nature. Me, I find that my best ideas come to me when I’m relaxing and not thinking about art at all. So here are some of the things I like to do when I need a little inspiration boost:
Take a walk outside and enjoy…
I’ve recently experienced art block after 3 or so months of overcoming my last one. Thankfully this block only lasted a few days thanks to some things I’ve observed and noted down from the previous time. So I’m sharing these few tips in hopes that it might help someone get unstuck :D!
First and foremost if you’re tired, sad or anxious don’t be surprised that you can’t make art, go and take care of yourself by treating yourself with kindness and patience, the sketchbooks and canvases will wait for you :)
The tips are under here:
Separate art studies from the creative time: When you do art studies you’re there to focus on specific things, learn and understand how things work so you can apply them later in your art. Studies take a lot of energy and focus and are the opposite of the creative "flow” of making your own pieces. If you combine the two the results are either unfocused studies or stiff drawings. When you sit down at your desk ask yourself “Do I want to learn something new or do I want to create something of my own?”
When you have an idea don’t be afraid of being messy: Let’s say you want to make a picture of several cats kolo dancing in the moonlight. How do you go about doing this? Well since you came up with the idea you already have a vague image in your mind, sketch it out with simple shapes, stick figures, circle and spheres etc Don’t worry about cat anatomy, or the dancer’s moves, sketch out the essence of it. This method removes the need to be perfect or accurate.
Ok after the messy sketch then what? Well now that you have sketched out the essence of your idea (and hopefully had fun doing so) now you go on to look for references! You put the creative process on pause and you can do a few brief studies if you need to: anatomy, color schemes, values, poses. Pick out a few of your favorites but don't obsess over them, they are a guide, a tool.
You know much more than you think. You’ve probably been drawing for a few years now. You’ve probably done some studies and drawn more than one type of subject. Then you have already internalized some of that information. I used to be obsessed with capturing the minute detail of the subject, and not be able to draw ANYTHING without reference. Instead of a useful tool, references became another obstacle to my creativity. That’s perfectionism my friend, and that’s no good. Here is an exercise a good friend of mine offered: Draw a few characters, animals and objects from imagination. Make sure that the subjects have no personal value to you (no ocs for example) so that if you make a mistake you won’t feel bad about it. Make the process relaxed and comfortable, pour a nice cup of joe, listen to your favorite music ... You will notice that you do indeed know how to draw some things without reference, and it’ll help with your confidence.
The more you do studies the more you understand This seems evident but the more you understand your subject the freer you can be and the easier it’ll be to draw it from imagination in the future. If you really struggle with something to the point of frustration (as in you can’t get it right even with reference) It means you have to study it. Have a study list, for example: hands, perspective, color theory etc. And one of those days you want to study pick something from the list, and look for videos on youtube or useful sites like line of action etc. Only study one thing at the time. You can go from studying hands to studying arms since they’re more immediately connected, but you can’t study hands and then jump to learning perspective right after. Trust me you can learn perfectly fine with the resources online, and I’m sure you’re clever enough to do it :D
Mistakes don’t mean you “suck” I’ve noticed that the two most common causes for art block are perfectionism and lack of self-confidence. The two can often go in tandem which is worse :’D But let me remind you of something, you can fix your piece along the whole process. Use erasers, lasso tools, liquify , select, paint it all over etc If something looks off to you then you also know deep inside how to fix it. Useful ways to see what clunks: flip canvas horizontally (helps with placement, proportions), turn the image to grayscale (helps to check values and where your eye tends to look), look at your image in thumbnail size and ask yourself if it’s clear, see the pose’s silhouette and ask yourself if you can tell what the character is doing etc. Don’t fret, everything can always be fixed :)
Perfectionism, sometimes it stops you before you begin Perfectionism causes you to overwork a piece, it makes you draw less, it makes art stressful, it brings insecurity. Let’s remove it with a simple exercise. It can be combined with the “draw things from imagination” once you’ve drawn something you like: dont do line art, don’t shade it, keep it as simple and crude as possible and then...post it. Yes, post it. You’re not at your best? You’re only human, this will help you embrace that very human side of you. You make mistakes. So what? The more mistakes you make the more you know what you need to study and the better at art you become. Mistakes are there to show us what we need to learn. See them as another tool and not a sign of failure.
Make the process as enjoyable as possible: You like art. You love drawing. Never forget this. Otherwise why are you drawing if you don’t enjoy it? It’s easy to fall prey to the mentality of those relatable memes that “art= suffering” or “I can’t even draw the other eye”. No no no my friends, these messages are fueling your insecurities instead of overcoming them. Let me tell you what, art is fun. It is. Art is fun, because I decided to make it fun again. And you should decide on that too. Personally I adore lineart but my hand-eye coordination is lacking to do it digitally, so....I just skipped it. Yes. I skipped it. I do the sketch, I clean it up a bit and then jump onto color which I adore. It allowed me to draw more and more freely. When I draw I listen to music, make strokes with the rhythm, I take breaks often and I drink my favorite iced teas. If you don’t like coloring do it in grayscale, if you love lineart then do that etc It doesn’t mean you won’t learn your weak points in the future with studies and practice, but you won’t let your weaknesses prevent you from drawing at all. No no, you won’t let them. You draw because you want to, despite of them.
Don’t wait for inspiration, provoke it Inspiration is not a divine and capricious muse. You make inspiration. It’s easy just collect all the things you like, music, artists, objects, characters, animals, patterns, plants etc Make boards on pinterest or similar sites, combine things you like. You like suits? You like birds? You can draw a bird in a suit, or a bird-inspired suit design, there is frankly a lot of ideas that can spring up from little things like these.
When a project stops being enjoyable either pause it for now or move on to the next thing. Pieces aren’t precious. They’re not “the one time I got x right” they are one of many. This advice goes mainly to hobbyists who can afford the luxury of passing to a new project. I have a WIP of a character who is overly complicated (I enjoy a challenge from time to time) sitting for half a month. I sometimes come back to it and add something... but as soon as it starts to create discomfort and insecurity instead of enjoyment I move onto something else. In the meantime I created 3 or 4 new pieces. If I had waited on finishing that piece I would have been severely creatively and physically exhausted. The art comes from you, not inspiration. The more art you make the better you become.
That’s about it :D I know it’s long but I prefer to be thorough and cover all the possibilities. If you have read of this: Thank you so much I hope this helps you at least a bit, if it helps only 1 other person I’d still be very happy. Have a nice one, and kick art block’s butt!
Art block. Anyone who enjoys drawing shudders at the mention of it. The big bad invisible wall between you and your artwork that prohibits even the slightest thought of creativity. Art block sucks. It's super annoying to deal with, and it can leave you feeling frustrated at your lack of progress. Luckily, there are some ways to shake this seemingly unbreakable barrier and continue drawing. It’s tricky to do, but not impossible, and I’ll be sharing some tips on how to overcome it in this blog.
Just get started
When I get art block, starting a piece can feel like running a marathon. The blank paper or screen just stares back at me mockingly, and the complete and total silence of my creativity echoes out through my head. The paper or screen is just so empty, and I can’t seem to fill it no matter what I do. One of the best things to do when you don’t know how to start your drawing is to just start. Don’t think too much about it, just start the piece. Make a few light scribbles on the paper, draw a few lines on the screen, make a few shapes out of paint on the canvas, whatever you need to do! Once you have your start, try and find some familiar shapes in the mess. Does that squiggle look like a face? Detail it! Does that line look like a snake? Detail it! Do those blobs look like rocks? Detail them! Once you’ve found those points, keep on drawing them until they’re finished. Then suddenly, voila! You have your art, and no more art block!
Practice practice practice
This might seem strange, but art block is great for practising things you struggle with. I have trouble with anatomy, and often struggle with drawing hands and poses. When I get art block, sometimes one of the best things for me to do is practice anatomy. I pull up a billion reference photos of what I want to draw, and get to practising it. Art block makes drawing interesting and creative things especially difficult, so doing something like anatomy studies is a little easier and helps you improve. This won’t make the art block go away, but it helps you work through it and improve. It’s also a lot easier than something more creative because you’re drawing from reference. You know exactly what you’re drawing, and there’s nothing your brain has to do on it’s own. It’s not always fun, but it works.
Good ol’ prompts
Prompts are a lifesaver with art block. I have a list of drawing ideas, poses, colour pallets, and characters ready and on hand just in case I get art block. Why spend all that time and effort moping over ideas that you can’t come up with when you can have a million ideas in a list to choose from? Keeping a list of prompts on your phone can be really helpful for ideas, and can be just the thing to get you going when art block is giving you a rough time. Or, alternatively, you can just look up some prompts online. There are millions of drawing prompts on the internet to choose from! If there are too many choices for you to decide on one, just use a randomizer wheel. Pick six prompts randomly, and put them in the wheel. Then spin it and BOOM! That’s what you draw. Crisis averted.
example of some prompts
So, next time art block hits you, why not try some of these tips? Please let me know if any of these helped you. Feel free to share some advice or tips of your own in the comments, I’d love to hear them!
So, I was talking with my art teacher/daddio today about how I've been drawing like crazy. And he asked about art block, something he suffered from often, and he asked how I overcame that.
And well, my answer is honestly to draw anyway. I'm not talking about making a big masterpiece, because then art block wouldn't be a problem. But here's what I mean:
Often art block is associated with a hard time conceptualizing a piece, finding ideas, and things like that.
So I basically throw all that off the table and focus on improving my abilities. Gesture drawings are great ways to get your hand moving when you don't have an idea. Or if you need to practice hands, fill a sketch book page with hands. (Or dicks, I've done dicks before). You could set a cup on a table and draw that. Stuff like that doesn't have a lot of creativity in it, but it gets your hand moving, and you're improving while doing it. Plus I find that I come up with ideas while doing these things.
I thought I'd post this sense I've seen a lot of my friends say they have art block and don't know what to draw. Don't know if this helps, but here ya go.
If you’re an artist, you know the importance of creativity and inspiration. But what do you do when you don’t feel inspired? How do you get out of an art block? In this blog post, we will discuss some strategies for overcoming art blocks and work burnout. We will also provide tips for maintaining your creative energy throughout the day. So if you’re feeling a little stuck creatively, read…
