How to deal with art block

Starting with the fundamentals, an art block (also known as a creative block) is a period of time when an artist cannot access their creativity and/or they cannot bring themselves to create a new piece of work. They feel like they have run out of things to draw. You may be feeling demotivated because of fear – perhaps something is stopping you from going any further in your way. You might also feel demotivated because of setting up wrong or unattainable goals, because of conflicts, or due to lack of challenges in your way. To understand how to get past creative block, we must first know the causes. Making improvements to just one of these will have huge benefits to your work.

1. Self-Doubt

When it comes to creative block, self-doubt is enemy number one. It affects many different areas of your work and career. When confidence is low, artists start questioning their ability, even though you don’t just lose your ability to create all of a sudden. Self-doubt can show up in many forms such as comparing yourself with other artists, pressure as in suffering from performance anxiety.

2. Lack of motivation

If you don’t care about what you’re designing/ painting/ creating there will likely be a point where you suffer from a lack of motivation. You have to love what you do. If you find something too difficult, you can become frustrated or anxious but if you find it too easy, boredom may strike. First thing in your day, whether that be at a job or after you’ve got up and you’re ready for the day, start with the harder work and move onto easier tasks as the day goes on.

3. Criticism

Your work will be better when others push you. Once you shift your mindset to this way of thinking, you will be a better artist. Not only will your work get better but you will be able to reduce the creative block suffered as a result of criticism or rejection.

Other ways to deal with creative block-

Clean your space

Cleaning up your space is a great way of exercising a little creative feng shui to get your flow back. When you set up your space to be clean and creatively helpful rather than stressfully messy, it can help you relax enough to get that creative flow going.

Read

Reading can help any creative get inspired. Getting lost in a book for a bit gets you out of your own head and into someone elses’, on top of using your creative gears to paint mental pictures of a story.

Get Dusty

When you’re truly stuck, just getting out few charcoal sticks and making marks of any kind will get ideas flowing—ideas that will hopefully lead you to more serious painting.

Set a goal

There’s nothing like a serious deadline to get you moving. Pick competition you aspire to enter and know that, even if you don’t get accepted, it can push you to get in front of the easel— which is always the most important goal.

Time it

Set a timer to remind you to start painting. Ding! Now you have no choice but to go to work—just like at a job. Or, set a timer for a specific length of time to paint. Even committing yourself to an hour creates a clear starting and ending point.

*my readings from the internet