Three Simple Tips to Get Out of Art Block

Hey!

The art block is an issue many of us suffer every once in a while, we lack direction, motivation, and sometimes frustration does not allow us to give one single step forward. Everyone has their own way to deal with art block but in today's post I share with you three ways I address this issue.

1. Create an inspiration board!

Go to Pinterest, create a new board and save in there everything that at some point in your life inspired you, it doesn't matter if it is silly or had anything to do with your art, the point is to build a place you can visit every time you feel uninspired. You can also:

• See the recommendations the site gives you below the pin, this would be like an exploration into topics with a similar direction you might not be familiar with.
• Add a new pin daily or frequently, not only when you are working but in casual situations when you remember a specific pic you think deserves to be on your inspiration board.

I use Pinterest, but use any website or application that allows you to do all the things mentioned above that you find easy to use. Inspiration is not about consuming new information only but rather remembering the things that once made us feel something.

2. Go for a walk. 

Art block is often related to long hours of work or activities that drain us down until the point our brain doesn't want to know anything related to art as a topic. My advice, besides having some solid sleeping hours, is to force yourself to go for a 1h walk. Why "force"? If you are like me, once you unlock some free time, most likely you will choose to stay on your couch watching your favorite show or just using your phone, with no movement involved but the fingers to scroll through social media, there is nothing wrong with this, especially if you are tired, but if you have had enough rest, put some shoes on and go for a walk, this will help you in different ways like bringing some visual stimuli, it will distract you and bring some perspective.

If you get some sun or at least sit around a green area, go there for a couple of minutes just to break your routine. You might not come up with the best idea the first time you try but I'm sure this will help you feel better. Try this a few times weekly.

3. Introspection. 

If you have tried the points previously mentioned and also unconventional approaches and are still blocked, no problem, have a straightforward strategy. Sit and write down:

• A list of things that currently bother you.
• A list of things you can achieve during this day.

Be as specific as you can, problems don't get solved often because of a lack of definition, sometimes frustration blinds us and we just don't want to do anything about it. Pick a moment of the day you feel the least annoyed and address that "thing" you hate, it doesn't matter how silly you think it is or how complex and impossible to solve you think it is. Just try to give it form to "the monster" by using words.

Once you have done that, think of at least three solutions and give one small step that day towards that solution, keep it simple, that small step will help you take bigger steps in the future, but you need to start that process.

Keep in mind you can feel awkward and stupid but that's not important, what matters is that you are doing something about it. Down the line, by paying attention to the outcome you can improve into more sophisticated and strong steps.

Conclusion

Art block is about a lack of inspiration, exhaustion, lack of motivation, fear, perfectionism, or just lack of self-awareness. The cause might change depending on what's going on in your life, but based on my experience, those three tips I just mentioned have saved me quite a few times and I hope they do the same for you. Let me know in our Discord!

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