How do you overcome writer's block?

Question

Not writer's block actually. "Drawer's" block? I'm taking an art course and I'm terrified of putting pencil to paper but I don't know why. I'm not great but I'm not a bad artist either. I've got 3 days to complete 5 pieces. I've got all my ideas formulated, but I have yet to start drawing. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I've had this problem in the past and I don't think it's a creative block. You already have the ideas, you are just having trouble executing them. This isn't a reflection of your ability or passion. There are people with poor skill and will produce like a storm. There are people who are brilliant that get stuck for years.

I think in general what you're experiencing is common, especially when you're getting down to any deadline. There could be a number of reasons why you're afraid to do it, lacking focus or desire: time constraints, mood, stress, confidence, other obligations or burdens, personal, financial, academic, emotional, etc.

My guess is you are just overwhelming yourself. Perhaps you're afraid you can't truly or fully execute your ideas properly under this time limit and you don't want to feel disappointed. You don't want to produce something unless it is going to be as you imagined.

It's similar to when you have a long paper to write. You seem to have mapped out all the sections and points in your head, but you just can't get yourself to begin. You know the saying, the first step is the hardest step.

If it were a paper, you'd probably draw up an outline. In the case of drawings, make thumbnails. Get a sheet of regular paper and fold it into 4 sections (sketch the fifth on the back). Just sketch your ideas out quickly and roughly, and make a few notes. Now you've already started, and it only took 5-10 minutes. Try to organize your time for each drawing as you would sections in a paper. You could use your thumbnails to rough sketch on a larger scale. Get each drawing page rough sketched. Then start with the one you like the most.

Also remember to contextualize this as an assignment. I think there's a misconception that art is always fun and all about expression. The purpose of this is probably to practice technique and hone your skills. Art is work! It's not easy and it's not something you're always in the mood for, even if the ideas are beautiful. So don't worry if you don't feel inspired. You don't need to be inspired during every facet of the artistic process. I find though that the harder you work at it, the closer you come to fluency and the more fluent you become, the better you can express your ideas. Good luck to you!

Answer 2

The correct term is "creative block."

One approach to dealing with this is to focus on the process rather than the end result. It can be awfully hard to replicate mental images.

I hope you're constructing your artwork and working all over the paper simultaneously, rather than starting in the upper left-hand corner and working down to the lower right-hand corner. Building drawings is not unlike sculpting with clay; you add on here and there with the pencil, you take off here and there with the eraser. I use the eraser at least as much as I use the pencil when I draw. Don't start with formulated ideas. Instead, start with simple overviews or layouts (gesture drawings), and work towards complexity. Allow yourself to be surprised at how the piece develops as you work on it.

If you are approaching things properly, the piece will always be in a finished state, no matter how little you've done on it--and in an unfinished state, no matter how much you've done on it. If you put less time into it, it will be sketchy and loose. If you put more time into it, it will be tight and precise. How much time you put into it depends on how tight and precise you want it.

Start doing loose, sketchy experiments. If the sketch engages your imagination, stay with it and develop it into a finished piece. If it doesn't engage your imagination, do a different sketch, then another, then another. Sooner or later, things will kick in and you'll start having fun. If it isn't fun, you're going about it all wrong.

Answer 3

lay out five pieces of paper and on each quickly without thinking, lightly draw a small geometric shape,,, each one different/ now those have all been started and that shape will not hurt the finished product .... many times artists, because their goal is picking from infinite choices, have a difficult time starting until it is almost too late... later on in your art work finishing pieces will become harder because you will have too many ideas running thru your head... for now concentrate on just getting something started so that you are not staring at a blank page I do the same thing to everyone of my painting just a few quick gestures to get it other than blank most of the time you never see those marks in the finished product at one time I wrote "her" but she doesn't deserve that honor any longer

Answer 4

A canvas is blank until you create those ideals. Hope you have enough drawing paper and if you do then start putting those ideas into reality. If this is your passion, there should not be any hesitation in creating the art you want society to see.

Answer 5

Well, if you have all your ideas, then why not draw them? Just pick the one you feel the most strongly about and go wiht it. Don't be afraid to draw what you feel or think. That is what art is all about. It's a form of expressing yourself through pictures. So just draw what you feel in your soul.

Answer 6

you could play surrealist games if you have some people to play them with. these are games the surrealists made up to stimulate creative thinking.
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~jkv4edu/VWS/resources/readings/surrealist_games.pdf

other ideas are library, museums, free writing. one thing I love to do is cut random items, body parts etc from magazines and use say 5 things and use them together and draw the rest. could come out wacky, you might love it. you then use the collage to inspire a total drawing. you could choose an artist that inspires what you use in your collage. we did this in art college, it was a fun and inspiring way to work that was really "out of the box" way of getting an idea underway.

Answer 7

Right each of your 5 ideas on a seperate piece of paper. Put them in a box, an do each one buy picking them out of the box one by one.

Excuse my english, i usually right in french.

Answer 8

Sit in your chair & hold your pencil/chalk over the paper & don't get up till you've drawn something.