inspiration leaving...me..help

[thebluepuppy]

i was wandering if anyone could help me. lately i just cant draw. its not that i dont know how its just i pick up the pencil and so many things are whizzing through my head i cant focus. I try to clear my mind. im trying to do these two pieces right now illustrating two words. i know exactly how im going to do it, what to do and everything but when i get to my desk i stare at the wall. sometimes ill just stare at the wall forever and when i force my pencil to the paper nothing happens.everything just seems blah and hazy and out of focus anymore.

[Daunting]

Best thing I know is to meditate. Look up some techniques for that buddhist kind of meditation or try to do a few Yoga things. Breath in slowly through your nose and slowly push back out with your mouth. try to clear all the mess in your mind then after a few minutes or however long you want start trying to focus on whatcha gotta do. Then go at it.

Another thing to do is to get your pencil dirty a bit before you start drawing. Draw a bunch of lines and such on a separate peice of paper or something and draw little ugly pointless things here and there just for the heck of it. Try to make yourself laugh with your stuff. Then try to go at your Illustration. Hope it helps.

But anyways for me for inspiration I just go see a good CG movie or look at the artwork here, at CGnetworks or look at one of the concept art grandmaster's site. Wanna draw 10 times over when I see that. But that's just me.

Well hope I helped.

[Profil]

just stop drawin for a while. thats what I did.

[Storyboard Dave]

You just putting too much pressure on yourself to draw finished art ??

Just keep sketching without worrying about how finished it looks. Explore!

[Dizon]

I have a similar problem as well...I just cant seem to pick up my pencil anymore these days, even If I wanted to draw my whole body just wont move at all. Im guessing I dont have any motivation or inspiration right now...actually I have an inspiration but she's so far away, I just cant seem to function these days...

[Hamsta]

Force yourself to do a dsg a day. it's what I do

[Chingwa]

I think storyboard dave has a point. When I sit and have the goal of doing some great finished drawing or painting I tend to paralyze myself, and I don't like what comes out. But usually if I just go where the art takes me I turn out much better stuff. Seems like you have some kind of mental block. Try just sketching for a while without any type of goal, or stop drawing for a day or two and focus on another creative hobby.

[Mike Frank]

I agree, lose all the mental hangups.. try doing some quick thumbnail sketches, dont think about how you dont want to draw (or how you dont like you're drawing), think of what you can do on the page.. if you dont like a sketch just move on and explore the idea in a new way. Put on the craziest music you can find and let its attitude rub off on you. Everyone has the same problem, what to make out of blank space.. well just start with something., anything, and have fun and let loose who cares how it looks eventually you will build up something you like.

[thebluepuppy]

i sat down thanksgiving(yesterday) and kind of made this thing. first semi finished thing in a while,

[Storyboard Dave]

i sat down thanksgiving(yesterday) and kind of made this thing. first semi finished thing in a while,

And you're worried about losing the inspiration? Sheesh!

But yeah, see my point about taking something to this level of tightness? Don't get me wrong, it's a great drawing BUT if you feel that inspiration waning... do a handful of marker studies on WHATEVER. Grab a Sharpie & sketch this thing out. If you're really in a groove, do multiple angles on the same thing. Look at the sketches at a later time and if any of them still sing to you, and you're feeling that mojo coming back, THEN take the time to do a finished piece.

And if none of the sketches sing to you, you'll be able to say to yourself that you still drew and you've worked your way out of that creative slump. Either way you come out ahead.

[thebluepuppy]

thanks for everyone for trying to help. everyone here is so awesome. im trying to get out of my slump and crawling out of it now. hope to post more soon. again thanks everyone

[Storyboard Dave]

Just keep plugging along. That's all we can do at times.

[darth massacre]

Read, watch TV, go out and watch a movie, talk to other artists (like now), look at other artworks......then BAM, next thing you know you'd be cruising along just fine!

Everyone needs a time out.

[Storyboard Dave]

Read, watch TV, go out and watch a movie, talk to other artists (like now), look at other artworks......then BAM, next thing you know you'd be cruising along just fine!

Everyone needs a time out.

It's all a part of that creative curse we all have. Even just by sitting back & chilling you're taking in things that will one day translate itself in your artwork. To get out of a creative funk it just might be something as simple as a little diversion or time away.

[cross]

i'm almost always plauged with this problem. it hits me in one of two ways Either i don't know what to draw, or i just can't seem to draw.

When i don't know what to draw i normaly put in some cds that i get my friends burn for me, that way i have random music to help inspire me. I may listen to the same song over and over to get myself into the mood, or emotional state of the song, and just do random skeches until I get an idea that just stands out. Then its all down hill from then.

If i get into a funk, and everything i draw seems like crap then I'll cheat. lol. I'll go to one of my showcase books and find a pic. I like, and just try to copy it until i get back into the grove. It helps me because all I'm concentrating on is drawing, i don't get bogged down with compisition or anything else, and i have something to compare it to.

Another trick i use is i'll go through the mulitiuded of "How to Draw" books and just start at the begining and work my way though them till i'm satisfied with whatever it was that was giving me the problem.

[Storyboard Dave]

To me it's like falling off of the horse... you just gotta get back on and keep riding it out.

Lord knows at the clip I have to draw at times, I do need a break and sometimes the lines don't want to fall but I just keep struggling through it and before long I'm back on track.

[darth massacre]

I find ranting a good way to decompress.

I rant about EVERYTHING....trust me....I'd fill a blog in 2 days which is exactly why I don't want to keep one.

When I run out of things to rant about....I read newspapers and magazines.....about 3 to 5 newspapers a day and almost 8 magazines a month (not including weeklys like newsweek and time). Then I find more things to rant about. Don't ask me where I find the time.

And while reading for more materials to rant....I learn about the world, technology, science, medicine, politics, social, economical and environmental problems....thats' like a whole slew of information just waiting for a creative spark to be processed into artwork.



I believe an artist...a complete artist....should take time to understand every little thing in the world.....once you have that information, you just gotta put unlikely things together and you never run out of inspiration!

Well...easier said than done, but doable. Also like Dave says.....you can't stop...not ever....fall off? Get on and go again.

[Storyboard Dave]

Well...easier said than done, but doable. Also like Dave says.....you can't stop...not ever....fall off? Get on and go again.

Right now I'm getting trampled by that horse and kicked numerous times (deadline hell) but I plan on getting on top of it all sometime soon.

Bring on the Mountain Dew.

[cross]

I believe an artist...a complete artist....should take time to understand every little thing in the world.....once you have that information, you just gotta put unlikely things together and you never run out of inspiration!

i agree, always absorb as much information as you can, Good Point darth