How Do You Beat Artist's Block?

[JohnCrichton]

I've a friend working on a project for me, but currently he's drawing only a blank.

Any cures that could help him along his way so that he's not doomed to blankly stare at empty paper?

[Barb Gordon]

has he had a break completely from drawing? Lots of times I'm in the mood to draw, but my creativity has gone down the drain. Completely staying away from drawing for awhile sometimes gets the creative juices flowing. Other times I read for a while, sketch pics that already exist just to get into the mood, etc.

~Barb

[AceOfKnaves]

It's an epidemic of blank minds!!!!

And of "break" responses. :p

As far as drawing goes, I usually take a blank paper, and just start drawing. Whatever comes out, is what I'll sketch. Although this is usually just for fun, and not advised for project drawing.

If you really want help in project stuff, depending on what it is, look at illustrations of things that fit the description of what you're doing, and see if you can't get any ideas from them.
Things can come from the dumbest pictures. :D

If all else fails, take a break! :rolleyes: ;)

[Stu]

Put a song on that reminds you of the character you are drawing. That usually helps me. I got this a few weeks ago and put on the Red Hot Chilli Peppers Can't Stop and a few mins later a nice looking pic of Spidey popped in front of me. And in the opinion of Batman Year One, its my best so far.
Stu
(who has no idea why can't stop reminds him of ol' webhead)

[Marc]

Never try to fight through artist’s block. Same goes for writer's block, if your brain doesn't want to cooperate, you’re not going to produce anything of value. It’s different when you have an actual deadline to meet, then you have no choice but to work through it, but if there’s no pressure, taking a break is the best course. Many times when I’ve had no fresh ideas, if I force myself to draw the work comes out sloppy and it just serves to increase my frustration. Step away from the drawing table, take a walk, read a book, watch a movie, eat a snack, anything to take your mind off your creative lull. I find that reading anything by my favorite creators will sometimes help to give me a spark of inspiration.

- Cap

[Spike04]

idk if you want your friend to do this, but what i usually do is wait until i'm inspired and then just draw and dont think about it.

works for me. :D

[Outlander00]

Some other might agree with me on this (or disagree), but the best way to beat it is to walk away from it for a bit. Let your mind wander (by watching TV or a movie, reading, listening to music, play a game, etc.), do another project, or go draw whatever else (cafe drawing helps me a lot whenever I am really hitting a wall for artist block). Sometimes you think about your project too hard and put yourself in that position. When your mind isnt focused on that project, ideas will start to flow eventually. Just tell him to relax and take his mind off of it as long as he needs to (or, in this case, you need to :p).

[Frozen]

Man, any sort of artistic block is one of the worse feelings in the world. I'm fortunate to be have to draw for a living, but that does have the downside of making 'drawing block' a bit more of a problem for me.

Generally I just plough through sheet after sheet of paper until I start on a drawing I just know is gonna work, and I can generally tell within the first few minutes if I'm onto something.

I found that if I just keep going, then inspiration will strike and the drawing will flow from there. However, I know other artist who prefer to just walk away, take a break, and come back when they are fresher - different things seem to work for different people. Me, I'm stubborn, so I just batter a problem till I wear it down! :D

[Outlander00]

Originally posted by Frozen
Man, any sort of artistic block is one of the worse feelings in the world. I'm fortunate to be have to draw for a living, but that does have the downside of making 'drawing block' a bit more of a problem for me.

Generally I just plough through sheet after sheet of paper until I start on a drawing I just know is gonna work, and I can generally tell within the first few minutes if I'm onto something.

I found that if I just keep going, then inspiration will strike and the drawing will flow from there. However, I know other artist who prefer to just walk away, take a break, and come back when they are fresher - different things seem to work for different people. Me, I'm stubborn, so I just batter a problem till I wear it down! :D

Ugh... I hate you now frozen because you can do that :p