I’ve been reading Art & Fear again. It’s really a very good book about the process of making art. One thing in particular that helped my realize something very important is what the authors have to say about being stuck.
“Simply put, what you did got you here, and if you apply the same methods again you will likely get the same result again. This is true not just for being stuck, but for all other artistic states as well — including highly productive states. As a practical matter, ideas and methods that work usually continue to work. If you were working smoothly and now you are stuck, chances are you unnecessarily altered some approach that was already working perfectly well.”
“When things go haywire, your best opening strategy might be to return — very carefully and consciously — to the habits and practices in play the last time you felt good about the work. Return to the space you drifted away from and (sometimes at least) the work will return as well.”
I’ve been struggling with my own drawing routine for the last few weeks and I think the reason is that I literally need to return to the space I was using for drawing back when I was productive. I had made our spare room into my drawing room but I moved out of there so I could be nearer the computer in our living room. I changed the time I worked from morning to afternoon too … and I think that is not working as well for me either. I’m most creative in the morning right after I open my eyes and I think I should reclaim that time for my art!
This was such simple and practical advice that I just had to share it with you all!
Here is the full title of the book and who wrote it if you’re interested. It’s linked to Amazon.com if you want to take a look at it.
Art & Fear
Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking
by David Bayles & Ted Orland