Art Block and Trying to Climb Out

Artblock and Trying to Climb Out

Hello Tuesday! Trying to stay optimistic and cheerful knowing that I have a good class later today. It’s come to my attention over the past few days that drawing has been coming less natural to me than it usually does and I think it’s been going on long enough that I can officially deem this an art block. :( At least I’ve done this song and dance enough times before that I know I’ll be able to bounce back eventually.

I think we should have a conversation about art block though and how badly it can affect especially artists who are starting out. When I was younger and I got art block it was an event that would make me spiral so badly I’d consider giving up art all together. Now this can partially be attributed to the fact that I was 15 and thus going through the woes of being a 15 year old but I think this is a topic still worth discussing. I’ve seen too many early artist give up art due to running into art blocks and honestly it breaks my heart seeing someone give up a creative outlet like drawing due to the prospect of being not good enough.

I also consider this to be a product of the way modern Western culture seeks to make one’s talents a marketable side hustle. It makes it so that not being good enough means you won’t make extra money off of your work. Along with this comes people not drawing for themselves anymore but rather drawing for the likes and the whims of social media. I admit in trying to pursue drawing to please an audience I have burnt myself out multiple times.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this really but I like to think that maybe my thoughts are interesting to someone