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So gradually over the past couple of weeks I’ve been experiencing art block, ever since inktober. I was probably starting to get a bit creatively burnt out by trying to come up with something different EVERY day during inktober. I could feel it coming on because my mind just couldn’t seem to come up with creative ideas anymore, and the thought of having to do something new every day became exhausting. I craved creating something familiar, and I did do one drawing that I was super inspired to do and really enjoyed creating, but as soon as I came close to completing that, POOF! All inspiration and motivation gone.
I felt like I’d gone from 100 to 0 in terms of purpose - I had no idea what to draw, and when I looked up reference photos to inspire me, I would start drawing and then just feel like what’s the point?
Now, I was pretty chill about it in the beginning, and gave myself some space from creating. But as the days went on, the creative juices didn’t seem to be coming back, and in the back of my mind I kept thinking that I needed to be posting art online every day, and posting a new youtube video every week - and I just had no idea what kind of content to create. I didn’t know what to draw, I didn’t know what to write about. Even writing about my struggles seemed pointless.
Then came the doubt of feeling like I’m going around in circles of what I want to do with my life, like I have an idea of what I want, but I just felt super uninspired to work towards it, which made me doubt whether I’d be able to achieve it.
I started to worry about the fact that I hadn’t posted on instagram for a couple of days - and I didn’t really have any new drawings to post. And I had my own personal deadline of posting one youtube video a week coming up. And I had no idea what to film about.
But I decided to scrounge up a crappy drawing that I’d been TRYING to do, post it, and write about my struggles. And surprisingly (to me), after I posted this online, I had several friends approach me and ask how I was going, and how my art was going, and it actually blew me away.
I realised that, because I’d been putting myself out there and posting about my thoughts for the past few months, when I posted about struggling, my friends and family noticed. And they felt the need to ask me how I was going. And this actually had a significant effect on how I was feeling! My friends gave me ideas of what I could create, and just knowing that I had their support made my attitude change. I started seeing what I was trying to do in a different light - instead of being a giant struggle that I was trying to overcome on my own, I was being lifted up by my friends. If I hadn’t posted about it, I likely wouldn’t have told anyone, and I wouldn’t have felt any better.
Everyone goes through up and down stages of focus, productivity, inspiration, and motivation. It’s easy for an artist to feel alone, because every single one of us is going through a different journey. Sometimes when you feel like you’re really struggling, it’s beneficial to express these feelings to your friends or family, or even just online. You can be surprised the difference it can make when you realise you have support, and you aren’t alone.
Just remember that every artist goes through periods of creative block, or similar struggles. Remember that it’s not the end of the world, or your career. Don’t be afraid to lean on your support network during these times.