Breaking the spell of ‘Creative Block’

How often would you guess I hear the phrases “I used to paint…” or, “I used to draw…” ?

or

“I wish I could do what you do”

The answer is: Literally every single time I do a live painting gig. I have at least one or two people say something along these lines.

I’m going to admit something unfavourable about myself: It used to really annoy me.

Granted, I’m not the most patient of people, and particularly not when it comes to what I perceive as a totally curable problem.

I can be pretty dismissive with people sometimes. But I seriously couldn’t help but think, why bother to mention something you used to do 20 years ago?

The honest truth was that I just hadn’t taken the time to understand why anyone would say something like that.

But once I took the time to understand, I could suddenly hear the quiet echoes of pain in their voice. 

I realised exactly why they were saying these kinds of things to me...

There is a little piece of themselves that they let die, and they’ve never really gotten over the loss.

Very likely there’s still a place inside them that is crying out to be fulfilled, this is what might drive someone to reach out and say that they used to be an artist.

Armed with this understanding - and also reminding myself of the lesson that anything that annoys me I probably need to recognise as a teaching moment - I now know this is a moment to enquire with the person.

Did they let it go by choice, or due to disability, responsibilities, a job that makes them too tired?

Or, are they those who fall victim to the dreaded curse of Creative Block?

A short block can be normal, and occasionally (frustratingly) is part of the creative process. But extended creative blocks - longer than 6 months, for example - can be a symptom of many contributing factors. Let’s take a look at what could cause a block, and how to go about overcoming it. 

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up” -Pablo Picasso

Art by Lumitar

PROCRASTINATION

Do you find yourself suddenly having to clean your entire house coincidentally the same moment you plan to sit and draw?

Do you ever spontaneously remember you’ve always wanted to learn how to sew each time you’re *just* about to work on your painting?

Do you find yourself working on pieces that have no deadlines, while important pieces fall to the wayside?

Do you put things off till the very last moment and then suddenly have to stay up all night to meet a deadline?

You’re not lazy, but you might be a procrastinator.

Too many of us put off work because of a quiet belief that we don’t have what it takes to get it done.

Wasting time on superficial or meaningless distractions (stuck watching Netflix for example…) in the hopes that we’ll come back later and the work will magically be done. It never is. You have to make the first mark, and the easiest way to do that is to create an environment you actually want to work in.

You need a dedicated space to make art. This can be the biggest hurdle that stops people from getting started. Do not underestimate the gravity of this small thing due to its simplicity. It doesn’t need to be an epic lofted studio with a wall made of windows. Even carving out a permanent space at your dinner table will suffice.

Your space should always be set up and ready to go. You should never have to come to the space and need to tidy it. Clean up after each session so that is ready for the next time. I cannot stress the value of this enough.

A couple of other tactics to trick yourself into working are these:

1. 1, 2, 3… GO! This is a small psychological practice where you literally give yourself a small countdown and then when you shout ‘GO!’ you sit down and start on something! It sounds kind of dumb, but you’d be surprised how effective it can be.

2. The Pomodoro Technique: This is where you set the timer for 25 minutes and work consistently for that full 25 minutes, then take a break. During that time, you are not allowed to look at your phone, be on social media or get distracted in any way. The human brain actually is only wired to pay full attention for about 45 minutes at any given time, so 25 should be an easy achievement. This also sounds counterintuitive because one might think that you could work for much longer than that… however, you’d be surprised how much more productive you can be when you break it up into small and manageable blocks of committed attention. 

Art by Lucy Hardie

CIRCUMSTANCES

This is harder for me to assess and tell you how to improve since I don’t know everyone’s individual living conditions or life happenings.

But my best advice will always be to check in with yourself. How are you feeling in your homelife? Your relationship? Your friendships or your career? Often when any of these things are deeply troubling us it affects our ability to make art.

When we are uncomfortable in our home this can be a really major block in making art.

For all the chaos one must navigate during the creative process, we need a strong sense of stability in our homelife for it to continue to flourish. 

I learned this the hard way when I was in a very stressful living environment.

Everyone is different, but my personal creative block often manifests not in being unable to work, but making really unsatisfying or unimaginative work.

I felt my creativity was being choked by my anxiety. All I could do were self portraits.

In hindsight, they weren't actually that bad. The problem I felt was that I had no fresh ideas, and nothing that felt aligned with who I wanted to be as an artist.

I changed that living situation and it was the greatest gift I ever gave myself and my creativity.

Whatever your circumstances are, know that you have the power to change and improve them. Nothing is permanent, including a painful living situation or the stresses of everyday life.

THE SOLUTION

There is no magic fairy of creativity who will re-invigorate you with the desire to paint again, so please don’t waste your life waiting for her to arrive.

The interaction with the creative spirit can be frustrating, it can even at times be like a toxic relationship, but the message is always the same… you cannot wait for her to fill you with inspiration, you have to fan the fire yourself.

There’s a simple action you could do today to start piecing back together your creativity, whether it was a couple of months or twenty years...

‘THE SCRIBBLE TECHNIQUE’

There’s something totally obnoxious about a blank piece of paper, or a white canvas. I hate it!

At the time of writing this, I have a very short youtube video demonstrating this technique, you can watch it here.

I used to save all the pieces of paper that I dab excess paint onto to turn into these kinds of intuitive drawings (refer to the image below to understand what I mean…)

One day I realised I could do it just starting with just a light scribble in pencil, and that this was a much more accessible approach.

This has been a big part of my intuitive drawing practice, but I never realised that science could actually back up what I was doing. 

Every time I do this technique, I break the spell of Creative Block.

The act of making a mark on paper is what bridges the gap between zero and one.

Did you know, the greatest distance between any two sequential  numbers is between zero and one? Think about it.

That’s going from NOTHING to SOMETHING. No wonder it can be difficult to get started.

The space between where you are (blank sheet of paper) and where you want to be (to have made a drawing) is what creates what Stephen Covey calls ‘Resistance’. Resistance is the avatar representation of Creative Block. He wrote a whole awesome book about it that you should check out (The War of Art).

Simply put, resistance is basically your brain releasing norepinephrine to prime you for action. 

Great, right?

Here’s the problem: If you don't take action, it mutates into anxiety.

I just learned about this through the Aubrey Marcus podcast with Dr. Andrew Huberman, it’s an incredible podcast that covers many helpful things. The mention of this chemical process is around the 1hr 12 min mark, listen here.

In short: Listen to your body! If you’re feeling primed to make that first mark, DO IT! No matter how bad it looks, taking that first step is necessary.

Art by Robert Venosa

MAKE A MESS

The anxiety a perfect piece of paper used to give me was staggering. It was so clean and white, it could be ANYTHING, it could even become a MASTERPIECE! God forbid I make a mark and ruin the magnificence it already so perfectly represents.

The trick is to start with a light scribble. That’s right: Ruin that piece of paper! ITS FUCKING PAPER, WHO CARES!

This is only the beginning. You scribble now, you start to see something in it, and you pick out what you see. This is intuitive drawing 101. Giving your subconscious a voice.

I never knew that this approach was actually a way to bio-hack resistance, but it works 9 times out of 10.

The same goes for starting a painting with nothing in mind. There are a number of ways to handle this very intuitive approach. The more you do it, the better you will be at bridging the gap between your conscious and subconscious mind. This is the place where most of my work comes from. 

The main technique I use is decalcomania, popularised by Max Ernst, and a very common technique in the ‘Visionary Art’ scene.

Another was one taught to me by Vanessa Lemen. I wrote a blog about both of those approaches here.

You can pour some paint on some thick paper, fold it in half to make a kind of rorschach inkblot, then define what you see in it.

There are no wrong answers, and the benefits are plentiful:

1. HOLY CRAP.. you started a painting! Yay! What an accomplishment!!!

2. It is an extremely therapeutic process

3. You never know what it might turn into… maybe just an abstract base, or, maybe… a masterpiece!?

Carving out the time to keep on starting paintings will also help you to develop your habit of having a creative practice. 

This is the first step. Fitting an outlet into part of your routine...finding the time to dedicate to this part of you that you have neglected.

YOU DESERVE IT!

The benefits expand further from just the sense of accomplishment, there is fulfilment, therapy, connection to self, becoming part of a community, and statistics show that making art improves your mood overall.

WHY GO IT ALONE?

To go one step further in re-igniting your creative flame: You don’t have to fan the fire yourself 

You can do it through joining a facebook group for beginner artists, or joining a life drawing group, a paint & pint. Etc

Or, even better, A WORKSHOP!

Signing up for a workshop gives you a sense of commitment. Commitment (as scary as it can sound) is actually a major drive in creativity.

Meeting up with the same group each week while you learn and progress through a painting is a beautiful investment into yourself. The added benefit being that you get to meet other awesome human beings along the way. 

You don’t have to go it alone, and honestly, I have met so many of my circle now through workshops. 

And as a results orientated person, I also have found that my art improved exponentially through workshops, because it is truly the fastest way to learn something new: direct transmission from one artist to another.

If you were training for a marathon, would you do it yourself and expect amazing results? I don’t think it’s really that different.

In the past few years I have done more than 10 workshops myself, and learned what I would measure as ‘a shit load’.

In fact, my love and appreciation for workshops is what led me to start running my own. 

At the time of writing this, I only have one workshop on offer, and it is centralised around an intuitive painting approach that focuses on what you might be hiding in your subconscious. This is what I define as a cornerstone in the Dark Surrealism movement.

I called the workshop ‘Shadow Painting’, of course referencing Carl Jung, and the last one I ran was so incredibly rewarding for me to be able to share what I know… and was a really powerful process for the students who joined me.

If this is something you might be interested in hearing more about, please let me know here.

Ultimately, you are at the helm of your own ship, and only you can steer it in the direction you want to go, but doing it as part of a community can really help.

Written by Ash Darq, with special thanks to my editor Visaic

If you’d like to support me further with a monthly subscription, please check out my Patreon