having an art dryspell.

[Discord]

sometimes I can paint and draw for hours without skipping a beat.

then poof... its gone. my hands just wont work... even taking pictures turn out bad.

what do you do to get yourself out of the dry spell rut?

[clevich]

look for inspiration. I usually head outside and enjoy natures artistical talent. music usually helps too!

[Lenny]

I'm not much of an artist but I spend a good chunk of my work day doing right brain work. Thing that works best for me is getting away from all things art / design / music related. Usually my best ideas hit me when I get away from the city for a day or two, or while going for a run or ride on my skis etc. Or doing something with friends. The outside influence seems to help connect ideas, for me at least.

[Discord]

I just moved out of the forest to the city.... I use to look out my window to a HUGE forest and river with NOOOO houses in the way just thick forest.. i use to fall asleep to frogs

now i fall asleep to cars smog and bright city lights...

maybe i need to hyke.

[cubed]

more importantly.

did you find the missing kid?

[Discord]

Originally Posted by cubed

more importantly.

did you find the missing kid?

no i think he died....
:S

[Sarah...]

jus let it come to you...

It will happen when you stop looking for it...start doing something else and then bam you will find something you see or think of beautiful and then act on it as soon as possible....

[tiedye]

Originally Posted by Discord

what do you do to get yourself out of the dry spell rut?

magic mushrooms =)

[justa~gurl]

yeah.. i've been noticing the dry spells are sticking around longer and longer for me as time goes by... and i think it's cause i let it, in which case i should be shot. ..er.. or something not so drastic but you know what i mean..

although i am in the middle of redecorating my room and that is definately a form of expression... lyndzie you should see my room now!..it's good.. it's green! (olive moss)

ok i'm going to shut up cause i'm tired and i'm rambling..

so you found a place finally? where did you move to? and whats your number because i should like to come see you soon!

[yoko*]

i found long ago that trying too hard to "Get it back" makes the situation even worse, and frustrating..

I don't think you ever just "stop" being creative. You just have to be more attentive to the less obvious ways you apply your creativity, even in less typically artsy tasks. It puts less pressure on you to create for the sake of creating and you'll have a greater appreciation for the different ways your creativity is expressed.

One piece of advice that someone gave me long ago when I was feeling uncreative, was to focus on my technical skills. Take your creative dryspells as an oppurtunity to tweak your technical drawing/painting skills. Try new mediums, explore other artists' works.

Etc.

[Goodfellow]

Originally Posted by tiedye

magic mushrooms =)

best post in the thread haha

[Goodfellow]

creative energies come to earth in waves, it's not always consistent and if you know when the energies are hitting you can definitely notice it.

[mugsy]

i look at art. usually start by looking at works i know i love, go to a gallery, or just google art. sometimes i ask friends about artists they are looking at - im lucky to have so many artist friends sometimes because i still have lists and lists of artists to look at that friends have pointed me towards.

[-evil-duerr-]

For music I have several different things I'm tackling at once.
Learning acoustic guitar,bass guitar,keys,harmonica. and Writing, Rapping and Producing tunes with my computer. If i'm not feeling one , I'll go for the other just so I'm keeping on the right track; tryin to make art, or work on my skills. Like was earlier stated in the thread, if say your imagination feels a little tapped, hoan yer technical skills or try other aspects of the art like researching other artist's work and try different mediums. That was really great advice.

For drawing and writing I find inspiration from my surroundings, music,stories and usually just the crazy imagination. Go for walks wit yer ipod, dont pay so much attention to the music, let it accompany nature and let every minute detail of the world around alert you like it would if you were still 5 years old. Observe your surroundings closely and ponder how these things could work into your creative outlet.
Write down any and all ideas that pop into your head, and thought flows. If your lying in bed and you think of something remarkable, dont roll over and go to sleep, write that shit down. I find some of the craziest things i come up with comes to me as I'm trying to go to sleep.
and lastly.
if all else fails
smoke a joint!