Taking Inspiration from Self
I have been struggling with myself and artwork recently. I was in an artist block.
“All profound distraction opens certain doors. You have to allow yourself to be distracted when you are unable to concentrate.”
Here’s the thing about artist block…
If you don’t try to create something, anything, then the block will persist. I realized a few things since graduating school when it came to me creating work. It didn’t matter what I wanted to make, it was the stagnation for completing anything. Whether that was starting and stopping a full-color fine detail oil painting or creating digital files out of sketches. Even creating 3-D wearable jewelry from leftover clay for a season and not necessarily for a guaranteed reason.
As an artist all that I do is in effort to build my business. Creating has to be a constant battle but it doesn’t have to be a struggle. Creating for creators sake is where I stand currently. As an illustrator, it’s dependent on you to find business opportunities. What I have realized personally, without fully being invested in consistently making any work, regardless of the medium and viewership.
When I have little inspiration, I look to myself. I find the process a difficult task when I go through the same struggles of not knowing what I want to create but then I become obsessed with what it is, how it’s created, and it’s potential to be profitable in anyway for building my business. So what else is there to do than to just start creating from self first and worry about how it will be in the end. The artist’s process can be a tug-of-war with what ‘feels’ right and what it is. Accepting the art for what it is can be a difficult coming-to-age realization but it makes you invested in creating a continuous workflow no matter how the inspiration comes.