Overcoming Creative Blocks

Have you ever stared at a blank canvas wondering what you will paint or if you even know how to paint anymore?You ask yourself, how did I get to this point? Will I get out of this rut? These questions are all so familiar. If you answered yes, you are not alone.

Every artist encounters moments where they feel stuck in their art practice. It is not the block that is the problem. The problem becomes when we keep ourselves in this “stuck state”, when we stop creating. We become captive to our own fears or resistance. So how exactly do we move forward? I certainly don’t have all the answers but I have found some ways to help move out of the rut more quickly and into the state of doing or creating. To be honest, ideas aren’t usually my problem. I tend to have a list of thousands of ideas that I want to work on. My issue is making the time or not getting distracted from my art practice. I have so many interests that I can end up doing nothing by the end of the day or a LOT of things but not what I intended to do for the day. You may be the same or you may instead need a nudge with WHAT TO PAINT. Either way, my hope is that this guide will help you through the process.

I also really enjoyed the book, Daily Rituals - How Artists Work by Mason Currey. I loved this book because it was a peek inside the habits of creatives and provided the reader with a variety of routines. I think at times we think there is a “one size fits all routine” that we should follow but we need to find what works for our lives and our process and this will shift depending on your stage of life. Another source of inspiration was Enneagram and Coffee’s podcasts on Pleasure and Production for each enneagram type. If you follow the enneagram at all this will really help you identify your type and more productive ways to work based on your personality traits and also what gets in our way of work.