Stuck!

Thanks for not writing about the floods in Alberta. I find that this time of year is time to re-charge. I don’t beat myself up over not painting enough when I am re-charging. I play with other media including my garden. Sometimes I find a group of kids to paint with, they are good for putting things in perspective. Tomorrow is one of those recharge days with a group of evacuated kids from one of the Alberta flood areas…There is no getting away from that flood, might as well try watercolor.

I share a studio with another artist that is very compatible with my personality. We each paint very differently from one another, but know how to get each other to kick start or get going if we aren’t feeling our stride. Everyone needs a cheerleader now and then.

Stuck, stymied, avoidance, inert are all the perfect words to describe what can happen when a person (artist) becomes depressed. And that is why a person suffering from depression, even mild depression, cannot just “prime the pump” and become unstuck. Creativity involves making many choices and the decision making process is also affected by depression. This was an interesting article, as it let’s me know I am not the only artist to get stuck!

I have ‘unstuck’ myself by switching my palette colors to something completely different and unfamiliar to me. I’ve used the old standby method of setting a timer for 20 mins. using small canvases. When the timer goes off, I switch canvas, rotate my view slightly and begin again. When unmotivated, I walk away from painting for a few hours or days, and start reading about other artists and looking at good artwork. AND I’ll pick up my guitar and start making music. I hope this helps anyone out there!

There is nothing worse than being stuck-that feeling of blankness where your energy of creativity used to be. During my husband’s illness and death I was unable to paint, and when I tried to start again, my energy was gone. I did a couple of sad things, not very good. Finally, I took out fresh paper, remembered my old way of starting a painting with a familiar subject and made “starts” on four fresh pieces of paper. Each one can be made into a painting. I have since been able to finish two of them. My advice is to start fresh with familiar subject and style and your creativity will follow.

I know I will get a lot of flack for saying this, but sometimes severe depression can only be alleviated by medication. When you are battling the black beast, all your energy seems to go to just continuing to exist, and there is none left over for self-improvement. Some depression is caused or exacerbated by brain chemistry, and you can’t get rid of it with positive thinking (almost impossible when depression is bad) or prayer. These things help with moderate depression.

Often this time of year I become stuck, usually I have enough distractions around me not to focus on it too much. This year however several projects I expected to happen didn’t pan out and I find myself with too much time to mope over the dead projects and the lack of stimulation around me to paint. I am starting to think that I need a change of scenery maybe even a solitary trip somewhere to be alone with my art, hmmmm just thinking about it is lifting my funk. Baring that I will probably do what I usually do, just play. Forget about creating anything worth keeping and make some fun little paintings that may never see the light of day but often prime the pump.

Most of the comments here have been about exercising one’s strengths, what ever that may be. I find that simply exercising, a bike ride, a swim, a walk or raking the garden can be a rest for the mind and a necessary quieting of synapses, especially out in nature; the intermission of creation.

Our Ego self, the part of ourselves based on delusion or arrogance, is not where we want to go to to become unstuck, creative or happy. As true artists our highest calling is finding and creating from the purest truest part of ourselves. Often this is not a easy happy journey. It requires courage, humility and somehow the strength to pick up a paint brush, pencil or crayon. The act of creating from the purest place, without agenda, helps one find authentic sense of self worth and well being. The gratitude I have towards art, as tool for my well being and growth is immeasurable.

I’m surprised these letters come at this time of year when nature is in full bloom and a feast for the eyes. One would think the dead of winter more often leaves artists in a funk.

I shared your newsletter on my Facebook page this morning. I think the letter can have far reaching effects to many, artist and non-artist, if they give it a small amount of time to gestate. I have two friends that are not painting much at this time. One because of grandchildren and other family plans. The other is her father has not much time left here on this earth and her time is spent being with him and family. My words to them are always about doing what is important at that moment… the painting will come. Forcing the issue is sometimes the worst thing one can do.

I find that having regular contact with other artist’s through figure drawing groups, classes, and a monthly critique group help me through the dry times. Just making myself go to these, when I feel tired or low will boost me out of a block and even come away inspired, no matter whether the work I did there was any good. Its beneficial for me to be with the ‘artist tribe’ to remember who I am and why I am committed to drawing and painting.

If clinical depression or big problems in your life are not at the root of your becoming stuck, and you’re simply not feeling inspired, I’ve found a way to get over that lack of energy or desire to paint. It works for me and for my students.

After a lot of time spent thinking about the lack of motivation I came to realize there is a cycle. I found this by writing down the dates of the down times and the creative cycles. My cycle is 90 days of creativity and 30 days of down time. In the 30 day cycle I am not opposed to reading about art, looking at art and discussing it with fellow artists but no painting or doing. In about 30 days a shadow on a wall, a comment, a book I am reading will re-ignite the spark and I am off again, for about 90 days. When I became aware of this cycle all creative block/depression related to art went away, and stayed away. It will take some time to work through the cycle but it is worth the effort.

It seems to me that one gets stuck when they are in a rut. Doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. This borders on insanity. To break away from a stuck situation maybe just a change in routine or a different medium would be a solution. Going to art exhibits, galleries, museums can reinvigorate your muse as well. Myself I’ve joined an Austin, Texas Urban Sketchers Group. It is fun. It is different and I get out of my studio. I have met new people and artists as well. I feel energized.

I had a very challenging period recently when I had little time to paint as I moved into my basement close to my studio and with an aim to saving myself money. I rented the top part of my house so I would not have to climb stairs. The move was much more than I had bargained for and I was mentally and physically burnt out. I was fortunate to get away to a quiet wilderness lodge for a break. Even then, I had problems unloading my supplies and I had no motivation to paint. The weather did not improve my resolve as there was steady rain falling. However, I forced myself to get into the painting again and even though my chosen site was not a subject that I relished or wanted to paint, I did have an immediate lift as I observed the changing light and moved to complete a work. The following day a group of my students arrived and their enthusiasm was contagious. We had a full day of great plein air in glorious sunshine and I believe that it cured a lot of my blues.

My energy doldrums usually hit in May or June or this year in both. I was all gung ho to get outside and paint but it would not stop raining. I can cope with the rain but the light is generally brutal. I got stuck again.

Just get back on the horse what throwed ya!

I have experienced the kinds of stuckness you describe many times, where my efforts don’t seem worthwhile.

While I realize that this is not a methodology or a solution per se, I’ve found that one of the best ways to become unstuck is to effect the odd sale!

I was a bit stuck with the canvas I was working on here in flooded Calgary. I picked up a new canvas and decided to be relevant! It worked, and now back to the original Morocco scene from my recent Artist in Residence gig!

I know you won’t want to hear this, but nothing used to motivate me like a deadline. And sadly, a lot of people identify with this.

Maybe being stuck and depressed in summer has something to do with slow sales in the summer. After all, artists are validated when money changes hands. Compliments are great, but they won’t buy the groceries. People are outdoors or on vacation in the summer, not collecting art. To get more excited about painting, I did your 37-minute exercise. It was so much fun, I’m going to continue doing it and I look forward to getting to the easel in the morning.

Repainting a piece I had much success with, but doing it a different size or colour helps me get ‘unstuck’. As well, I paint with a friend every Friday and Monday morning. This assists me in having painting bookend my working week. This idea also ties in with a former piece on distraction. We listen to CBC’s Q while my friend and I paint.

Whenever I’m stuck, I go back to basics, whether it’s doing my beloved 2-minute gestures, or do any of the classic exercises learned in art school (my favourite is 50 drawings in four hours of a single object/subject). In the past I have gone for years without picking up a pencil, the pressure builds and all of a sudden I go nuts drawing for a few more years, then I go for a while doing nothing. After coming through the first dry spell, I didn’t get too bent out of shape about them recurring except for the realisation that time is ticking ever faster (duh) and I can’t afford the time off now. I make jewellery at the moment, and when I’m stumped or tired or bored, I make earwires and/or chains. After 50 or 100 earwires or several yards of chain, the wires and links get fancier and fancier and all of a sudden I’m on a roll again and the ideas are coming faster than I can finish them.

I had a professor who was a bit irritated with me for spending so much time on preliminary sketches, he finally said, “Just get to work!” I have it painted on a table in my studio to remind me. I also read that Mary Englebreit, an illustrator, said that when she has a deadline and needs to get to work, she sits down and just draws SOMETHING, anything, even if it has nothing to do with the deadline project. I took this as advice for myself: when I am stuck I sit down and start to draw SOMETHING!

When stuck I find gesso is my friend.

I find that as we age it isn’t so much depression as it is pain which disturbs one’s deep sleep and robs one of daytime energy. Quite often what I do to jump start my art is to change media. Sometimes doing a monoprint of an idea brings ideas once printed. There is always an element of surprise in print making and that stirs up other creative juices. I am also learning how to print and paint on silk where the unanticipated can also make one take a detour and explore something else which eventually might find its way back into one’s oil or acrylic paintings. I also work in the computer inventing new compositions which can be stored for future reference or use.

Thank you. I needed this today.

When I have been away from the studio for any period of time; and I feel a little rusty; I do the following to get unstuck. – First I clean my studio and organize my paints and brushes and dust and clean and go through old panels and get rid of crap that’s accumulated. – I then busy myself with mechanics like mixing medium, gessoing and sanding canvas, Stripping off old Canvas to reuse the frames. I might even thumb through a few books I been meaning to read. -I reassess my lighting,even move the furniture around a little bit. I’m basically fluffing my nest! Now I’m ready to actually paint. This is when I pull out old studies like small still life’s or old landscapes. I do some problem-solving, on something that isn’t precious. I loosen up on the minor stuff before facing my important work. All this really gets the juices flowing, and I feel like I’m back in the groove. I remind myself that creativity comes through good disciplined practice. This usually works for me. Good luck to all.

I am just barely digging out of a ‘Stuck!’ interval right now, where all plein air attempts felt like wandering, blind stabs in the dark. But for one mediocre effort of a flowering bush, I got an inkling of direction- ‘if I can just mix that cool blue-green color, I can reach that look I want’. That leads to thinking about how to mix my colors (maybe make color charts!), and think more about temperature etc. It’s that little grab for a constructive next step, that keeps from drowning.

When I’m stuck, and it happens all the time, I just paint. I keep a stack of cheaper canvases available and I put on loud music and I put paint to canvas – without a plan. Usually it ends up being an abstract something or other and not anything that I’d want to share with others, but I get ‘moving’ and I get the paint doing ‘something’. I usually end up trying new colour combinations or new brush techniques that I otherwise wouldn’t experiment with. This in itself inspires me. It is a huge effort to get going, but once I’m done I rarely still feel stuck!

I am being treated for moderate chronic depression and for the most part am passionate about my art (quilting) on a daily basis. I have periodic spells when I lose interest, however, and experience days on end when I have no desire to start on any project, under construction or new, although I always have loads of plans in my head. I become intolerably bored with reading, playing computer games, my dogs, and I find at those times if I can just make myself go into my studio and pick up something, anything, I will soon find myself immersed and enjoying it again.

When I feel stuck, I don’t force it. Instead, I work in another medium, plant flowers, make fancy cookies or use a technique I never tried before, or a composition or subject unusual to me. Sometimes a few weeks goes by. I used to chide myself for that, but I remember even the earth goes through winter — so do we. We “should” ourselves too much. Don’t force it is my key.

I can honestly say, in my forty years of painting, I have never been stuck and unable to make art (possibly with the exception of periods of anxiety/depression in the close aftermath of two messy divorces). I have exactly the opposite problem: not enough time in this lifetime to complete all the works of art from the ideas I have in my files and in my head. I maintain joy and creative and energetic push to complete work in an unending flow. And feel it’s a giant privilege to do so. In January, I hung a retrospective of my last four years of work and felt a little lost as to where to go next. Solved that by churning out thirty acrylic and mixed media abstracts on 22″ x 30″ paper based on favourite pieces by classical composers over the next twelve weeks. And when that was done, spent 6 weeks working on my recently finished large (40″ x 60″) oil on canvas painting of a group of boys titled Joy on the Water Slide. And now I’m on holidays and painting a large-scale nude.

I am sad to say I am “stuck”. I live in Calgary. I had to return home from a plein air painting trip in the mountains “post haste” due to flooding. Everything I want to paint is underwater or on the other side of a washed out bridge. This depresses me. It’s not the same kind of depression but it certainly brought my painting to a crashing halt. Anybody out there who is able to paint at home or en plein air — count your blessings.

I believe the answer to ” stuckness ” may be similar for others as it is for me. For me PLAY is the answer. If I have a piece not going well or I can’t decide on what to do next or how to proceed with some aspect of the work, I play. I play with paint, doodle with a pen, collage with bits of work on paper that don’t survive the internal critique, look thru’ my drawings and do something completely outside my “normal” practice. I look thru books and online and see what others produce and play with trying something different. I do a colour exercise and see if I can make a better green, a greyer grey or a colour bounce with complementaries.

All you need to do is keep going, knowing that you are about to rise to the next level. Put that “old” painting aside and experiment with abandon, never mind the outcome….you can always make a placemat out of it!

Just came back from the Oil Painters of America National Convention in Fredericksburg, Texas. I try to go every year. I live in an area of Southern B.C. that doesn’t have too big of a representational arts community. What a way to get unstuck. Watched Sherrie McGraw paint as well as 5 other amazing artists and saw a stunning show of work that is right in line with what I want to produce. This routine and developing relationships with specific art friends (from all over North America) at these conventions (keeping in touch on Facebook) has kept my spirits alive, focus on keeping quality up and inspiration to try new techniques and subject matter. Bottom line is I’m not stuck I’m growing. And my painting got accepted into the OPA Salon in Michigan that started last weekend.

I am laughing out loud! Last week, I was thinking about writing to you to whine about my “stuckness”. I was working on it; I sketched, took photos, read a lot. I bought a couple of canvases in a size I don’t usually use. Then …. on Saturday, one of my galleries called to tell me he had sold two paintings to a lady who happened to drop in …. and could he please have some more …. Suddenly I’m inspired again. Grin.

Thank you. Your words are exactly what I need to hear today. Refreshing.

To get unstuck I challenge myself with a new ‘model’. For instance I have recently finished several landscapes and am now going to paint a wolf. I will put my wolf into a wintry landscape and try to make him look hungry. It becomes like illustrating a story.

I feel sorry for those ‘Stuck’ people, otherwise known as writer’s block. It is simply, in my view, a self pity condition, a MIND over matter issue. When things get tough, the tough get going. That may sound condescending but that’s how I view it. Glen Arbor, MI, USA

Rock music when I am draggy. Soothing music when I need to calm my inner creative gal

Not wanting to have “all my eggs in one basket”, I usually have 30-40 small pieces “in progress”, in various stages of completion. When “stuck” on one, I can move to another. Sometimes I have no idea of what to do next on a painting. I put it on the easel, look at it briefly, then have faith that it will clue me in as to how it wants to be completed, step-by-step. Then, just do it. As it’s been said, art is 2% inspiration, 98% perspiration.

The ‘stuck’ problem has many causes. One of them is lack of sales and a growing stock of work at home. Many artists like myself, regard the selling of art to be a part of the process – a completion of the work itself. Works of art that do not go on to positively effect the lives of others, are not complete. Most artists will agree that sales are slow – very slow, and a large part of that problem is price. I certainly feel that I have out-priced myself and even though good-priced sales happen occasionally, it is not the norm. Recently, I have halved my prices more or less and the difference after only a couple of weeks is dramatic! I wonder how many artists are affected by this no-sales stuckness and can find a way to get things moving again. Artists are often admonished not to lower there prices, no matter what the cost – Mike Barr just did!

I am stuck on every painting, however,if i power on through it will come out with a painting that every one likes.. over the years i have found the creative process for me is broken down in to three phases, first its gang busters, picking out the subject ,composition, even size…, ,, second phase nothing seems to work right,, my all time record is redoing a painting 5 times,,then the third phase ,it all seems to come together…it helps to take a break and have a group of friends that paint and are complaisant with constructive criticism.

For more than the last 15 years, I have survived in the art world, and raised two children, as a single parent. How did I do it? Well,…..

Blocked, stuck, stymied? Keep on producing, even if it is lousy. You can always burn it later. Thinking about how miserable the work looks is self-defeating, while trying to work through it seems to help. Even, just a few sketches a day. The zentangle helps a lot! Zentangle = doodling. Look it up on computer. Do nonsense stuff. Do anything, or even just read some art mags. or go to the library and look through books of art. Rembrandt and Picasso probably had dry spells, too.

I have been wholeheartedly delighted with my progress…. in cleaning/clearing 3 closets, in re-arranging the framed family portrait wall, in reprinting and framing 6 or 8 small copies of some of my early favorites, in successfully coming up with and sketching the composition of a mom/son portrait commission … as I briskly walk past the elephant in the room….. the 3ft by 5ft canvas on which I am trying acrylics for the first time and which hangs vertically on a door in my hallway/studio for 2 months, half done. It’ll come; it’ll come. It’s too prosaic, I need a graphic boost… it’ll come. I’m just delighted to have accomplished so much REAL LIFE stuff in the meantime…. (and I truly never “saw” what I was doing til you pointed out, you devil you!)

One good way to move forward is to get a firm plan ie. looking at tones, or rhythms and see how I can include them in my next work. Then, having done a couple of sketches there is just no excuse not to get started in order just to see how they work out. I am having a bit of a stuck patch at the moment so you are now prompting me out of it.

I am one of those artists that constantly get “stuck”. The work will sit for months. I have found recently the cure for my “stuckness”. Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto is my starting point, i found that i listen to the music and the beautiful complexity of the symphony inspires me to such an extent that i want to create the same complexity on canvas. The work in front of me takes on a different look and feel. I have finished one canvas in this fashion and I was really pleased with the work.

Try doing something totally different. A large scale piece, or applied to a different material. It’s a new challenge. Perfection isn’t expected, its an experiment. It awakens my interest and seems to turn on the ‘juices’ again. This week I’m preparing to paint sunflowers on a garage door.

I can assure you that many Alberta artists are stuck in more ways than one. Relief and survival bring inspiration and hopefully not too many artists have had to trash their supplies. Give watercolours a whole new view and count your blessings.

What about trying another medium? I fluctuate between two–oil and pastel. Or another subject matter? I am also in an area (for the summer) where there are lots of plein -air painters and sketchers who go around and visit different places and work in watercolor, pen and ink, charcoal and graphite.. That will get your juices running and be a good change of pace.

I get out of STUCK by getting out of town, away from the dirty dishes, laundry, bills, and all other “necessary” distractions. Just past the city limits can sometimes be good enough to open my eyes past my stuckness.

I know I sound like a broken record on this, but the best cure for mild depression is getting outside in the sun and painting “sur le motif”. Just packing up the easel, paints and brushes gives forward momentum. Then being outside get you outside of yourself. If nature is your thing, then Mother Nature can soothe anyone. Myself, I like the edgy mild danger of looming urban structures in questionable parts of town. Anyway, the moving sun creates the necessity of speed and impetus. Passersby can really lift the spirits with positive comments, even when you feel like your painting is struggling. And I always feel like a plein air painting is a study in itself, an experiment in seeing, so there’s no success or failure, just a feeling of well being. Nothing like a bit of sun and the illusion of movement to lift the spirits.

I, like many others, suffer from being ‘stuck’. I like to refer to it as “Creative Block”. After being laid up from many surgeries I found that they took their toll on my creativity. I would constantly do the negative self talk thing. And then one day my husband gave me the creative kick in the tush. He said, “I don’t care what you produce. Just get into your studio and do something.

Mozart

I rarely get stuck but when I do, it is usually due to one of two reasons: I am tired and just need to rest my mind and eyes for a few days or my brain is struggling to integrate something new I have learned into my process or style and that just takes time and effort to work through–often with frustrating results in the interim where it seems I can’t paint worth a damn. We are not machines. Being more organically in tune with the natural ups and downs of our own selves and taking a break or changing focus for a short time — always keeping the bigger picture in mind — is not a bad thing.

Dear Robert, the 3rd paragraph in ‘stuck’ fits me to a T. I seem to get stuck the worst right after a successful painting.

If you begin doing a piece and find yourself “stuck,” there is probably something that you MUST do to get going. Often, that is you have to learn something. A type of brush stroke to create an effect that you want, analyze the color of a shadow, reclaim the vision that you were trying to create, or perhaps this piece of work is an obligation. If you don’t know what the question is, shelve it for the moment and work on something else. In time you will suddenly know the question and when it is defined, answering it is usually fairly easy.

The best way to discourage people from commenting on your work when you are painting out on a street is to put out of cup labeled for needy artist. People will leave you alone to paint.

Thanks for those great pics from Frank Eber. My goodness, so filled with light and natural beauty, they really touched me.

I am a bipolar artist and teacher. Without medication and talk therapy and psych. visits, i would be in bed round the clock. It is difficult to hear or read that if you just “seize the Day”, you can heal yourself. I approach my artwork, with a blank mind,I close my eyes and let my charcoal lead the way-usually gets broken up ,as my work is emotional,yet in a positive way. My pieces are all figurative,I use my past knowledge of anatomy study to draw the figures as I want to. i can approach artwork any time. I am full of uncreated pieces. I have had to run to the canvass at times that I was not well and it often felt like I was throwing up on my canvass and the relief was great! I remember a professor that said Van Gogh painted every day. I was stunned, and then began for over a year of painting every day( I do love Vincent). I hope this gives we artists a bit of a push-JUST APPROACH THE CANVASS AND MAKE A MARK ON IT!!!!!!! the rest will come! Good luck fellow gifted ones, it a lovely, lonely path we follow Before all else be true to yourself and create for only you (and spirit), that’s what the universe desires from you to give to us!

A surefire way for me to get unstuck and inspired is to review my sketchbooks, sometimes from years back.

Every day or every other day I do the alphabet in Spencerian hand. This gets me going. I also do other kinds of art, acrylic paintings, but the Spencerian hand focuses my energies and feeds my spirit. With it, I can write a letter, flourish a bird or an angel, write a hymn. Thus recharged, I march off to the market to sell. I use various colored borders which are painted or photographed to set off the penmanship. Tamblyns has exercises for the hand which consist of circles and scribbles, then letters in circles. Engrossers were once the artists of the day who did quite a bit of drawing. By strengthening my hand muscles and eye-hand coordination, and by producing eye-candy, I am set free from doldrums and encouraged.