From the rising abuse of AI-created art, through the decreased pay in commissions for artists around the world, artists of all kinds are going through various challenges that have recently started to demote their work. While most of these difficulties are specific to certain artists, they all go through art blocks that limit their creativity and potential.
Some Middle College High School students find art to be a fun hobby, mainly used to relieve stress and encourage creativity. Others find art to be a passion they want to pursue professionally and seem to be more committed, taking art classes and joining the school’s art club. Regardless, all art producers eventually go through a phase where they feel as if they aren’t able to create anything at all. This state of mind is called an art block.
An art block is a creative stagnation that is experienced differently among artists. Sophomore Neri Rodriguez shares his experience with art blocks.
“An art block is when I open my book to draw something, and I put my pencil and the art doesn’t come out. That makes me really mad, I want to draw but I can’t draw anything,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez isn’t the only one who suffers from art blocks. Senior Yojana Hernandez also shares her encounter with experiencing artist’s block.
“Sometimes an art block comes through the lack of motivation or lack of inspiration. Art blocks affect the time I spend on drawing as the lack of ideas leads me to sitting and questioning what to do. It also sometimes makes assignments hard to complete as I take more time sketching trying to come up with ideas,” Hernandez said.
Art/creative blocks could originate from many different things, but one well known reason is the process of art called the “ugly phase”. The ugly phase is the phase in art where the drawing is starting to take form, but it isn’t finished. As a result, the current art piece looks wonky. This stage in the artistic process is the reason for a multitude of art blocks.
Fortunately, there are many ways to overcome this phase. Rodriguez shares his way of overcoming a creative block.
“Maybe sometimes, when it’s too ugly, I go back a little bit and simplify it a little bit so I can see what parts look kind of weird, or I just keep going over it a lot and a lot, not erasing anything just going over it cause eventually the shape takes place,” Rodriguez said.
He adds onto his art techniques and explains the types of media he watches to gain inspiration for his art pieces if he doesn’t have any.
“[To gain inspiration, I listen to/see] Music, media, video games or movies. Characters, you know, that you like, that you want to make art of. Or sometimes nature,” Rodriguez said.
While some people erase and rewrite their art pieces to overcome the “ugly phase,” others keep going, trusting that their final piece will look good. Hernandez explains how she pushes through when she hits an art roadblock, and makes sure to take breaks to ensure that she doesn’t negatively criticize herself too much.
“Trusting the process is the best way to overcome the ugly phase of artwork. I’ve gone through several trials to know that if I start critiquing my art harshly at the start or unfinished state then the outcome will be worse. In those times where I get frustrated because it isn’t going the way I planned it, I take a break and reflect back on all the previous work I have done. I don’t have a step by step process, it is just the belief that in the end it will turn out okay,” Hernandez said.
For many, art is simply another hobby rather than a die-hard obsession. Hernandez emphasizes the importance of working on projects that she wants to work on, instead of forcing herself to create pieces she doesn’t want to do.
“If I force myself to create art then I’m only going to end up with a piece that I strongly dislike. I rather spend a longer time creating something I love than something I hate,” Hernandez said.
Next time you feel yourself experiencing an art block, take a step back, breath and find inspiration to help you keep moving forward. Don’t let art blocks deprive the fun of creating great art work.
