Overcome Artists Block

Estury...........Pastel on Mountboard

You know the problem. We’ve all been there. For a while you are painting pictures quite happily then all of a sudden it happens – the block. You just cannot find anything to paint. If you do try to paint nothing works – so what is the answer?

First you must understand that there can be more than one reason for the block to occur. It may be that you have simply become stale and you need a break from painting to recharge your creative batteries. Or it may be that you need a completely fresh approach. So try the following steps and see if that helps. They have done for me.

1. Take a break and do something different for a while, maybe even go on holiday. Try somewhere new, a place you haven't been to before.

2. Try a new medium. If you paint in oils try watercolour for a change.

3. Try a diffferent subject. If you paint landscapes try a portrait, a still life or perhaps even an abstract.

4. Take a sheet of paper and a stick of charcoal and just doodle. Use a putty rubber to remove sections or lines. Study the shapes, lines and areas you have produced. Do they suggest a subject or a treatment?

5. Take a sheet of paper and a couple of tubes of watercolour paint and use a large brush to let the colours blend and mix on wet paper. Pull the paint about with the brush, your fingers or a piece of card. Let it dry and then stand back and look at the result. Do you see something of interest? Mask ares and try to isolate an area of interest. Can you turn this section into a finished work? Perhaps enlarge a small section onto another support. Use your imagination.

6. Go for a walk and look at the things around you with fresh eyes. Really look at that tree. Walk up to it and feel the bark, the roughness of it or perhaps the smoothness. Look at the leaves. How many colours can you see here? Look again at the bark, how many colours are there here? Don't limit yourself just to trees, look at and feel the textures and colours in everything around you. Learn not just to look but to see. Make notes about everything that you find interesting. Pay special attention to any lighting effects that may occur. Be ready for them, as they can be very transitory. Look at the sky, the shapes of the clouds, the colours and the way they merge and blend into each other. Make more notes.

7. Take a picture mount and just throw it on to an area of rough ground. Take a close look at the area within the framed borders. It may be abstract but can you see a picture here? Just look, let your mind go blank and wander. What thoughts and ideas flow into your head? Don't force anything. Let it simply happen. Be open and receptive to any idea which may appear. Write it down before it fades away.

8. Visit a gallery and look at the work of others. If you live far from a gallery try browsing through art books or magazines. Don't actively try to find pictures which appeal to you. Look at everything. Look at the details within the pictures you see. If something creates a spark of interest make a note of it, then carry on and look some more.

9. Put on some music. Something gentle perhaps, soothing. Close your eyes and allow your thoughts to wander with the music. Relax and breathe slowly and deeply. Let the mood of the music take you on a journey. Just go with it and let it happen. When the music stops, open your eyes slowly and write down any thoughts, feelings or ideas that have ocured to you.

10. Put a dozen tubes of paint of different colours into a bag or box. Shake them about to mix them up. Without looking pick out three tubes at random. Use these colours to paint a small sketch of the first thing you notice when you step outside the back door of your house. Being restricted entirely to the random selection of colours will probably force some ingenuity on your part and it might just lead to something creative happening.

Try it and see.

Best of luck

Tony