Ever feel like you've lost your sharpness?
Hi there,
I'm conscious that this could turn into a blog post so I'll try to keep it short.
Recently I've been feeling like I've lost my creative sharpness. I feel a bit as if my inspiration has dried up and I'm sort of stumbling along to project completion. I guess it could be attributed to being in the middle of a fairly large project and I'm just feeling the lull of daily working without change.
But I'm starting to think it could be something else, like the people I socialise with. While a few of them are definitely good artists, I feel like I'm in a creative void when I'm around them. Obviously these people are my friends and that isn't going to change. It's difficult to fairly articulate, because I like these people, but on the other hand I feel as if they are somehow affecting the way I think.
Do you guys have any tips for maintaining your creative edge? Does it really have anything to do with those around you or am I just looking for excuses?
I'm conscious that this could turn into a blog post so I'll try to keep it short.
Recently I've been feeling like I've lost my creative sharpness. I feel a bit as if my inspiration has dried up and I'm sort of stumbling along to project completion. I guess it could be attributed to being in the middle of a fairly large project and I'm just feeling the lull of daily working without change.
But I'm starting to think it could be something else, like the people I socialise with. While a few of them are definitely good artists, I feel like I'm in a creative void when I'm around them. Obviously these people are my friends and that isn't going to change. It's difficult to fairly articulate, because I like these people, but on the other hand I feel as if they are somehow affecting the way I think.
Do you guys have any tips for maintaining your creative edge? Does it really have anything to do with those around you or am I just looking for excuses?
Replies
If you can't do that, try something else, like drawing or photography. I hate to sound weird, but since I got this SLR, I look at things differently. It really pushed my artistic eye. You don't realize how much neat stuff is around you until you think "wow that would make a really nice photo".
^ what he said, as well additional activities such as Surfing, and Skateboarding (if you can avoid being arrested)
You're probably stuck in a rut, probably doing the same routine day in and day out. Do something different, take a day off go to a part of town you've never been, get out and walk around.
Take some ref pics, shoot some textures if the lighting is good.
Do some sketching.
Go be a tourist in your home town.
Work with some tactile art or do some kind of physical craft.
Start a sculpture, pick up wood carving.
Make a suit of storm trooper armor from scratch.
Try out some paper craft.
You can always learn something new from anyone you meet. If you have trouble talking to strangers or strangers have trouble talking to you, it might be a good idea to volunteer somewhere like a senior or veterans center.
At the very min take a few hours to dig through flickr or travel photo sites and look at different stuff.
on the friends thing, sometimes i think its better to have friends who are not artists. I mean its great to be able to talk to other artists on the same level, as reflection on your work and projects is very important to developing your skills, but sometimes you need different stimulus. Most of my friends are not artists and i love that because when we get together we have something to talk about besides what Im doing at work or school.
A successful person balances himself out, no one said it is an easy thing. Where is the spirit of victory if that is the case? You can practically sell your soul to just doing art, but you won't get too far in life just by doing that. Especially since your personality or the outlook on life might not even change...
I got this email last week:
I felt a bit of this not too long ago and what helped big time was starting little weekly art projects (mostly sketching and painting). I would set aside a little "me" time each day to work on personal work and its amazing how much it can re-energize you. Especially if you step outside your comfort zone and work on stuff you don't normally do.
Part of the problem is that at the moment I'm working from home, which I'm sure takes its toll because I end up working crazy hours, and I end up slacking off at random intervals, so to make up for it I try and work later and later, but I'm sure that's detrimental because the whole day is then really dragged out, so I'm semi working from waking up til going to bed. I need to get out more. Taking a break does seem like the best thing to do, unfortunately its not an option until mid-May :S
Argh...
god, can we get a sticky that says 'work out, make friends, meet girls (/spend time with yours,) draw pictures'?
Bit of mental torture never hurt anyone:0
fixed.
Well I am still a noob in this but, shouldnt artist make other artists jelous with his/her work? I mean for example. If I keep on working on one thing and get tired for some reason or dont feel like doing it (lasts a week)
I just go watch the videos on youtube or read success stories of other 3d artists that makes me think eventually that "if that person can do it, so can I!" It puts my mind back in the entire realm of 3d modeling and learning game programming.
As other people say, start breaking your routine. Make it a routine to break your routine.