artblock thread

[boreal_cryptid]

asking because i'm stuck, and in search of solidarity. 

you may have different reasons for it - burnout, mental health problems overall, lack of feedback - everything goes. also, "art" in this case means everything creative, but i will talk about drawing in my post, 'cause i'm an artist.

sharing your personal advises and experience would be nice! here is some prompts, but feel free to add yours.

your longest artblock?
(full artblock without creating at all, or with "failed" attempts to return)

what makes your artblock worse?

what helps you to deal with artblock?

longest artblock?
i guess this one - for a 6+ months already. i occasionally draw, but unsuccessfully... i don't feel any enjoyment from it 

what makes it worse?

• expecting to be on the same level as before, without any training
• emotional deprivation. you see, if i can't feel myself, then i can't feel my characters and worlds too - it kinda stops inside of me. when i feel - i can fantasize about walking around my world, and it's all so... alive? and colorful. but when i'm in deprivation, it's almost black-and-white, flat, plastic, i dunno.
• unsolicited advises and critique when i just ask for feedback, questions, something supportive. 

what helps?

• studies! not necessarily jump into complex projects. just to find a references and try to catch a flow again... you know what i mean?
• drawing familiar stuff: comfort characters, better versions of myself (lol). drawing cryptids helps me to express my emotions AND deal with artblock at the same time!
• feedback without unsolicited advises, especially from fellow artists. i honestly treasure comments so much that i have a small folder with screenshots of feedback i've received.
• using simple tools: i feel much lighter if i draw in MS Paint, or with color pencils! something that isn't connected to my "professional" side at all.
• community and solidarity i guess. especially i like drawing with someone together - not necessarily as a group project. sitting together at drawing session helps too. 

tools i use for studies!

• most of the time i use pinterest - either my own boards with references, tutorials, or just boards with inspirations for my characters.
• recently i've found refern. i feel like it's genuinely a good alternative to pinterest (which is hard to do, actually!). it has normal moderation without random absurd bans, allows NSFW (for example, nude models for anatomy references) and doesn't allow AI!
• beeref - for making local refs canvas (desktop)
• line-of-action and their forum - drawing references, challenges and community (!)