No, I haven't taken a random class, nor have I gone to college for this. Honestly, I just get bored doing things the same way over and over. I've been approaching my artwork the same way for over 20 years.
I'll probably go back to this method again in the future for some things, because that's what I'm used to. Typically, I leaf through images in magazines, books, calendars, or even my own photographs to find something inspirational and as a reference point; then, decide which medium to use to best capture the effect or mood I want, and just go to it.
However, this week I'm just not feeling it. Every image I look at evokes nothing, even if it had produced a feeling of excitement before. Now - nothing. Just ... bleh. So I turned to the art instruction book I had been reading last week (An Introduction to Art Techniques, ISBN 978-0-7894-5151-4), and at the time found quite motivating. Again, nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Just more bleh. Well this isn't working. It's driving me nuts. I need to draw or paint something. Back to my computer, where I looked through all of the artwork from some artists I follow on Facebook. (Side note: I took some time to search for art blogs and artists' profiles on Blogger, Facebook, Google+, and the like. FYI this can kill your whole day!!! Bring some coffee and a couple of snack bars. No, really.) Some of them have a style completely unlike my own, and yet I'm so drawn to their work (uhh... no pun intended!). In the past, seeing art in different styles than my own, I've always thought, "I could never draw or paint like that. I don't know how." Wait a minute . . . why the hell not? I've never tried it.
I grabbed my sketchbook and a pencil, turned off my computer, turned off the radio, found a comfortable spot on the couch and closed my eyes, tuning out everything. I thought about the most emotional times of my life so far. I let my thoughts drift from my memories of these times to images of those emotions if one were to try to represent the meaning of the word in something other than text.
As these concepts began to form, I opened my eyes and started drawing what I was seeing in my mind, this time just letting the lines take me wherever they were going to go, realizing that things don't have to be photorealistic to be art -- a concept that I'm learning to accept over the years, rather than feel continually frustrated that what I see in my mind's eye and my ability to execute these visions are on vastly different levels.
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I don't have titles for either of these yet, as they're not finished. I plan to transfer each one to a larger piece of paper where I can decide on the right medium and colors, if any, to use.
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| Sketchbook: Untitled #1, July 1, 2013 © Kari Raley |
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| Sketchbook: Untitled #2, July 1, 2013 © Kari Raley |
Do you ever run into creative block? How do you tackle it?
Have you ever tried creating your art in a new style? What do you do when you're stumped?
-Kari
