What do you do when you are in a rut?
How do you find inspiration to help you back on your way?
I do what I do in every other situation and turn to YouTube. Seriously, I rely on that site so much, it is becoming ridiculous. But I do love it so much, and one of a good thing to watch is someone else drawing (see below).
Because I am a little bit stuck, I felt I would give advice to people who may also be stuck in a rut. It may sound a bit rich, but trust me, as an artist there is no worse feeling in the world, than not being able to create something.
So I am going to give you 5 tips of getting over that creative rut.
1) Do something to take your mind of the subject of non-working. I know it sounds crazy, but focusing all your energy on something which isn't happening is depressing and does no good. Putting pressure on yourself to do something, can back fire, and can make you hate what you are trying to do. So try and relax, watch a movie, read a book, just de-pressurise yourself.
2) Find what inspires you. Again, sounds a little silly, but it works. Listening to NWA's Straight Out Of Compton, got me through my HNC in Art & Design, it really motivated me. I can't explain how it worked, but it did. It made me excited, and that's what you have to do. Find something that makes you excited, something that makes you take on the world. At the moment, for me, it is The Lion King. I feel so creative when I watch that movie. The good thing is, if your inspiration relaxes you, that's point 1 tackled too.
3) Write a list of what needs done. Something you were probably told to do at school, along with making a study timetable. It is recommended because it works. Write a list of EVERYTHING you need to do, and prioritise. If you have a lot of heavy duty stuff to do, you may want to put something light hearted in between them, just to give yourself a break. And just work through the list. The idea behind this, is that it helps you visualise what you need to do. Most of the time, you write a to-do list, and realise that most of the stuff isn't as important as you first thought.
4)Free yourself from distraction. I am the boss of finding a distraction, so I know how much this can set you back. If you are struggling, your mind will automatically start to wonder. And if it wonders onto a site like Facebook, bang goes hours of your precious time in a heartbeat. So switch of the distractions, log off of twitter, switch your mobile phone off, just put the temptation away. If it is too hard for you to stay away from temptation, do it in bits. Schedule yourself 45 minutes away from the Internet, and have a 5 minute check-up.
5)Don't give up. I am aware that this point contradicts some of my previous points, but it is true. Whilst I am saying try to relax and not pressure yourself, it is important that you don't give up. If you can't get something done, give it a break and try again later. The hard part of anything is perseverance. Giving up never achieves anything, so keep on trying. If one thing isn't working, go on to something else. You can always come back to things later.
These are all points I have used throughout my life since School, really. Everyone has a point where they want to give up, and that they feel they are no good, but keep your head up. You can do this. If you couldn't, then you wouldn't have been given the opportunity to try.
PMA every day!
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