Oh no, artist block! (pt 1)

So here's the thing... As much as I don't want to admit it, this past week-and-a-half I've been suffering from a nasty case of ARTIST BLOCK.

Most of the time, I try to pretend that creative blocks—whether for art or writing—do not exist. (There's no reason why they should exist, right? It's so easy to tell yourself 'it's all in my head'! ) But when I'm actively in the middle of one and trying every tactic I can think of to try to claw my way out, maybe it's better to address it head-on.

this illustration doesn't have to be good! I'm blocked, people!

As someone who writes as well as draws, I'll say artist block is different from writer's block. It's harder to identify the an art block—for me at least, there's none of that staring-at-the-blank-page that happens with writer's block. I know I can always put the pencil on the page and draw something.

It won't necessarily be something good. It almost certainly won't be something inspired.

In What It Is , Lynda Barry discusses how children experience creative blocks in their play. Reminiscing, she writes "No one stopped me from playing when I was alone, but there were times when I wasn't able to, though I wanted to—there were times when nothing played back." I know writers who describe their blocks as their characters "not talking" or "refusing to talk." For my artist blocks, I'll say "my lines are not cooperating."

But I'd never given it that much thought. I have trouble even telling when I am blocked—if I'm producing work basically every day, can I really be blocked? Well, here are some of the symptoms (outside of 'everything I draw looks like poop') that clued me in:

• Lack of new ideas
• Refusal to use the ideas that I have in reserve—if I draw those now, I'll just be unhappy with the results!
• Refusal to start anything "ambitious" (see above)
• Being super picky about things like which pencils and which sketchbooks I'll use. I can no longer abide by those No. 2s from Office Depot. If the paper's too thin, forget it!
• Wanting 50 photo references for everything I draw.
• General irritability. Which I pass off as PMS, but I come to realize is mostly frustration. (Ok, the PMS doesn't help)
• Reluctance to interact with other artists/creative types (to avoid thoughts of 'oh yeah, I could be doing much better.')

Just writing down that list (yesterday) was a good first step for me. I'm sure everyone experiences blocks differently, so it's important to get a handle on how to recognize your own. So, yes, I admit it—I'm blocked! And it's not ideal, but at least I know it's not permanent. And at least now I know what kind of animal I'm dealing with.

So what now? I have a few ideas. With the commitment of my daily tumblr, I've been making myself muddle through. Tune in tomorrow for part two of this post, where I share my devious treatment strategies...and post some old, embarrassing art to boot.