It can be incredibly frustrating when you want to draw something but no matter what you seem to do you just can't translate your ideas onto the page. There can be a number of reasons, and each one of them would require a different approach to counter, but let's just call it an art block for now.
I've been in a bit of a rut myself these last few weeks. I've been having an art block where the will to draw is simply not present. I want to draw something but I also don't want to sit down and actually draw something. When I do make myself sit down to draw, I simply cannot get the lines straight, and everything I do draw makes me question how I ever thought I could be an artist. Not to mention the fact that I can't seem think of a half-decent concept to draw in the first place. It's a frustrating rut that I don't know how to climb out of. It's even more frustrating to write about and probably more frustrating to read about too.
Nevertheless, I'm not beating myself up about it. My relationship with creativity is that creativity is not a well where you keep drawing water from until one day the well runs dry, but rather creativity is a sponge. You need to be able to absorb water before you can let it out. When the sponge has completely absorbed water, it is full and heavy and there is no choice but to provide it the release it needs. There is almost a sense of not being able to do anything else until the sponge has been squeezed and the art has been made.
Currently, I'm in my dry sponge era. These periods where I am unable to create are not something to bemoan but rather something to be excited about, because now it's all about absorbing all the art you can, collecting ideas, watching movies, reading books, or whatever it is that fills up that sponge. It's not necessary to always wait until it is completely soaked up, but a good squeeze here and there will inevitably result in a good out-pour.
This is different from sitting around and waiting for inspiration to strike, because that is as good as just letting the sponge lie there, hoping it will squeeze itself.
A good practice during this dry sponge phase is to be more deliberate in what you absorb, to let yourself be more open and receptive, and not to worry about whether something you're doing is directly affecting your output in some way (they're always indirectly affecting it).
I find that writing a quick note about why something resonated with me makes my passive consumption more deliberate and forces me to make connections to the themes and ideas that I'm thinking about or that I find interesting. This serves as a good springboard to generate new ideas for art that you can create later. Your future self will always thank you for that.
Updates this Week:
My past week has looked very different compared to what it was for about a year. That's because I quit my job last Friday, and in about a month I will be flying to the Netherlands to begin my Master's degree. It's exciting, and apart from all the administrative work that I've been doing, this has also given me a chance to set my own routine for the different projects I want to undertake. I haven't been following it super strictly so far, but at least I've laid out a plan, and hey, that's always the first step, right?
I got my second shot last week, so now I'm fully vaccinated (yay!). In unrelated news, I felt a strange compulsion to upgrade to Windows 11 soon after…
Because of point number 1, I've had more time to catch up on some shows and movies I've been meaning to watch. I watched the weekly episodes I've been following: Loki, Rick and Morty, Tuca and Bertie (I'm concerned with this new development in television that sees it go back to weekly programming. I've gotten pretty spoiled and used to binge watching now). Special shout-out to episode 4 of Tuca and Bertie. I've been loving the visuals of this new season and the last episode just went all out with some mesmerizing shots, especially with its nighttime aesthetic.
I watched Season 2 of I Think You Should Leave, which I think is the funniest show on TV right now. Also, big thanks to MUBI for always providing me Juliette Binoche content. I finally watched Certified Copy last night.
I also finally resumed the 1000 piece puzzle I had received months ago for my birthday and made some good progress the last couple of days. hashtag small wins
I finished reading Alison Bechdel's (of Bechdel Test fame) new graphic memoir, The Secret to Superhuman Strength. Graphic novel memoirs are my favourite genre and medium. Alison is one of the best at it, and this new book is no exception
Stuff I’m Listening To:
I've been listening to Japaneses Breakfast's Paprika on repeat, and this performance on Jimmy Kimmel was mesmerizing to watch, summed up perfectly by this comment
Triple Dog Dare by Lucy Dacus
Glistening and Poppies by Flipturn
Had an evermore and folklore listening session on a Zoom call with friends which was quite fun
Links of the Week:
Jean & Scott by Max Wittert: Came across this parody comic strip about Jean Grey and Scott Summers by Max Wittert and how he re-imagines their daily tasks would go down, and it’s one of the best things I’ve read all week
This gorgeous piece of art by @ionomycin
From note-taking to note-making: Great piece from Ness Labs about the difference between note taking and making, and how to get better at it
Posts of the Week:
Thanks for reading!
Raef