Geoffrey wrote: ↑Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:10 am
michael, i have no wish to engage with someone who spitefully contributes with massive empty posts.
what's up, Geoff! I know you are the Guardian of Bandwidth. As a tribute to your sensitivity, I had removed critical comments. That wasn't a blank post! That was the public removal of the earlier critical post. It was a notable Creative Expression.
Now, below is an introduction for you to "blank page syndrome". Take my kindness as a generous learning opportunity.
Anyway, my original art ain't blank. I agonised for seconds where to place the 2 dots which you have spitefully overlooked with a massive lack of emptythy.
My drawing was to show you how close we really are, the proximity of the 2 dots, yet superficially there is nothing going on at all! You will now search for the dots, and discover mine is on top and to the left. Yours is beneath and on the right wing. Extraordinary! You attack my subtle creation. How whoah ah me.
My mind is different, and you shouldn't be scared of The Different. I have irregular "white matter", and after another brain MRI have again been called into the neurologist to find out what is happening to my sight.
What is blank page syndrome?
Blank page syndrome is usually associated with writer's block, but it's very much a thing for any creative activity, visual arts included.
It's a frustrating situation when you want to draw or paint, but you just can't get yourself to actually do it. So you end up doing basically anything else and hours, days, even weeks can go by without you having drawn a single line.
And you're not even sure why. You like drawing, you've got the skills (at least enough to get something down on paper) and you're not under any particular stress or pressed for time either. And yet, nothing.
In order to overcome "artist's block" and get you started and on your very best way to a new masterpiece I've prepared this handy list for you.
1 Get in the mood
The right mindset, for any kind of activity, is often more important than people realise. No point planning an artsy afternoon when your head's not in the game and you're really just thinking about what last minute holiday to book or what else you might need to prepare for tomorrows staff meeting.
In such cases, when you're sure to remember more things that need doing the second you sit down and want to relax a little, it helps to simply have a notebook close by. That way you can quickly write down everything that pops into your head and tackle the list later.
Even if you're not busy planning anything, you'll have to accept that sometimes you're just not in the mood. Maybe you're tired or anxious or angry about something.
You can either simply call it a day and postpone the drawing session until you're less distracted, or you can try and help things along with a little incentive.
Personally, I find that creating an extra cosy atmosphere helps my artsy mood along quite a bit. I turn up the heat, put on some fire crackling or thunderstorm ambience sounds (my absolute favourite is this Hobbiton inspired version) and light a scented candle.
2 Set a time frame
This tip sounds so obvious, but it still often gets ignored. Don't just plan to "draw a little", set yourself an actual time frame. Say, you'll sit down for one hour, with no interruptions from 4-5 pm Sunday afternoon.
Make sure that you're “watered and fed” before you start, then turn off your phone and don't get up before the hour is over. You can use a time tracking app to help with this, such as the most adorable forest app that I've mentioned in my post about time-management.
It's amazing how often we break our good intentions and still do something else "just quickly" whether that's packing the gym bag for tomorrow or taking the chicken out of the freezer. Either can surely wait an hour without your life falling into ruin.
Once we sit down for a drawing session we’ll suddenly remember all sorts of other responsibilities. The trick is not to listen.
Yes, this all makes drawing sound more like a chore than a fun pastime, but with so many distractions and addictive, fast-food-style entertainment like Netflix and social media in our daily lives sometimes we just need to force ourselves to do what's good for us.
3 Silence that judgemental part of your brain
This is a different kind of mindset that might need correcting, if you're prone to impostor syndrome. Many of you will know the feeling, you're just getting the first couple of lines on that paper and already there's that dark part in the back of your mind rolling its eyes and shaking its head.
You also have the great opportunity to consider my fab expression "lack of emptythy". This is high art.