Before you blame yourself…

Let me guess, you’re here because you sit down to create aaaannd… nothing… again. We’ve all been there. In fact, I don’t think there’s ever been an artist who hasn’t been in an art slump. The thing with art is that we’ve grown to depend almost completely on art motivation and inspiration, but sometimes it’s just not there. And sometimes, that’s not even the problem, even though we might think it is. 

You should know that this is completely normal, and you’re not alone in this. It’s not laziness, and it’s not lack of talent. This issue is extremely common in artists, and it’s one of the most frustrating parts of art. Most of us blame ourselves… but what if that’s wrong?

What’s really getting in the way of your art

The truth is, it’s not your fault! Several factors may be interfering with your flow. Here are some of the causes of your art slump.

Burnout

Ahh. Creative burnout. We all remember him, right? The guest who constantly shows up uninvited. On the surface, burnout seems like an obvious answer, but if we dig a little deeper into the root of burnout, there’s actually much more to it. 

Creative burnout is typically caused by stress. These stresses can come from a variety of sources, and sometimes a combination of them. 

Stress from work can interfere with your creativity because you may feel that all your time and effort have already been spent in the workplace. Stresses derived from other significant events happening in your life can also pose a lot of weight. For me, I find that sometimes when life feels heavy with tasks I’ve yet to complete, things I should be thinking about, and all the rest of the world’s stresses, I can feel like I don’t deserve creative time, or that I haven’t earned it yet. These are the effects of life stresses on your creativity. 

Creative burnout may also be caused by pressure on your art, whether it comes from you or outsiders. When you apply too much pressure on something you’d normally enjoy doing, it can become unenjoyable and undesired. Trying too hard on your art can have the same consequence as having too much pressure.

Perfectionism

I am a HUGE culprit of this one. Perfectionism follows me everywhere I go. And it’s funny because we try so hard to make sure everything is pixel-perfect, and yet that goes against the very idea of art. Art isn’t perfect! It was never meant to be perfect. If it were, what would be so fun about it? What would make an individual’s art so interesting and personal? Imperfections are the base ingredients of art. And plus, perfection is impossible to achieve, so why do we continue to strive for it?

But we’re still here, stuck in the perfectionist ways. I can try to give you advice on how to overcome perfectionism and change your artistic mindset on it, but the truth is, I haven’t even figured it out yet. Instead of a solution, though, I can try to help you identify the real reason you want everything to be perfect. 

It can be a fear of “ruining” the piece. Can you really ruin art, though? I know, at least once, you’ve stared at your work and thought, “Oh, that would really pull it together,” and then you do it and you feel as though you’ve just messed the whole thing up. It’s happened to me, too! 

But since then, I’ve been practicing seeing my work not as a final result, but as a story. Sure, the final result is nice to look at, but art is deeper than that! And I know you know that. Every stroke tells a story; the story of your thoughts, your soul, and your being. And I know you might be thinking, “Woah. Slow down, Liv. Not every stroke is that deep,” but it is! Every stroke was a decision you made, which means it is a piece of you. And how could that be ruining? 

You could be afraid of judgment from others. We fear the worst because we put our hearts into our art. So yeah, it would hurt if we were judged for it, but I think that’s one of our biggest problems. We are afraid of making “bad” art because people will judge, but it’s impossible to make progress without being bad at it sometimes. “But I’m supposed to be good at art. I’ve been creating for years, and now I’m more skilled, yet I still made a bad piece, and I’m ashamed of it.” The sun cannot shine all year long; otherwise, the rain would not come, and the flowers would not grow. What beauty would there be in that?

(I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty proud of myself for that analogy 😂.) 

Past Criticism

Sometime or another, we’ve all had our art criticized. It could be criticism from a parent, a teacher, a friend, or most commonly, an online stranger. This one can be hard to get over, but I assure you, it is possible. 

When we create something from our innermost feelings, it hurts a lot when someone criticizes it. Art is a form of expression, right? That also means it is a form of reflection, a reflection of us. Even if you don’t think so, you are a beautiful being, and if your art is a reflection of you, then it must be beautiful too. People aren’t always going to like your art, just as I’m sure you’ve noticed that people won’t always like you. But in the same way that people do choose to surround themselves in your presence, there are people out there who will choose to see the beauty in your art. 

Nobody experiences something the same way as another; it’s a fact. Everyone will experience your art differently from you, and it will hold a different meaning to them than it does to you. So if you love your art, someone else out there will love it too. 

We just have to accept this truth, and it will give us freedom. 

Creative Disconnection

Maybe you’ve acquired the skills you’ve always wanted, but you’ve lost the desire. You’re making art solely for the validation and the results, or you no longer remember your “why”. That kind of sounds scary, doesn’t it? I promise you, though, if you ever had a passion for creativity, it’s not gone. It’ll never leave you; it’s a part of who you are. 

Usually, if you’ve lost your “why”, it’s because you’ve been making art for the wrong reasons. Creating art solely for the praise or the validation it gets you will become very draining until the passion becomes lost. Not gone, but lost. 

Your creativity is like a relationship with a person. It needs to be nurtured and loved; otherwise, why would it stick around? You need to take care of your creativity. If it is lost, then take care to bring it back. Stop using it for other reasons, and instead, spend time alone with your creativity and see where it takes you. It might surprise you with what you’ll find. 

The truth about why you’re in an art slump

After diving a bit deeper into each reason why you could be stuck, you might notice there’s something they all have in common. 

The reason I say it’s not your fault is because each of these is a protective reaction from your brain. Being stuck in an art slump is your mind trying to protect you from a perceived threat. Examples of these “threats” include criticism, more stress, judgment, etc. Your brain is simply trying to protect you from these, which is why you get creative burnout. Your brain sees creativity as the cause of these negative feelings and emotions. It is not weakness, it is not laziness, it is not lack of skill or talent. It is simply the way our brains are wired. 

What you can do (that doesn’t involve forcing yourself)

If the cause of an art slump is the way our brains are wired, then maybe the solution is to rewire them, shift our artistic mindset.

Now, doing this will require time and patience with yourself. It won’t fix itself overnight, but as with everything, practice creates progress. Here are some ways you can rewire your brain to view your creativity as an asset, and not a threat. 

• Draw with your non-dominant hand. Sound stupid? Actually, this is a perfect exercise to do. By drawing with your non-dominant hand, you are requiring your brain to actively participate in the art instead of it shutting down and zoning out. And, you also don’t hold yourself to such high standards on your art because it’s expected to be bad. 

• Look through old art/sketchbooks and point out something you love. Looking through old art that you liked can be a huge confidence boost. Often, our brains focus only on the negative and rarely even spare a glance at the positive. Pointing out things you like about your work also reinforces the thought of “My work does hold value.” 

• Create something intentionally bad. This is similar to the first one in the sense that it sets the bar low. You can simply turn on music and just let your brain and your hands run wild. It gets your creative juices flowing, and you don’t have high expectations for yourself. 

• Fill a page with mindless doodles. Draw cute little doodles. It still counts as art even if it’s not what you usually make or if you don’t think it’s impressive enough. It gets your brain thinking creatively. 

Now these aren’t magic solutions. To shift your artistic mindset to get over these causes of art slump, you have to learn how to harness your creativity without these limitations, and turn on your art motivation whenever you please. These things will take a lot more than these four exercises, but practicing exercises like these daily can help transform your creativity into something relaxing instead of something threatening.

You’re not alone, and you’re not behind

Sometimes pushing yourself isn’t the answer. In this case, it might be pausing. Breaks and rests do not make you a failure, whether they’re intentional or not. They allow you time to reorganize your thoughts and regain your inner peace. And that could be more valuable than pushing yourself to do something you’re too tired to do. 

Remember: You are not lazy. You are not broken. You are not alone. You can read about my story and my experience with art slump and creative burnout here.

Allow yourself some time to rest and get back on when you are ready. Good luck, friends and discouraged artists. Don’t give up. ♥︎

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