Kick Out the Jams (Fighting Artistic Plateaus)
Whenever I’m faced with a creative / artistic funk, I know that it’s time to switch gears and change things up. Creative funks can also imply that the artist has reached a plateau. How do you fight that?
Easy. Change things up!
A great way to kick the cobwebs out of creative ruts is to be bold and experiment with new techniques. When I’m in a state of play, I’m not as precious with my art – and you know what? I have fun! Experimenting with new techniques is just one method I use to get me out of my artistic funk. The sketches above were created in Sketchbook Pro, using two tools I’ve never used before: the Felt Tip pen for line work and the Paint Brush tool for the tonal values.
So, as an artist, how do you tackle creative doldrums and artist plateaus?
–Krishna
These beautiful and intelligent people wrote
Tell me what you think!
Chris Steininger
March 9, 2011 at 11:23 amI am always in work work work mode and I find that I hit an plateau whenever I just stop enjoying what I’m doing and hit autopilot. This is uncool for everyone. My solution is to do something else. I don’t mean stop making art stuff, but, do work you don’t normally do so you bend your brain a bit in another direction. That’s going beyond ‘now I’ll try and draw a nose like THIS! or playing with a different filter in photoshop. Play with sculpture, or collage or poetry, just anything that fires off some different junk upstairs. Allow yourself to indulge in things you normally wouldn’t. Or meth.
Michael
March 9, 2011 at 11:49 amgood advice….I see one of those character was based on J. Starr.
Rene
March 9, 2011 at 12:45 pmI admit defeat, get my blankie and go sit crying in some dark corner. Haven’t done that in years, though. I always seem to find a way out. Knock on wood.