Why this might have happened:
- Feeling very lost after COP
- Fear of the unknown after graduation
- Lack of confidence in myself, my work and my decisions
- Putting too much pressure on myself to do well
Not feeling myself has a huge impact on my creative practice making small things such as picking up a pen and doing even 10 minutes of drawing seem like an impossible and overwhelming task. To add insult to injury, I've got myself into a state about worrying if this happens when I've actually got to make a living out of being creative. How am I supposed to pay rent if I can't work for a week because I feel so rubbish?!
Things I did to feel creative again:
-Read the Varoom issue about creativity and wellbeing
This issue has so many great articles about self sustainability and self care when practicing as a freelancer. Gemma Correll is one of the most successful contemporary illustrators today, and she mentioned in her article that when she is having a low mental phase, she draws through it, making light of her struggles. I really admire her ability to do this; the illustration on the right is literally me right now! As much as I love drawing, it is one of the things that I just don't want to do when I'm not feeling grand, but in situations like this, you just has to grab the nettles and keep persisting.
-Visited my inspirational shrine (Waterstones)
I blogged about these books on SP, but they helped me so much! There was something about them that took the pressure away from being judged or graded on the things that I was making. As well, I love the fact that the left hand page already had examples of marks and drawings, so I wasn't faced with a huge overwhelming blank page.
-Put myself first
This is something that I need to do more. If this means cancelling on plans, starting the day later to get enough sleep in etc then so be it. I am only a human being and I can only do so much.
-Address strengths I can capitalise on
Instead of focusing on negative things that I need to 'fix', it's a lot healthier to identify things that I am good at. I got this really helpful sheet from student advice, and it explains really well how much of a crazy perfectionist I am haha. But a lot of it is certainly true, especially fear of failure. So I need to start paying attention to the right hand column more.
- Don't isolate myself
Gemma Correll mentioned that she is the epitome of an introvert; she can sit in her studio all day and just draw. I, however am not an introvert, I'm definitely more of an extrovert as I love being around people and hate being on my own for long periods of time. Although sometimes I find this hard because I am constantly comparing myself to others.
-Yoga!
Yoga is great, people should do yoga more!
So there we have it, how I slowly but surely got myself out of a dismal and uninspiring black hole. I know that this will probably happen again at some point, but it IS possible to regain creativity even if it feels like you can never pick up a pencil again!
Things I did to feel creative again:
-Read the Varoom issue about creativity and wellbeing
This issue has so many great articles about self sustainability and self care when practicing as a freelancer. Gemma Correll is one of the most successful contemporary illustrators today, and she mentioned in her article that when she is having a low mental phase, she draws through it, making light of her struggles. I really admire her ability to do this; the illustration on the right is literally me right now! As much as I love drawing, it is one of the things that I just don't want to do when I'm not feeling grand, but in situations like this, you just has to grab the nettles and keep persisting.
-Visited my inspirational shrine (Waterstones)
I blogged about these books on SP, but they helped me so much! There was something about them that took the pressure away from being judged or graded on the things that I was making. As well, I love the fact that the left hand page already had examples of marks and drawings, so I wasn't faced with a huge overwhelming blank page.
-Put myself first
This is something that I need to do more. If this means cancelling on plans, starting the day later to get enough sleep in etc then so be it. I am only a human being and I can only do so much.
-Address strengths I can capitalise on
Instead of focusing on negative things that I need to 'fix', it's a lot healthier to identify things that I am good at. I got this really helpful sheet from student advice, and it explains really well how much of a crazy perfectionist I am haha. But a lot of it is certainly true, especially fear of failure. So I need to start paying attention to the right hand column more.
- Don't isolate myself
Gemma Correll mentioned that she is the epitome of an introvert; she can sit in her studio all day and just draw. I, however am not an introvert, I'm definitely more of an extrovert as I love being around people and hate being on my own for long periods of time. Although sometimes I find this hard because I am constantly comparing myself to others.
-Yoga!
Yoga is great, people should do yoga more!
So there we have it, how I slowly but surely got myself out of a dismal and uninspiring black hole. I know that this will probably happen again at some point, but it IS possible to regain creativity even if it feels like you can never pick up a pencil again!
No comments:
Post a Comment