Suffering from a creative block, especially when confronted with a big white page or canvas? Here's what you do....courtesy of another artists blog..

"CannonBall" It



You know when you were a kid how you'd run like a bat outta hell and jump right into that ice cold swimming pool rather than inch into the water one toenail at a time? That's pretty much how I get back to work in my studio after a hiatus. I don't pick an idea or an image and then do a few sketches. I pick an idea or image and I do FIFTY drawings in a row, all in one sitting. And if that doesn't work, I do 50 more. I do this because it works. Nothing erases worry, or self doubt faster than a 6 inch high pile of freshly finished drawings. Also I'm an Aries and I do everything head first.





Perhaps if you're a runner who has fallen off the wagon and are trying to get back in shape, jumping up one morning and deciding to run a marathon probably isn't the best approach. But perhaps you could do something like, physically go to your local bookstore and buy a book on training for a marathon, or go buy copies of 3 different running magazines. The idea here is to produce movement and to get energy and ideas flowing. And the energy is in the going and the doing. So go, and do.





Rejoice!





Once I begin to get even the slightest bit of movement and momentum back, I always celebrate it. Hear this: Life is just better when you celebrate even the smaller accomplishments. After I finish my 50 drawings, I usually head down to my favorite bar and meet up with a few friends to drink a bottle of rosé.





I do this for two reasons: One, because art-making can be lonely and isolating work, so it's good to get out of your studio, out of your own head, and stop taking yourself so seriously. And secondly because I live in France and that's just what we do. One other extra added bonus to this step in my Recovery Ritual is that when my friends casually ask me, what I did today, I get to reply "I finished 50 new drawings." And they get all super impressed and I get to feel like a major bad-ass and with just cause. Plus just hearing myself say this always lifts my spirits. Or maybe it's the rosé doing it's work. Either way, whatever your career path, if there's no joy or space for rejoicing, my friend, you're doing it wrong.



1. Make some Art.



2. Make some more Art.



3. Make even more Art.



4. Make even more Art than that.



5. Make Art when you don't really feel like making Art.



6. Make Art when you REALLY feel like making Art.



7. Make Art when you have something to say.



8. Make Art when you got nothin' to say.



9. Make Art every day.



10. Keep making Art.