Art Block? Oh, We know
“There’d be days when I wouldn’t eat at all because I’d be in the basement working all day. ”
Hello darkness my old friend…
I’m sure if you are an artist, chances are you’ve experienced this challenge at some point in your creative journey. Surprise, just about every single artist encounters this situation at one time or another. Even folks who don’t traditionally considered artists find themselves grappling with some type of mental block or another throughout their lives. Many of us come from a background of overworking ourselves to the bone, often driven by various pressures. Whether it is stemming from the relentless need to “catch up” with other industry professionals or having gone through an intense and demanding art school experience, these factors can contribute significantly to our struggles facing art block.
Just like many of those people, I am one of them.
So, art block…
When I use the term “art block” I’m specifically referencing the feeling of unable to be creative. A lot of times this coincides with burnout. The definition of art block doesn’t have a concrete definition but according to most sources is “…It’s when a creative person doesn’t feel like they can create right now. They feel like they want to paint but find themselves making excuses. Nothing seems to come out they feel devoid of ideas or like they have no inspiration”.
Reasons that Could cause art block
This is not medical advice by any means. Be sure if you are mentally struggling or facing certain obstacles to reach out to professional help / healthcare.
I won’t go too far into my background, but I will focus on my knowledge and experience I’ve gathered throughout the years. Especially being that I did go to art school for 4 years for a BA in Entertainment Arts; Game Design focusing on 3D art. There can be an amplitude of things that can manifest into this, and I think for me it was overworking myself to the bone and conditioning myself to neglect any sense of balance to achieve the grades / projects I wanted to pursue. Even though I did achieve quite a few things I did want to, the years after art school as left me drained and exhausted. Reflecting on it all I can’t comprehend how I found myself finishing my final semester of college with 3 studio courses, working in the industry at Ford part time, working as a TA for a Game Art course, and managing life while preparing to graduate. I will say I have gone through a couple of intense life events that had happened in the last two years since I’ve graduated, as does everyone, but I find that these events had a huge impact on my overall wellbeing and burn out.
Many little pieces coming together.
There are so many different factors that can influence or impact someone’s creative ability. Between professional or personal experiences in life, both avenues can have a huge impact to someone’s art block. These don’t necessarily have to be the same reasons or can be similar to why you may be facing this mental block. Again, this is not health care advice, and I highly recommend if you are experiencing art block or any other mental blocks, please reach out to a health care provider!
Some reasons that I found that could cause burn out for me:
Working too much
Being burnt out (from art school)
Personal factors / events
The state of the game dev industry
Not having a work/life balance
Being in your own bubble
Being intimated / feeling stuck
Limiting or isolating yourself from inspiration
Be able to acknowledge that you may not always get done what you want in a project. It’s okay! We have all been there.
Art block can happen for many reasons. Recognizing that you’re experiencing it is the first step to overcoming it. Hearing how others deal with art block can help as well. Always be honest with yourself and acknowledge when you may need a hand. 💜
What can help art block
Again, I want to be clear this is not medical advice; it is my own experience / experience I have learned through others. If you are struggling with mental blocks or any type of feeling unwell mentally, please be sure to reach out to a medical professional.
I believe there are many different avenues to take in order to help you get out of the rut. I also believe that it won’t just be one be all solution and it won’t be the same for everyone. Between friends, building a stronger support system, lots of therapy and mental help, and taking the time, I needed away from personal projects / 3D community, were all a contributing factor into slowly getting out of my own art block. I did work at Nintendo after graduating for a year to work on Mario VS Donkey Kong (2024), then was out of the industry for 10 months (if you’re reading this and are a game dev, I’m sure you can painstaking understand this), and finally have landed my current position as a contractor at Wallride as a 3D Artist. It felt shameful for me to be in between jobs. Especially riding a high like working on a Mario game. I almost felt like a one trick pony in some ways. I found myself gravitating towards artists in the same position I worked with at Nintendo to talk about it and reassure myself of my own capabilities. I am much more, and you are much more, than any position at a company. Even our dream company.
Know when you need to step away.
Again, I believe there are many different methods or habits you can create and do for yourself to better help your overall well-being. These methods of course won’t be the one all solution to art block, some of these may not be prevalent to some and more significant for others! Just keep that in mind with reading on.
Things I find that help or alleviate the feeling of burnout:
Doing other creative hobbies / outlets
Anything. Sketching, crocheting, sewing, clay art, woodworking, glass art, making jewelry, simple DIY projects, candles/body products, literally anything else.
Have hobbies outside of creative ones
We don’t always need to be using our brains! Sometimes going on hikes, exercising, playing board or card games, volunteering, or getting into another hobby can really be a great way to have a release/outlet for stress and turn off your brain in a way. Again, try to have this hobby be something that doesn’t involve screens! That’s why I didn’t include video games.
Eating, drinking plenty of water, and sleeping well!
Yes, this actually really helps
Move around a bit!
I know I’m not the most athletic person, but even just getting up every hour for 5-10 mins to take a quick walk or stretch (just really moving a bit and not looking directly at a screen) will do wonders
Finding other artists to connect with
Discord is great, Twitter use to be a good spot I still currently use it but plan on hopping over to BlueSky soon. There’s an app you can get called Meetup and look up local game dev meetups (of course some areas may not have many though). Instagram, game dev conventions like GDC or PAX. Posting your work consistently enough on social media usually can help you grow your network. LinkedIn and ArtStation are some of the biggest I’d say.
Looking online / IRL to see inspiration
Watching YouTube videos in your field in the background
Take a walk!!!
Take a dang break
Do the things you enjoy / find fulfilling in life
Find or create a group of artistic folks in your field
Ask for constructive feedback
Talk about your art block!
Think about it.
Some of these examples may seem more specific, but in general, taking care of yourself both physically and mentally contributes significantly to your overall wellbeing and preventative to burn out.
Here are some articles / resources on others talking about their experiences. I think it’s important to just skim through and see what others discuss, especially if it’s something I didn’t talk about or didn’t go more in depth with!
Bianca Vinther article on art block
I particularly love this article with how detailed and broken down she constructed to be. I found myself wanting to create a post nearly half as informative, so I highly recommend checking this one out.
Christina Kent Art video on overcoming art block
I know it may sound easier said than done, but something that I find that helps me sometimes is imagining I’m physically ripping a Band-Aid off. Just thinking about doing it causes me to fumble and overthink it, so if I just imagine ripping a band-aid off it’s easier for me to do said task or thing I really want to, even if I feel like I can’t.
What I hope this leaves you with
I hope you know you are not alone in this. It isn’t an easy thing to experience or go through by any means. I hope this helps give some insight to how others perceive and manage their own perspectives on art block. Maybe even something you can integrate in your own routine. Please take everything I say with a grain of salt, a lot of this blog post is my own personal journey and can vary for everyone!
I hope this leaves you with insight to what art block is, or a different perspective on what others may go through. Or just the reassurance that many others go through this and sometimes it can take a short amount of time and others take longer but know no matter what that it does not devalue you as an artist and person.
Ironically, I was experiencing art block so severely the last couple of years that I couldn’t find myself to even write a blog post or really talk about it. Which is okay, it’s better late than never and I really wanted to start back into it and talk about my own personal perspective on this subject.
Thank you for taking the time to read through my blog and I hope this gives you a feeling of hope, that you can and will get through this. And if you’re not going through it, I hope it stays that way for you, and I hope you keep up on the things that work for you!! Thank you to every single person that has ever supported me or given me love when I really needed it.
Keep on creating and keep on inspiring others through yourself and work!
Amanda Melville ✨
Please keep posting your work and moving forward!!!!
