Although I’ve probably talked about this topic more times than I can remember, I thought that I’d take another look at the subject of artistic enthusiasm. This is mostly because I’ve had a somewhat variable level of artistic enthusiasm over the past month or so (due to being busy with various things, feeling uninspired occasionally etc..).
So, I thought that I’d give a couple of quick tips about what to do with your artistic enthusiasm is running low.
1) Find an inspiration: This can be a little bit of a challenge to get right, but finding a topic that really fascinates and inspires you can be one way to regain some of your enthusiasm for making art. If you’re unsure about how to take inspiration properly, then check out this article.
For example, I got over a brief period of unenthusiasm-based artist’s block earlier this month when I happened to find some fascinating Youtube footage of abandoned and semi-abandoned shopping centres in America.
Thanks to the combination of opulent 1980s/90s-style architecture, the eerie nature of the videos and the retro nostalgia, this was a subject that I found fascinating enough that I wanted to explore it in my art. This, of course, led to a highly-inspired art series that included digitally-edited paintings like these:
“The Forgotten Food Court” By C. A. Brown
“In The Ruins” By C. A. Brown
So, randomly trawling the internet for topics that seem interesting in some way can be one way to rekindle your artistic enthusiasm. The trick is, of course, to find a subject that fascinates you, but which you don’t know a gigantic amount about – since the feeling of curiosity that this evokes can propel you into wanting to explore a topic via making art about it.
2) Do something easier: This one is a little bit of a double-edged sword, but finding some way to make your art easier to make can either help to rekindle your enthusiasm (by making your art feel more spontaneous to make) or it can help you to keep producing art until you feel enthusiastic again. The thing is not to get too used to making art the easy way, since this can make getting back into making “proper” art a bit more challenging.
For example, due to being busy with various other things, I didn’t have as much time or enthusiasm left for some of this month’s art and/or comics. So, one way that I’ve found to make the experience easier is simply to switch to making monochrome art (hopefully just for 8-10 days). It looks a bit like this:
“The Gloomy Study” By C. A. Brown
Although it can take a bit of practice to learn how to make monochrome art, once you’ve learnt it – then it’s easier to make than “ordinary” colour artwork. So, it’s one of many ways to make art a bit more easily when my enthusiasm is running low.
Of course, every artist finds some types of art easier to make than others. So, there’s no “one size fits all” advice when it comes to finding an easier type of art to make when you’re feeling less enthusiastic. But, if you’ve tried a few different types of art and you know where your strengths lie, then temporarily making an “easier” type of art can be a way to rekindle your enthusiasm and/or buy time until you feel enthusiastic again.
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Anyway, I hope that this was useful 🙂
