Artist Block: The Fear Of The Blank Page
The Fear Of The Blank Page
As I sit here starting this post I already feel the anxiety of starting on a blank page. To be honest that's one of the reasons I don't blog as much as I want to. The fear of the blank page can be overwhelming. It feels like the pressure of creating, but really I'm beginning to understand it's actually the fear of perfection. The fear that that the end product won't be something that someone will find useful, appreciate, or really the fear that of not being enough.
As I reflect on this as a writer I also want to relate this to art. I believe that almost everyone stops themselves from creating art simply because they fear the white canvas, the white paper, the white wall, the white whatever.
When I started painting I was less concerned with the final product and more interested in the process. At some point that shifted. I started to feel more pressure about the end product than the process. There was a point I stopped painting because of the pressure I was putting on myself about the end result and I couldn't even begin to enjoy the process. I suppose I could say this about blogging as well or anything else.
Moving Beyond The Blank Page
In terms of creating when I get a new sketchbook now I do one of two things (or both)
Color-Mixing Chart
I get my watercolors and I choose a limited palette. I will choose maybe 3 to 4 colors and I start to create a mixing color chart. This way it reminds me of the color combinations that are possible with just a few colors and I also tackle the blank page.
Here is an example where I started a color chart using my new
arteza watercolor paint tube set
and the
.
A post shared by ORIGINALS | PRINTS | YOUTUBE (@pinklemonadeartistry) on Jun 12, 2019 at 12:46pm PDT
This is also a great way to break artist blocks which can happen from time to time. This exercise can trigger past ideas you had in mind or it can spark new ideas.
I do this with watercolors but really you can do this with any medium. You can even challenge yourself by finding as many color combinations in warm and cool tones.
A post shared by ORIGINALS | PRINTS | YOUTUBE (@pinklemonadeartistry) on Jun 8, 2019 at 8:36pm PDT
Randomize Where You Start
If you have a sketchbook or a notebook of any kind that's brand new, start painting on any page that is not the first page. This challenges your inner perfectionist right away. Then continue to paint in this manner, jump around in your notebook. You can date the pages so that you can refer back to them at a later date if you want to keep some organization in the process.
Let me know if you try these tips or what you do to get over the fear of the blank page! I would love to hear from you!
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