I seem to have developed "Painters Block".

Midwest Painter · #1 02-02-2002, 11:26 AM

It seems I can never finish a painting anymore and it's starting to bother me. I get to a certain point and then - wham - I lose motivation to take it any further.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? If so what did you do to get out of it?

paintfool · #2 02-02-2002, 11:44 AM

Oh i could say so much about this! It's something that i think a lot (if not all) of us have been through. There can be many reasons for this but the most common one would be the fear of not translating your ideas 'perfectly'. If i get to a point in my work where i realize that it is not comming across in the way that my original idea wanted it to i get frustrated and often move on to another piece. We tend to put pressure on ourselves to get it 'right'. At this point it's best to relax a bit and realize that perhaps we are trying too hard for perfection and we have put an unreasonable demand on ourselves for exact and accurate technical renderings. It's when you lose the passion for the piece that it begins to seem sensless and futile, thereby making the art a chore instead of an act of love. When this happens you might want to remember that the act of creation is more important than the end result. Art is in the 'doing', not in the 'done'. Its about getting ideas down, rather than thinking them up. Let the work giude you instead of the you guiding the work.
There are a lot of great books on this subject, one of them being 'The Artists Way' by Julia Cameron. It deals with these blocks as well as effective methods of getting past them. We have a forum here dedicated to this program as well as an interactive workshop on Sunday evenings. We read the book, one chapter at a time and review it together. The program works whether reading it and doing the excersices on your own or with a group. I re-read it when i find myself falling into those slumps and it has helped me tremendousyl. I will leave this open in the oil forum for a little bit so that you can gather a few thoughts from the others here and then will be moving it to the TAW (The Artists Way) forum.
Cheryl

Midwest Painter · #3 02-02-2002, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by paintfool
Oh i could say so much about this! It's something that i think a lot (if not all) of us have been through. There can be many reasons for this but the most common one would be the fear of not translating your ideas 'perfectly'. If i get to a point in my work where i realize that it is not comming across in the way that my original idea wanted it to i get frustrated and often move on to another piece. We tend to put pressure on ourselves to get it 'right'. At this point it's best to relax a bit and realize that perhaps we are trying too hard for perfection and we have put an unreasonable demand on ourselves for exact and accurate technical renderings. It's when you lose the passion for the piece that it begins to seem sensless and futile, thereby making the art a chore instead of an act of love. When this happens you might want to remember that the act of creation is more important than the end result. Art is in the 'doing', not in the 'done'. Its about getting ideas down, rather than thinking them up. Let the work giude you instead of the you guiding the work.
There are a lot of great books on this subject, one of them being 'The Artists Way' by Julia Cameron. It deals with these blocks as well as effective methods of getting past them. We have a forum here dedicated to this program as well as an interactive workshop on Sunday evenings. We read the book, one chapter at a time and review it together. The program works whether reading it and doing the excersices on your own or with a group. I re-read it when i find myself falling into those slumps and it has helped me tremendousyl. I will leave this open in the oil forum for a little bit so that you can gather a few thoughts from the others here and then will be moving it to the TAW (The Artists Way) forum.
Cheryl

This is very good advice. I feel as though I'm in the midst of a stylistic change. For a long time I have fancied my self an "Impressionist". But I now I feel almost moribund by that style. It's as if I feel so constrained to do it a certain way I get discouraged when it doesn't match my ingrained expectation of how the style should look. Here is my latest work that I can't seem to finish. It's as though when I look at the painting I see almost a Van Gogh approach beginning to emerge. Perhaps that's not all bad. But there is certainly something happening to my style.

DanaT · #4 02-02-2002, 12:40 PM

Cheryl,

Your words ring out so true! I went for months ruining perfectly good paintings because they weren't progressing the way I had in mind.

Luckily for me, I had a very intuitive teacher

who figured out what was going on. She told me that preplanning and compositional sketches were necessary to do but by the time I got to the actual painting, I had to let it talk to me and not force it into the composition I had planned if it wasn't seeming to go that way.

Since then, I've taken everything I've done as a gift, even if it didn't turn out the way I originally intended it and I've enjoyed painting much much more.

ldallen · #5 02-02-2002, 01:24 PM

Couldn't agree more with Cheryl. Just put "The Artist's Way" on my "Must Have" shopping list. Hmmmm, have to check out that workshop!

There's another thing, too, that is probably covered in the book. Right now I'm bogged down with trying to get my computer set up with a new camera. I also just installed a new printer and my brain is FRIED. Can't seem to get past it!! I develop "tunnel vision" when I get involved in involved projects. Then it takes me a few days to unwind. I keep looking at the unfinished paintings laying around and wonder am I ever going to get back to them.

paintfool · #6 02-02-2002, 02:06 PM

Midwest, it sounds as though your style is trying to find you. When we decide that we are an 'impressionist' or a realist or any other style 'ist' we bind ourselves to the restrictions that come along with that style, thus the discouraging feelings when it doesn't happen. Sometimes it's not who we really are. Sometimes it is. Only by letting our creative spirits free to consider other possibilites will we know.
Dana!

yes! Your creative spirit is a gift and i feel that it's our gift back to the creative forces to use it. Your teacher sounds wonderful! I think a lot of mentors get so wrapped up in the technical aspect of art that they don't easily spot when a student is struggling with the emotional ties that accompany the process. Art is a very personal thing and if we find that we are judging ourselves too harshly we can easliy lose that as our focus. Create for yourselves first. The rest will fall into place.
Les. I sure hope you do pick up a copy of TAW. It's found in most book stores un the self help section. Yes it is sometimes hard to balance our creative endeavors with the reat of our busy lives and yes these issues are addressed in the program. Since i know you, i feel fairly certain that most of what you are doing with your electronic equipment is for your art. This is actually a good thing! Yeah, i know you'd rather be at your easel

but the steps you are taking right now are a part of your art! I find that even if i'm simply cleaning my studio i'm acting on behalf of my painting. Anything that you do to further your experiences with your art is good for your creative spirit!
Cheryl

ldallen · #7 02-02-2002, 07:25 PM

Took a shower and washed my hair and I feel a little better right now. Spent at least six hours fussing with the computer again today - have cauliflower ear from holding the phone (my husband is buying me a cordless with earphones this week!!) Yes, I am definitely doing it for my art. I want to be able to photograph my work and share it - and even dare to ask for criticism!! I also want to photograph my dollhouse with the paintings I've done for it and I want to create a web page. I have all the latest equipment - but, so far, it's not compatible and I'll be heartbroken if I can't keep my camera!!!

paintfool · #8 02-02-2002, 07:57 PM

Keeping my fingers crossed for ya Les!! Most of the new cameras are compatible with most programs and systems so you'll probably be ok
Cheryl

Midwest Painter · #9 02-02-2002, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ldallen
Took a shower and washed my hair and I feel a little better right now. Spent at least six hours fussing with the computer again today - have cauliflower ear from holding the phone (my husband is buying me a cordless with earphones this week!!) Yes, I am definitely doing it for my art. I want to be able to photograph my work and share it - and even dare to ask for criticism!! I also want to photograph my dollhouse with the paintings I've done for it and I want to create a web page. I have all the latest equipment - but, so far, it's not compatible and I'll be heartbroken if I can't keep my camera!!!

If you need some help send me a message. I make my living with computers. I might be able to help you.

paintfool · #10 02-03-2002, 04:12 AM

Midwest That is such handy information!! I may call on you myself!

Cheryl

ldallen · #11 02-03-2002, 08:19 AM

Thanks so much - if I don't resolve this by Tuesday morning I may have to return the camera which I REALLY don't want to do so I have sent you an E. ANY suggestions gratefully accepted.

Luvy · #12 02-03-2002, 08:42 AM

Idallen What operations system are you using? 95 98? You may try going to the camera's site and looking for drivers. Or maybe Microsoft and look for drivers for your type of camera.. Did you try to let windows install it for you under setting under control panel to add new hardware? Another suggestion is to uninstall the program and reinstall. Sometimes that helps too. Let me know if you need help and I'll try to help you. I've gone through my computer stage. Taught myself a lot about puters. And can usually figure out problems, sometime better than the techs I've come across *S* It's all hi and miss Try this try that bingo LOL

ldallen · #13 02-03-2002, 10:35 AM

Hi Luvy - been on the phone with Nikon twice for L O N G sessions Friday and Saturday. They, btw, have been marvelous. We uploaded, downloaded, uninstalled, reinstalled, and god knows what else until I was turning blue. Then got on the phone with Dell and went through the same thing. My computer is so old (sarcasm - it's less than three months) that my windows program (XP) had to be "upgraded" from a A02 to A04 (??) so they sent me the upgrade via email and again we went through the same thing. Still nothing works. The thought occurred to me this morning that I have an Epson 785EPX printer with the P.I.M. (also brand new and downloaded without a hitch) and I'm wondering if I could save it from there??? You can stick the media card right into it to print. I would not want to have to depend on that though. Just a thought - don't know. I'll be on the phone with Nikon first thing tomorrow morning with their "advanced crew." Got a week's extension this morning for return and if all else fails I will have Dell come out here and let them try to get it together.

impressionist2 · #14 02-06-2002, 09:40 PM

Cheryl wrote: "We have a forum here dedicated to this program as well
as an interactive workshop on Sunday evenings. We read the book, one
chapter at a time and review it together."

Cheryl, Are you referring to the chat room on Sunday night or is there another Sunday pm interactive locale for TAW?

Renee

Geoff · #15 02-06-2002, 10:54 PM

Hi,

Just browsing here and was wondering what TAW and The Artist's Way was all about.

I tried earlier on Amazon to locate the book, but only came up with The Artists Way of Seeing - Leonardo's Inkpot ( which I've already got ).

Have had another look in Amazon and have found The Artist's Way : A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
by Julia Cameron, dated 2002. I assume this must be an up- dated version to the one you are all refering to. ( not yet released by the publishers ).

On a scale of 1 to 10, is the book worth waiting for ????

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