Stuck? Getting Through a Creative Block

Creative block happens to pretty much everyone.

Sometimes you have plenty of ideas but can't make anything.

Sometimes you desperately want to create but have absolutely no idea what to make.

And sometimes you're simply exhausted.

The first thing to know is that forcing yourself to create your next masterpiece usually isn't the solution.

Give yourself permission to make something bad

Not everything you make needs to become a finished artwork.

It doesn't need to go on Instagram.

It doesn't need to be sellable.

It doesn't even need to be good.

Grab some materials and make something purely because you feel like making it.

Experiment. Make a mess. Paint over it. Pull it apart. Start again.

Removing the expectation of creating a “successful” piece can completely change how you approach making.

Go on an artist date

Get out of your studio.

Visit an exhibition. Wander through an art shop. Go to the Botanic Gardens. Visit an op shop. Sit somewhere with a sketchbook. Walk through a neighbourhood you've never explored.

Inspiration doesn't always arrive while you're staring at your own work.

Sometimes your brain needs something new to look at.

Try a completely different medium

If you're a painter, try clay.

If you're a ceramicist, pick up a pencil.

If you're an illustrator, make a collage.

You don't have to be good at it.

In fact, it's sometimes better when you're not.

Being a beginner removes some of the expectations you've built around your usual practice and gives you permission to play again.

Stop consuming for a minute

Social media can be incredibly useful for discovering artists and finding inspiration.

It can also make you feel like everybody else is producing enormous bodies of work, selling out exhibitions and creating something incredible every twelve minutes.

If looking at other people's work is making you feel worse about your own, step away for a bit.

You don't need to know what everyone else is making.

Talk to other creatives

One of the easiest ways to get stuck inside your own head is to work completely alone.

Have a studio day with someone. Ask another creative what they're working on. Show someone the half-finished thing you've been staring at for three weeks.

Sometimes simply talking through an idea is enough to get moving again.

Rest might actually be the answer

There is a difference between procrastination and exhaustion.

Creativity requires energy.

If you've been working constantly, juggling another job, preparing for an exhibition, running a business, making content and trying to have some semblance of a life, your brain might not need another productivity hack.

It might need a break.

Rest is part of a sustainable creative practice too.

Give yourself a tiny brief

If the possibilities feel overwhelming, create restrictions.

Choose one colour.

One material.

One hour.

One subject.

One tiny canvas.

Constraints can actually make creativity easier because you're no longer choosing from infinite possibilities.

Remember that creative block isn't permanent

You haven't suddenly lost your creativity.

Your practice will naturally have periods of enormous productivity and periods where things move slowly.

Both are part of making art.

Keep looking, experimenting, resting and staying connected to the things that made you want to create in the first place.

The ideas will come back.

The Creative Toolkit is a growing collection of practical resources from The Rundle Collective, created to help emerging creatives navigate the business, opportunities and realities of building a creative practice.