2000 AD Online Forum

At the risk of being repeatedly taunted by Timmo and Co, I must confess to a sudden and serious case of artist's block.

Spent all last night trying to sketch but it just wasn't happening! I know it's been a while since I've drawn properly but it's getting a little concerning ...

Does anyone know of any, like, 'exercises' I can do, just to limber up? I don't mean jogging round the block a couple of times, I mean things to draw that can get me going again ...

Any help gratefully received and any jibes immediately ignored ...

LMS

1) Doodle. Anything, just stick a pencil to paper and go.

2) Sketch your desk.

3) Take vast quantities of psychedelic drugs.

Well I'm an idiot who cant draw to save his life, but...

I'd reccommend starting simple. Dont try and draw anything fancy, just doodle about for a bit. If you see something you like then develop it a bit.

If you're working on something (and you should be you lazy sod ;) ) dont try and force yourself to draw something, take a break, look at some other stuff you did or stuff an artist you like has done.

Whatever you do, dont worry that you've forgotten how to draw, this is untrue and causes stress. It says here. Eventually inspiration will come to you...

So that's downing a buckt of acid then....

For obvious reasons, I haven't got any art tips.  But this is a writing tip I've found useful which could be applied to art:

Set yourself a task with as many arbitrary rules as possible.  Eg: "Write a story from a Marxist perspective, of no more than fifty words, using the word 'aardvark' twice..." you get the idea.

The art equivalents might be "without removing my pen from the paper, draw a swarm of bees", or soemthing like that.  But good.

The idea is that in coping with all the stupid rules, you stimulate your creativity glands.





(Alternatively, you *could* reply to the last couple of emails I sent you yesterday...?)

1: Relax

2: Take a pencil for a walk across the page - don't try and actually draw anything just enjoy the sensation of mark making. Do something else at the same time - listen to music, watch telly, type on a message board etc.

3: Ask yourself why are you drawing? Are you drawing for true self-satisfaction and improvement? Or because you feel it's expected of you? Pressure from outside both real and imagined is one of the main reasons people suffer blocks. Make sure your doing it for yourself, for pleasure it gives you, and the work should start to flow again.

4: Remind yourself why you do it by looking at the art that inspires you.

Hope it's short lived.

Tulkas.

Try moaning to the writer... a lot.

/ignoregaryon

Thanks for the tips, guys! Much appreciated. It probably is a case of having too much on (work full time as well, so only have a few hours a night in which to draw, read, watch tele, go to the pub, clean house, sort my life out etc etc) and feeling the pressure. I shall ease myself back into it and see what happens.

Ta :oD

/ignoregaryoff

actually

/ignoregaryon
/set to permanent
/killfilegarywilkinson
/sorted

Copy somebody else's stuff? that might get the gears working/ juices flowing with out too much thinking

helpful Huff

Or you could try moaning to the board... on no you've already done that.

When writing, I know when what I'm writng is not up to scratch. I just keep on puching the pen across the page (or typing away), and eventually the little guy in your head (you know the one who does all the writing) takes over again.

have  a kid
  I`m a complete non-artist, who mastered one way of drawing Donald Duck and left it at that, but having a kid has stimulated me to draw all sorts of stuff - I`ve even done a whole children`s book.
 True, the drawings are crap, but you`re starting from the position of being an artist. Besides, "I need you to give me a child so I can overcome my artists block and produce great art again" is an interesting pick-up line.

oh well, good luck with it

only draw at the weekend so you wont be tired after work ?

interesting talk at dreddcon by an artist, he basically said 'i clock on at 9, break for lunch, clock off at 6'

Despite the urge to take the piss out of you...

If you're having an even crappier day than usual, I'd suggest just leaving it and chilling out until you *want* to do it.  Works for me.

Is it one of Gary's projects?  Perhaps you're having problems because the story doesn't seem to make any sense?

;)

Hrh, it's not one of his, no. So no multiple versions of the same character to deal with in this one - just a load of skimpily dressed judges ...

I have to go and give a talk to a load of Boy Scouts tonight ... the urge to slaughter all of the little sh*ts should take my mind off it for a while ...

Just a suggestion...

Have a great big notice board, and pin up lots of reference material for your project. e.g. lots of pics of female judges from various angles, pages torn from the ladies' section of a Grattan catalogue, etc. so you don't have to keep rummaging for reminders of what things look like, and you can keep in mind a picture of how the whole thing should end up. Might make drawing it easier. Personally, I can't just draw stuff straight out of my head, so I generally avoid drawing.

How you get from assembling your inspiration to Making It Happen is the bit I might get stuck on, however.

cool, lots of interesting ideas there, usually i'm first in line with my Art Therapists hat on with 101 excercises, but not at the mo, cos i'm suffering the same thing..

the whole pottery business has just been such a headf*ck the last year or so, i am COMPLETEly switched off, i figured i'd give myself a break & just get on with the shop-gal job until my creativity Popped up again, figured i'd try a totally non-commercial angle like comix type stuff...

But a whole season has passed & i don't feel any more relaxed, in fact the mention of pottery starts an apoplectic rage

i can't do comicy stuff cos my anatomical drawing is a pile of festering puke, and i lack refs of guns...

in fact i'm getting cross just thinking about it... but thats cos i'm supposed to be going to the pottery just now, i wonder what excuse i will come up with today... oh blimey those drains need cleaning don't they...

Absinthe.
Worked for Dali.
Or be a depressive. Worked for Van Gogh.
Or be a massive wanker. Worked for Picasso.

Failing all that, get a chainsaw, a famyard animal and a big vat of formaldehyde.

!POTTERY! te he

LMS - You could try working on a little Rogue Trooper Fan-Script...I might just have one around here somewhere...

maybe working on something familiar to you would help unblock the pathways to your inner creative self...the fact I'd get me script done is purely secondary (honest!  I'm just trying to help here)

That how inspiration for drawing comic books works, Bou? Hang on, I'll see if Alice Copoper's got any tips...
 
I can't go to school
cuz I ain't got a gun
I ain't got a gun
cuz I ain't got a job
I ain't got a job
cuz I can't go to school
So I'm looking for a girl with a gun and a job

...so, that's a no, then!

(of course, if I was trying to launch myself as a rock star, I might go for something catchier than Alice Copoper, like Alice Cooper, maybe)

GRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrr! thats NOt funny , have you no idea how ...rant rant gnarl rant time fill stagnate inertia ooo look the afternoons gone, no point in working now rant rant blah blah talk pointless bollox time kill...

ah wait! ive got sore cuts in fingers, can't possibly pot today, Hurrrahhh, thats me off the hook.


its like that essay deadline that won't go away, or those bills that get filed in the waste bin but somehow don't stop niggling... ArghhhHHHH

LMS - You could try working on a little Rogue Trooper Fan-Script...I might just have one around here somewhere...

Heh, get in line ;oP

Or send it to me and I'll have a look ... but be warned, Jared's been waiting about a year for his to get 'done' ...

Ah.  So you're doing Krusty's 'pyjama party' story, eh?  I think I know why you can't draw anything at the moment - just wait until the RSI in your right wrist goes away, then try again.

Alternatively, just get your thumbnail layouts for the script done first, then it's just a matter of fleshing the pages out.

"Or send it to me and I'll have a look ... but be warned, Jared's been waiting about a year for his to get 'done' ..."

Heh. Like I said before I dont mind waiting. After all it only took about ten minutes to write, with regular breaks for singing.

"Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life."
Lawrence Kasdan

Only if you don't like writing

Or if you're not very good at it.

;)

Or both.

(insert your own Grennie joke here, I can't be arsed thinking one up)