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Artistic Slump
4 months ago
I'm sorry to say I've been going through a period of deep melancholy lately. The last time I felt it like this I put it down to being ghosted out of my last job. But now there are so many things contributing that it's hard to pin anything down.
I'm generally fine - no catastrophic or self-harming thoughts - but I'm afraid my artwork is feeling it. I'm not coming up with any new ideas, and those ideas I do have don't seem to work out when I try to get them on paper; either I can't get them in any working order, or they don't seem as good anymore. Even some of my more recent posts don't quite feel like my most inspired.
I don't really like the term 'burnout' - it sounds too final. Burned out, never to ignite again? That doesn't sound like me right now. I prefer 'Slump.' It evokes my mood a lot better, and sounds funnier. And most important, it's something you can climb back up from.
I'm sure I'll pull through this eventually - but as our friend Dr. Seuss puts it, "When you're in a slump, you're not in for much fun; un-slumping yourself is not easily done."
So I may take a break for a while from making anything to post online. I won't stop drawing, of course. But for now I'll probably focus on some smaller, more personal doodles. If any of them end up looking really good, I may even post them. And if anyone wants to commission me, you can still send me your ideas - you never know when someone else's thoughts might stimulate something.
For the interim just bear with me as I get myself together. Thanks as always for your support and patience.
I'm generally fine - no catastrophic or self-harming thoughts - but I'm afraid my artwork is feeling it. I'm not coming up with any new ideas, and those ideas I do have don't seem to work out when I try to get them on paper; either I can't get them in any working order, or they don't seem as good anymore. Even some of my more recent posts don't quite feel like my most inspired.
I don't really like the term 'burnout' - it sounds too final. Burned out, never to ignite again? That doesn't sound like me right now. I prefer 'Slump.' It evokes my mood a lot better, and sounds funnier. And most important, it's something you can climb back up from.
I'm sure I'll pull through this eventually - but as our friend Dr. Seuss puts it, "When you're in a slump, you're not in for much fun; un-slumping yourself is not easily done."
So I may take a break for a while from making anything to post online. I won't stop drawing, of course. But for now I'll probably focus on some smaller, more personal doodles. If any of them end up looking really good, I may even post them. And if anyone wants to commission me, you can still send me your ideas - you never know when someone else's thoughts might stimulate something.
For the interim just bear with me as I get myself together. Thanks as always for your support and patience.
I always look forward to what you do next, but taking time for yourself might be what you need.
*Addendum: I didn't know you did take commissions. Where's your price list?
What I will say though is: do whatever feels right to you in the moment. maybe the piece you wish to create isn't up to your usual standard or maybe it isn't ground breaking, but you still may enjoy creating it, and that's what matters. my father always tells me "you don't write because you want to, you write because you HAVE to," and he means "have to" in the sense that there's some part of you that has the NEED to express itself. the same applies to art.
I've been in a pretty bad slump before, so I know whatever I say probably won't help, but I believe that having some patience with yourself should be helpful for now.
Also: I'm with Indagare: I didn't know you took commissions! I may be interested in getting some art from you when you come back. There's this one piece of art I really want, and I DID commission someone else, but I got slightly scammed because they used... you know what in their process.
Ironically, it was losing my internet for a month or more that re-started me: to counter the boredom, I started drawing again. Now I have a sheaf of stuff, & only need a scanner to post it... 7@=e