Art block. Artist block. Writer’s block. Creative block. We’ve all heard and said these words before, and while many creators are good at identifying the block itself, so many are lost when it comes to figuring out how to get out of it.
In this article, I look behind all of these phrases and introduce you to a new one: mental block. Because that is the underlying situation. You’re mind is blocking you from moving forward and that is why you can’t create, which is the bane of your existence, right?
I’ll also share with you 7 tips on how you can get to the other side, as well as advice from professional artists on how they get rid of art block.
Let’s go and unblock things. 👇
- What is art block?
- How does art block happen?
- How to get out of art block (or mental block)?
- Professional artists about how they get rid of art block
What is art block?
Art block is when creators, artists, makers, crafters and all kinds of creative people feel stuck in their ways, feel they’re unable to create and think that they won’t be able to start creating again.
Often, when people describe the meaning of art block, they leave out the second part about having thoughts on how they won’t be able to continue with their creative processes. In truth, it’s a very strong part of having an art block: it’s both your feelings and thoughts that block you, and both target your present and future at the same time, and how you perceive them (negatively).
What is blocked is your mind, the home of those thoughts and feelings, which is why I’d like us to look at what mental block is. That will allow us to unpack everything you need to know about what you’re against when it comes to art block and what you should do about it.
How does art block happen?
As mentioned, art block is when your brain blocks you, therefore it’s appropriate to call it mental block which also acts like an umbrella term for all the other related ones, from writer’s block to creative block. Consequently, everything I share here about mental block will automatically apply to those others as well.
I found that Mel Robbins who is best known as a New York Times bestselling author and motivational speaker, a former TV and current podcast host, and speaker of this famous TEDx Talk, does a great job talking about this topic, so I will echo her words in this section, mainly based on this video that is a collection of her wisdom about mental blocks.
The main elements of art block or mental block:
- Self-doubt: This is when you feel you’re not good enough, that your ideas are not smart enough, your skills are not sharp enough, and your dreams are too big, unrealistic and unreachable.
- Fear of failure: This is what stops you from starting anything at all. It convinces you that messing up is worse than never trying.
- Overthinking: This is a trap that looks like productivity. You think you’re preparing and analysing, but in reality, you’re running in circles. You trick yourself into thinking that you’ll find the perfect answer if you keep thinking, but perfection doesn’t exist. You’re delaying, and the longer you’re delaying, the harder it gets to break the cycle.
To overcome these elements and essentially mental block, here are the things you need to know and remember. 👇
How to get out of art block (or mental block)?
1. Forget perfection
Action beats perfection.
Perfection is the ultimate illusion.
The illusion is that if you just wait a little longer, plan a little more, fix a few more things, then maybe you’ll finally be ready. But the truth is, perfection is just another form of procrastination. It’s fear disguised as preparation.
It convinces you that you need to know more, be better before you can take action, but in reality, the only way to improve is by doing.
In other words, you might be thinking that you need confidence first to be able to do something but in reality, this works the opposite way. Nobody wakes up feeling confident out of the blue.
You need to take action first, then you’ll learn by doing, and the more you do and the more you learn, which also includes trying and failing, as well as succeeding, the more confident you’ll become.
2. Reframe failure
Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of it. Failure is only feedback. A signal. A lesson. A step toward growth.
The only real failure is refusing to try in the first place. Successful people don’t see failure as a sign to stop but a sign to adjust.
For many, failure feels ultimate, the wrong move that decides everything, the setback that won’t allow you to succeed, not even if you try again. But the worst thing you can do is let it go and give up—if you do that, you’re letting go of the possibility of success, too. You’re giving up on your potential to be better and reach what you want to reach. You’re giving up on yourself.
Reframe how you look at failure as one step of the overall process, without putting a label on it. It’s just a step you took that holds information for you about how you should continue your journey.
3. Rewire your inner voice
You have to change your inner voice from negative to positive. First, become aware of how you talk to yourself in your head and second, adjust it. Change the words that you use. Rewrite it completely if needed.
It won’t be easy because your brain wants to protect you and so tries to stick to old patterns. At this step, it helps if you think about how you would talk to a friend when they’re feeling down, have had a failure and battle fears of their own. I’m sure you’d be sympathetic, empathetic, gentle and loving with your words. Use that voice when you talk to yourself, too.
It’s probably going to sound silly and strange for the first time, but it’s just like getting used to hearing your voice in a recording, for instance. The more you do it, the more you get used to it and the more natural it becomes.
4. Follow the 5-second rule
Mel Robbins has this 5-second rule that comes in handy with mental blocks. When there’s a decision to be made, you can count from five to one and then move.
First, counting down will interrupt and replace the overthinking loop, along with doubt or fear. And then, notice she says: move. It’s important to take a physical action after counting down, whether that’s standing up, reaching for the phone to make a call, or moving to your little studio place where you do your art.
You need to block out thoughts and feelings to save yourself from falling into the mental block cycle, and physical movement will literally help to get you there, which brings me to the next point.
5. Move physically (seriously!)
Physical movements like jumping or going for a walk, are wonderful ways to move yourself away from art block or mental block, along with stress and all the physical reactions in your body that your overwhelmed brain and an anxious mindset cause you.
Physical movement sends a message to your brain that it’s time to change things up. You let go of tension, and you boost your mood. The next thing you know, you look at your situation differently, and your active mode sets in.
Have you heard how some people claim that their best ideas come to them while walking, running or working out in any way? That’s the reason behind it. Physical movement translates into mental strength that manifests in many things, from creativity to resilience.
6. Detach from other people’s opinions
People like to share their opinion, that is not likely to change, ever, and you cannot do anything about them having and sharing an opinion either. How you access, interpret, accept or ignore their opinion, that is what can be changed—and since you’re hear reading about art block, it probably means you should change it.
First of all, most people are mainly occupied with their own problems and don’t truly take the time to form opinions of others. Even if they do, it often stays unspoken and/or it’s momentary, and they move on so quickly, they forget about it by their next move, while you may get stuck in your own thoughts, rethinking and overthinking about what they may think of you and how they might be judging you. In reality, they’ve passed that moment long ago, but you’re stuck in it, and that’s not helping you.
The other thing is, and I realise this might be an overused notion, but that’s only because it’s so true, you cannot satisfy everybody. Somebody will likely always dislike you and what you make, what you say, what you do. Everyone has their opinions that are fed by past experiences, and very often, a harsh critique might have nothing to do with you but who they are and what they went through in their lives.
The advice here is that you have to learn to let go of watching out for and hearing out others’ opinions. Note the important distinction: This is not about stopping to listen to feedback. It’s about stopping to let every opinion dictate your choices.
7. Move from “what if?” to “why not?”
Once you make it to the next stage, you’ll be able to move from “what if?”, thinking about what negative outcome awaits for you (negative inner voice) or what others may think of you and your decisions (focusing on them, instead of yourself), to “why not?”.
- “What if?” focuses on what could go wrong and all the things you still need to do before finally trying and taking action, possibly making you lose any confidence you might have had in yourself to begin with.
- “Why not?” focuses on the possibility of success, it’s about “moving anyway”. In both scenarios, the uncertainty is there, but with “what if?” you’ll get stuck in your old motions of self-doubt, fear and overthinking, and with “why not?”, you’ll discover that uncertainty by moving forward—which, also includes grabbing your chance to get where you want to be.
And just to be fully honest, even if something goes wrong, you’ll be able to handle it. People often forget how they overcame past struggles and challenges, and that they’re capable of doing them again and unknown ones, too. We often don’t like to give ourselves credit and remind ourselves that we’re simply capable. But again, that has a lot to do with having a negative inner voice that you’ll need to start shaping as soon as possible.
Professional artists about how they get rid of art block
Finally, here’s what some of the creators we interviewed said about self-doubt, the fear of failure, managing setbacks and, of course, getting rid of art block.
Illustrator Cristina Gómez
- “People will find you and reach you through your work. If you have a fear of sharing because you think your work is not valuable or not well-done, not as perfect as the ones you see on social media, then you’re not going to go anywhere. This is the first step, taking the leap to start sharing.”
- “Let’s remember that people can fail and they’re going to fail from time to time.”
- “Self-doubt is something that an artist deals with every day. I have days when I don’t know how to draw and I don’t know why. I can draw anything that day and it’s going to look bad. On these occasions, it’s not so much about feeling that I’m a bad illustrator but feeling that I’m not evolving, I’m not growing as an artist, that I’m getting behind and everyone else is doing better than me… I usually watch a tutorial, learn something new, and just find something to keep me inspired. It’s super easy to get lost, you know, and lose your confidence. It’s especially tricky with social media. People sometimes think that what they do is not good enough because it wasn’t successful on Instagram when that’s not the truth.”
- “I don’t like to be negative. What I try to do is analyze the situation and ask why is this not working. If I simply accept that this didn’t work, close this episode of my life, and move on, I won’t learn anything. You need to learn from your mistakes. Never get down with failure. Failure is something you have to deal with, and you have to know how to deal with it. You can’t stop, you have to continue trying.”
👉 Read our interview with Cristina: part 1 and part 2.
Ceramicist AJ Simpson
- “…what works is not getting stuck in the studio and doing things that are outside of my usual routine. I find it quite inspiring to do classes and meet new people, to teach people, and to see the things that they make that can be so different than what I’ve ever thought of.”
- “It’s also important that you don’t isolate yourself. I find that speaking to other artists and even non-artists keeps me going. Taking a break every now and then also helps when I’m getting quite burnt out. Taking a step back for a few days, doing something that I enjoy, that’s not ceramics, will then inspire me to go back to the studio and try doing something that I wouldn’t have started otherwise if I hadn’t taken that break and gone to the beach or for a walk.”
- “The fear of failing stops you from doing something, and I think that is a really hard feeling to push through, but it is all about pushing through and just doing the thing anyway, even if it does go wrong. Because it can open up so many other opportunities for you. There are so many things that I’ve made that I’ve not been happy with and have gone horribly wrong. But if I hadn’t done that, then I wouldn’t have gotten to the next thing that I’m really happy with. And so it’s worth pushing through on those bad days and those awful projects that you never want to see again, to get to the good ones. If I hadn’t failed at throwing on the wheel a thousand times, I wouldn’t have been able to ever make anything.”
👉 Read our interview with AJ: part 1 and part 2.
Illustrator Dais Scott-Bennett
- “I do a lot of wandering around and take my dog on all of our walks, which really helps [with staying motivated], and I do really like to go to art galleries and visit collections. I’m really into going to historic homes and enjoying their gardens. I go to a lot of museums. I find that if I fill my life with lots of culture, then I feel motivated to go home and draw, even if I’ve gone and seen a costume collection. It does make you feel like ‘God, look at all this great work, look at all these people, I want to do some stuff, too’, and so you just feel really motivated and good. To see people doing their passion makes me like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna do it, too’.”
- “I try to never not finish something I’ve started even if that means I have to put it away for a month to not have to deal with it. I then try and finish it because sometimes even if you don’t like what you’ve got at the end, you still finish it and you still can try and do something with it. I also try and break my drawing stages because that helps me push through them and tell myself, ‘It’s okay, you’re always feeling like this at this point. You’re okay. Keep going’… I don’t think I’ve scrapped or given up completely on a drawing in years, through trying really hard to not give up on a drawing, because if you break the routine of giving up, I think sometimes that really helps you move forward. Accepting that giving up is not an option is key and even if you hate what you come out with at the end, you can say, ‘I didn’t give up’.”
- “Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and believe in yourself. The fear of failure is really important—you might fail, but you also might not. 😊 That is what I found in my career. I’ve had lots of little failures, but I’ve just kept going and I’ve been consistent and I’ve stayed true to the bit of the business that I really like which is just drawing… As long as you start knowing this is the bit, this is what I love, this is why I want to do this, and I’m going to keep doing this while also trying to create something, you’ll be okay. And if you keep investing in that bit that you really believe in, then eventually you’ll get somewhere and you’ll also just keep going… Just don’t stop. Keep creating—and eventually something will come of it, or you would have had so much fun, just doing what you want to do, and you’ll never regret doing what you want to do.”
👉 Read our interview with Dais here.
Ceramic artist Kness
- “There are always setbacks, failures and stuff, but I love what I do so much that I don’t see myself doing anything else. Whether it’s grief, sadness or hurt, I keep moving, I walk. I found that moving the body often helps the mind go where it needs to. This is my go-to solution when stuck: go outside, see some birds, teach my dog new tricks, and when I’m back, somehow I can do what needs to be done!”
👉Read our interview with Kness here.
Featured image by Art Institute of Chicago – Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro, Title: The Interesting Type (Omoshiroki so), from the series “Ten Types in the Physiognomic Study of Women” (“Fujin sogaku juttai”)
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