Maybe you've been in a situation like one of these:
- You're working on an image for someone but you can't get it right. You've redrawn the same image 3, 5, 10, or even 20 times and it's just not working.
- You're working on something and you reach a point where you don't know what to do next. You know the piece isn't ready, but you don't know how to proceed.
- You're trying to solve some artistic problem, but you can't seem to find a good solution
What do you do when you're stumped?
When you're stumped, you're butting up against the limit of your knowledge, creativity,
and skill. It's like a bodybuilder trying lift as much weight as possible. It's hard because he's
doing all he can do. A bodybuilder can't lift more by trying harder, he has the muscles
or he doesn't.
The reason is that being stumped is primarily a thought problem. You can't overcome
your current limits until you change the way you think.
So the best thing you can do when you're stumped is to figure out how to adjust
your thinking to get a better result.
Making art is fundamentally about decision making and problem solving. Every line you
place on the paper is a decision. When something doesn't look as good as you'd like,
that means you have room to make more effective artistic decisions.
So how do you fix it?
Try this: Find someone out there who is doing the kind of work you want to do
and read anything they've written or said.
The goal here is to figure out how they approach their art. You want to get inside their
head. Follow their reasoning - discover why they choose one thing over another - figure out
how to adapt their thinking into your own work.
The problem in making art is never simply a lack of skill. It's a lack of proper thinking.
Don't grind away at the same problem over and over hoping to get lucky. Figure out
the weak points in your process and patch them. Get some perspective on your own
artistic problems by seeing how other artists tackle theirs.
