Creative constipation
Some stuff from my sketchbook
The problem with creative constipation is
no matter how hard you push,
you know,
whatever you produce will be
shit.
I found this in my sketchbook and it immediately articulated how I feel at the moment. I have a bunch of ideas I want to work on, too many perhaps, but when I pick up a pen to get them down on paper for real, I am stuck. I am stricken with the very real need to clean the kitchen, drink a coffee, search amazon for an as-yet unknown miracle thing that will do something I didn’t know I needed it to do.
Today, instead of working, I was leafing through my archive of sketchbooks where I found this comic strip. I also found the subject of my next piece in my ‘Process’ series; sketchbooks. A sketchbook is one of the most fundamental tools for an illustrator and the subject deserves its own post. Look out for that coming up soon. It will include a lot of snapshots of my own sketchbooks if you are interested.
Also, if you feel like piling some more creative impetus my way, consider commissioning a piece from me. Nothing beats procrastination more than a looming deadline.
Have you heard of the book "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield? There's a lovely human-narrated version of it on YouTube. It's all about creative resistance. One of the main premises is that the more you are "meant to" do something, the more that activity is surrounded by a force field of resistance and things like cleaning the kitchen or sorting your socks seem WAY more important than working on your latest inspiration. It is a war.
“I have a bunch of ideas I want to work on, too many perhaps, but when I pick up a pen to get them down on paper for real, I am stuck. I am stricken with the very real need to clean the kitchen, drink a coffee, search amazon for an as-yet unknown miracle thing that will do something I didn’t know I needed it to do.” — God, this is me to a T.