The Creative Block that many illustrators face is easy to remove!
Many illustrators face the creative block once in a while and it becomes frustruating as it stops us from creating .
Here is this week’s podcast question I received:
Hi Daria, I am excited that you’ve opened the Illustration B-School! I watched your podcast on how to start as an illustrator and I followed your steps: 1. find your style 2. be very passionate about it and 3. Create around 20 illustrations in that style. This is where I am stuck, I don’t know how to push through the creative block so that I could create my new illustration portfolio! Need your help! MayanRose from Mexico
This is a brilliant question as many creatives and illustrators face the creative block. It doesn’t matter wether you are just starting out as an illustrator or have been illustrating for a while, we all face the creative block once in a while. It’s important to know what to do step by step in order to get your creative juices flowing again! Here is the strategy I use that helps me a lot.
Watch How to Overcome the creative block on youtube.
1. Go to the art supplies store and buy yourself some nice new colours!
I find that it help all the time, there is so much creative energy in the art stores, just walking around the shelves with paintbrushes and watercolour makes me feel so inspired. You don’t even have to buy anything, just walk around and touch everything. In an instant, you will fill inspiration coming!
2. Get inspired, go to bookstores, collect images. It’s important for us illustrators to continuously feed ourselves with images and things that inspire us. Therefore you must have a collection of books that inspire you. Start asking yourself this question, what inspires you? Write down a list.. What colours inspire you? What objects? Interior? etc…
3. Organize your creative space so that it could reflect your personality. It’s important to have your own space, it doesn’t have to be big. What’s important is that is reflects your soul, a place that feeds your heart with creativity.
4. Are you searching for perfection? Remember that once you start creating your illustration portfolio, you might get into a trap of perfection. This desire of continuously not being satisfied with your illustration work is not going to help. We have to use this desire to perfect for our advantage. Be satisfied with your work and move on. In your next illustration, improve but keep going.
5. Just get to work. I love this poster:
Sometimes we just need to start working on our portfolio and stop thinking about it. The more we thing, less we work and the creative block starts invading our creative space.
Don’t take your portfolio too seriously! It should be fun! Pretend you are a child, how would you use your paint? what colours would you pick? remove all these blocks from your mind, they won’t serve you and relax. Illustration is so much fun.
Once you have about 15 pieces of illustrations, don’t wait and create a website. You can improve after but you will already have something to start from.
I encourage you to put your comments below and share this article with your friends. It’s important for our illustration community to grow.
I hope that this advice helped you! As always, I am receiving questions for next week’s Illustration B-School TV podcast. Send it to me on facebook or here.
Lots of love,
Daria
Visit Daria’s illustration portfolio
Watch and read tips on how to start as an illustrators in case you missed them.