How do you get rid artist's block?

What is artist’s block and how do you get rid of it?

If you have never experienced a creative block the best way that I can describe it is to compare it to constipation.  I know that sounds gross, but it is pretty accurate.  I have been really sick this past year, so as a result I had a yearlong block.  This is especially exasperating when you take into consideration that my studio is only the next room over from my bed.

"Light Blue and Orange" 12 x 16 oil
One of the three oils that I found hiding behind the furnace

"Orange Weeping" 18 x 24

One of the first things I do if I am blocked on a specific piece is to “marinade” it.  I put it into a portfolio for a day or a few weeks if I can.  Once I put 3 oil paintings behind the furnace and forgot about them.  I was so frustrated with the process I decided I wouldn’t dabble in oil again but I could not let them go. 

Later I found them, back behind the kitty litter and a few empty boxes.  After cleaning them up and making some minor changes I entered them into two shows.  The 3 pieces won best of show for an exhibition in Richmond at the Crossroads Art Center.  Then, the 3 pieces won another high award at Charles Taylor Art Center in which the smallest one sold. My advice to my students is to never throw away your unfinished works.  They may not be as bad as you think.

"Listening to Shining Star by Earth Wind and Fire" 18.5 x 25.5

My most recent work is called Listening to Shining Star, shown above. It took me a year to do because I was blocked and also very physically ill.  I finally finished it yesterday just in time to put it into a show.  I hope it is accepted it gets in, but mostly I am just glad its done.

I will talk about this issue again in a future post where we will discuss "How do I know if it is done?"

Is this your real job?

"Self Portrait with Beret and Collar Turned Up Collar"  Rembrandt 1659

Is this your real job?

I only take art related jobs.  When those jobs morph into a non-artist job, I lose interest and soon enough I start getting those nudges from God to leave. So, as you can imagine, my income is unpredictable. 

Here’s a funny story.  Once I took a job as a cashier for some friends of mine that had a craft store in the Williamsburg Mall in Virginia.  It was minimum wage, but we were broke so I took it.  One day Bill, the owner, accidentally scheduled 2 people on a Saturday afternoon, so he sent me home.  I asked if I could plop my easel down near the window of his store since I always kept my quick sketching stuff in the car.  I agreed to pay him 25% commission, which is actually very low.  I didn’t think I would do much, but he and his wife Jill had so much faith in me, they new I could do it. It turned out that this mistake on the schedule was one of those Godly nudges.  I made around $300 in about 3 hours that day so he fired me.  I sketched for he and his wife Jill for 9 years after that on Saturdays.

Most full-time artists do other art jobs.  They might work in a gallery or an art store.  They might do dog portraits.  They could be caricature artists or quick profile portrait artists at Busch Gardens. Perhaps they work as an art teacher. My friend Rita Kirkman does it all.  We used to sketch together many decades ago at Busch.  She still does it at a mall during the holidays and at a few festivals.  I can certainly do a few quick sketches, but my days of making $1000 in a few hours at a festival are over. Most Saturdays in my prime I could do well over a hundred faces in around 9 hours, 5 days a week.  Now I have arthritis, no surprise there.  After work all of us artists would go out dancing and bring our sketch books with us.  It was a great job.

I replaced this income with doing painting parties.  They are very hard work, but I make it look super fun because they are usually drunk.  But hey, I have an income.  I also teach in galleries, from my studio, and in art centers.    

         .

Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes" By John Singer Sargent.  This may be an example of his quick portraits, or possibly a study for a painting.

Did you know why Rembrandt did so many self-portraits?  It is because he was a celebrity but he was also broke.  So, he would do self portraits and sell them!  Sorry I don’t remember where I read that.  John Singer Sargent apparently did his version of quick sketches in his studio for an extra income.  Not sure where I read that either, but I remembered it.If you are burning to know my references I can find them on my teetering bookshelf.

Also, keep in mind that making art is only a portion of what artists do.  Before Covid I averaged around 6 painting parties per month.  I have to do inventory, purchase, organize, prepare the canvases, make new easy canvases to teach, load the stuff into their containers then load that into the car, blah blah blah.  You don’t want to hear the rest of my details.  I have an entire additional set of chores for my fine art classes. I do a tremendous amount of research for those.  My students in the fine art classes are sober, at least as far as I can tell, so I really have to be on the ball for them.

The point is that only a rather small chunk of time is left in my pre-covid life for making art that sings to me. I have many art friends, (I call them FARTS, Friends who make ArtS). and I have also read this about the financial and emotional struggle of master artists, most of whom also taught. So, to answer this humorous but very common questions, Yes.This is my real job, and I am ready for a vacation.

Where does talent come from?

Where Does Talent Come 
from?

 Michealangelo's "The sistine chapel, Creation of Adam" c1512

 I would like to address my readers with a few common misconceptions about full time working artists. I will answer these issues over the next few weeks.  I get asked many questions when I am doing a demo in public, drawing portraits from life at a park or teaching beginners.  

The first question that comes to mind is innocent enough. “Where did you get that talent?”  I hate this question.  Honestly my low Artesteem is either masked by the fact that I am my own marketing agent, or not masked at all and people think I am digging for compliments. When I am teaching I mask it well too.  " Uh yeah, I am so, like, awesome!"  (not). 

"Last Supper" by Da Vinci, c1490

I knew I was talented before I could draw.  I knew I had a gift before I could write.  This is not bragging, its just how I am.  I was also born with dimple in my chin and really thick hair too.  It just is how I was born.  My parents raised 7 children to be unique in 
their own ways, so they had 7 kids that looked very much alike, but were vastly different in personalities.  I did get the music bug from my Dad.  But even though I excelled at music at a very young age, I thought I would be a visual artist.  I prayed and prayed and cried as I tried my best to draw as a kid, but the best I could do was to scribble like most other people my age.  

Then, one magical day when I was around 12, I picked up my school pencil and some notebook paper and drew myself while looking into a mirror. I could draw but no one taught me how to do it. I freaked out.  What the heck?  That was the first time I felt my art angel over my shoulder guiding my hand.  I was spooked. My parents were flabbergasted.  No one in our family were visual artists.  “Where did this come from Emmy?” my Mom asked. Dad just stared speechless for a moment if I recall. I must have had the deer in the headlights look when I said, “I don’t know, I just drew it.” So, I think that answers the question for me anyway as to where my “talent” came from, it came from God and the universe. This means that no matter what, I have an obligation to use this gift.

Having this present from the universe means that I practice and study obsessively. I am a highly technical pastellist and painter.  This is the part that came from constant study spurred by my desire to be an artist. I teach the technical aspects of art.  The students supply their own talent and energy. Anyone can learn the techniques and the rules.  The talent supplies the fuel for the fire.

What makes one person talented and one person just technically able to draw you ask?  I believe firmly that I can teach anyone at all to “draw”.  I teach them a set of rules. They follow them or break them as needed.  The talent comes when things get tough.  You stick to it and make it your passion your purpose in life.  If I am on a roll I will work until 4 am, as I did last night.  I often dream about the drawing that I am working on. My ideas often come from dreams.  I power through the mistakes and let them form a new idea.  I dig deep into my own psyche and bare myself to the world through my art. This is the difference between talent and ability to draw, I think.  The talent is the bug in your head.  The talent is finding inspiration in anything and everything.  The talent is what causes artists to live, eat, breath art.  Its not bad if you don’t have “talent”, in fact perhaps you do and have not explored it yet.

"Starry Night" Van Gogh 1849

By the way please know that I would never compare my talent with that of the 3 artists I have included.  Above you can see the difference between 3 very gifted artists.  MIchaelangelo, Da Vinci and Van Gogh were all child prodigies.  Van Gogh however had no formal training as an artist.  He learned by friending other artists of his time, copying prints from his brother’s print shop then learning to add color later.  Michaelangelo and Da Vinci were trained from a very young age.  

You don’t need schooling to be talented.  You dont need talent to be schooled. You can learn on your own if you have the passion.  If you don’t have the passion, time or energy, just learn in little spurts when you can.  That is OK. Inspire yourself with crafting, as that uses a very similar mental process in my experience.  Try some beading, puzzles, scrapbooking or making crafts with the kids.  Its all the same type of energy expressed in different ways.  This theory is my own thoughts.  

If you have other theories please post them.  I love a healthy and polite debate.  If you have a question about common misconceptions , bring it on.

Peace,
Emily Christoff - Flowers
Emilychristoff.com
757-879-9795