Staring at a blank computer screen… or possibly a half-finished canvas… pondering, simply waiting for some sort of artistic inspiration to strike you like a bolt of lightning, an epiphany from the gods of art. Then, BAM!!! It hits you… absolutely nothing at all; you’ve hit an artistic block. A stagnation of your imagination, you have completely no idea how to begin or complete a project. We’ve all experienced this at some point in our lives, where we say something to this effect “I have writers bock” or “I can’t find my inspiration.” Oddly enough, this is a completely fictitious manifestation of your imagination (meaning it’s a false excuse).
The human mind, with all of its intricacies, is not without knowledge or inspiration. As humans were are innovators that can adapt to any given situation. Why? Our brains, this is the same reason that Homo-sapiens succeeded in expanding throughout the earth and Neanderthal went extinct. We come up with new ideas, communicate those ideas to others, and add innovation to the idea, which allows us to continue on the track of progressive longevity.
I’ve often wondered why we seeming get this sort of “blocking” of the mind… and to me the answer is excruciatingly simple, we worry. The main thing that we worry about is the way in which our work will be perceived or critiqued by others. Will people simply laugh it off as the ravings of a lunatic or will they accept it as some great innovation for the collective whole?
One of my sketches from “Adult Art Night.”
Acceptance is the key principal in the aforementioned statement. We’d like to think our ideas are completely new… that no one has ever thought of this before, that for some unknown reason we’ve become a genius overnight. The reality of the situation is, in fact, that ideas build upon ideas. Expression is unique to the individual, and most importantly we all fear rejection. Sure, some artists say that they “don’t care what anyone things about their work” that they’re “loners, set to blaze their own trail.” The only problem with these statements are that they aren’t based in reality… they’re excuses to curb the pain of criticism, critique… or in other words rejection.
This leads me to the cornerstone of this blog, as alluded to in the title, creativity and criticism. The crucial aspect of creating and completing any project is self-exploration; some may argue it’s also self-expression. You see, it really isn’t that one is dealing with any sort of block in their creativity… the block is their fear of others perceptions of their work. However, it’s important to remember that we constantly have ideas… we tend to reject ideas that seem weak, but these ideas are just as important as innovative ideas.
Rather than simply looking at a blank sheet of paper, one must begin to write down everything that comes to mind. This could be colors, sketches, words, phrases… anything at all that comes to mind. Then review those creative pieces, pick one or a few to build on, and before you know it… BAM!!! Again. Only this time, you’ve began exploring new ideas and thoughts… things that were always there, but that you were to afraid to explore.
The simple point is to get any and all thoughts out; most people refer to this as “brainstorming” others may use the term “mind mapping.” Either way, they are ideas that may contribute a solution to the problem at hand or may simply contribute to other explorations in the future. Alas my friends, your minds are not completely blank… there is no block. Don’t over-think an issue, don’t throw away thoughts that you may fear inconceivable by others… simply express, if not for the world then just for your own exploration.
J. Michael Jeffries Blogs 