Artists Block

By Armand Cabrera

I see a lot of people starting their art career seem to get overtaken with artists block. They define artists block as their ideas seem banal or they have no ideas at all for subjects. It’s an interesting idea but one that ultimately is in control of the artist themselves. I think the problem stems from a misconception about the importance of subject as opposed to handling.

Most artists will tell you that subject matter is unimportant in art. It’s the execution of that subject that has worth, not the other way around. Of course that kind of facility with a medium comes at a steep price for most people. Professionalism requires long hours of boring fundamentals and lots of practice. I find that usually these people are frustrated with their abilities not the lack of ideas. The good news is ability can always be improved.

Every professional artist I know goes through periods of unmotivated creation where everything being done is mediocre or just outright crap. The way to overcome these periods is with discipline focusing on process instead of outcome and finished product. Most professionals I know just continue to work through the slow periods because that work can and usually does lead to breakthroughs. You might even find with enough facility at your fingertips anything is a subject and your problem is solved.