Rambling about creative burnout
Ever since I knew I liked drawing, it’s been my go-to activity, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve had moments where I don’t want to draw or think about art at all. Social media does not help with this(saying this won’t stop me from posting though), as I see other artists I look up to or I see other artists with more followers/likes/etc. Attention and validation isn’t all there is to social media, I don’t just use it for business, I also use it for talking with my friends, but the notifications we get from social media keep us coming back, so when I’m already insecure about my style it leads to a bad spiral of logging out and logging back in.
To keep myself from going nuts, I explore other mediums I do. One of my favorite past times is music production, thanks to my family, along with the breakcore community becoming prominent in the early 2020s. This is a medium I love exploring, for some context I primarily focus in ambient DnB by using ambient pads and harsh drum breaks. This is something I get lost in because I can look for chords that sound nice together and, if I find a good synth? It feels like I’m floating. Music is something I want to get better at, but I am not disciplined enough to make myself sit and practice more than I do, so even this is a lot.
When this happens, I try to take a break from creation altogether for awhile and focus on self-care. For me that translates to going outside my workspace, getting something to eat, taking a nap, playing video games(for a few hours, not for too long), or reading. I’m not a big reader, at least compared to when I was little, but it slows down my mind in a way, and in terms of manga, its also a bit of a study session(style-wise). Speaking of which, studying is something I also do as a hobby, not just in terms of art, but also in terms of language. Ironically, I’m not a big talker anymore, but I love learning languages because it broadens my understanding of the world a bit more, and it’s also a gateway to learning about different cultures. In terms of art, if I feel like I can still do it but am just overall stumped I try doing gesture drawings, doodles or still lives to practice my skills. Gesture drawing is a fun one because I can get energy out and make something look… movable, but also I can use the gestures as pose references for future drawings.
In terms of me, these don’t always work, and its probably the same for everyone else. Knowing that there are other things to do aside from art (especially when you’re offline for awhile, in terms of social media) makes things a lot easier for me, and the other thing is that art block isn’t forever. Sometimes you just need a change of pace for awhile, and that’s okay.