Severe artists block! HELP! :(

@marsha-kay-ottum-owen I tend to go to my collections of picture books for inspiration too, maybe I should pop to the library to look at some newer ones
Thats great to hear that you're working on your own projects again and that you can really take your time without all the added stress and pressure!

cam.royce

Hey Hannah!

I have a couple thoughts that have worked for me. I don't know of a "cure"..for me it's more like waves. I'll slump into a creative block and then feel like I slowly work myself out. Hopefully some of these will help you out.

1.)Step back- Take a deep breath. There's nothing wrong with you, you're just about to stretch as an artist. Take some time to meditate and think about why you feel the way you do. It it the style, or the medium? The story or concept?? There's a book called "The artists way" by Julia Cameron. It's AWESOME, and will help you with these feelings and so much more. Give yourself a set number of days to not draw. Get out with a friend or significant other

2.) Get a fresh sketchbook, whatever size you like or want to try and write the purpose of the book in the cover. I like to say things like "No one is allowed to see this sketchbook. There's no strings attached, no expectations, nothing. This is for me to explore.This thing should look like a war zone. I can copy artists work, steal, tear out bad pages, I can do whatever I want." When I start to get anxious about my work, I read the front page and remind myself that there's absolutely nothing to worry about. Seriously, this is your book. You don't need to show it to anyone. If they ask or start trying to guilt trip you, you just say "sorry. nope!" Start someone in the middle of the book. I even take a brush pen and make random marks on some of the pages as I go so that I don't feel like I'm "ruining" a clean page.

3.) Find a simple project you'd like to do. Focus on the enjoyment. Pick something you can finish, but make it simple. Example: I decided to take a simple one sentence story, and tell it in X number of pictures. I told myself that it was for fun, that none of it was for money, I could try however many styles I wanted, and that I needed to finish. For me, finishing it will mean printing the final work in a book , and printing all the thumbnails sketches on a poster..I guess it will sort of be a trophy to myself showing that I really can finish things, and that I am a master of my creativity; my creativity is not a master of me.

Just some thoughts. Keep us posted on how your're doing! Best of Luck.

@cam-royce Thank you so much for your wonderful reply, the advice you've given will definitely help and i'm looking forward to trying them out asap! I think that is a lot of illustrator's problem isn't it? Not taking a breath and looking after yourself mentally and physically, I know i'm definitely guilty of that!
Thank you for the book recommendation, i'm going to have a look into that today and order a copy
What a wonderful idea about just picking one sentence to illustrate, that already feels like less pressure as you don't have too much text to deal with!

I think i'm going to make your "I am the master of my creativity, my creativity is not the master of me" my mantra from now on!
Thank you so much again, I hope you're having a good week illustration wise, I'm hoping for a productive weekend when maybe my motivation will come flooding back!