Date: November 9, 2018
I'd heard of artists's block before. Whenever I saw people online complaining about it in the past, I always figured they just weren't able to focus enough on their art, that they were letting shit from the rest of their life get in the way of them doing what they wanted. That, or they weren't really very good at drawing, and that's why they kept hating everything they were making.
When I was in high school, and before that, I had to spend most of the day doing stuff other than making art, so whenever I did have free time I couldn't get drawing fast enough, you know? I always had a head full of ideas, of images, and I would rush to get them all out on the page before my mom said I had to go to bed, or before lunch was over, or whatever.
I'd never experienced it before, so I'd figured artist's block was the kind of thing that happened to other people.
But lately, drawing's been a chore. It's not that I don't have the ideas, because I do. But whenever I pick up a pencil, suddenly it feels like I'm holding a two ton brick. Instead of moving on autopilot, letting my hand guide the way like I always do, I start second guessing myself. Will this be a good drawing? Will other people like it?
Drawing's always been the thing that made sense, even when nothing else did. I've never had to think about it before. But lately I can't do anything but think, and it's making the process a lot less fun.
J.