What do you do when the ‘block’ comes?
I read a book a long time ago, the name of the book escapes me, but in it was an American poet who was explaining to a group of students that when he gets a ‘block’ and can’t think of anything to write about he returns to an old master or someone who inspired him when he was starting out and this always seemed to get him back on the right path.
This got me to thinking that if this could work for a poet could it work for a watercolourist? You bet it could! I found that when I was really struggling to get my creative juices flowing or maybe that sky I wanted just wasn’t working that going back and looking through some of my old books of the people who inspired me really helped.
More often than not this group included JMW Turner just for the simple fact he, as far as I was concerned, was the master of the art of watercolour but it didn’t stop there, some of the really vivid colours of the propaganda posters of the second world war really inspired me to be a little more creative with my colour choice.
When most people give up and call it a day I am afraid that just isn’t in my makeup and I tend to, not struggle on, but I will look for alternative way of thinking or doing things.
One of my favourite things to do was mix up some really strong colour, maybe three colours, get the thickest sheet of paper I had, wet the paper thoroughly and then just literally throw on the paint let it mix and merge, sometimes with an astute ‘shuggle’ of the paper so things didn’t stand still. I would then leave this to dry and I have to say that more often than not this process would give me an excellent starting point for my next painting.
My students would be amazed to see me use this technique but most of the time it proved a winner in getting them to experiment when they themselves had ‘white paper syndrome’.
I think everyone has a different solution to the ‘block’ and when it does arrive it can be a problem for a lot of artists so hopefully what helps me will help you a little?
What do you do when the ‘block’ comes?
