What happens when you're not feeling so creative?

Sketch after Norman Rockwell's The Critic, © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

So, what happens when you're not feeling so creative? Maybe you're feeling like you aren't coming up with ideas you like; maybe you're not happy with how your work is looking.

You are not alone. Every one who engages in creativity past the age of nine or ten knows what this is like.

The first thing to do is stop listening to your inner critic. You know that voice – the one that says, "Oh, that isn't very good," or "I can't draw a straight line," or "That doesn't look anything like an apple." It's a short step from "that isn't very good" to "I'm not very good." And there you would be completely wrong. Your critic is not helping you, though you may think that is its purpose.

Truthfully, the critical voice can kill the creative spirit. It will pick apart and destroy your creative process if you let it. It will begin to dictate what to do and not to do, it will tell you how you can and can't be creative, it will edit and censor ideas, and it will make you feel as though art isn't fun any more.

So how can you handle your inner critic? When it whispers to you, tell it to go away and come back later (how much later? Maybe a couple of hours? A couple of weeks? A month or two?). Tell it to go out for coffee. Tell it it needs a good vacation in Hawaii. It's getting far too stressed out, after all, and clearly needs a good break. And if it keeps coming back, tell it that it can't come back until you're good and ready – and mean it.

Image from Tim Brown on creativity and play, from www.TED.com

Then, just play. Remind yourself that art doesn't need to be serious. Just play. Remember the joy you felt when you were four years old, of just scrawling across paper with crayons? (Before some critical voice told you to stay in the lines, or to stop coloring people's faces blue or trees orange.) Can you find that joy again? Imagine that you are four, and pick up some crayons, and scrawl –NOT to draw something you see. Just to scrawl and color, and play.

Just going back to something simple – and trying something different or new – can help. You can play with blocks, doodle on paper, make collages with magazine pictures and glue sticks, or swirl paint onto paper (NOT canvas – that will feel too much like working on a painting). You could make a hat out of aluminum foil. Whatever you do, do it with a spirit of play and experimentation.

Resources for getting past a creative block

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."

– Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert

Allowing yourself to make mistakes will help you keep the creativity flowing. There are times, though, when everyone hears the voice of the inner critic more loudly than at other times.

Here are some great articles with tips for handling your inner critic and getting past a creative block:

Five Ways to Stay Creatively Blocked, by Chris Dunmire

Inner Critic Got You Down?, by Chris Zydel (how to create a critic-free zone)

The Artist's Soul Can Be Kidnapped by the Inner Critic, by Valery Satterwhite

From painter Robert Genn, "Crisis of confidence," his thoughtful article, followed by comments, reflections, and discussions of the issue by other painters

And here are tips from many artists about how they can overcome creative blocks.

More on painting with Jerry Fresia

In a short two-minute YouTube video that I think you will enjoy, On Painting, painter Jerry Fresia talks a little more about how he paints.

"When I look at something," Fresia says, "I do not see houses or boats or water. I see color – the colors of my palette. I see the world through those colors. I squint to simplify, and look at relationships...."

It's a concept that can be a little difficult to understand when you are first beginning painting. As the camera pans the surface of a painterly image of a boat, he tells us, "This is not a boat… it's purple and pink and green and blue."

If this is new to you, try it out. Look at something nearby – can you see it as color and shape, instead of as a specific object? Try it a few times, looking at different things. If you're having a hard time with it, try looking at something upside down. Do you suddenly see colors you didn't notice before? This is a critical skill for a painter to develop.

He is very clear about the necessity of suspending judgement as you paint. If that critical voice in your head starts talking to you, send it out for coffee – it won't help you create. As he says, "This is not about results – it's not about objects. It's about brush strokes, the human touch of paint upon canvas."

Jerry Fresia's other YouTube videos are well worth looking at, too. When you view this video, you will see them listed under More From FresiaStudios. His home and studio, and their Lake Como setting, are incredibly beautiful. He teaches workshops there, too. You can find out more about him, his paintings, his studio, and his workshops at www.fresia.com.