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LifeHacks: Art Block Edition By Venice Jingco

Art block is the common enemy of burnt-out artists. It has the power to transform art from a fun, creative activity into an exhausting task. As someone who has experienced the worst art block since July, here are three hacks I used to escape my comfort zone and rekindle my passion for art.

Art Prompt Generator

The hardest part of art is creating new ideas. I would take minutes, hours, even days to think up something original. So why not save myself the trouble and have a website do it instead? I used an Art Prompt Generator made by The Pigeon Letters.

Rating: 10/10. (I named the clowns Bobble and Twiz!) I've had bad experiences with prompt generators in the past, but this one was easy to use. For one, the format was simplified and the concepts were descriptive. When using these generators, it's important to remember that the prompts are suggestions, not limits.

Drawings from Doodles

Doodle drawing is a high creativity, low effort practice. Simply draw loose, scattered doodles across a blank page, then piece together an image using the lines.

Rating: 1/10. It wasn't the best exercise, but it definitely tested my creativity. It was exhausting to imagine anything other than a snake or noodle. After staring at a blank canvas for five minutes, I caved and drew a snake.

Create Reference Boards

Reference boards are an essential part of the artistic process, and are used in many professional settings. I have a bad habit of charging into projects, without sparing a thought to my end goals. Art is a messy process, so maybe a reference board will organize my thoughts.

Rating: 10/10. This technique was unbelievably helpful. Not only did it boost my motivation, but also made the process smoother and shorter. In addition, searching for references was a fun activity on its own. After three months of art block, I'm glad I didn't give up halfway, and instead pushed towards the finish line.

Music in all three videos (Animal Friends, Home, Cloud) have been sourced from Lukrembo.