Feeling Funky

Creative funks SUCK! I know how you feel Annie. Whenever I get into one of these spaces (which happens more than I would like) I think about something that Steve Martin once said. He said that he, as a writer, loved getting writer's block. To him it meant that his brain was asborbing and taking in new thoughts and ideas rolling them around and turning them into something new. He knew that one day, when least expected, his brain would spit out a result of that time he took just taking things in, and creativity would begin again. That is totally paraphrased, of course. I take a lot of solace in that because I really think it's true. Try not to get frustrated and force yourself into creating - I find that only makes it worse. You need to charge those batteries.

Another solution to creative funks is experimenting. I am currently feeling like I am going through some sort of evolution and I haven't quite figured out what I am supposed to be doing. I know I am an artist, but I also feel like I need to grow. That was a major factor in me deciding to go back to school. But in the mean time, while I am making value charts and color wheels, I have been going back through my old sketchbooks and remembering how "free" I used to feel. I feel like I have lost that a little bit so I have been experimenting with the old and the new:

The frog is from an old sketchbook and I drew him in Illustrator which is also an old technique. The new is bringing him into Photoshop, which I don't normally use in my illustrations. I shaded him and added some scanned textures I created and I am really happy with the result.

P.S. Annie, I will keep your father-in-law in my thoughts and prayers.