Sometimes we feel our creativity is stuck. This feeling can get worse when we focus on our lack and stop producing. I have hit this creative road block several times in my art career.
One time I was having a sort of love-hate relationship with the color green. I did not like any of the greens I had purchased in watercolor tubes. I did not like any of the greens that I was mixing. This struggle was affecting my painting and my creativity. I was choosing subjects that had no green in them. I did not want to use green in anything.
I finally decided that enough was enough. So, I went after this creative block head first. I challenged myself to do an all green painting. I thought that would be interesting. I was determined not to use any green out of a tube.
First, I needed a subject. That was easy. I lived near a creek with piney woods and interspersed oaks. I went for a walk and did a quick drawing. Then the hard part began, mixing greens. I mixed yellow-greens, orange-greens, brown-greens, and blue-green. I added reds to some of the mixed greens to gray them down. I tested the colors on scrap paper until I came up with some greens that actually looked real to me.
When I mixed a green I liked it went on my painting. I continued to mix more and more greens. I lost track of time and before long, the painting was finished, almost by magic. My focus on the task, mixing the color green, had pushed me past my creative block. I quit struggling and just went for it. I wasn’t really thinking about what I was painting.
Those kinds of paintings are the ones that I really treasure. That painting did well for me. It won an award in a local art show and was purchased by a friend. So when you feel you have a creative block, challenge yourself to meet it head on. You might be pleasantly surprised.