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What to do When your Creative Inspiration Deserts You?

In the life of every creative, there comes a time when the inspiration just seems to dry up. Has this ever happened to you and if so what did you do about it?


If you haven't experienced this before or you are experiencing it for the first time, don't be too alarmed. I think that sometimes we need to take a break and recharge our creative batteries. This seems to be nature's way of making us do that.


What is the solution then? Over the years, this has happened to me on a few occasions. The desire to paint suddenly desserts me and nothing seems to invite me to paint it. So what did I do?


Well, there are a couple of different avenues you can explore to overcome this malaise. The first one is to try something else creative, something perhaps that you haven't tried before.


I am currently experiencing a stint in the creative desert, so I am taking this opportunity to spend some time playing around with digital art. I've been wanting to explore Photoshop a bit more for a while now and figure that since nothing is wanting to flow off the paintbrush currently, now is as good a time as any to look into that. Its a pretty steep learning curve and what is interesting is that the skills are flowing over into other areas - so all is not lost.


Girl and planet
My first attempt at compositing a digital image - not my original - I'm taking classes.

Perhaps one of the biggest things to overcome when going through this type of experience is the tendency that one has to feel guilty. WelI get that - I don't know about you? The way to deal with this is to understand that what you are going through is a natural part of the creative process and not something that you need to feel guilty about.


The thing is to be open to the idea that whatever other creative thing you take up may well end up influencing your other work in some way. So I would recommend that you enjoy the journey and who knows, you may discover a new outlet for your creativity that enhances what you are already doing.