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Artist block can be one of the most frustrating times in an artist's life. The desire and need to paint can be overwhelming, yet the mind go blank on what to put on the canvas. This happens more often to artists who have painted for years. Sometimes one begins to feel they have painted it all and no new ideas come to mind. I, for one, cannot paint when I am not in the mood. Without motivation I might as well put the brushes away. I have learned to resolve this most of the time by one of three ways.

I own a Nikon 35 mm camera with a zoom lens and began taking photographs quite some time ago of things I found of great beauty outdoors as weather permitted. I started a collection of these photos in a photograph box and sorted the photographs into sections labeled floras, fences, trees, rivers, historic buildings, and other appropriate categories. I keep the box in my art studio for reference pictures.

When I experience a period of artist's block I first take a few days off to recharge. I plan an activity totally unrelated to painting to completely clear my mind. I might go to a new restaurant, to shop with a friend, or to a movie. Whatever the activity I plan, I make sure it is away from my home, away from my art studio.

If I am still in artist's block after two or three days, I take out the reference photographs box and thumb through each section for ideas. As I search through photographs, I not only look at the photograph the way it appears, but what I could do with that photograph on canvas.

I had taken a photograph of two morning doves at a small rest area near a covered bridge. They were on a concrete bench which sat in a concreted area near water. In the photo all I could see were the two doves, which appeared to be kissing, and a concrete bench. I had taken the photograph only because of the beauty and iridescent quality of the colors in the feathers of the birds. The sweetness of the doves kissing each other and the vibrant, opalescent colors that appeared on their wings in the sunlight stirred my creative juices and I began to paint. What I produced was a park setting with lush greenery, trees, and flowers, and the two morning doves sitting on a pretty white wooden park bench kissing. What looked mostly to be a bland photograph became a beautiful painting and one I would never have painted had I not taken the photograph.

For me a couple of days of rest from painting and a "trip" through my reference photos are usually all it takes to rid myself of artist's block. If this fails, I often grab my camera and take off on another nature trip to the mountains, a park, to the zoo, or somewhere that keenly interests me. At other times, I thumb through my library of art books for inspiration. Each artist must learn to find what most often triggers their zeal for painting and utilize the triggers to gain inspiration when they find themselves in an artist's block.

Learn more about this author, Ty Fillers.
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