059: BREAK GLASS In Case of Art Emergency

Let's look at the top 5 things to get you unstuck, and back to drawing and feeling great!

HEY! ✏️☠️♣️ Join the DAILY DRAWING CLUB?!

This is just a call out off the top to encourage you to join our daily drawing club for only five bucks a month and get some nice perks including a quarterly sticker, daily prompts and more. For full transparency, we only have 31 members in the daily club currently, and I’d love to grow that number in the month of May.
My goal is to reach 50 members by end of June.

It’s a great way to support the club, AND to support each other. CHECK IT OUT HERE!

This week I want to cruise through a crash course in self-help for artists out there who may be feeling unfulfilled or kinda stuck. Maybe spinning your wheels?

If you’ve heard them before, ask yourself… did you actually try these things?

I think some topics bear repeating…

#1 😔 So, you’re feeling friggin’ STUCK (again!)

There’s a million reasons why artists fall into these funks. If you find yourself feeling any kind of stuck, you must know that truly THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH!

What do I mean by that? Without getting too deep or self-helpy on you, it might be good for you to REALLY examine your feelings and why you’re feeling this way. You might think you know on the surface, but it’s probably something a lot deeper.

Here’s a trick… pretend you’re a 5 year old asking WHY over and over again.

• Why are you feeling stuck? - I just don’t feel excited about anything anymore. The joy is gone.

• Why is the joy gone? - I just keep trying and failing. My art must not be good enough… my work is just not connecting with people like I’d like it to be…

• Why do you think your work doesn’t connect with people? - I don’t know…

The very best thing you can do when you’re feeling stuck like this is to pull out a pencil and DRAW SMALL. Have very simple exercises to just force yourself to do.

A scribble challenge will usually do the trick!

Force yourself to do it! (if you need daily motivation, join the club!)

#2 🏛️ You still don’t know YOUR PILLARS

If you don’t really know who YOU are, than it doesn’t matter how much you draw or produce. It will never connect as much as a topic that you’re truly passionate or knowledgeable about.

What sets your mind on fire?

As artists it’s not enough say “Well my pillar is I like to draw and paint!”

Wrong answer.…
We gotta bust out the annoying 5 year old to ask:

• Why do you like to draw and paint? - I guess it’s just fun for me.

• Why though? - Uh, I guess because I like to tell stories?

• Why though? - I like to entertain my friends.

• Why though? - My art helps them escape whatever they’re going through or dealing with.

The deeper you go on the WHYs, the more you’ll solve things.

Be forewarned, sometimes this is going to dredge up some feelings, memories or issues you didn’t know you had. At least that’s been my experience.

And that’s a GOOD thing to deal with. It’s going to make your pillars even stronger when you get to the core of what really matters to you.

Try to fill out FOUR pillars for yourself. Here’s a video I made to explain the exercise.

#3 🙌🏻 You need some ART FRIENDS!

Nobody truly knows what it’s like to have the artist’s brain, except other artists. I hear the same stories all the time. I know as artists we can want to be a bit introverted, but seriously… find your people! This is also why I started this brand. You will always find supportive art friends in the Draw or Die Club, just search #drawordieclub on instagram.

#4 😶‍🌫️ Stop OVERTHINKING everything!

At least 5 times this year so far I’ve had artists tell me about their grand plans to make a big graphic novel. And they never get started because the project is too damn big! They burn out before they even get started.

Remember that it’s okay to DRAW SMALL!

Consider doing a 4 panel comic.
OR if you’re feeling bold enough, consider trying the plan laid out in the FUTURE OF COMICS video.

#5 🕟 You DO have the time!

I know “finding time” can seem hard. It’s especially hard to “find time” when you aren’t feeling energized about your art, and you don’t have supportive folks or friends in your life.

I can almost guarantee you that you’ll magically find tons of time when you’re working on your project that’s a TRUE fit for your pillars. (oh, I made a video about that too)

What’s YOUR experience?

I know many of you on this list have come from the DEFEAT THE FUNK course, or have tried these things. Drop a comment here to describe your experience or any tips you might have to encourage other artist out there who may have been where you were!

OKAY… ready to draw today?

🔥✏️This Week’s Drawing CHALLENGE is:

”IN CASE OF EMERGENCY”

What comes to mind when you hear that? What’s in your kit??? Draw it!

Be sure to tag #drawordieclub on the platform of your choice so we can all find each other (we’re mostly on instagram) Maybe we’ll feature your art in future livestreams and content!

Seriously, go work on your friggin’ pillars!!!!

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