Feeling Uninspired? 4 Ways to Diagnose the Problem & Re-fuel Your Creative Energy | Art Lab Podcast

One of the most common experiences in any creative practice is the dreaded inspiration dry spell. Let’s explore the concrete practices you can experiment with to rediscover your creative flow again. Find me on Instagram:   / kendyllhillegas   Episode Outline: 00:05 My experience of creative flow vs. anti-flow 03:51 Diagnosis #1: You’re over reliant on ideas 06:07 Two practices you can experiment with if you’re stuck on ideas 11:20 Diagnosis #2: You’re in the ‘Ugly Valley’ (aka the messy middle) 13:24 3 ways to get through the ‘Ugly Valley’ 20:06 Diagnosis #3: You need a break 22:34 Diagnosis #4: You need to work on a new growth edge 26:55 Episode wrap-up and my invitation for you this week In this episode, we’ll dig into how you can get curious and figure out what’s actually causing problems with your creative inspiration. We’ll look at four basic “diagnoses” that can halt creative momentum, and unpack some symptoms to look for in each of them, so that you can pivot faster and find what works for you. Relying on ideas If you feel like you’re only able to work when the idea is just right, it puts a limit on when and how you can engage in the creative process. By trimming the idea down to the essentials and setting aside concept-heavy work for a while, you can pull inspiration from areas that don’t require a knock-out idea to get started. Getting stuck in ‘Ugly Valley’ The common advice for getting through the messy middle is to simply get to the other side, but that’s definitely easier said than done. Instead, we’ll try to narrow the focus, look at creativity through an objective lens, and learn to rely on an internal compass to guide the creative process. Needing a break Give yourself permission to have blocks of non-productive time. When you have space to follow other curiosities and interests, you enrich yourself in new ways that often show up in your creative practice when you’re feeling ready to go back to it. The idea itself is ‘bad’ Even though it’s not as common of a diagnosis as the previous three, the reality is that there are times you might be stuck on the wrong idea. Here we’ll learn to recognize the symptoms of this de-inspiration challenge, so that you can recognize it and treat it accordingly. #ArtLab #FeelingUninspired SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/3TdOOAb About Kendyll: Hi friends and welcome to Art Lab! My name is Kendyll Hillegas and I'm a full time commercial illustrator and artist. I’m passionate about understanding the creative process, what supports it, and what gets in the way. So, when I’m not making work for clients, I love exploring the places that art-making and emotions intersect – inspiration, identity, self-doubt, and creative block. These are the questions I come back to again and again, and need to talk about more, so if you’re in the same boat, I hope you’ll join me! Sign up for the newsletter: https://www.kendyllhillegas.com/newsl... Watch video episodes:    / kendyllhillegas   Find me on Instagram:   / kendyllhillegas