The Feeling of Creative Burnout

Every now and again, I experience a creative burnout. It starts quite small, with just a choice to take the week off from drawing or painting so I can focus on other things like my day job, or my other life responsibilities. Then within the blink of an eye, a year has passed; my paints have dried up, the ideas are gone, and the pictures that I did start are left at the back of the room, left to gather dust. So far, I feel like I've experienced 2 major burnouts in my life, one being during the last year of University between 2011 and 2012, and the second? Well, part of it's still ongoing to this day, ever since 2023.

'Creative burnout', according to 'Google' is what happens when people push themselves too hard, which causes them to become physically and mentally exhausted. You feel fatigued, irritable and feel overwhelmed or inadequate. I'd agree that's exactly what my experience of it is, so they'd be right there.

The first burnout, looking back at it, was understandable, as I was going through all my final University evaluations and exams, so there wasn't much time for painting or drawing, unless it was to do set design, and I also went through a relationship breakdown, so my brain was all over the place. This time round though? I think it's just been a combination of little things that have built up over time, such as the cost of living crisis, the introduction of AI, too much time on social medial.....oh, and my own mental health took some dips too. None of this has been helpful at all, and I've started to become frustrated that the burnout seems to be lingering.

'But Laura,' I hear you say, 'you started your website again, you had a successful sketching session last month, surely that means you're coming out of that burnout?' Well, truthfully, I don't know if I am.

To be honest, starting the website was my attempt to reinspire myself to create again, and while I recently had some ideas, and I'd like to hope that later this year I manage to sit down and create some art from those ideas, it seems that the burnout lingers when I am then presented with the 'blank canvas', which can be intimidating for someone out of practice for a year. Other artists may be able to relate; you sit down, with a rare free day and think 'okay, I'll try and do something today', but before you even get the chance to touch the canvas with your brush, the little voice in the back of your head starts trying to convince your that what you're doing is a waste of time, that whatever you create is not worth it, and you're better off just relaxing as much as you can before the weekly work grind comes along again. It's an insidious little beast, an annoying little gremlin you wish would just toddle off down the hole it came out of, but alas, it likes to persist, and in doing so, you're unable to do one of the things that used to be so easy. I call my gremlin 'Gripe', and he can eff off for all I care.

So, in my own stage of current burnout, it seems I'm stuck in the middle, in that I have sat down to do some sketching, which has been great, but it's yet to be fully realised. How do I resolve this? How do I get past the blank canvas? If I got out of this 'creative funk' before, surely I can get out of it again? Well, we'll have to wait and see. Frustratingly one of the better way to tackle it is to give it time. Like most problems, they don't last forever, and the phrase 'this too shall pass' is thrown around, usually with a picture of a boat in a storm attached to it. While corny, it is true, and should be adhered to. While a great saying, I hear a prolonged absence like mine of 1-2 years is a bit more concerning, and once I've started again, I shouldn't have longer breaks from it, so I'll need to start looking at ways that can help me feel more eager to continue my sketching, at the very least. I know I need to embrace the 'happy little accidents' of art like Bob Ross did, but I've also heard that getting out into different situations can help with the stagnancy, and that it's better to start small rather than plan a big exhibition, so I'll start there. As I'm due to see the Tim Burton Exhibition in London this month, I think this will be a great help.

Despite the burnouts, there's still hope within me that my inspiration will return, no matter what. It's as if deep down, I'm convinced that I will always be an artist, no matter what that looks like. And you know what? I think that is the reason I keep coming back to art. I just can't give it up, and that's a beautiful thing.

I hope you stay tuned to my website of blog, for whatever art works come next <3

Best wishes,

ThatHungryArtGirl, aka, Laura