Artist block is a common problem that artists face both when starting out and throughout their career. However, as a tattoo artist, you have clients coming on a schedule - which means you can’t take weeks at a time to try and overcome artist block. That is why it’s so important to have a plan to get over artist block when it happens to you.
In this article, we’ll give you some suggestions for how to push through artist block and keep creating tattoos.
Here are the suggestions we’ll cover through for fighting artist block:
4 Ways to Get Over Artist’s Block
1
Take Time to do Things You Enjoy Outside the Creative Process
It’s common for tattoo artists to get caught up in building clientele and tattooing all the time, and it can make tattooing feel like a 24/7 job.
When you spend all morning getting back to people on social media and all day tattooing and all night drawing for the next day’s tattoos - it’s easy to feel like your creative work is no longer something you want to do. Most people call this “burn out” or “artist’s block.” The best way to get out of that creative rut is to make time for things you enjoy outside of the creative space.
Take some time away from tattooing to do other things you love and come back refreshed. Whether that means getting out in nature for fresh air or creating art in a completely different medium, taking time away will help you feel re-inspired and clear creative blocks.
Sometimes, you can start feeling stuck from physical exhaustion. Taking time to rest might be the kick start you need to get back to work.
A lot of artists feel guilty for taking time away. However, taking a creative break can sometimes be the best thing for the health of your career.
2
Create Art For Fun
If you can’t take time off, then you might still need to work even while experiencing artist’s block. If you need to be able to come up with tattoo designs and keep working, try to make some time to work on a fun piece of artwork that’s just for you.
As a tattoo artist, you’re basically given “drawing prompts” from your clients. And if you’ve gotten several designs in a row that don’t make you feel inspired, making art can start to feel boring. Taking on new ideas or art challenges that make you excited will help you get the creative engine going and make it easier to draw new designs.
You can create artwork and print it out to sell, give away, trade, or just hang up around the tattoo studio. Keep some unfinished art you like around or find drawing prompts that you want to work on so you can always have something to jump into when you need something fun.Try a different medium. If you usually draw, take time to paint or write a blog post or create a sculpture.
3
Draw While You Watch TV
A fun way to get some inspiration is to draw while you’re watching whatever you like on TV. When you’re trying to get past artist’s block, it can be hard to focus on drawing. You can use what you’re watching on TV to come up with designs and be able to sketch and draw through your artist’s block.
When you’re doing this, remember that it doesn’t have to be completely perfect. Just jot down some designs that you can go back to later to finalize. If there’s a TV show or sport that you love watching, this is a great way to get back into drawing.
New art supplies can help you get excited to make new artwork. If you can, visit your local art supply store and find inspiration for projects that make you want to start drawing again.
4
Get Past Creative Block with the Tattooing 101 Sketchbook
Coming up with your own tattoo designs day in and day out can be difficult - especially when you’re dealing with artist’s block. However, if you can’t create new designs that fit and flow with the body, your tattoos will look awkward and limit your earning potential as a tattoo artist.
For most artists, learning to draw with flow takes years of trial and error…
And it can be really hard to wrap your head around when you’re just starting out. The best way to get the hang of it fast is to look at references of other artists’ work and see how they did it so you can replicate it in your own work.
As you practice drawing and tattooing those professional designs, you’ll naturally learn how to create designs that have flow.
That’s why we created the Tattooing 101 Sketch Book.
Inside, you’ll find 74 tattoo designs drawn for you by our professional tattoo artists. You can use them to inspire your own designs - or you can stencil them up and start tattooing right away.
Instead of hoping another tattoo artist doesn’t see that you’re practicing with their designs, you can rest assured that these are 100% for you to use however you like.
When you draw the designs inside or use them as tattoo stencils, you’ll get used to creating designs with flow, which means you’ll be able to draw tattoos that always look good on the body. If you would like to get your hands on a digital copy of 74 pro designs, hit the link below:
Click here to visit the Tattooing 101 Sketch Book.