In Concept Art: Break Artist’s Block with Emergent Design – L410, conceptual artist Sam Nielson talked about the common causes and remedies for creative blocks, which I found to be equally applicable to scientific research (or any other creative fields):
Causes:
- Not enough or the right kind of input
- , such as visual inspirations for art or the current problems and progresses in research.
- Not having anything to say
- , which is related to the above about not having the right kind of input as well as not thinking enough about what one wants to do.
- Fear of poor performance
- which can cause actual poor performance.
Antidotes:
- Study everything and anything
- , including books, papers, and artworks.
- Live life a little (outside work)
- , which is not just about work-live balance but also about enriching one’s creative horizon.
- Give yourself permission to suck
- to increase the chance not to suck.
I followed the suggested process (about using chunky oil brushes for iterative ideation) to create the visual impression I saw earlier about two white chairs inside woods.
Leave a Reply