Getting Past the Suck of Stuck

SketchbookProject Today I was feeling stuck. I know it happens to everyone, but it's still frustrating. For me, if I miss a day or two of drawing lately it proves to be a somewhat painful reentry. When I'm ready (and desiring), I crave out some time to draw only to be faced with a sort of paralysis. I don't know what to draw. Where do I start? Nothing seems appealing or interesting. I have the internal argument with myself, all while the clock ticks. I can't summon the nerve to draw the people who sit closest to me. I find the furniture around me boring. I've drawn that particular subject before. On and on it goes.

Today, an hour passed while I argued with myself. An hour. I could have done something in that time. Or several somethings. Finally, I had to determine to just draw the thing right in front of me. An empty Starbucks comfy chair. I had drawn this before. But today I had to quiet the resistance and just draw. Do SOMETHING. Act. And it's in this acting that something really does happen. The voice shuts up. You focus. Paralysis is shed. And you create.

It's not a masterpiece by any means, but sometimes it's not just about the result of what you create but how you got there. I was close to packing it in and not creating anything today. But i pushed through. A small victory for sure, but a victory none the less.