How To Never Get Stuck In An Art Block Again!

And why tracing paper & old work are an artist's best friend🤍

We’ve all been there. You are desperately trying to get yourself out of an art block. You sit down at your desk with the urge to create something new, but you can’t think of what to draw. You feel overwhelmed by creating a whole new piece from scratch, and you feel like all of your new ideas suck anyway.

You look back at your old work longingly, wondering how you were ever able to create such amazing and interesting masterpieces - when in this moment, you feel like you will never have another good idea again!

If this has been you, you are not alone - I have been there many times! It’s actually become a running joke in my house that every few months, when I get into one of these slumps, I’ll say to Ron, “That’s it. I’ll never have a good idea again! I’ll never make another cool piece of art. I have used up ALL of my good ideas - like actually. For real this time!!🥀”
In the moment, that feels so true, but it never is! I’ve been doing this long enough, and have seen this cycle play out within myself sooo many times, that I am actually convinced that ‘art blocks’ are just part of a normal creative process. They are for me at least!

All this to say, art blocks are uncomfortable, but they are also normal and inevitable. And I have come up with a wonderful way to help them pass as quickly & painlessly as possible! (Bonus: it’s also fun!)

Enter: Tracing paper & your old work/sketchbook

The best way to get over an art block is to use your past work as inspiration, and recreate your favourite pieces! I’m talking, literally trace an old piece you liked (or didn’t like! Repaint it and make it better!), transfer it to a new blank page, and have at it!

You can repaint the work exactly as-is, but I typically like to create a derivative of my work. I like to use the old piece as a jumping off point to create something new that is a little more elevated and refined. It’s a fun challenge! And having the original image to go off of takes the pressure off of coming up with a whole new idea and making big compositional choices. It gives you room to just enjoy the painting/drawing process.

I have recently been feeling burnt out, so I used this technique this week! I was wanting to paint up a new Halloween card series, but I had no solid ideas about where to start. So, I went and looked back through some of my old Halloween artwork, and this guy popped out at me:

He is from Drawlloween last year, and I feel he is the most quintessential jack-o-lantern. The Halloween vibes are immaculate here, and I got excited thinking about exploring this design in different colourways. I think a set of different coloured jack-o-lanterns would be lovely for a Halloween card set!

So, I started tracing! I actually sold the original painting of this piece back when I painted it, so I brought the image up on my iPad and traced it that way.

To transfer the traced image to a new page, just scribble with a bunch of graphite on the back of your traced page, like this:

Then place this page onto your fresh piece of art paper, and re-trace your lines, pressing firmly, so the graphite on the back will transfer your lines to the new paper!

Then you are free to start painting your new piece! For this pumpkin, I wanted to play with different uses of this colour palette, and I wanted all three to have different faces. It was great to just zone out, paint and have some fun with it!

So that’s how this painting, became this traced sketch:

And then that traced sketch, became both of these new pieces:

These aren’t 100% finished yet - still need to add the lettering - but you get the gist!

…Not too shabby for being ‘stuck in an art block’ moments earlier!

I’ve used this technique tons of times - not always when in an art block, often just for a bit of fun! Here are some other successful examples of me turning old work into new work:

I kinda wanna make this one a series - Cat Bouquets of all different cat breeds! Wouldn’t that be so fab?😻

It is a very satisfying exercise, and I encourage you to give it a go!
You can see from my tracings, I don’t trace every little thing. I’m just trying to get down the overall shapes and composition. I think it’s fun to change up the little details, add/subtract things, and play around with the colours in the new piece!

Even if you don’t have a huge backlog of finished work to go off of, this technique can still be done with old sketchbook doodles! Or heck, even drawings from your childhood! Tracing them so you get down the *vibe*, and then reimagining them as a finished piece in adulthood could be very cool. The possibilities are endless!

The takeaway: If you have made any past artwork in your life, you don’t have to suffer getting stuck in an art block. Looking back will help you to move forward. I believe self-referencing also strengthens your artistic voice, style and point of view. You are your own best source of never-ending inspiration! Remember to take advantage of that!🖤

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That’s all for now folks! Thanks so much for being here & for reading.
Wishing you magic & peace! x