Help!!!

[zuludelta]

I've been quiet on the art front lately... and it's probably directly related to a project I'm working on (not Joel's/Tortuga's Seniority comic book, that's going okay comparatively). I just feel drained of inspiration and I'm exhausted and frustrated because of my inability to meet the demands of this particular project.

Anyways, not to get into too much detail, but I've been sub-contracted to do some work for a local publisher. It's also serving as something of a try-out for a more permanent and better paying (by which I mean "an art job that actually pays a regular salary") position in a local design firm. More than the pressure and weight of the whole thing, I just don't feel inspired by the property I'm working on. It doesn't intersect at all with any of my interests (and I've got lots of those) but I also realize that that's what commercial artists are paid to do: make something look good even if they themselves aren't personally invested in it. I've managed to work through personal dis-interest before, but it's just not happening here. I've gone to the art gallery, gone to the library to do research on the property and the client's requests, read and re-read the information packet they sent me, went back to my textbooks, re-watched my DVD collection and listened through my usual "inspiration" CDs, read through my comics, spent an afternoon at a farm, sipped coffee at a downtown cafe and there's just nothing there.

I just came from my first design meeting and the client was just one big furrowed brow and fingers scratching his chin. I'd almost have preferred any other reaction, even an extremely negative one, anything that would have indicated that I was at least able to get a response from them... besides, I've gotten used to my work getting rejected over the years but a dispassionate "meh" is always the worst possible reaction. Needless to say, it's literally back to the drawing board for a re-do with an even tighter deadline and the weight of my failed presentation squarely on my shoulders.

Anyway, lengthy rant over, what do you guys do when the light just doesn't want to turn on and everything coming out of your pencil/pen/stylus just looks drab and dreary and "do something else while waiting for inspiration to strike" isn't an option?

[captainspud]

I show other people the utter tripe I've produced and invariably someone will make a suggestion that leads to something brilliant.

[zuludelta]

I show other people the utter tripe I've produced and invariably someone will make a suggestion that leads to something brilliant.

See, that's something I would have normally done but that pesky NDA I signed means I can only describe it in the vaguest terms (and crying and being a big baby about it on a public message board is probably borderline in violation of the NDA, now that I think about it  :doh:).

[TigerStyle]

Try "warming up" with something you're interested in.  For me, that's usually something abstract, like designing a new symbol, logo, or just a fun background.  Hopefully you'll get your brain moving in the direction you need to take it to, and inspiration might pop up. 

Barring that, I'd say to relax.  Do some deep breathing.  You might be putting so much pressure on yourself to produce, your mind has little else to do than to focus on the pressure.   

Good luck, Zulu. 

[zuludelta]

Thanks for the tips Tigerstyle... right now, I'm just cranking out designs (and will continue to do so for the rest of the night cause I need to present the new ones tomorrow morning) and not really thinking too much about them (I think what was happening previously was a case of "paralysis by overanalysis"), going for that "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" effect, and hoping that the client settles for one of them (at the very least, I hope he appreciates the labor that went into them).