It’s 4:30 am and I’m wide awake mad at a bad art/design take I read on here so fuck it. If you’re still stressed about the fact that you’re not producing art right now, a good teacher told me once to think of art making like wringing out a sponge

When you’re resting and doing other things (like cultivating your sourdough starter, or laying very still staring at the ceiling for hours)
you’re in an absorbing state. Soaking up inspiration in little drops like water.

When you get that sudden jolt of “oh shit I have an idea” and you paint for hours straight without noticing time you’re wringing the water out. Once it’s wrung out though, and the water’s gone, you need more. You don’t just keep wringing a dry ass sponge expecting miracles.

So we’re in our soaking stage. Laying in puddles absorbing water for later. Look at some art you like, read, watch tv, play games, do something non-art related. It all counts. It might take a while because stress is drying us all out pretty bad. But that’s okay.

This is a post-pandemic thing as well. I don’t “forgive” myself the downtime anymore as if I need to apologize for it, I embrace it as part of my process.

All this to say when this is all over if you’re at an interview and you’re asked how you spent your time during all this, look them dead in the eye, and just silently sit there. Don’t break it. Don’t let them look away. They’ll get uncomfortable and leave. You’re the boss now.

A few people have asked how you deal with this when it’s your job. When you have to do work even when you’re a dry little sponge in the desert. It’s hard friends. I ran on fumes for a whole year and everyone is so different but here’s what kind of worked for my messy brain:

I scheduled everything. Gather ref, thumbnail, rough sketch, final color block in... etc. small chunks felt easier to manage. Then I gave myself high value rewards for sitting at my desk and doing it. I only listened to my favorite audio books or podcasts while working.

Positively reinforcing doing work in small ways somewhat compensated for being in a very long dry period. For you it might be do 1 hour of concentrated work, get 15 mins in animal crossing. You gotta find what does it for your own brain.

I also learned the hard way to ask for help way in advance. Be communicative with your clients and let them know weeks not hours before the deadline that you need an extension if at all possible. Mine were all accommodating if I asked and confused/upset if I just buried my head

This is a rotten time, people know that. Try your best to communicate even when you’re shutting down. Just sending an email is still productive. I know it’s rough though. We’ll all get through this. Us baby sponges laying in the sand together hoping for the tide to come in