<p>Depends on what your problem is:</p>

<p>If you have too many ideas and cannot commit to one, I would recommend sketching out thumbnails to then decide which one.</p>

<p>If you feel like none of your ideas are good enough, I would recommend doing something simple to warm up. Draw the room around you or do some still life or draw a character doing something dumb.</p>

<p>If you feel like you are forcing yourself to draw, just do something else. Play a game or go for a walk. Nobody's forcing you do draw (unless somebody is, and that's a different situation), so just chill.</p>

<p>What I do to prevent this situation: I keep a written list of ideas of things to draw when I got nothing else to draw. It has all my ideas from "eyeball people" to "3pp woods backligting sunset Wirt &amp; Greg." I also have a list of challenges and things to get better at. But if I don't feel like doing <em>any</em> of these lists, I do something else. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-14T19:44:38.280Z
The list of ideas is brilliant.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-01T19:05:00.650Z
2019-12-01T19:05:00.650Z
Marian
<p>I often struggle with deciding what to draw. Sometimes even prompts don’t work when faced with artist's block, or I am struggling with coming up with ideas on what to draw. What are some strategies you recommend to help come up with things to draw?<br>
More specifically, I like to draw people and landscapes mostly, so how do I decide what type of person or what kind of landscape (e.g. the physical appearance or attributes of a person, or the type of terrain, weather or scenery for landscapes) to draw?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-30T18:01:25.967Z
Welcome to Arts & Crafts.  Your question is really too broad as-is for people to provide useful answers.  You can draw virtually anything--any physical object in the universe, imaginary objects, simple graphics, etc., and use any medium.  You need to give us some hints to provide some level of focus on what would be relevant to you and your objectives.
fixer1234
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-14T19:43:18.920Z
It does seem really too broad... yet Marian has a great answer. Vote to reopen.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-27T22:58:42.030Z
@rebusB I agree that Marian's answer is good, but the quality of questions does not depend on that of the answers. On the other hand, I do think the question 'How do I deal with artist's block?', although broad, is an interesting and important one, and I'll edit the question to reflect that - if Owen agrees with the change.
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-30T23:42:19.853Z
@Joachim - artists block is a specific, if diffuse, problem that artists face. I would say that the edits that added the second paragraph actually made it more confusing/opinion based. But that is a much better title for the question.
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-30T23:47:09.760Z
It is closed now, but I would answer: draw what moves you. You say you like landscapes and people, then draw those. Do not worry about specifics like the weather, draw all kinds of weather, draw all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. The decision of what to draw comes from inside you, though others may inspire with their suggestions and ideas. But there are no rules... be free!
rebusB
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-01T01:04:41.860Z
I'm still having trouble with this question, but I'll vote to reopen.  The quality of a question doesn't depend on the answers, but Marian's answer provides context that demonstrates that the question is answerable.  I think the bottom line is that one draws because they have something they want to draw and a motivation to draw it.  If  there's nothing you want to draw, that's what you should draw (nothing).  As soon as you have a blank sheet of paper, you're done.
fixer1234
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-01T09:46:26.780Z
You are both right. I agree the second paragraph is more focused, and I also realize I might be a little too harsh in comparison to my fellow A&C users. I still think the question is too broad, and would set a bad example, and my initial comment still stands. I'll vote to reopen once the OP (who still visits the site) adds those details, which shouldn't be a problem. Alternatively, we can start a canonical question with a communal answer, as I think those are allowed to be really broad, but I would first like to discuss that possibility on meta.
Joachim
<drawing>
How to deal with artist's block?
OhWin
# How to deal with artist's block?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-11-30)

I often struggle with deciding what to draw. Sometimes even prompts don’t work when faced with artist's block, or I am struggling with coming up with ideas on what to draw. What are some strategies you recommend to help come up with things to draw?  
More specifically, I like to draw people and landscapes mostly, so how do I decide what type of person or what kind of landscape (e.g. the physical appearance or attributes of a person, or the type of terrain, weather or scenery for landscapes) to draw?

**Tags:** drawing

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to Arts & Crafts.  Your question is really too broad as-is for people to provide useful answers.  You can draw virtually anything--any physical object in the universe, imaginary objects, simple graphics, etc., and use any medium.  You need to give us some hints to provide some level of focus on what would be relevant to you and your objectives.  
> **username_2**: It does seem really too broad... yet username_4 has a great answer. Vote to reopen.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 I agree that username_4's answer is good, but the quality of questions does not depend on that of the answers. On the other hand, I do think the question 'How do I deal with artist's block?', although broad, is an interesting and important one, and I'll edit the question to reflect that - if Owen agrees with the change.  
> **username_2**: @username_3 - artists block is a specific, if diffuse, problem that artists face. I would say that the edits that added the second paragraph actually made it more confusing/opinion based. But that is a much better title for the question.  
> **username_2**: It is closed now, but I would answer: draw what moves you. You say you like landscapes and people, then draw those. Do not worry about specifics like the weather, draw all kinds of weather, draw all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. The decision of what to draw comes from inside you, though others may inspire with their suggestions and ideas. But there are no rules... be free!  
> **username_1**: I'm still having trouble with this question, but I'll vote to reopen.  The quality of a question doesn't depend on the answers, but username_4's answer provides context that demonstrates that the question is answerable.  I think the bottom line is that one draws because they have something they want to draw and a motivation to draw it.  If  there's nothing you want to draw, that's what you should draw (nothing).  As soon as you have a blank sheet of paper, you're done.  
> **username_3**: You are both right. I agree the second paragraph is more focused, and I also realize I might be a little too harsh in comparison to my fellow A&C users. I still think the question is too broad, and would set a bad example, and my initial comment still stands. I'll vote to reopen once the OP (who still visits the site) adds those details, which shouldn't be a problem. Alternatively, we can start a canonical question with a communal answer, as I think those are allowed to be really broad, but I would first like to discuss that possibility on meta.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-12-01. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Depends on what your problem is:

If you have too many ideas and cannot commit to one, I would recommend sketching out thumbnails to then decide which one.

If you feel like none of your ideas are good enough, I would recommend doing something simple to warm up. Draw the room around you or do some still life or draw a character doing something dumb.

If you feel like you are forcing yourself to draw, just do something else. Play a game or go for a walk. Nobody's forcing you do draw (unless somebody is, and that's a different situation), so just chill.

What I do to prevent this situation: I keep a written list of ideas of things to draw when I got nothing else to draw. It has all my ideas from "eyeball people" to "3pp woods backligting sunset Wirt & Greg." I also have a list of challenges and things to get better at. But if I don't feel like doing *any* of these lists, I do something else.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: The list of ideas is brilliant.  

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