Anxiety, Part One: Dr. Eric Maisel

[Linda Brandon]

Anxiety management is crucial to a successful artistic life. One of the best series of books on the subject is written by California-based Dr. Eric Maisel, who writes extensively on the subject of creativity in all of the arts.

I like his books because they are well written, thoughtful, and extremely practical. They contain many useful tips for any artist stalled at any point in the process of creation.

Do you have trouble choosing what to paint? Do you procrastinate about starting a painting? Do you dive in with enthusiasm but get bored and want to quit halfway through it? Do you hate finishing your work? And what happens when you hate your work?

What happens when you want to take a day off work? Do you beat yourself up for not painting? What if you've taken too many days away from the canvas, are you anxious about getting back to work?

I have two of Dr. Maisel's books in front of me:
Fearless Creating and A Life in the Arts. Here's a quote from Fearless Creating:

Remember that ultimately you must proceed to work even if you don't know whether your idea is right or not. You can't have the clarity or certainty you want. Remember that. Do not use as an excuse for not working the suspicion that your idea might not be vivacious enough. Even if you can't choose it with certainty, you can and must choose to work wholeheartedly. A Rembrandt does not find reasons not to draw. A Bach does not find reasons not to compose. Do not use this notion - that the rightness of an idea may be valuably be examined beforehand - as an excuse for not working.

He goes on to say, however, that you do need to examine your ideas before you begin, and gives one a way to test ideas.

Even if you eschew self-help books as being too warm and fuzzy, I recommend these books for the interesting quotes by people in the arts that are scattered throughout the margins. Here's one by the poet Stephen Spender:

The problem of creative writing is essentially one of concentration, and the supposed eccentricities of poets are usually due to mechanical habits or rituals developed in order to concentrate.

(An aside: it's probably pretty obvious that the subject of cross-fertilization of the arts interests me as its own topic. It seems to me that John Updike has written about this.)

Dr. Maisel also has a website and addresses many issues for the blocked, despairing, depressed, troubled, or even the flushed-with-success artist.

http://www.ericmaisel.com/

[Patricia Joyce]

Linda,

"You cannot have the clarity or certainty you want"
Well, if this wasn't timely for me. I will RUN to the bookstore for one of his books. It's funny how the mind works. I am starting a new portrait and on Tuesday was totally frustrated. My approach was going to be systematic and calculated because I wanted this one to be perfectly rendered. Well no sooner did I set up my drawing board and begin to draw that I came to a screeching halt. Totally clueless as to how to approach this particular pose. I got that panicked feeling that the good drawings I have done were just a fluke (remember, I am very new at this)

So I laid tracing paper over the photo ref and drew the skull, eyeballs, muscles, structure and mass. Two hours later there were about ten pieces of tracing paper all over the floor and I was no closer to inspiration. I slept fitfully.

Then last night my approach was, "so this one may not be more than an experiment. I'll just have fun with this sheet of paper and maybe get serious on the next". Five hours later I had this beautiful beginning, her likeness completely nailed, and ideas about where to go forward with it!!! I slept like a baby, satisfied and happy....

So, how does the artist brain work? I can't be the only artist (in the making - novice - beginner!) who runs the gammit of emotions, from procrastination to stalling to frustration to inspiration to pleasure?? Creativity is so complex. And, for me, full of anxiety. Yet I COULD NOT stop doing my art, now that I've finally got going!!!

Thanks for the post Linda. I'm always hungry for reading materials and validation!

Pat

[Michele Rushworth]

I'm one of those people who is easily distracted by new ideas and I want to abandon paintings midway through to start something else. This quote meant a lot to me:

Do not use as an excuse for not working the suspicion that your idea might not be vivacious enough.

Thanks for posting the quotes, book info and link, Linda!

[Matthew Severson]

Im not sure if this book would help me or not; most of my anxiety comes from lack of knowledge.