The Art of Not Making Art (But Stressing About It Anyway)

 

Actually, I thought of posting a painting like we talked about in the last post… but let’s be real, let’s talk about a common issue we artists face.

Let’s be honest: being an artist sometimes feels like being stuck in a weird cycle.

You want to paint. You love painting. Not doing it makes you feel stressed and guilty.
But somehow… you still don’t do it.

It usually goes something like this:

• “Today I’ll definitely paint.”

• Spends the whole day scrolling and organizing the brushes

• “Okay, maybe tomorrow.”

And then tomorrow comes. Same story.

We buy fancy paints thinking they’ll inspire us. We set goals like “I’ll paint every day for an hour.” We make vision boards, playlists, even buy new sketchbooks. And yet, most of the time the sketchbook just stares back at us like, “Well? You gonna do something or just keep me pretty?”

The funniest part? When we finally do paint, sometimes it’s at the most random moment—like midnight, with the wrong brush, on scrap paper. And somehow, that’s the piece we actually like.

We are experts at procrastination. We don’t just avoid painting, we avoid it while also thinking about how much we should be painting. It’s like a full-time job, except nobody pays us.

But here’s the truth: this is normal. Every artist feels it at some point. The stress, the guilt, the pressure, the blank canvas that looks scarier than a horror movie. You’re not broken. You’re not lazy. You’re simply an artist being an artist.

And maybe being an artist isn’t about always making masterpieces.

Maybe art isn’t about constant masterpieces. Maybe it’s about being human—messy, inconsistent, funny, and real. Maybe it’s about showing up, even if all you manage is one crooked line.

So if your canvas is still empty , don’t worry. That still means you belong here, with the rest of us.

And hey, here’s a pro tip: if you can’t bring yourself to paint, at least place a cup of coffee next to your canvas or add some headphones with music playing, and boom, you look like “an artist in deep creative flow.” Just kidding...

But here’s the real part: sometimes the hardest thing is just starting. Don’t think about finishing a painting—just put down one line, one shape, or even just mix two colors. That tiny action breaks the spell of the blank canvas. And once you start, the rest slowly follows.