Remember to paint for fun :)

So, ever since comic con I have had a little bit of artist block. I have been having such a hard time coming up with ideas, or even wanting to paint or draw anything.  I have never had really bad artist block before and it made me kind of sad.  I kept thinking to myself, Have I lost my spark? Do I actually enjoy doing art? Do I actually want to be an illustrator?. I was worried.  Part of the problem may have been due to the fact that I am pregnant, and was really tired all the time during the first trimester. But, as I thought about it I realized that being pregnant wasn't the problem.

The problem was that I had put so much pressure on myself to create something epic every time I painted or sketched, that I was scared to start anything. I would sit there and stare at my half finished painting scared to touch it because I might ruin it.  I would stare at a blank sheet of paper and be too scared to draw on it because I didn't have any amazing ideas.  The last few months have been extremely unproductive because of this.

As I talked about the problem with my husband, and thought about it myself I realized that the pieces that I have done just spur of the moment, for fun, and without a ton of planning have always been my big sellers and the ones that people have loved.  

For example the grumpy fish- I painted this in about 2 hours and it was a blast.

Another example is the mermaid- I painted her over a couple days in between the work I was doing for clients. She is one of my biggest sellers and one of my personal favorites to this day. 

So in effort for me to rediscover my spark, and for all my fellow artists out there to remember why they started painting and why they love it, I declare today paint for fun day! Paint whatever weird thing pops into your head. Paint for you and not for a client today, paint something that you love and don't worry about it being epic, paint for fun!