tend to get in creative funks. I can't seem to be able to draw anything right, I have a lull in work so I have a little pity party (where I'm the only attendee) and think no one likes my stuff and I'll never be hired again, I second guess my ideas and try to talk myself out of them, etc. My funks have been few and far between recently which is good. When I feel one coming on, I have to stop what I'm doing and take care of it. These are some of the things I do:

- Watch a movie that has lots of eye candy (and I don't mean the actors, I mean the set designs and cinematography). Movies always get me thinking positively again and I usually come up with some new idea when I watch them.

- Go shopping. Since I like junk, there is nothing more relaxing than browsing through an antique store. I'm always asking myself, "what could I make out of that or what could I use that for?"

- Go to a museum. We have a pretty good art museum in Nashville that has decent exhibits from time to time. I tend to like the hands-on kids' section the most though :)

- Start sketching randomly. Sometimes I come up with nothing and get more funky and sometimes things just pour out of me.

If I'm in a funk I know I have to remember that tomorrow, it will all be over. I know I'll wake up fresh the next morning and am ready to go. I always do. Now, sometimes I get in this creative groove where I tend to be running on nothing but adrenaline and I can't get down from my creative high. This week has been like that. I made a decision last week to build up a design studio again and start designing. Now, it won't take the place of my illustration career. No way, I won't let it, but I'm going a different angle with it that should protect me from the things I didn't like about it all before. Limit my client base and say "no" more often. My brain won't stop working on this one. So many possibilities. I've also been getting a lot of work done this week. Project just seem to be completing themselves. Weird!

So, everyone gets in a funk from time to time, you just have to way your own way to get out of it.

I'll be posting everyone's comments on how they measure success on Friday so be sure to send me yours by then.