Trouble Generating Ideas

Hello! I'm Vivianne, I am a college art student, majoring in ceramics. I have always loved drawing, and this semester I have jumped into an intermediate figurative drawing class.

I am nervous that my ideas/statements aren't to the level of some of my classmates...I can't seem to vocalize what my work is about and I'm having trouble generating ideas as it is. I have been doing well with the exercises in class, but when I'm given an assignment, I feel like I stay too safe. For example, our first assignment is "Adam and Eve" in a general sense. So the work just needs to have a woman and man. However, my composition ended up being really biblical, and it just does not feel like my voice. How do I overcome this??

I feel like I have had this problem for a very long time, and I am doubting myself as an artist. I know I can overcome this but I'm stuck!

Hello Vivianne, welcome to the site!

I've been thinking hard on this question, and it's indeed very tricky! I think the biggest reason someone doesn't step outside of their comfort zone and listens to what's inside themselves is fear. Fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of mockery and so forth. If we stick to the things we know, we're playing it safe, even if it means we're not expressing ourselves the way we want to.

Letting go of this fear is one step to get your inner voice out, but it's easier said than done. Sometimes we have to just go with the craziest ideas to make it happen. I did some research on how to help you with this issues, and came across a couple of resources. Maybe these can help you out?

http://www.wikihow.com/Think-'Outside-of-the-Box'

http://www.shutterstock.com/blog/5-effective-ways-to-think-outside-the-box

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-forgetting/201404/surprising-exercises-get-you-thinking-outside-the-box