where did my imagination go?

[Sevrin]

when I was a child I remember vivid landscapes and scenery that I would construct in my mind, they were so amazing I remember them even today, I would make these up in my mind easily while reading books, I still do the same thing but its much less detailed and definitely not as vivid as it was... *sigh* it took seeing beauty in art to remind me of the beauty in my own mind... what has happened to me? I feel like I've lost something very valuable, I must regain what I have lost...

[Ember]

[MOD]No advocating drugs. :police:[/MOD]

[Renwaldo]

^ Then there's always that. Of course with drugs you're more likely to die much sooner.

It's called getting old. The best you can do is to get used to it. Then someday you'll die.  :-\

[Sevrin]

I'm not so sure ren, when I was a kid all I ever did was fantasize, as I got older I stopped doing that as much... it was easier to watch tv or play games, I choose to believe that I can get it back by reading instead of watching tv, also drawing, because drawing requires me to form and hold an image in my mind in sufficient detail that I can copy it.

[Renwaldo]

That's good then, keep reading and drawing! : D

[Brittany-shadowwolf]

Try some imagination exercises, find someone who inspired you, Go for a walk try imagining something like a tree but don't look at it as a tree. Imagine it as something else, like cotton candy tree or something.

I think you need to go to Burning man. Release your inner imagination.

Everyone hits a block. I mean I have, Sometimes it lasts for a day, a week or months.
Blocks aren't fun but they happen. :l

Hope I could help?

[Ember]

Sevrin,

What you are experiencing I believe to be very common at your age, I'd like to explain why I think this happens, and why people think that they had stronger imaginations as children.

In your childhood, the only times you read were for recreation. Then, slowly, it was introduced to you as coursework. You were told to read a book and write a report on it. Slowly, they weened you into the ability to read less entertaining but informative material.

By the end of your high school career, the way you had viewed reading had changed. Instead of it being for fun- to open your mind to new worlds and ways of thinking, you had learned how to rush through a massive amount of text. You would memorize parts of it long enough to pass a test or write a report, and then immediately forget it.

This method of reading for consumption is the habit that you need to break yourself from if you are finding it hard to enjoy recreational reading.

Here is what I would recommend. Read just before bed, a couple of chapters or so. Put your book down and go to bed. As you are falling asleep, think about what you just read. Picture the places in your mind, imagine what the main character looks like. Not just his physical features, imagine the way he expresses his emotions in his face while he talks. That captivating look he gives when he's deep in thought.

As you lay in bed, senses bereft of input, you will be more prone to the ability to transport yourself to other places. This has the added benefit of helping you to fall asleep.

-Ember

[MOD]No advocating drugs. :police:[/MOD]

[Sevrin]

Try some imagination exercises, find someone who inspired you, Go for a walk try imagining something like a tree but don't look at it as a tree. Imagine it as something else, like cotton candy tree or something.

I think you need to go to Burning man. Release your inner imagination.

Everyone hits a block. I mean I have, Sometimes it lasts for a day, a week or months.
Blocks aren't fun but they happen. :l

Hope I could help?

its not so much a block as forgetting entirely for years that I even had this ability... and I'm still a crappy artist so it doesn't particularly matter anyways.

[Renwaldo]

Might I ask out of curiosity, what in life do you find inspiring?
Do you like looking at portraits? Studying people that you see, like what they're wearing, the details of their faces, and how they carry themselves. Or scenery? Do you like looking at buildings, rooms, gardens, the furniture, flora, and decorative trims that make up a great space. Or do like looking simple shapes themselves? I mean like interesting objects, still life.

I have always been more interested in manufactured lines in life and artwork rather than natural ones. When I took art back in high-school I was more interested in drawing buildings and manufactured spaces, as opposed to living things and natural scenes.
There was a whole section on this in the introductory class I took back in 9th grade. Our art teacher (a really cool lady, one of those 'flower child' types) gave us an assignment where we were to sketch a natural piece and unnatural piece with a switched perspective. For example, a tree with mechanical lines, a car motor with natural lines.   
It's an interesting way to view things if you're bored and don't know what to draw. Just doodle, don't hold back, let your stream of consciousness guide you!  :monocle:
Try not to worry too much about your ability. Everyone sucks, it would be a shame if nobody drew anything because of that.

[Sevrin]

I find beauty often in nature, and I particularly like manmade things that have been reclaimed by nature, its not only that though, its easier to just show you.
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/sevi/
look through my favorites and you'll see.

[kohl]

I used to have a creature that would follow me on my travels. while riding in a vehicle I could catch him running along the tops of car, houses, street barriers trying to keep up with me. At a time he left me but eventually he came back. At times I can still see him running along with me. Or if I'm waiting at a bus stop or such I can still picture him wandering around, in ennui, waiting to start the run again.

There's also the diverence on how people actually play once they get older. Before you could make a moutain out of a chair, snow from a pillow, a canyon from a blanket. Going outside and building caves into the dirt, a castle in the brush, but I've never seen anyone that's past the age of twelve to do any of these things.

Once you get a ertain age people will find it odd that you even have an imagination to play with these sort of thing. I was actually mocked for doing these sort of things just recently while playing a game with a few buddies but I had fun doing it. I believe that has a lot to do with it aswell. People get segregated when they're mocked so they don't want it to happen since it could affect there job, or standing within a class. As chidren you don't have those standing to think about.

[Neox]

What might be the problem: you're sticking with the same methods of getting inspired as you have for the past many years.  Adventure out and discover something new, like a new style of art to view/try drawing; a new genre of music that suits your interests; a new videogame, something like that.

I found I hit a point when I was 18 where I hated my own artwork because it was so bland.  All I ever drew were dragons; they looked the same in each picture and were usually doing the same thing... standing there.  I kinda stopped drawing for a bit (during which I played quite a bit more guitar), and then I discovered the artist Salvador Dali and, soon after, Hans Ruedi Giger, my #1 favourite artist in the world.  Their level of eccentricity completely changed my perspective on artwork and I started drawing again with new-found desire to create.  I'm 22 now and I have a very active, vivid imagination.

I have a last.fm account subscription so I can keep hearing new bands within my favourite genres of music.  This way I always stay fresh with new tracks every day so I'm not listening to the same music over and over again.

Sometimes it's the little things man.  And I agree with what Ember said in his post: this happens to a lot of people at your age (happened to me when I was 18, like I said).  We're at the point where we need to start thinking about what we're doing with our lives and what steps to take to have a career so we can afford to sustain ourselves.  It's easy to feel like creativity and imagination get pushed to the side.  I never let it do that; I always maintained my level of imagination to keep myself from becoming dull and mundane.