How to Break the Restricted Creativity Barrier

Why do you have to break out of reality? There's nothing wrong with that.

I'm similar to you in that my dolls must only wear or own things that fit the character, and mine are all realistic human characters. I don't do fantasy at all, though some of my guys are celebrities. Sometimes, it is hard for me because I even want their timelines and locations and everything realistic. Like if I'm role playing them, I'll even check the weather in whatever city they're in to be sure it's realistic and accurate. Sometimes, I do wish I could break away from time, location and natural restraints, but for the dolls themselves, I feel like breaking away from their character would mean completely losing who they are and instead of having 16 individual characters, I would have 16 mannequins with no substance. To me, the character is as important as the doll.

If you're feeling your dolls look bland but you don't want to lose the characters, research! Research their characters' cultures and what things those cultures would wear or important symbols or clothing from them. Research their general themes, like Google 'earth goddess' and see if any images inspire you. Maybe commission an artist to help. When I was struggling with my 18th Dynasty Pharaoh doll, I commissioned someone else to make him some clothes. I told them his status and time period, then let them have some artist freedom with it, and ended up with some beautiful items I wouldn't have thought to make myself. Also maybe join some swaps, give your doll's theme, colors and size and see what your partner comes up with. It always helps me to see what others think about.

 

I agree with Cloakedschemer but if you want to force yourself to get out of your comfort zone choose what you think is outrageous and just do it. Nothing is unchangable. If you buy an unusual doll and you find you can't bond wqith him/her/it then sell. Acheaper was would be to make one of your current dolls a new outfit/props/wig. even if you just try them on and then put them away it's a change. You'll find that it may spark something completely new.

 

I find this an issue a lot when I'm doing creative writing. I have a tendency to make a one dimensional character without taking in some factors. Questions to think about are: What traits does this character or doll have? Their fears or weaknesses? Flaws? Where do they live? What would they say or do in these situations? How to they relate or not relate to this other character or setting? From what you have described, it seems you are having trouble finding a specific theme you want to focus on in particular.

You mentioned you have a few fantasy people you are trying to shell. Look into different interpretations of the genre. For example, you said you have an Earth Goddess and eventually you want to make a Fire Goddess? Would these two be enemies or friends? Would your fire goddess reflect a more dark color palette if they were more of an antagonist or more of a lighter palette if they were a protagonist to your Earth Goddess? Sometimes, relating dolls to other dolls or making an overarching theme for all of them helps with breaking that creative barrier, at least for me it does.

I think commissioning or speaking with an artist would be wonderful! People make incredible concept art for ideas like these, and I think with the right amount of research and planning, you could come up with something realistic and aesthetically more creative, while still sticking with your strict "to the theme" attitude.

 

Going off of what TheUmbraWitch said, I think a great way to broaden Themes is to explore those themes in media and cultures I know very little about, so that I can sorta... re-shuffle my brain in that regard, expand what that Theme means to me and what I'm able to do with it. I think that would help a lot with your feeling of restrictiveness. For the Earth Goddess, for example, you're doing what I would immediately do I think, what sounds like a very forest-type theme. Which is great, there's so many awesome dolls like that and people work in that space very beautifully. However, since it sounds like you're feeling discontent with boxing yourself into that idea, maybe it would help to explore how cultures around the world have interpreted what "Earth" means, as well as different landscapes. A desert Earth Goddess would be a lot different than a forest Earth Goddess, but would still fit into that realism, you know? (I'm using this more as a random example rather than telling you that your Earth Goddess is wrong btw, I love forest critters and I'm sure the doll's lovely.) There's a lot to explore, so maybe it's not a matter of "I restrict myself by being realistic" so much as "I restrict myself by only being realistic in one way". This can even apply to the Earth Goddess you already have (again, as an example rather than a criticism). Maybe immerse yourself in some forest for awhile, either physically or in photographs, see if you can look at it with new eyes and give priority to the details you dismissed before. I think trying to see things in a new way is a great method for re-igniting a person's motivation and devotion to a project.

In terms of the restrictions of perfectionism, I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with that approach to art, unless you're really driving yourself nuts over the details. Have you ever heard of Wreck This Journal? There are journals you can buy where the goal is to destroy each page in some creative way. It's basically like making an art project purely to destroy it xD Sounds crazy, but it actually helped me a lot with letting go of perfectionist moments that were bogging me down in my own creativity. Would recommend if you've got any ick feelings about your perfectionism still lingering!