Here’s another quick prompt for this week.
This can help you see things in new ways, try different styles, or give you some new ideas.
Here’s how mine went.
Creativity is always with you, you can’t lose it.
Henry Goulding
I hear lots of different things about creativity, especially since I started these posts. “I don’t have any creativity”, “I can’t do that”, “I lost my creativity”. Still no! Everyone is always creative, forever. How your creativity comes out, that’s up to you.
Are you a painter? Then you feed those skills and whatever inspires your ideas to create your own personal masterpiece. Are you a first responder? Then you build your skills to be ready for all varieties of scenarios and keep your approach flexible. Are you a cashier at the grocery store? Then you use what you learn about people and use it to creatively respond to yet another comment about grocery prices going up.
A lot of people I talk to say things like “I was creative when I was a kid, but I’m not anymore.” What really has happened is that you haven’t fed that particular creative side. Or more likely you’re just not creative in the same way. You haven’t “gone to the gym” or “studied”, you’ve put your focus elsewhere, and that’s ok too. But those creative bones and muscles are all still there, waiting for any opportunity to be worked. How you feed them is up to you.
Keep in mind, painting and drawing aren’t the only creative outlets. Organizing a closet? Creativity (let’s be serious, none of our closets are the same size as anything on HGTV). Planning meals for the week? Creativity (those food groups don’t balance themselves). Picking out an outfit for your dog? Creativity (that designer did not think of your specific individual critter when they made the thing). Choosing to not be creative? Still a unique thought… CREATIVE!
All you need is a new thought or action and you have done something creative. This is how your creativity is always with you, every single day. Again, I say, how you nurture that creativity… that’s up to you.
A good way to work up your memory as an illustrator is to practice!
If you’re an artist who works off of subject matter (drawing people in the park, still lives, life drawing), getting the most out of each glance is huge. It will save you bobbing your head all over the place to get one piece done.
This exercise is great for that. It’s also just a fun exercise for if you’re a little stuck creatively, and give you a bit of a challenge.
I actually did this prompt this time, so I can show you what I did. I am hoping to do this a little more so we can work on these together.
Here’s what I did. You can adjust your times and subject matter however you see fit.
I started with a subject, in this case a plant and a ballerina statue. I had all of my drawing supplies ready to go. I did one piece at a time, and I started by looking at the object for one minute. No drawing or anything, just looking, taking note of angles, shapes, etc. And then I drew it. I didn’t give myself a time limit, I just drew until my memory tapped out.
You can try this to get started and then slowly increase the time that you look at your subject, or maybe put a time limit on how long you have to get the image on paper. Whatever you do, it will be good practice. In time you’ll be amazed at what you’ll pick up.
How did your images turn out?
Another really interesting technique that we used in school to get loosened up was to draw without lifting your pencil.
This exercise really helped us to really look at what we were seeing and visualize what space was taken up by the object and how that connects to the page.
To add another level to this, try not looking at your paper at all while you do this. Keep your eyes trained on your object, your pen to your paper, and see where that takes you.
In the end you might have an amazing base for a painting of your object, or a brand new idea for something entirely different. Only one way to find out… let’s give it a try!
Have fun, do your best work.
– David Carson
I really could just stop the post here. This quote says it all. It really is a huge ingredient into the creativity that you feel you have or don’t have. If you’re having fun, it really shows and inspires you to keep going.
I know that I am proudest of the work that comes out of pure enjoyment of the creation. Did I learn something new? Am I drawing something that inspires me? Did I get to throw any paint?
Ensuring that I am having fun is something that really produces a great final result. This was something that I had at a bit of a disconnect with when it came to some customer or freelance work. The idea wasn’t mine, or the direction isn’t always one I would necessarily chose to take, so I had to create the excitement for myself. Sometimes I found that fun in doing some outrageous roughs off the top (I actually got a few really great final results from that process), sometimes it’s using a technique I would use in my personal work and bring it into some graphic designs, and sometimes it’s just dancing to my favourite songs while I work.
If you’re not having any fun, you’re not going to enjoy the process and might even claim that you are not creative. That is still not the case, I will not allow it! You just might not be creative in THAT way. Maybe paint isn’t your medium, maybe writing on the computer doesn’t give you the same excitement that pen and paper might. Creating while you watch TV may not be what your brain needs to let the ideas flow. Are you trying to force any part of the process rather than letting it flow more naturally? There are dozens of possibilities, you just need to do a little investigation.
Creating should be fun, it’s really what it is there for. When it’s not fun, it’s time to try something different. Maybe change the medium, location, subject matter, environment… or something simple like the tea you’re drinking. But I do promise, when you’re having fun, you are going to love the work you do so much more. Even if the final result might not be what you’re looking for originally, it will give off the good vibes that you just can’t resist.
How do you make your creative time fun?
Almost any illustrator, painter, writer, or the like, will tell you that at some point they’ve stared down the white page, probably more than once. There is few things more intimidating than a blank page and that wall of block that comes through when you look at it.
How do you fix it? Make the page not blank any more. Yes. Just that.
Throw down a random line. Toss a few different colours on the canvas. Start listing what comes to mind. Anything. Now it’s not a blank page anymore. You’ve already created a something. It might not be done, but it is on its way. Congratulations!
Personally I like to throw down some random things on a page to get started. One tool I really like for this is spray ink. I bought these a few years ago and they are little spray bottles filled with coloured inks. I like this because it creates a random pattern that might spark an idea or design.
If you have the energy and the resources it’s fun to create a few non-blank pages for yourself ahead of time. We all hit a roadblock now and again. It’s good to know you have something to prompt you whenever you get stuck. They are also a fun way to experiment with new tools and processes.
So let’s give it a try!
Last night on my live stream we got back to the colouring book pages. When I got my idea, I was excited for the lovely spring weather that was around the week before. Unfortunately, while I was drawing this is was a rainy, mucky evening. But, that’s a good reason to curl up inside and draw with some friends.
Read moreI am just as good, if not better, than anyone else. Is it true? Not my concern”
Ken Lashley
THIS! Everything about THIS! Ken Lashley said this at MAX and I am living for it.
It is completely perfect though. This is 100% how we should all be thinking when it comes to our own art. You are a million percent the best at what you do. You do it better than anyone else ever could. So why use words like “not quite”, and “not good enough”. You are the best at your art.
I am not saying go into a meeting and be a jerk about things. No one likes that. But go in confident that you are completely qualified for what is coming your way. You have put in the work, so you are just as qualified as anyone else who has done that work. If you’re working at it and putting in the time and energy, there is nothing that you are missing in relation to anyone else.
If someone says you’re not any good, that’s not something you need to hold in your head space. You don’t need that negativity. Whether it is someone else, or the voices in your head, this thinking will only hold you back. When you stop doing something because of a negative thought, the only person that suffers is you.
Whenever those nay-saying voices creep in, and tell you you aren’t talented, you aren’t creative, you aren’t ready… think this. You ARE just as good, if not better, than anyone else in the field right now. You may have some areas you want to expand into, some areas that you want to try a little more, but that doesn’t mean you are not good. You are SO GOOD !
Keep the art coming, keep going, you’ve got this and you can definitely show everyone something that they have never seen before.
The main point behind all of these creativity posts has been to show people that everyone is creative. This is still true. However, it is also true that you can’t force creativity. As regular readers will know, this is something I’ve hit a road block with very recently.
Read moreThis post builds off of the prompt from last week where I suggested that you create with a permanent medium, encouraging the mistakes that may come along.
A lot of people who talk to me about how un-creative or un-artistic they are tend to worry about the final result not being perfect. As a perfectionist, I am here to tell you that no art is perfect. If there is a “perfect” art piece out there, it’s probably boring haha. I’ll let that sit for a minute.
“Perfection” is something that people really get themselves hung up on. “If it’s not perfect, why bother.” It makes people mad! I’ve seen it. I’ve experienced it. More often than not, this push for perfection usually causes more frustration than great final pieces.
Yuko Shimizu said at MAX, “There’s something interesting in imperfection.” I completely agree with this statement.
Let’s step back for a minute. When you look up the word ‘perfect’, you get results like: “checks all the boxes”, “flawless”, “accurate”, “exact”. Kind of boring right. “Oh yes, this is quite the accurate piece of art, very exact.” (I wear a monocle in my vision here hehe). Ugh, the worst. So why strive for this?
Something interesting in imperfection
– Yuko Shimizu
To elaborate on what Shimizu said, imperfections in any piece create interest. Those unique parts of that piece provide something new, something we didn’t expect. This can be something big or something small. It could draw attention to the piece and the viewer might not be sure why, or it could be something that could really start a conversation. If you create a piece that isn’t perfect, you’re giving the viewer something that they haven’t seen before, or something that they weren’t expecting. I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot better than giving them the exact thing that they were hoping for. It just doesn’t sound memorable to me. I want my art to stand out!
I’ve said this in the past, and I have more coming down the line, but those imperfections can really make a piece too. A line not coming out the way that you thought it might could be just what your piece needed. A shadow falling over the subject matter before you take the picture could tell a whole new story. Part of the sculpture falling off mid-process could drive discussion, “Why did the artist not carve a nose?”. The imperfections will tell you so much more about the work and the artist than a perfect piece will.
Be not afraid. It’s ok not to be perfect in the way that you express your creativity. Express it in your way and let it shine in all its beautiful imperfections.
Hues & Tones 