Committing yourself to a daily creative practice may seem easy at first, but it’s inevitable that eventually you may hit a creative roadblock and find yourself wondering what to make next.
Today. And for a few days now, I've been struggling with making art.
I sit down to paint and have all these rules and chaos in my head.
Pressured to create, on-demand, coupled with a lack of new experiences and inspiration to feed my creative soul are not helping me get over this creative block.
Luckily, I’ve been at this long enough to have a few hacks to get me over this hurdle and back to making, quickly.
1. Doodles.
Make some marks with pencil, pen, marker, paints. Just be loose and free and mostly fill your page.
If you get stuck, Pinterest has some great doodle inspiration you can use to get those creative juices flowing again.
The nice thing about doodles is you can doodle just about anything- flowers, animals, faces, hearts, everyday items, etc..
2. Draw what you see.
Pick an object in your sight, and sketch it over and over when you're stumped.
This could be your morning cup of coffee, something on your desk, a single flower, the view outside your living room window- the possibilities are endless!
3. Color crush.
Pick 3 - 5 colors (stickers, torn paper, paint swatches) and arrange them in a way that you LOVE.
Notice what colors make you HAPPY. Bring you joy. Calm. Keep you connected and wanting to make more.
Color mixing and getting my palette JUST so before I start the painting is always a favorite step for me in the process.
You can use paints, markers, crayons, or paper collage for this project- whatever feels right to you.
4. Collage a card.
And, for all my spring-breaking mommas, this is a great one to do with your kids!
1. Gather materials from around the house. A background surface, scissors, glue stick, and collage materials. Colored paper, painted backdrops, envelope liners, magazine or book pages all make great collage content. Get creative and scavenge what you have!
2. Plan your layout. Tear and cut the collage supplies into shapes and patterns that you like.
3. Layout your collage. I like to arrange mine, without gluing down first to make sure I love the layout. Snap a photo with your phone once you get it just right, and use this as a guide to glue down your final collage.
4. Glue it down.
5. Shape Play.
Pick a shape (circles, squares, ovals, hearts, stars) and draw/paint/make marks in that same shape over and over until you've filled your page. Add color as you wish!
Sometimes you just need to look at things from a different perspective in order to make something magical.
On this Monday I want to encourage you to take a step back.
Take your time.
Think of all the possibilities in front of you.
Keep it simple.
And when you're ready, jump in!
Create something inventive, something inspired, something uniquely YOU!
Until Next Time,
Jill Xx
