CHAPTER 9
MAINTAINING THE CALM
Sometimes I notice my creative mind is gathering information, and other times I’m drawn to making things. It isn’t a hard boundary between the two states: it’s easy to go back and forth from one to the other. When I’m not drawing or painting, often I’m reading, writing, flipping through magazines, looking at artist websites, or visiting galleries or museums. Allowing your preferences guide you is a good way to get inspired. If you’re struggling with an art project, know when to walk away and give it some air. Come back to it when you’re feeling refreshed and inspired. Uncover the layers of your creativity like quiet discoveries, and be grateful for the information and your awareness of it. In this chapter, we will walk through a few ways you can keep your creative mind flowing, whether or not you’re actively creating art.
BE STILL, GO WITHIN
Sometimes creativity isn’t about seeking inspiration, but reconnecting with yourself. There are countless ways to do this, but mindfulness meditation is a wonderful tool to have with you always. It helps you tune in, clear your mind, and quiet your internal chatter. To get started with meditation, seek out classes in your area, find a great book, or go online. A body scan meditation can be the perfect way to shift gears before settling in to work on a project. Bring mindfulness to your art making, as well as to every other aspect of your world. It doesn’t require anything except you, your body, and your breath.
Finding Your Visual Cues
There are many ways to cultivate inspiration. Sometimes I go in waves of gathering inspiration and not producing much art. Other times, I’m in a heavy production mode when I’m not taking in too much from the outside. There are also times when I let the inspiration flow in, and let the work flow out. That is often when I feel the best about my work, as well as just about everything else. It’s kind of a creative homeostasis.
We’re surrounded by stimulation and visuals. If you live in an urban environment, your visuals are varied and quick. For those in a more rural setting, the visuals are also constant, but perhaps with a bit more air around them. Try not to resist what is in your world, and just take note.
Your Immediate Surroundings
What do you collect or hold on to? What objects have been passed down to you that hold stories? The paint colors you choose for your rooms, the artwork on your walls, and the knickknacks on your shelves—all of these details can inform you. Do you want to tell stories visually that have something to do with the items that make up your home? Or do you want to look elsewhere?
The Rabbit Hole (Internet)
The internet is an obvious influence. I regard it as a valuable tool for researching art and artists, as well as for online learning and cataloging things that I want to go back to.
One word of caution: it can be very easy to get lost researching. Time flies, and suddenly you’ve researched away your entire afternoon. I would suggest setting time limits on this kind of research, taking time to step away from the computer to research inspiration in person, or to actually get to working on a project.
You can find paced classes to do at your leisure, which can be a great way to expand your skills, and potentially get feedback on your work. There are also communities of students and teachers that are so helpful for both and inspiration and support. You don’t have to look far to find a class or even a brief tutorial in just about any kind of art making imaginable.
Art Museums and Galleries
Perhaps you have an art museum, a natural history museum, and galleries available to you where you live. Pay a visit, wander around, bring a sketchbook, spend some time, and notice what resonates with you. Is there a color palette you can’t get out of your head or a huge sculpture that reminds you of something? Let all of it pass through your filter, and see what stays with you.
Go Outside
A walk in my backyard can get me centered and focused within moments. My four-year-old daughter likes to pet the trees, and we both pick up rocks and sticks. Sometimes there is a heron that stands in the shallow water in the river behind our house and just stares at us silently. None of these details specifically informs my art making or my ability to relax or get quiet, but all of it does. The way the light hits the house or the cluster of trees nearby, the sound of kids playing a few yards over, all of it. Simply tuning in to our surroundings and becoming aware of what is going on around us can quiet our busy minds. If there are stones or sticks that you would like to have in your workspace or reading space, bring the outside in. I have little rocks from many different journeys over the years, and they just feel good to have around.
Art Books
Sometimes if I feel a bit stuck, I’ll head to my bookshelves. I never know what I'm looking for, whether it’s in a book of Francesco Clemente watercolors, a vintage book of typography, or a graphic novel by Chris Ware. It isn’t anything I can put my finger on, but I always know when I’ve found it. I recommend having at least a few books that you can go to when you need to. Finding books in used bookshops can feel like the best treasure hunt ever.
Thrift Shops, Estate Sales, Garage Sales
If you are looking for a little inspiration, a visit to your local thrift shop or flea market can provide you with great, quirky things to discover. Whether you enjoy poking through the artwork, books, or ceramics, it’s easy to get lost among treasures that may snap you out of a creative rut.
These are just a few ideas for how to jump-start your creativity by seeking out the things that you ultimately love to look at. It is a little like curating. Be curious and open, and recognize what strikes you: much of what is out in the world won’t resonate in that way. Get to know your own tastes and preferences, and honor them. Not only will these gestures create a happy calm, but they can be the jumping off points for many stories, drawings, or paintings that you have yet to begin.
ADDITIONAL EXERCISES
Here are a few additional exercises that may help loosen you up and get things moving creatively. Turn to these exercises for a little recharge, or one-offs when you want to change gears, relax, and play—feel free to improvise! All of these exercises allow you to use your brain a bit differently than you usually do during the course of a normal day. There are elements of composition, creative problem-solving, and even color palette decisions at play here—stay open and see where they take you.
Draw Your Walk
Something as basic as walking outdoors may be all you need to boost creativity. Take time to notice what you see along the way in a whole new light.
YOU WILL NEED:
• paper and a writing utensil
• walking shoes
• your attention
• phone for taking photos, optional
1 Take a walk around the block, or to any 15-minute round-trip destination. While you are walking, take in your surroundings thoughtfully. Even if this is the same walk you’ve taken many times before, tune in. Notice the details, and really pay attention to all of the nuances happening around you.
2 As you walk, either scribble down a list or take pictures of twenty things you see. Do you think your list might change depending on your mood or your level of stress?
3 When you get home, scroll through your list or your photos and make little sketches. Fill up a page with walk details. Feel free to write and draw together to tell your story. Elaborate and embellish as much as you’d like.
Note: Try not to let documenting the walk take over the walk. Every time your mind wanders, or if you get overly hung up on taking a photo, just bring yourself back to your walk, and what is in front of you.
Collage Your Collection
Often, we collect things that have stories attached to them. With this exercise, honor your stories by organizing your items on a piece of mixed-media paper. You could paint the paper to give your collection a background that suits it. When choosing a collection, keep in mind that it can be a collection of any things that are tied together in some way. The connection between the items doesn’t need to be apparent to anyone but you.
YOU WILL NEED:
• collection of things: some office supplies, a handful of rocks from your yard, stuff you find on a walk in the city, and so on
• piece of multimedia paper or board, any size
• camera of any kind
1 Decide on a collection of items to use for this exercise. Do you have a container of rocks you’ve collected at the beach? Or a collection of buttons in a jar? Maybe you have a bunch of matchbooks or rubber bands that you’ve been hanging onto.
2 The only rule is that there are no rules. Simply take your items (as many as will fit on a page) and arrange them until you find a composition that pleases you. Once you’re satisfied, stand above your creation and take a photo. Then feel free to rearrange the collection and photograph it again. Play with it as much as you’d like.
Bring out other collections you might have and repeat this exercise. Does this activity breathe a little life into your treasures? Do they go back to their spots with a little more air around them? Sometimes organizing things has a very calming effect as you create unique compositions.
Catalog of Dots
Sometimes inspiration for your next project can be found in the seemingly mundane objects that are right before your eyes. That pile of junk mail or the stack of catalogs that came in yesterday’s post provide most of what you’ll need for this exercise.
YOU WILL NEED:
• catalogs or magazines—anything will work, even junk mail if it’s colorful
• hole punches—a standard one is fine, but larger sizes are welcome
• glue stick or other craft glue
• heavy piece of paper to use as a base, any size
• matte gel medium
• paintbrush
1 Page through the catalogs and punch out some colorful dots. Be sure to include dots in neutral shades—whites and grays can offer a quiet space among colors.
2 When you have a good pile of dots, decide on an approach to your design. You might begin with, “I am going to make a multicolor cityscape out of dots,” or you could begin more organically, by gluing down one dot at a time, making up the design as you go along.
3 Build up your image dot by dot. Punch out more dots in specific colors as you need them.
4 Once you have everything glued down, give your composition a fresh look. What do you like? What do you want to change? Add or remove dots to achieve the look you’re after. When you’re happy with it, gently brush gel matte medium over the entire design. Then punch out some more dots and start again!
Color Palette Explore
At its heart, color is personal. We all gravitate toward certain colors and even have favorites beginning when we are children. We know which ones appeal to us for an endless variety of reasons.
Imagine the way we respond to a beautiful expanse of very saturated green grass, contrasted with a bright blue sky. Can you recall a foggy day when everything was coated in a haze and you were in a sea of fuzzy neutral colors? We also respond to color palettes in works of art.
When it comes to making our own art, color can be simple or extremely complex. The way we play with color in this exercise—choosing colors that suggest a particular mood—is simple. There’s no drawing involved, just thinking about color and choosing the ones we like. Play with the way colors work together and see if anything strikes you.
Because color is tied to mood and our moods can be somewhat fluid, you may find that what suits you one day may not feel right the next. Stay open and consider this exercise as a way to play and discover. You may learn a thing or two about context, including what one color does alongside another, as well as learning about your own preferences.
YOU WILL NEED:
• paint of your choice (acrylic, watercolor, gouache)
• markers of any kind
• mixed-media paper, watercolor paper, or a primed panel (any surface that will handle paint)
• paintbrushes, in a variety of sizes
1 Let’s start with the word “calm.” Do any colors come to mind? Try not to overthink it, just play. Paint or make swatches with colored pencils or markers. The goal is to add color to your page, see how you react, and notice how the colors react to one another.
2 Create a calm palette with three colors. Next, consider which neutrals to pair with them. Experiment with a few muted or neutral colors until you find two that fit well with your palette.
3 Continue this experiment, using any word or mood you can dream up. Just as you might imagine a soundtrack to a scene in a movie, you can create a feeling or mood in your artwork through color. Try the words “happy,” “warm,” and “winter.” See which colors best represent these words. Create your own five-color palettes for each. (See A.)
If you wish, work up your palettes on smaller pieces of paper and keep them for reference. Did you come up with a palette that made you want to start a drawing? The palettes may be helpful references when you’re starting a painting, prompting you to consider the mood or even season. Begin a catalog of color combinations that are personal to you. You might give each one a name and date, so you can compare your thoughts about color and mood on another day.
