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Beating artist’s block – 10 ideas I’ve found helpful

Don’t you just hate it when you don’t know what to paint or draw or create?

I found myself in that situation today and thought I’d remind myself what I could do to reinvigorate my creativity!

1. I keep a sketchbook with me at all times. Jotting down the ideas as soon as they come. If I’m stuck what to do I have a look through it.
2. Playing with different media – using the opportunity to try a new technique can really help spark an ideas.
3. Going for a walk with a sketchbook take time to stop and sketch anything which catches you eye.
4. Looking through books and magazines. I found a really good book on abstracts recently “Painting Abstracts” by Rolina van Vliet and there are loads of exercises to help inspire creativity.
5. Visit a real Art Gallery – seeing another artist’s work can stimulate an idea.
6. Visit art websites and galleries online. Lots of sites such as Painter-online and Empty Easel have online tutorials. You might not wish to reproduce the image they demonstrate but they are a good source of advice and can be inspiring. Even if it’s only I can do better than that! It can be fun to do a subversive version instead.
7. Rip up a magazine or seven and make a collage. Be surreal or funny if you’d like. e.g. Kerry Katona’s head on K9’s body. Oooh I like that idea!
8. Doodle! Make a mark on a large piece of paper and fiddle with it. It helps free up your mind and sometimes you get a great idea for a project.
9. Go out and take photographs. Play with exposure, cropping. Go in close and personal. Focus on details. Look for different angles.
10. I got stuck with artist’s block here!!!!!!!! Then I remembered. Hoik out an old sketchbooks, flick through and pick one page. Then look at it upside down, sideways or squinting. Sketch or trace some or part of an image. Use a limited colour palette and paint the new sketch

In all this, don’t worry about how it will turn out. Look on it as an exercise. Be patient, inspiration will come.

So, which option did I resort to?

4

and here it is.

I’ve called it “Potential” I love brickwork, I might have said so before! I was playing with ideas to create brickwork and this sort of evolved. The signature as the artwork.

Been looking at too much conceptual art methinks!

Sketches of Buckingham in the sun – suffering for art?

Sometimes I think I’m a bit “schizophrenic” when it comes to my artwork. (Although, to be precise, that should be a multiple personality disorder rather than schizophrenia – 3 years of Occupational therapy training wasn’t completely wasted! ) By which I mean I have warring urges relating to the type of artistic direction I wish to pursue. I started this blog to promote caricatures – lets call that “Style 1”. I always had the intention of portraiture alongside the caricatures, so we have “Style 2”. Then I started doing landscapes – “Style 3” and still life work “style 4”. Then, I discovered a style of abstract art that suited me, “Style 5” emerged! Finally I enrolled on a life drawing class which led to “Style 6”. Sometimes I desire to work in a realistic style, but it all seems to have been done before. I’m not an artist who enjoys reinventing the wheel! But then I think “I know I can do the realistic work, what’s wrong with that?”.
So it was, last night I was painting abstracts and this morning I found myself sitting under a leafless beech tree. ( I feel I ought to  stress that beech nutshells are NOT comfy to sit on.) My fingers turning a little blue with the cold (NB sunshine does not always equal warmth) sketching one of Buckingham’s historic buildings – I think it’s an old coaching house but I need to investigate further. My result is fine. Better than my shaky sketches of people on the train yesterday, which, in places, resembled seismic readings more than drawings. I now have a dilemma! Abstract or sketch, what is it to be?

A…

…n Abstract (sorry to any Lynn Truss fans out there, your inner pedant must be screaming!)

I think I’m going to call this one “Points of View” I was thinking about perspective and constraints on growth as I was constructing this.

Orange lily painting.

It’s been a funny old day today. This morning I had a real problems with a creative block – no ideas were forthcoming at all. So, I decided to take a shower and inspiration finally set in. I’ve been busy painting this afternoon but this is the only “finished” piece I have. I’m not quite sure whether it’s finished yet. There’s something niggling but I can’t decide what it is yet.

I’ve also been jotting down some other ideas for pictures whilst they were in my mind. I find it helps with days when the old “Artist’s block” sets in! Although it didn’t help today.

Geometric artwork. It’s abstract but it looks like I painted a darts board!

Yesterdays painting went well and I have this lovely abstract as a result – I removed the masking today and managed to rip the paper only once. Unusual for a complicated picture and, knowing how I tend to rush,the trick is not to remove the masking before the paint is dry. You also get lovely coloured fingers – green and brown with a slight iridescent effect in this case! So Voila, my abstract…

 

The trouble is, now all I can see is a darts board, whichever way I look at it. Is it a good thing? Hmm! not sure, probably yes although I’m not a darts fan… anymore. OK, I admit to chucking the odd few dozen darts as a teenager – far too close to my Mum’s piano for her liking! No longer, I have cast off this pointy activity in a pointed way! Maybe I should view it as an attempt at self hypnosis, although, if that were to succeed, how would I bring myself around? I’m off target now –hah just realised the pun there! Unintentional, I assure you.

Now, what should I paint next? A caricature, portrait or return to that streetskater?

rethinking hating red