As artists, sometimes we are just not in the mood to create art or just do anything at all. Here are some tips that have worked for me to help you get started towards working your project:
1) Clutter/disorganized house or studio affects my mental state of thinking and it does not get me into the mood of creating art. I get lost in a cluttered environment. So I would take a break and clean my house, de-clutter things around my house and studio. Dust the house, re- arrange the closet, dispose unwanted stuff so that everything looks organised and clean. For me my studio is a table with a couple storage drawers . Although someday I wish I could have my own art studio! I would organize my art supplies into their right containers rather than just lying around in the table. Donate art supplies that I no longer use to charity or to my crafty friends. Keep supplies that I may not use for that particular project into my storage drawers. Arrange my sketchbooks so that there is some order. For me my iPad and styluses are like my art supplies because I use them as tools to create art. Apart from creating art digitally I do work in other traditional mediums as well. I have a protective sheet to protect my work surface so paint does not seep through. I would change that and maybe put on some bright colored decorative paper to get into the mood to draw.
Disclaimer: I am not saying that you cannot create art in a cluttered environment. In fact some artist's do create beautiful masterpieces in a cluttered studio/home. All I am saying is that it just does not work for me.
2) If you have access to an art club or an art meetup or even an art show like the art and wine festival, then I would recommend that you to go there because most artist's are happy to share their art techniques with you. You get to meet with the artist and learn about their art process and help you spark your own creativity.
3) For me while creating art I need to have some music to get into the mood. New age music is my favorite genre and it is always playing in my iPod. But sometimes listening to the same music genre over and over again can get you bored which in turn may not help you to get in the mood to draw. So I would change the music genre to Zumba workout songs/dance hits , Pop music or classical hits. Because after all change is good!
4) Lately I have been listening to podcasts and audio books a lot. This has helped me get into the mood to create art. Recently I discovered this website-- Librivox which has tons of audio books for free. Currently I am reading err listening to "Sea Wolf" by Jack London. Recently read online that audible is a good website and has tons of audio books. I have not tried that website yet but will do so in the near future. If you are listening to a book on audible.com, I would love to know what book are you currently listening or which one got you interested. Do let me know in the comments section below.
5) If you live in big cities ,then visiting an art gallery can help you get into the mood to draw. I visited the newly opened SF MoMA recently. I saw lots of contemporary abstract artist's artworks. I got to learn about the artist, their art style and their artistic process from the friendly docent who is also an art teacher. This helped me to stay inspired and get my creative juices flowing in.
6) Visiting a book store or your local library and reading about art, reading about famous artists , looking at their artworks, learning about their artistic journey can get you in the spirit of creating art.
7) For me visiting an art supply store is like being in paradise. I love checking out ( and also buying!) the arts and craft supplies, what the store has to offer and I can spend many hours just browsing around the store. A visit to an art supply store motivates me to start creating art.
8) So what do you do if live in the middle of nowhere? Today we are living in the age of smartphones, tablets and smart watches where everything is a click away. I would look online for inspiration. My favorite website is the Museum of Modern Art , New York -- moma.org/collection. This website has tons of information of modern and contemporary artists. I like looking into the artist artworks, reading about them and try to understand what elements worked so well for them and make them work for me. Another favorite website of mine is the Google Arts and Culture website. This website features content from over 1200 leading museums. There are tons of articles to get you motivated.
9) Sometimes I would just pick up my coloring book and start coloring without worrying too much about the end result. This helps me get in the mood to start my own art project. If I don't like the pages in my coloring book I would check up Pinterest as they have tons of coloring pages for free and I can start coloring right away.
10) Another way to stay inspired is You Tube. Today lots of artists host live stream's in their you tube channel. I feel inspired just by watching them paint/create art. Or I would paint along with the artist just for fun and learn a technique or two which not only energizes me but I can incorporate it onto my own art project.
11) Sometimes if I don't want to look online for inspiration then I would look offline for inspiration. I mean like checking up local TV listings for inspiration. My current favorites are Painting with Wilson Bickford, The Beauty of Oil Painting, Landscapes through Time, Gary Spetz's Watercolor, Painting with Paulson, Wayland's Art Studio, Painting Wild Places, Make it Artsy by Julie Fae-Fan Balzer and of-course Bob Ross TV show-- The Joy of Painting. Although I don't paint in Oils I like watching the show as I can use the artist's art process/techniques onto my paintings.
So do you have a favorite method to get into the mood to create art? If so I would love to hear your tips on how you would go about getting into the mood of creating art in the comments section below.
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As always Thank you for your time and your comments. Your comments make my day.
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