Tips

Staying creative – Tip Nine: Practice Gratitude

| Odyssey Art

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I had an idea pop into my head the other day to do a series of blog posts about my experience with keeping the creative juices flowing—or how I do it.

It would be easy to center these posts around “Artist’s Block”. I am no stranger to this as I’ve experienced it many times in the past, and it’s a particular bear when your entire career depends upon you manifesting new and fantastic, amazing designs that impress people continually.

I want to try to focus on the positive here, however. Let’s not focus on blockages. Let’s focus on how to keep the creativity flowing.

The universal Law of Attraction says that in order to “get” you must “give”. If I want to “get” creative, I must “give” it out through doing. You know… Use it or lose it.

So let’s get started, shall we?

Congratulations! You’ve made it through to the last tip in this series of posts!

Tip nine: practice gratitude

How fitting that a post on gratitude makes its appearance the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. I really didn’t plan it this way, but it’s so freaking cool watching the universe align things into perfect order. Serendipitous, indeed!

You’ve tried all my previous tips in this series and maybe you’re still not feeling that creative mojo.

At this point I want to ask you how grateful are you? I’m not asking if you’re grateful for feeling creatively-blocked. I’m asking how grateful are you for the rest of the things in your life?

Did you know stress is a real creativity-killer?

Sure, there are some artists out there who capitalize on their angst. All the more power to them. But ask yourself – do you really, really want to be unhappy your whole life just to support your art?

If you create amazing things while miserable, think about how amazing your art can be when you’re in a state of joy.

All I can say is that if I’m walking around in a state of anxiety, fear, and cynicism then my art suffers. Big time. In fact, being creative is the last thing I want to do. I want to sit down and mope and try to curl up into a ball and disappear.

Maybe you don’t honestly have any problems going on in your immediate surroundings, but you still feel miserable. It’s the state of the world. These politicians are making you crazy. That commercial reminded you how your teeth should be whiter. Why is your neighbor’s grass always greener than yours? People keep doing horrific, dumb shit on the news.

When you keep focusing on externals, especially on negatives, then that’s what you’re going to continue to bring into your world.

“Oh, that’s just Law of Attraction BS. It’s pseudo-science. It’s not real.”

Really?

I dare you to try it.

If you enjoy the misery, go ahead and focus on that one little thing that’s been nagging you for some time. Do an internet search for other people bothered by the same thing. Converse with them about your shared unhappiness. Remind yourself every day how awful it really is. Sit down and have a pity party. Complain to anyone who will listen to your woes. Watch them either hop on the bandwagon with you and make the problem even more pronounced, or, in turn, upset you by distancing themselves from you because you just complain all the time.

Take notes. How were you feeling and how big was the problem before you decided to give it your laser-like focus? How big is the problem now that you’ve dedicated the majority of your waking hours to it?

Tired of the misery?

Then it’s time to shift focus.

It’s that simple.

What’s a great way to shift focus away from misery?

Gratitude.

Take a new look around you. Take note of all the things that are going right in your world. You have a roof over your head. You get to eat every day. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. Your favorite niece just gave you a huge hug and told you she loves you. You have the eyes to read this. You actually know how to read and write. You have an internet connection that allows you to access this. You have friends and family in your life who love you. You’re living and breathing at the moment.

This list can go on and on.

So now I dare you to try making a gratitude list for the next week. Every day. Pull out a journal or a note pad and write down 10 things you’re grateful for at the beginning of the day and 10 things you’re grateful for at the end of the day. If you want extra brownie points, try not to repeat anything.

Notice how things shift for you. How suddenly you’re starting to become focused on noticing the good things because you want to add them to your list. You start to feel lighter and more free. People are friendlier around you. You actually want to be friendly to them.

Take notes. How were you feeling before starting the week of gratitude and how were you starting to feel after?

If you want to give yourself a leg up on this practice, I also encourage you to not watch or read any news for the duration of the experiment. In fact, if you can manage it, turn off the TV completely for the week. If you really MUST watch or read something, make it something creatively educational and inspirational. (NOT educational in the sense of learning how the planet is coming to an end. Educational in the sense of learning about a new species discovered on a remote island, or how the universe was formed, or how toothbrushes are made, or how to bake a cake. THAT kind of education.) Mute those TV commercials, however – they’re there to convince you that something is wrong with you – that you and your life are incomplete without their products.

Now, the key to this, for me, is to not stop after my experiment in gratitude. Keep doing it. Build it into a habit by stretching the exercise out for a whole month. See how you feel after that month. Are you enjoying the results? Then don’t stop. Ever.

I participated in a gratitude experiment last year that asked me to write down 30 things I was grateful for each day for 30 days and to not repeat anything. During that time frame, I also didn’t watch any TV or read any news. I identified my stress triggers and sources of negativity and toxicity and stopped allowing those things into my life. This included un-following friends on Facebook who complained all the time – even if I agreed with their views in principle. The complaining was just not acceptable. I also ceased posting to a message board where inevitably the conversations would turn into fights and complaining.

The gratitude list seemed quite daunting at first. Sometimes I felt like I was sitting with that notebook and pen for quite a long time trying to think of things I was grateful for. I’d even get up from my desk and walk around the house trying to find things I was grateful for.

Staying away from TV and my usual sources of toxicity made me fidgety at first, too. What to do with all that extra time? (Hint, that time often got filled up with… can you guess? Art!)

The changes and gratitude list were difficult at first, but by the end of the exercise, I found the gratitude just flowed.

Sure, I inadvertently repeated a few things through the month, but overall, I came up with almost 900 things I was grateful for that month. 900! And honestly, I bet there were more things I could have been grateful for, too, had I given the exercise more time during my days.

What changed for me? I just felt happier overall. The things that were bothering me lost their importance.

I have a friend who said to me once “All my problems die of neglect.”

That’s what a gratitude practice does for me. It shifts my focus away from my problems and nine times out of ten those “problems” resolve themselves. Whodathunkit? And the other problem that didn’t get resolved? Well I was able to approach it with confidence and calm when I took care of it.

If any of this gratitude stuff sounds intriguing and fun to you, then I also want to take a moment to point you over to the book Thank & Grow Rich by Pam Grout. She’s much more eloquent with her wording (and just crazy funny), and she actually outlines a whole bunch of fun exercises you can do around gratitude beyond a gratitude list. She truly knows how to bring joy into a person’s life.

So how does this help with that creative mojo? Well, you’ll just have to do it and find out.

I just know for me when I’m in a state of joy and gratitude, art comes easier to me. More things inspire me and I just feel like being creative.

I actually feel like daily gratitude is not separate from but an actual part of my creative practice. I know I can say that I am always so thankful for being able to sit down and draw or paint. I’m grateful that I have the skills to do so. I’m grateful for the wonderful materials I have on hand. I’m grateful for the beautiful colors and lines and shapes. I’m grateful for how my work turns out each and every time.

I hope this final tip turns into the “big one” for you, as it has for me with my art.

Do you practice gratitude? What things do you do to bring gratitude into your life each day?

Thanks so much for reading. I hope this series of tips has been helpful for you and you’ve found something that creates the urge to go forth and create!

Happy art-ing, my friends!

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Staying creative – Tip Eight: Take a break.

| Odyssey Art

I had an idea pop into my head the other day to do a series of blog posts about my experience with keeping the creative juices flowing—or how I do it.

It would be easy to center these posts around “Artist’s Block”. I am no stranger to this as I’ve experienced it many times in the past, and it’s a particular bear when your entire career depends upon you manifesting new and fantastic, amazing designs that impress people continually.

I want to try to focus on the positive here, however. Let’s not focus on blockages. Let’s focus on how to keep the creativity flowing.

The universal Law of Attraction says that in order to “get” you must “give”. If I want to “get” creative, I must “give” it out through doing. You know… Use it or lose it.

So let’s get started, shall we?

(Check back each Friday at noon MST for the continuation of these tips!)

Tip eight: take a break

Sometimes we just need to rest and re-fuel. We’ve been burning the creative candle at both ends, so it’s no small wonder that sometimes we just fizzle out. Even the thought of picking up a sketchbook or paint brush or any other creative tool just sends us into a fit of “Don’t wannas!”

If you’re to that point then you just need to allow yourself a total break.

It’s time to do something different that has absolutely nothing to do with art at all. If possible, however, get that right brain going and do something you don’t usually do.

Sure, if you really want you can sit and binge-watch your favorite series on Netflix (I mean, have you seen the Dark Crystal prequel yet?) But for this tip, we’re looking to expand our horizons a bit beyond the living room couch.

Go for a hike on that trail you keep hearing about. Recruit some friends you haven’t seen for a while and go have lunch. Try out that new coffee shop. Take a trip down to the city. Take a trip out of the city. Check out that new mall. Take some salsa lessons. Volunteer your services. Play a board game with the family.

The point is to fill your cup with different experiences and allow your creative mind a chance to rest and regenerate.

Our lives are filled with the necessity to rest. It’s a package deal. Every day our bodies and minds ask us to sleep so they can heal and restore. If you’re familiar with having an exercise routine, you probably know that you need to give your body a break every week for a day or two, and every couple of months to allow yourself an extended rest of several days so your muscles can repair and you can come back stronger and more energetic than before.

We all need vacations from our full-time work or lives where we can just enjoy some down-time with no pressure or responsibilities.

So, too, does our creative muscle need a little rest on occasion.

If you find yourself just feeling overwhelmed or stressed when it comes to art, do yourself a favor and don’t add more pressure by forcing it if you really would rather not. Allow yourself a little break. But do promise yourself you’re not going to stop so long that you don’t come back to your art for another year. If you’re really in tune with your creative muse, I’m pretty sure you’ll hear it whispering in your ear soon enough. If you don’t honor it and you keep suppressing it, it’ll visit you less often. And that’s a real drag when you know you want to make something but have no motivation behind it.

Have some favorite pastimes you do when you need to give your art a break? Share them below.

Staying creative – Tip Seven: Take a Class or Tutorial

| Odyssey Art

I had an idea pop into my head the other day to do a series of blog posts about my experience with keeping the creative juices flowing—or how I do it.

It would be easy to center these posts around “Artist’s Block”. I am no stranger to this as I’ve experienced it many times in the past, and it’s a particular bear when your entire career depends upon you manifesting new and fantastic, amazing designs that impress people continually.

I want to try to focus on the positive here, however. Let’s not focus on blockages. Let’s focus on how to keep the creativity flowing.

The universal Law of Attraction says that in order to “get” you must “give”. If I want to “get” creative, I must “give” it out through doing. You know… Use it or lose it.

So let’s get started, shall we?

(Check back each Friday at noon MST for the continuation of these tips!)

Tip seven: take a class or tutorial

Sometimes when I’m getting burned out or honestly feel like I want to do something creative but have no motivation on a subject I find doing a tutorial or taking a class helps.

The bonus to doing either of these is that I perhaps get to learn something new. A new technique, a new way to use my brushes or pens, a new style, etc.

YouTube is full of amazing free tutorials to start. Find an artist whose style speaks to you and follow along. Or, you can go even further and find an artist whose style is completely different from yours and follow along that way.

A lot of YouTubers also have Patreon accounts where if you join them they have more in-depth classes to share with a subscription. Some also have their own web sites and side businesses where they teach, so be sure to check their web sites outside of just their YouTube and Patreon feeds.

Shayda Campbell’s tutorials on YouTube and Patreon

If you’re not finding what you want on YouTube, then Skillshare is the next place to go for online courses. Now, I have no experience with Skillshare. I can only go by what all the YouTubers keep suggesting. But I’d definitely like to try out a course at some point. Note that these are paid courses, although often you’ll find a YouTuber is being sponsored by them so you might find free trial subscriptions that way.

Screen grab of Skillshare web site.

Finally, there’s live, in-person classes you could take. Do a Google search for the kind of course you’re interested in and find one in your local area.

I recently took an in-person watercolor class for a month. While I think it was geared more towards beginners, I did take away a few interesting approaches from the class. The instructor had a more deliberate approach to painting than I typically do, starting very light then building up color (instead of me where I sometimes like to throw down intense near mass-tone color from the get-go.)

I worked on the cute squirrel below as part of my in-person class. I finished him at home.

Live classes give you the added benefit of socialization. You get to meet new people and also exchange ideas that way.

Don’t feel stuck with not knowing what to do. Take a class or tutorial or several and reap the benefits of being creative while learning at the same time.

What’s your favorite source for tutorials and classes? Leave a comment below.

Staying creative – Tip Six: Copy a Master.

| Odyssey Art

I had an idea pop into my head the other day to do a series of blog posts about my experience with keeping the creative juices flowing—or how I do it.

It would be easy to center these posts around “Artist’s Block”. I am no stranger to this as I’ve experienced it many times in the past, and it’s a particular bear when your entire career depends upon you manifesting new and fantastic, amazing designs that impress people continually.

I want to try to focus on the positive here, however. Let’s not focus on blockages. Let’s focus on how to keep the creativity flowing.

The universal Law of Attraction says that in order to “get” you must “give”. If I want to “get” creative, I must “give” it out through doing. You know… Use it or lose it.

So let’s get started, shall we?

(Check back each Friday at noon MST for the continuation of these tips!)

Tip six: copy a master

Did I just say “COPY”?

No! Sacrilege! Don’t you DARE copy someone.

REAL artists don’t copy, anyway. They make up everything from their imagination and execute it perfectly. No practice needed.

Believe it or not, that’s some people’s opinion. Usually, I find that kind of opinion comes from people who are NOT artistically inclined or who’ve never made much of an effort to sit down and draw or paint something.

Copying for the sake of learning and practice is perfectly okay. Where it crosses the line is if you copy someone’s work, don’t give any credit to the original artist, and try to pawn it off as your own.

Many fine artists are encouraged to copy a master’s work. It gives them insight and understanding on how the artist achieved certain colors or perspectives or depth or mood.

Image from leonardodavinci.net
Image from rembrandtpainting.net
From https://prints.okeeffemuseum.org

One of my favorite artists is Georgia O’Keeffe. Small wonder since I tend to do a lot of plants.

I love her contemporary style and close perspectives of the botanicals she painted.

I haven’t copied her art exactly, but I do know I’ve done a few pieces that emulate that up-close style.

If you’ve ever taken any kind of an art class, think back to what the teacher had you do occasionally. Yes. Copy.

I even look at drawing and painting from reference photos or even “life” (plein air, urban sketching) as copying because you’re essentially replicating what is already there.

It’s all great practice to get comfortable with your drawing skills, your command of compositions, and use of color and values.

If you’re feeling stuck, look up art from someone you enjoy and try to emulate their work. Copy it exact, even, to gain an understanding of their style and how they perhaps achieved a certain technique or appearance to their work. Or challenge yourself and copy a work that is not your usual style.

Just remember – if you share your copied work, credit the original artist. That means if they have a presence online, link back to their social media feed or web site. But be clear that your work is a copy – not your own concept – and that you’re studying someone whose work you admire.

Be polite, too. The person may or may not be flattered with your sharing a copy of their work. If they ask you to take it down, do so without complaint. Remember. It wasn’t your original idea in the first place.

  • rose
  • echevaria
It’s no Georgia O’Keeffe, but I enjoy closeup abstracts of plants and flowers.

Have you tried copying favorite artists? Did you feel you learned some valuable skills or knowledge by doing so? Share your experience below.

<< Tip five
tip seven >>

Staying creative – Tip Five: Become a Shutter Bug.

| Odyssey Art

I had an idea pop into my head the other day to do a series of blog posts about my experience with keeping the creative juices flowing—or how I do it.

It would be easy to center these posts around “Artist’s Block”. I am no stranger to this as I’ve experienced it many times in the past, and it’s a particular bear when your entire career depends upon you manifesting new and fantastic, amazing designs that impress people continually.

I want to try to focus on the positive here, however. Let’s not focus on blockages. Let’s focus on how to keep the creativity flowing.

The universal Law of Attraction says that in order to “get” you must “give”. If I want to “get” creative, I must “give” it out through doing. You know… Use it or lose it.

So let’s get started, shall we?

(Check back each Friday at noon MST for the continuation of these tips!)

Tip five: become a shutter bug

If you’ve been following my Staying Creative series of tips, you’ll remember I briefly mentioned nature as a source of inspiration in Tip #4.

This is partially where nature gets to shine as a source of inspiration.

I hope that most of us out there have a smart phone by now that includes a camera. If you don’t, then I do at least hope you have a camera. Because here’s where I’m going to encourage you to take it everywhere with you and use it, regardless if you’ve got professional photography training or not.

I’ll admit I’m one of those people you’ll see walking in the park who suddenly stops and whips out her smart phone to get a picture of a seemingly ordinary bush. But that bush, my friends, had a single leaf on it turning a gorgeous shade of red-orange. And that juxtaposition of the bright orange against the cool greens of the rest of the plant were just mind-blowingly beautiful to me.

Some may see dull and boring tree bark. I see fabulous texture and contrast.

Inspiration is most definitely all around us. From beautiful sunrises and sunsets to birds singing in trees, flowers blooming, even leaves dying. There’s something amazing and interesting everywhere if you take a moment to actually really look. Having a camera on hand helps you capture that moment immediately and indefinitely.

One day I was doing an exercise in just trying to notice at least five things I’d never seen before on one of my lunch walks. One of the things I noticed was a vine curling up around some wiring along a bridge. I’d never paid attention to it before. It was only shin-high to me. But when I spotted it I took a picture because some day I might feel like it’ll be a great painting subject or help make up part of a painting in some way or shape.

Maybe nature isn’t your thing. That’s perfectly acceptable. There’s still a lot of inspiration out there if you like to lean more towards industry and architecture. Take your camera with you and take shots of the strip mall. A big interesting snow-bank in the parking lot. The towering buildings downtown. That hot Lamborghini you came across…

I used a photo I took while in downtown Denver for a painting.

If architecture and industry aren’t your thing, there’s also people. Now, I have very limited experience with photographing people. Meaning if there’s people in my photos they’re people I already know, or they’re a part of a crowd, etc. that’s in front of my primary object of focus. Like say I’m taking a picture of an interesting statue and there’s people milling around its base.

If you’re going to get in close enough to get someone’s features, then the polite thing to do is ask their permission. If you plan to draw or paint their likeness and sell it, you also need to get a signed release from them. Since I’m not the expert on these kinds of things, it’s best you do an internet search around photographing people to make sure you have your bases covered and you don’t end up with a lawsuit, a black eye, or at the very least, a grumpy person telling you to delete that photo you took of them right now.

The fun thing about taking photos, too, is that you start to learn to apply composition to them. If you’re thinking about how that flower’s going to fit onto your painting, you take care to make sure its framed right in your photograph.

If you’re just really uncomfortable with taking photos, meaning you feel like you don’t have any skill at all, watch some tutorials on basic photography skills. If you have a very specific camera app on your phone, that app may also have some pointers and tutorials for you.

My Camera+ app on my iPhone offers a multitude of free tutorials on getting amazing photos by using their apps.

The best thing about taking photos is that ultimately they are your own – they are your property and unique to you. You can be pretty sure no one or not many people took the same photo as you from your same perspective (unless you’re taking a photograph of a famous landmark.) Essentially your photos are free for you to use, to copy exactly, even, and sell if you wish to do so.

So keep your eyes open and your camera/smartphone ready at all times. Who knows when that next beautiful, inspiring scene is going to come across your path. If you think it’s beautiful, then take a picture so you can come back to it in the future when working on your art.

<< TIP FOUR
TIP SIX >>

Staying creative – Tip Four: Get Inspired

| Odyssey Art

I had an idea pop into my head the other day to do a series of blog posts about my experience with keeping the creative juices flowing—or how I do it.

It would be easy to center these posts around “Artist’s Block”. I am no stranger to this as I’ve experienced it many times in the past, and it’s a particular bear when your entire career depends upon you manifesting new and fantastic, amazing designs that impress people continually.

I want to try to focus on the positive here, however. Let’s not focus on blockages. Let’s focus on how to keep the creativity flowing.

The universal Law of Attraction says that in order to “get” you must “give”. If I want to “get” creative, I must “give” it out through doing. You know… Use it or lose it.

So let’s get started, shall we?

(Check back each Friday at noon MST for the continuation of these tips!)

Tip four: get inspired

We are truly blessed to be living in this day and age. No longer do you have to make a special trip to a shop or museum or library to view amazing art. You don’t even have to only be exposed to art that your local galleries deem worthy of their walls.

Thanks to the beauty of the internet, social media, and self-publishing we get to be exposed to everyone’s art so long as they choose to share it.

Inspiring artists are immediately accessible by the simple touch of your finger to your smart phone’s screen, or a few keystrokes on your desktop computer keyboard.

I follow a lot of amazing artists both on YouTube and Instagram. I am so happy to have been exposed to Instagram, in particular. It holds such an enormous wealth of inspiration. Unfortunately, its algorithms start making this experience a little closer to a brick-and-mortar gallery (only the special ones get chosen – ie: those who already have hundreds of thousands of followers or post three times a day every day, etc. get top placing on people’s feeds.) But if you’re willing to dig around and explore some hashtags via the “Recent” link instead of “Top” link, you’ll get to discover some quiet, unsung heroes in the art world.

Of course those artists with hundreds of thousands of followers are also amazing and noteworthy – they didn’t get so many followers by not being talented.

If you don’t have an Instagram account, I encourage you to create one. You don’t have to post anything to it if you don’t want to. Just use that account to explore and start following artists whose work you find inspiring.

I use my Instagram account as a business account. Meaning I only share my art or art-related posts. So you’re not going to see pictures of me holding a coffee mug with my feet below, or preening pictures, or pictures of my family. I have a personal Facebook page for that and I’m very choosy about who I “friend” with that personal account.

Like me, many of the other artists on Instagram post only their art. No need to worry too much about filtering through someone’s political views or 1500 pictures of their newborn.

Just a few of my favorite Instagram artists:

I love the incredible, clean detail in Melpomeni’s artwork.
Sarah’s beautiful, colorful art. Primarily done in watercolor. Yes! Watercolor can be bright and beautiful. It’s not all soft pastels.
Rosie has some of the most mind-blowingly beautiful hyper-realistic botanical art I’ve seen.
ERUDA’s absolutely amazing fantasy-scapes.
Dan’s gorgeous hand-lettering pieces.

The beauty of Instagram, too, is that you get to find and follow artists whose style fits you the best. So while I may like and recommend the above artists, they may not be your cup-o-tea, so you can explore and find people whose art matches your personality.

YouTube is also a great source for artists. I mostly like YouTube because not only do you get to see beautiful art, but often you get rundowns on how the artist created their art. Usually there will be speed-paints or drawings that you can watch. I really enjoy seeing a piece of work come together before my eyes. Just remember if you’re new to art that these videos are typically sped-up — not real, time. So don’t feel like your current work-flow is slow. Some artists fit a couple days worth of work on a single painting into one 15-minute YouTube video.

One of my favorite watercolor portrait artists to watch is Laovaan.
A rare real-time art video. Minnie is one of the reasons I keep wanting to try gouache.
Peter Draws – mentioned in a previous post. He’s a nice break from my typical softer, more feminine art that I follow.

Often when I watch YouTube art videos or scroll through my Instagram feed I find something that inspires me and I want to try to emulate something about that art in my own work. Maybe it’s varying line thicknesses in an ink drawing. Or the shimmery gold accents in another painting. Maybe it’s the amazing smooth skin texture in a portrait piece, or the fun granulation in another painting. Sometimes it’s the chosen color palette.

While Instagram and YouTube are my typical go-to places for inspiration, I do occasionally find myself touring a gallery or art show, or visiting the local art museum. All of those places hold a lot of amazing inspiration, too. And there’s something to be said about seeing a piece in person versus on your screen. Your eyes pick up subtle nuances that just don’t translate digitally. Especially texture and brush strokes.

Since my readership is world-wide, I’ll leave it up to you to use Google to locate some amazing art galleries, shows and museums to visit. I’m sure there’s something nearby.

Do you have some favorite sources of art inspiration? Let’s set aside some of the typical “nature!” suggestions, because of course nature is the un-challenged QUEEN of inspiration. I’m interested in hearing about some of your favorite artists. Share them below!

And I can’t leave a post about following social media accounts without pointing you over to my presence on social media. Please do swing by any of these channels and give me a follow or subscribe. I sincerely appreciate your patronage.

<< tip three
tip five >>

Staying creative – Tip Three: Try Something New

| Odyssey Art

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A list of materials can be found at the end of this post. As usual, please note that any links to Amazon products within this post are affiliate links, meaning I make a minute commission should you choose to purchase something via the link. This is at no additional cost to you. That said, I appreciate your patronage by using the links to purchase products. While small, any amount of money helps me to keep making art and sharing it with the world.

I had an idea pop into my head the other day to do a series of blog posts about my experience with keeping the creative juices flowing—or how I do it.

It would be easy to center these posts around “Artist’s Block”. I am no stranger to this as I’ve experienced it many times in the past, and it’s a particular bear when your entire career depends upon you manifesting new and fantastic, amazing designs that impress people continually.

I want to try to focus on the positive here, however. Let’s not focus on blockages. Let’s focus on how to keep the creativity flowing.

The universal Law of Attraction says that in order to “get” you must “give”. If I want to “get” creative, I must “give” it out through doing. You know… Use it or lose it.

So let’s get started, shall we?

(Check back each Friday at noon MST for the continuation of these tips!)

Tip three: try something new

I have found in my life that I am continually wishing to expand and grow. From learning a new language to experiencing new things. Sticking around in my comfort zone starts to become boring and stifling.

There’s a saying that says “comfort zones kill” and I’ll definitely agree that they can at least kill a person’s creativity.

This is probably why, when you look back through my past blog posts, art, and my varying Instagram feed, you’ll see that I don’t stick only to watercolors, only to florals, only to (fill in the blank.)

  • Arches watercolor block.
  • crystal lakes watercolor
  • parfait watercolor
Am I sporadic? Inconsistent? Maybe I just don’t like sticking with the same thing all the time.

Occasionally I’ll watch a YouTube video or see some amazing piece of art that’s in a style differing from mine or uses a media that I don’t typically use and I decide to try it out. Mostly because it just looks fun, but I suspect on a subconscious level it’s also because I’m fulfilling a need to learn and grow.

Playing with gouache for the first time. Was it a masterpiece? No. But I learned something from it. If anything I learned that starting with pan-form gouache probably ISN’T a good idea!

Do you just stay with what you’re comfortable with? Do you only do pet portraits and landscapes scare you? Do you only stick to painting but never consider crafting?

One of my favorite creative pursuits that steps away from my usual work is to hand-stitch a custom sketchbook. I particularly like the exposed binding in coptic stitch books. It’s been a long time since I’ve done one, but I just remember how much fun it is to do. It’s very hands-on in a sort of meditative way. Instead of making brush strokes, I’m guiding a needle through pages and creating something three-dimensional.

I had so much fun creating the above mini coptic stitch sketchbook. While I’ve been reserving it for what feels like forever to sell, I’m thinking I’m going to take it off the shelf and use it as my next sketchbook. It needs some love!

If you’d like to try your hand at making a coptic stitch sketchbook, Jennifer of Sea Lemon has some great book binding tutorials on YouTube, including coptic stitch.

I think this sort of change in focus helps my mind create new neural pathways which, hey, then creative thoughts get to travel along them and go sight-seeing.

It also gets my brain to look at things differently. New problem-solving skills which can then be applied to my art.

What new things can you try or have you contemplated trying but never pursued? How about a pottery or jewelry-making class? Quilting? Knitting or crochet? What about mixed-media work? Sculpting? Architecture? Woodworking? Glass blowing? Underwater basket weaving?

There are so many creative pursuits one could take. Consider shifting gears if you’re currently feeling blocked with your usual art.

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tip four >>

Be sure to follow my Instagram account @kellyro77 to stay up-to-date on my creative endeavors.

List of materials:

Leuchtturm1917 Dotted Notebook
Faber Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens
Leuchtturm1917 pocket sketchbook
Liquitex Acrylic Paints
Pigma Micron pens
Arches Watercolor Paper
Etchr Watercolor Sketchbook
QoR Watercolors
Caran D’ache Gouache Pans

Staying creative – Tip Two: Doodle

| Odyssey Art

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A list of materials can be found at the end of this post. As usual, please note that any links to Amazon products within this post are affiliate links, meaning I make a minute commission should you choose to purchase something via the link. This is at no additional cost to you. That said, I appreciate your patronage by using the links to purchase products. While small, any amount of money helps me to keep making art and sharing it with the world.

I had an idea pop into my head the other day to do a series of blog posts about my experience with keeping the creative juices flowing—or how I do it.

It would be easy to center these posts around “Artist’s Block”. I am no stranger to this as I’ve experienced it many times in the past, and it’s a particular bear when your entire career depends upon you manifesting new and fantastic, amazing designs that impress people continually.

I want to try to focus on the positive here, however. Let’s not focus on blockages. Let’s focus on how to keep the creativity flowing.

The universal Law of Attraction says that in order to “get” you must “give”. If I want to “get” creative, I must “give” it out through doing. You know… Use it or lose it.

So let’s get started, shall we?

(Check back each Friday at noon MST for the continuation of these tips!)

Tip two: doodle

Doodling is such a fantastic creative skill.

If you’re doing it right (and I use that term loosely), then you’re honestly not too concerned with the outcome of those little scribbles you’re making on your page.

All you’re doing is heeding that little urge you’re feeling to “do something”. Why not making that “doing something” creative and worthwhile instead of just zoning out?

Ugh, this meeting is so boring… Hey! I’ll doodle while so-and-so is droning on about quarterly analysis.

Ugh, my doctor’s appointment is running late… again. I know! I’ll doodle something because I don’t think I can take one more minute of scrolling mindlessly through Facebook.

I’ve been stuck on this phone call with tech support for what feels like forever… Ah! I’ll draw the cat while he’s sleeping.

As I mentioned earlier, your doodles do not need to be anything earth-shattering. I’m pretty big into doodling flowers and curly vines, so that’s what typically ends up in my meeting notebook at work, for example.

I have a sketchbook in my purse that I take with me everywhere, too, so sometimes when I find myself stuck waiting on an appointment, I’ll pull out my sketchbook and doodle.

I started work on this doodle in my old pocket Moleskine sketchbook while waiting at a dentist appointment.

Let’s say you don’t really feel like you have a particular “thing” that’s your go-to for doodling. Then draw what you see in front of you. Draw your notepad. Draw the dying plant in the corner of the waiting room. Draw the chair across the room in the restaurant. Draw the forks on your table. Draw the stapler.

If those things just aren’t your thing, look up Zen Doodling and see if something piques your interest in that arena. I’ve picked up many fun patterns and scribbles from doing Zen Doodling.

Draw patterns. Draw words (that’s what hand lettering is, after all – just words that are drawn instead of written.)

Early and really rusty practice with hand lettering.

One of my favorite doodlers is Peter Deligdisch from Peter Draws. He’s pretty eccentric if you watch him on YouTube. You get to listen to his random streams of consciousness. (I’m pretty sure if most of us actually vocalized the thoughts going through our heads it would sound pretty similar.) He has great suggestions and thoughts around drawing and doodling. He often describes what he’s doing as “just lines.” Most of all he’s just outstandingly talented. If you have an inferiority complex, stay away from his mandala videos. Or better yet – drop-kick your inferiority complex and watch his mandala videos and get inspired.

My doodles can often evolve into amazing full-page drawings. My dentist appointment doodle completed on the other side of this page. I started another doodle on the facing page.

Speaking of mandalas – those are another great doodling tool. I’ll sometimes prep a page in my sketchbook with some guides and then start adding to the mandala at random times until I eventually fill the page or feel like the mandala is complete.

Not sure how to prep a mandala? Kara Benz of Boho Berry has a great YouTube video you can watch. She also does beautiful mandalas.

  • mandala

I’ve done many mandalas over the years. And while some of the ones pictured above go beyond a simple doodle and involved more planning, I find they’re a very nice, therapeutic tool to use to draw for the sake of drawing.

Do you have a favorite doodling technique, tool, or go-to? Share it below!

<< TIP ONE
TIP THREE >>

Be sure to follow my Instagram account @kellyro77 to stay up-to-date on my creative endeavors.

List of materials:

Contains affiliate links. See disclosure for more info.

Pocket Moleskine Sketchbook
Sharpie Pen
Leuchtturm1917 pocket sketchbook
Pigma Micron pens
Liquitex Acrylic Paints
Uni-Ball Signo white gel pen
QoR Watercolors
Etchr Watercolor Sketchbook

Staying creative – Tip One: 30 days

| Odyssey Art

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A list of materials can be found at the end of this post. As usual, please note that any links to Amazon products within this post are affiliate links, meaning I make a minute commission should you choose to purchase something via the link. This is at no additional cost to you. That said, I appreciate your patronage by using the links to purchase products. While small, any amount of money helps me to keep making art and sharing it with the world.

I had an idea pop into my head the other day to do a series of blog posts about my experience with keeping the creative juices flowing—or how I do it.

It would be easy to center these posts around “Artist’s Block”. I am no stranger to this as I’ve experienced it many times in the past, and it’s a particular bear when your entire career depends upon you manifesting new and fantastic, amazing designs that impress people continually.

I want to try to focus on the positive here, however. Let’s not focus on blockages. Let’s focus on how to keep the creativity flowing.

The universal Law of Attraction says that in order to “get” you must “give”. If I want to “get” creative, I must “give” it out through doing. You know… Use it or lose it.

So let’s get started, shall we?

(Check back each Friday at noon MST for the continuation of these tips!)

Tip One: Create something every day for 30 consecutive days

When I first got into art journaling, I admit I was really quite scared to take it up. I’d lived in the digital realm of graphic design for so long, the thought of putting pen or brush to paper was scary. I really didn’t even know where I’d begin or what I’d do.

I was inspired after watching a couple of art journal layout videos by Vicky Papaioannou on YouTube. I loved the idea of saturating a two-page spread in my Moleskine with color, and when I gave art journaling some thought, I figured that all it basically was was an ad or poster layout. So I could very easily apply my graphic design background to any art journal layouts I did.

Vicky’s approach to art journaling also allowed me to see that I didn’t have to be creating fantastic, intricate pieces of art in hyper-realism with infallible technique and symmetry. Yes, art journaling can be that, but the ultimate goal of art journaling is play and practice. Vicky’s layouts are absolutely beautiful because there is a smooth and easy approach to them. This approach made me feel like such designs were attainable, such as the use of stamps and die cuts to create elements instead of drawing everything by hand.

So that’s where I started. It began with a couple simple sketches/drawings in my Moleskine with just colored pencils and markers and then it exploded after a visit to my parents’ place where my mother lovingly donated a bunch of art supplies to me because she wasn’t using them.

Some of my earlier art journal layouts. It was all about the play.

Four layouts in, I decided that I wanted to really put my skills to the test so I gave myself the goal to do a layout every single day for the remainder of the month of June. I just about managed that goal. I did 17 layouts in 20 days between June 10 and 30. I was, however, creating every one of those 20 days – there were just a couple layouts that took me a couple days to complete.

Here’s the icing on that cake. I really didn’t do this challenge for myself with any goal in mind other than to just see that I could do it. The hidden benefit I got from this is that I formed a habit. It took me a few months to finally realize that I had formed a habit, actually.

I’m sure you’ve all heard about the psychology behind doing something for 30 days to create a habit. I didn’t stop and tuck away my art supplies for good after June was over. Oh, no. I kept on journaling and creating and even now, four years later, I rarely find myself on extended breaks.

I usually have an urge to create every single day, and because of my experience I learned not to tuck the urge away and do it “after”. After work, after dinner, after I’m done watching my favorite show, after I’m done playing on my computer. No. If I have the urge to create, I do it unless it’s absolutely not a good time due to circumstances like driving my car or attending to an important task. But I do have a travel sketchbook in my purse always. And yes I pull it out and draw in it during breaks at work or when I’m out and about traveling, etc. My daily travel kit is just a pocket sketchbook (currently a Leuchtturm1917 pocket sketchbook), a Uni-ball KuruToga mechanical pencil, an eraser, and then a few Pigma Micron pens in varying sizes.

My current emergency sketch and doodle kit.

(Because I know someone’s going to ask, that purse is a Sakroots Foldover Crossbody purse. I love it. In part because of the decoration. I also like the foldover style. I can’t guarantee that particular pattern will still be available to those who check this post a year down the road, but they’re continually coming out with gorgeous designs, so be sure to check over there often as you may find something you really love.)

If I quash the urge and keep stifling it, eventually I will stop using my creativity, and I can guarantee it’ll be a task to try and pick it back up.

So here’s my suggestion to you, because you’re probably rolling your eyes at me thinking “Right. A full art journal layout every single day. Okay Miss-You-Were-Unemployed-Then.”

If it is within your power and you know with complete honest self-reflection that you can put aside time every day to do a full art journal layout or some other completed piece of art every day for 30 days, then yes, by all means I would encourage you to do so.

If you do not have that kind of time, however, because you have other important commitments like family or a job, then this is what I would suggest: Put aside just 15 minutes each day and do something creative. Sketch, smear some paint on a page, do some stamping, cut some paper, glue some magazine cutouts, whatever. But do something creative in those 15 minutes.

This will start to build the habit within you, and I can guarantee you’ll start wanting to do more and you’ll start finding ways to spend more than just 15 minutes each day working on something creative because you’ll be enjoying it and wanting to see it through to completion or as close as possible to completion.

I once did an exercise where I examined how I spend my time each day. Mostly it was to pin-point the areas where I was wasting my time doing activities and things that didn’t feed my creativity or spiritual growth. I found I wasted too much time watching television or poking around on Social Media.

When I ceased doing those things, I found I suddenly had lots of time to spend on things that I kept thinking were luxuries only meant for retirees or rich people.

Here’s the other important goal with this challenge. Make sure what you’re doing, you’re doing for you and you alone. You’re not doing it to impress anyone. If you really like what you did and feel like you want to share it, by all means do so. But absolutely do not do this to meet anyone’s approval. If you’re a harsh self-critic, I would even go so far as to say don’t do it to meet your own approval at the start, either. Just feed that creative urge and see what comes out. The more you do it, the more practice you’ll get and the more focused you’ll become and the more skilled your art will be.

Since that art journal journey almost four years ago, I’ve participated in several 30-day challenges on Instagram. I also participated in #the100daychallenge.

My creative flow has become more efficient, so much so that I’m okay now with giving myself breaks. I no longer fear coming to a dead halt. I’ve found my love and what inspires me and that alone is what keeps me creating on a regular basis.

A bonus to all those daily creations is that my skills just keep getting better and better. Sure, I have duds that come out every now and then, but overall I’ve seen vast improvements in my art.

Huge improvements in my control with watercolor over the years.
Tip Two >>

Be sure to follow my Instagram account @kellyro77 to stay up-to-date on my creative endeavors.

List of materials:

Contains affiliate links. See disclosure for more info.

Moleskine Sketchbook
Leuchtturm1917 pocket sketchbook
Pigma Micron pens
Uni-ball KuruToga Mechanical Pencil
Sakroots Foldover Crossbody purse
Liquitex Acrylic Paints
QoR Watercolors