or Getting back to art making
You know that feeling, you want to spend your time with something you truly enjoy but life happens and no matter what your plans and goals are you need to put everything on hold unexpectedly.
That is how I have felt in the past few months. Not being able to do anything creative or productive for a long time does not feel great. I was dealing with some medical issues, then we got the cutest puppy ever occupying my time and juggling a full-time job at the same time left me with no time nor energy for myself and my artistic endeavours.
Now, when most things are settled down, I feel somewhat lost and coming back to art making is not as easy as I initially thought it would be. Being desperate to do something I could enjoy again and that is achievable in a fairly short period of time, made me think of what I can do to get back on track.
My criteria for “getting back on track”
Making my Artwork needs to:
- be doable in less than 20-30 minutes per session
- be easy and achievable within my set time frame
- fit to an A5 (14.8x21cm) or A6 (14.8×10.5cm) paper size
- allow me to stop at any point and continue when I can
Ideally, all the above will allow me to create multiple mini-artworks a week.
There is an argument that quality is not necessarily better than quantity. Apparently, quantity provides more opportunity to gain necessary or new skills and gives the opportunity to test many different things. All this ultimately brings the quality showing in your work. True or not, I am going with this approach and see what happens.
Things to do when you get stuck
Simple as it sounds, the best thing you can do for yourself is get inspired by the world around you or from the most popular source ever-the internet. This will spark your imagination and creativity in no time and your head will be filled with lots of wonderful ideas. I tend to search for a topic I am interested in online and then take a look at all the images Google can offer me. It never fails me to find something super-duper interesting and, most of the time, it is something I was not even looking for.
The other thing to do is to follow other artist’s tutorials or take art classes and workshops. Platforms such as YouTube, Skillshare or Patreon are full of easy-to-follow tutorials. It takes the pressure of knowing what to draw away, so you can fully concentrate on techniques. It allows you to switch your brain off and just enjoy the process.
Following others from time to time has a massive benefit, even though you may already have your own style and be “set in stone”. It will always enhance your style further and brings something fresh to your work.
My Plan
Alongside experimenting with my art materials, I’ve committed to a one-year sketching course. It was a very hard decision for me as I usually change my interest every month or two. Committing to a full 12 months course is imaginable for me at the moment, but I am hoping to gain consistency in my art practice. Also, I have a strong tendency to over-complicate things, every perfectionist knows what I am talking about, so I am hoping to learn how to simplify my drawing and get a little bit looser and more expressive as well.
