1. Keep Your Art Supplies and Tools Easily Accessible- If you have to dig into closets, rearrange furniture, move lights, and whatnot before you are ready to start, it takes a strong determination just to get started. During a lower inspiration phase, that willpower may not come easily. Keeping your supplies in one location and organized can make starting and cleaning up effortless. It also cuts down on the amount of time you need to spend doing non-creative things before being able to start working on your art.
2. Just Show Up at Your Studio/Workspace (or join us at Twymon Art!)- When you don’t feel the inspiration coming, go to your art station anyway. Look at your sketchbooks; start organizing your materials and tools; read art magazines or art books. Often this will be enough to stimulate your creativity.
3. Take Lots of Pictures of Things and Places You Like and Collect Reference Photos (and keep them organized!)- When we see something we like, somehow we feel inspired. Don’t miss the opportunity and take a photo. It is always better to use your own photos rather than someone else’s for reference. The fact that you have seen it in person and experienced it will add to the value of the image. Throughout the year, clip out and save any pictures that you like and that somehow inspire you, and store them in an organized way.
4. Start Doodling- When you are out of inspiration for your creations, drawing can be an effective icebreaker, and it is a great exercise anyway. Sit down with a pencil and a sketchbook and start doodling: draw, make sketches of what surrounds you, make plans for your next project, take visual notes, sketch from your reference photos.
5. Try Something New and Network Within the Art Community- Go out and network with other artists (or join us at Twymon Art)! Being creative with someone else is a great source of positive energy. Fellow artists are the best to understand your lack of inspiration, we all go through that in phases, and the advice and ideas you can get from other artists are priceless when it comes to getting out of a dull period. Artists have the tendency to work in isolation, alone in their studio, and this solitude can make a temporary lack of inspiration seem impossible to circumvent. Get out and meet other artists, join local art classes, go to gallery openings and art talks. Each conversation will give you food for thought and stimulate your creativity in some way. Attend local arts-and-crafts fairs, seeing what other artists are doing and chatting with the vendors can be great sources of inspiration.
6. Take a Class and Learn a New Technique or Read Books that Inspire Your Creative Genius- Kind of self-explanatory, lol!
7. Participate in Art Challenges- Art challenges can bring you out of your art funk. There are several online websites that have monthly or weekly art challenges. This will give you the opportunity to try new techniques, themes, or creative methods.
8. Create for the Sake of Creating- Making art just because you enjoy the process, without worrying about anyone else seeing the final product, can be very liberating. Try focusing on a technique, or on a specific medium. Experiment or just go with the flow and create art because you enjoy it, without worrying about the outcome. Don’t get discouraged if the artwork takes a different turn during execution and it turns out differently. Keep creating and don’t forget the most important thing: art is a journey, not a destination.
