So I thought I would come up with a list of Creativity Exercises that I could do when I needed a little
A Collection of Cool Calisthenics for the Creatively Challenged
 |
| Squint Your Eyes - See the Values |
- Value Studies - Pick an inspirational picture from your collection. Squint your eyes seeing the blobs of values. Make a quick sketch coloring it in grey scale.
- Cut Ups/Glue Back - Take an interesting magazine picture. Cut it up into big hunks. Glue it back quickly together in a totally new composition. Hang on design wall. Repeat with a new one.
- Draw A Sharpie Squiggle - With a regular pencil finish off the squiggle (or curve) into full fledged picture or composition.
- Tackle Youtube - Watch an artist creating in an alternative medium or listen to a Ted Talk on Creativity.
- Doodle - Use doodling to explore Line and texture. Try different styles. Try not lifting your pen. Try not to self edit.
- Go For A Walk - Take a familiar Path but this time really look closely at things around you. See the beauty of where you live and explore the interesting compositions that you walk by everyday. Take a camera to capture it.
- Play with PicMonkey - Pick a photo and just start playing with it- Crop it - Add Filters - Add Text etc. etc.
- Crank Up the Music - Now just draw, paint, fuse down what the music is saying to you without you thinking about it too much
- Quote It - Take a favorite quote - Decorate it anyway you want - color, collage, etc - send it to a friend
- Analyses Art - dust off the art books you have and really look at what makes great art great. Pick out focal points, name compositions, look at palettes
So these are some off the top of my head. DO YOU HAVE ANY?
5 comments:
A faire et à refaire tout cet hiver, une liste parfaite merci
Good Morning from South Carolina!
Okay ... I know that I happen to live in a sunny state and that today's high temperature will hover in the upper seventies (through the weekend) but I also know the feelings of blocked creativity, the "dark day doldrums". Because I didn't grow up stitching and making art, I had to learn HOW TO BE AN ARTIST after the age of forty-two. While exercises might fill the time and occasionally lead to productivity, I'm going to suggest something else. Pick up a UFO or some other piece that isn't finished (anything in progress) and simply force yourself to work ... just like the days at a real, career, paying job that are uninspired. Pick up the piece that is most troubling, the one that seems to be blocking the path to your natural flow ... and force yourself to work on it. It is hard and frustrating but the answers are in the actual work. With time, the "forced part" becomes shorter and shorter. It doesn't take as much time as one might fear to develop the habit of working/making/creating if one pushes through the blockage. When I first started out, I'd cry, doubt myself, think everything I made was pure crap, and mentally chastise myself for even thinking that I might become a professional artist. It was pitiful at first but within a year, I wasn't half as challenged. Within two years, I was unblocked ... and I've stayed that way for more than a decade. There were a few things/tips that helped. 1) Leaving something undone in your studio that you've already set a plan for action. That way, when you come back, you'll be immediately doing something productive. 2) Go through Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" and develop the habit of daily, stream-of-consciousness writing. It is a way to conquer your mental demons and put your mind/heart/hands in the best position for creativity. I hope this helps. I've been linking to your blog for years now. One of my fondest wishes is that you find the sort of excited energy that I have at the very thought of going to my studio and making art. By the way, I too have a day job. I do understand the stresses and time management issues you face. You can do it! All the best, Susan
A road trip of a trip of any kind usually shakes things up for me! Lots of new visual stimulation form my trip to SF.
What awesome ideas! I'm inspired!
Great ideas to boost creativity..we all get the funk and can't create! I hope you don't mind that I shared your post on my blog?
Post a Comment