Sketching and Doodling

Keeping free and easy in your creativeness is probably the most important issue to overcome and maintain. This is what I have learned myself, yet again, just recently. Yes, I say again, because we are constantly on a learning curve all through our lives. The difference is that we are usually at a different place when we come up against the same issue. You could visualise this as a spiral. We often go full circle with things, but we’re probably the next level up, even if we’re at the same issue.

It is well recognised that we can get bogged down by pressures and restrictions, (external and internal). We can be working on a particular theme or project and lose ourselves in it so far that we’ve forgotten how easy it used to be to create the way we used to outside of that particular project.

Enter the doodling and sketching exercise. At first it may seem trifling and irritating. It may be hard to loosen up. In fact it is hard to loosen up – I found this really hard, and in the first sitting I was a disaster. Why? Because I was trying too hard! The only way I could overcome it was to remove myself from the studio and sit in front on the tv.

So, here is the method:

1. Step outside of your studio or usual creative space.
2. Find somewhere else to set up with paper and pens (or whatever) as a temporary space
3. Put on the tv, the hifi, your ipod, or the radio…
4. Take 3 deep, slow breaths. Relax your shoulders.
5. Clear your mind of its clutter.
6. Get ready to doodle, or sketch.
7. If you need a subject, find some household, fridge, larder, objects, or some photos of something you like such as leaves, flowers, trees, landscapes.
8. Don’t think too much as you sketch. Let your eye guide the hand, with light concentration. Try to keep the style simple and free. It doesn’t have to be strictly representational – you can just fill in areas of colour, or just simple shapes.
9. Enjoy the process. Don’t produce anything for anyone else to see – this is your personal exercise.
10. Remember that if it doesn’t work, put it to one side and come back to it, or start again.

When you have finished your session, however long it takes, put it all to one side and leave it for at least half and hour. When you return to it, look at it objectively, if you can. Can you still see restrictions or barriers to the freedom you’re trying to achieve? If so, can you solve it?

I’d love to hear about your experiences – feel free to share. You may have a different way of loosening up, if so, let me know. I also welcome suggestions for issues to tackle in this blog - keeping creative is a universal subject and there’s so much to explore!

Thanks

Debs

above sketches:

top - "coastal cornfield" ©2008 Deborah Eileen Burrow

bottom -" across the reeds" ©2008 Deborah Eileen Burrow

both of these sketches are for sale at etsy.com

Setting the Inner Creative Child Free

Inside all of us is a creative child. Its that child we remember who dabbled in the sand and rock pools on the beach, drew crayons marks on the walls, pressed flowers and leaves, built hideouts in the woods and generally explored and experimented.

Over time that child gets a bit quashed and re-shaped into adulthood. If we are lucky we may go to college or university and re-learn, re-discover and encourage the creative child to create new things within a structured and well researched course. Hopefully the child remains part of our move into the professional world of creating and making a living from it, or just keeping the creativity as a hobby and finding a lot of pleasure in it.

Some of us will identify with the above. Others will identify with a different scenario – that of being someone who has lived a life without creativity since they were young. They may feel either that they have had no opportunity to express their creativity, or they feel that they are not creative at all.

Here is the truth – we are ALL creative in one way or another. Whether we express this through cooking, baking, home making, decorating, gardening, building, landscaping, sewing, writing letters, organising an office, the list goes on. The fact is that everyday living is creative – we have to use that part of our brain to function on a daily basis.

Here comes the fun part! I would like to invite you to do something different today, tomorrow and for the rest of your life. What is it that burns a hole in you? Is it writing, painting, dress making, interior design, pottery, drawing, photography…? Something will be desperate to be expressed. To start your personal creativity desire journey, indulge yourself in fifteen minutes a day of something you love. Don’t set yourself restrictions, just let that inner creative child free and express your heart out. Even dancing is creative!!

Even we seasoned artists can benefit from this freeing up of ourselves. When I started the journey I allowed myself to play with clay – it was liberating and really inspiring. I set aside all my long-held beliefs in not being able to do something, and the fear of being laughed or sneered at. It changed my life, and even though I didn’t carry on with ceramics, it had an impact on my painting. Through lots of self-indulging I found my true self and now I am proud to be who I am. Now I constantly remind people that creativity is a part of everyone’s life, not just mine.

Celebrate one of your deepest instinctual drives and please help others to do the same. You may be the one key to enriching another’s life by reminding them who they are.

Above painting, "Furrows" © 2008 Deborah Eileen Burrow

Lateral Thinking to Earn Cash

How many times have you sighed with despair at your bank statement because not enough money is coming in from your main creative job? How many times have you also had little wacky ideas that you have brushed aside as, “silly” or, “too distracting”?

I’m going to suggest you recall these little ideas and put them into perspective - then a little time spent on thinking of things you haven’t thought about before.

The most effective way to do this is with a kind of mind map – this can be fun and most revealing!

Start with a small circle in the centre of a piece of A4 paper. In the centre of this circle write, “Ways to Earn Cash around {my Creative Job}”. Then proceed with adding arms that hold ideas, which then split again into related ideas and so on.

It’s a brain drain first, then the details can be added on further stems.

To find an online resource to further help you with this, try Tony Buzan's site.

Brighten up your page with colours and symbols too :)
To help convince you, I already know of people who do reviews, make key rings, small prints, CD covers, teach, coach, and take photos, to supplement their professional artist’s income. I can also vouch for the unexpected joy and satisfaction that is possible by spending a bit of time away from the easel / computer/ sewing machine / craft table etc. Sometimes we get too close to our work, and this is ideal to make you take a break, but still earn some money.

Let your brain run away with you and get creative with new ideas. When you have written it down, get researching on the net for what you might need. For example, you may be surprised to know that you can make 100 fridge magnets for £39 (sterling). Selling them at £2 for example would be a profit of £160. At your exhibition, local craft shop, online shop etc. selling these could quickly earn you extra income. Another much more lucrative example would be giving demonstrations or running workshops – you can earn several hundred pounds a day! We all have skills we should make the most of besides our creative job.

Good luck and I wish you all the best with your ideas.

Above photograph and contents © 2008 Deborah Eileen Burrow

Coping with Bad Creating Days

Thanks to Nicky (www.myspace.com/nickyclarkestudio) for inspiring my subject this week.

I know you will appreciate what I’m talking about when I tell you of days when the paint won’t work for me and the subject gets lost and the brain is in a state of frustration.

What is the best way to cope with these days where clear flowing creativity eludes us?

Well, here goes:

1. Step away from the area!! Take 3 deep breaths and go and make a cup of your favourite drink. Relax!
2. When you are in a state of calm, decide whether you want to go back to the project or take some time out.
3. If you decide to take time out, remember NOT to beat yourself up because you’ve had a bad session – creating is creating, and there are no mistakes, only experiments. You are still talented and deserve to be an artist. Your contribution is undiminished, even at rest.
4. If you decide to go back to the project, ask yourself 2 questions. Will you feel better if you carry on with that project, or is it time to move onto something else for now?
5. Whichever you decide, do the 6 phrase breathing exercise (from my previous blog, “Stopping Before We Work??”).
6. Next, remind yourself of your basic elements to your art. Are you following these? For example, colour theory, subject matter, personal statements…
7. If you are trying something new, do you have too many changes happening at once? Do you need to do some research?
8. Is the light good in your work space, and is the music right? Or do you need to turn it off? Is the room the right temperature?
9. Now I’m getting you to think about this process, is there anything else to consider?
10. Finally – keep your mind open to allow flow at all times. Allow yourself an extra break or two today where you get some fresh air.
    
    Oh yeah, and Nicky reminds me that sharing with a friend always helps to dispell the negative frame of mind :)
    

To finish I have a small challenge for you!

With your favourite music on, doodle with your 3 primary colour pencils. Remember, this is fun, not a test of your ability! After 5 minutes, swap hands and doodle with your other hand. Carry on for another 5 minutes.

What can you see?

How you feel?

Write it down beside your doodle and pin this up on your notice board.

Thanks for joining me this week, and I wish you fun and happiness in your creating.

It’s what you were born to do :)