Creative juices can be like syrup, if it's warm it's viscous and flowy, but if it's cold it will be thicker than your great gramma's Russian accent and when it’s cold it’s hard to get it running. It can be like trying to start your lawnmower after a long winter. You pull on the cord a bunch of times but all you get is the repeated sputter putt, putt, putt, and yet no start. I've had this problem more times than I wish and found ways to beat it.
Here are a few ideas you might try to get that cold motor running. First off, unlike popular belief, creativity does not like free-range thinking. Putting yourself in the box may help to get the creative juices flowing.
In the movie Apollo 13, 3 astronauts (Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton & Tom Hanks ) have a malfunction in the lunar capsule. They are running out of air and just like your lawnmower, they can't get the darn thing started. NASA calls in the re-enforcements. 12 of the smartest minds, scientists, engineers, and mathematicians are brought together to solve the problem.
Ed Harris's famous line is just before this scene:
“We have never lost a man in space and we sure as hell are not going tomorrow now. Not on
my watch”.
See video.
Living outside the box for most can be a bit daunting. Too much freedom can breed anarchy. Without some sort of guideline, the brain really has no idea where to go. If you put a fence around it and now it wants to solve the problem.
Here are a few ideas you might use to wrangle the old brain box into creating something fun.
1 - Paint something you normally would never try.
If you normally paint landscapes try an urban scene or maybe even figure.
2 - Upside down.
Take a photo and flip it upside down, The brain won't recognize it and you will be amazed at how well the painting will come out once you flip it over after you're done. I usually spend a few more minutes once it’s upright and clean the painting up a bit. This works well for chaotic-type photos.
3 - Use a Limited palette.
Narrow your colour range down. Challenge yourself to just a few colour choices. Your basic red, yellow, blue, Nathol Red, Yellow Ochre, Ultramaine Blue, Chroma Black. You will be amazed at what you can do with this.
Check out Diego Velazquez's self-portrait.
He used
White
Yellow Iron Oxide (Goethite)
Red Iron Oxide (Hermatite)
Ultra Blue (Azurite)
Bone Black
This could lead you to a purely monochromatic painting or even a nocturn.
Here is a nocturn boat painting I did as a demo recently.
4 - Try an abstract.
Paint something nonrepresentational. Take a black paint marker and draw some random circle or shape on a piece of paper then start to colour in some shapes. You will be amazed at what may come out. If anything it gets the juices flowing. It’s amazing the fun you can have when you leave all your judgment behind. Check out this Susan Wollgar painting. Shapes and marks baby! Shapes and marks.
5 - Find beauty in the mundane.
Look around you, there is an abundance of things to paint. Here is a bottle of Ketchup in watercolour. Yup, an ordinary yet saucy thing to paint.
6 - Step away from what you normally use.
Experiment with materials. Play with new mediums or techniques, like watercolours, mixed media, or palette knife painting. Let the medium inspire your subject; for example, the fluidity of watercolour might evoke ideas of movement or water-themed art.
7 - Go see a live band, see a movie, visit an art gallery.
Nothing like refuelling the gas tank with creative juices to get your own juices flowing.
8 - Painting a painting in 20 strokes.
Limit your painting to 20 brush marks and see how simple you can make a work of art. By simplifying your intent the brain has more room to create.
Here is a gouache painting I did with only twenty-seven brushstrokes. I tried for twenty but I
stopped at twenty-two. Then I saw I needed a top-up and it went to twenty-seven. Sure I
cheated a bit but I like it.
Keep these things in mind if you’re having trouble getting the creative juices flowing. I hope
they will get your motor running.
Your friend in art,
Doug.
Ps...
"On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, at the dawn of
decision, sat down to wait, and waiting died." - George W Cecil.
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