Where have I been lately?

So it’s true what “they” say: from the beginning of february on, the good resolutions of the new year vanish? I was going to draw each day, but it didn’t work out. I got sucked up in work again, too much work in the office and too much other things : “life is what happens to you while you’re busy doing other things…………”

No seriously now. Of course I didn’t manage to draw every day… I skipped a day now and then. So what? It has to stay fun doesn’t it. But I did draw more then I used to : ALMOST every day. And then I got out of inspiration ! Blank page staring at me, and nothing coming out except some crappy stuff. So I tried some other things…

• I started more reading: I started reading a new novel. When I’m out of creative inspiration I like to read because it triggers my imagination. It’s like what Elizabeth Gilbert writes in het book “Big Magic” : to stimulate her writing creativity she did a drawing class…
• just draw something out of the newspaper about what’s happening in the world. So I have drawn Aylan… the poor Syrian kid that was found on a Turkish beach…
• I started a thematic project : a sketchbook about home. I digged up two sketchbooks I bought last summer (lovely Fabriano accordeon sketchbooks) and started drawing things at home: the house, a piece of the staircase, a piece of the kitchen, small objects I like around the house, a lamp, my drawing table, my cat… So when I go on holiday I can take home with me. 🙂
• When I have a lack of inspiration or not much time or when I’m tired and don’t feel like drawing I make small vignette drawings: I draw a square of 3 cm x 3 cm and make a tiny mini drawing. When you have 4 or 6 of these tiny thumbnail drawings it immediately looks cute !
• Also a good tip when I’m in a bad drawing mood: don’t draw in pencil ! When you draw in pencil and you have a bad drawing day you will spend your time with the eraser so DON’T draw in pencil: pick up your ball point pen or ink and draw with that so you cannot erase. And don’t stop if it looks bad: go on and put colour on it afterwards. It will eventually look quite good in the end 🙂
• draw mindfully: just let your pen or pencil slide over the paper without that it has to look good. Just be mindful and draw. It’s about just doing it: training your drawing muscle 🙂
• make a creative date with yourself by going to the art museum
• go for a walk

The good thing about giving yourself a thematic project is that your area of inspiration is made smaller and that you start to look with fresh eyes the world around you: with new eyes, you see more details, new things.

Your creativity will be stimulated when you step out of your daily routine and do something fun.Everything new to yourself will boost your brain and take you off your usual track. That way you get new ideas, new knowledge and new images. But that’s not enough: you also have to let go and relax, do nothing !

Creativity needs time, rest and space.

So I also tried meditation. Did you try meditation? Sit still and concentrate on your breath? I can’t do it… I always start thinking of all kinds of things. Art is a kind of meditation, too, as well as nature. It lifts you up, so that you get away from your daily life and are able to rest. You stop thinking and you start “being”. And from the moment the thinking and judging comes back, the meditation can start: you’ll get to know more about yourself and your way of thinking and feeling… Let’s take time to be mindful, open minded and open-hearted.