Let’s get you in the mood...to paint!
You may want to dedicate yourself to painting more but struggle to get started.
Or maybe you have no issues getting started but feel like you make ‘mistakes’ on final pieces until you’ve warmed up.
Maybe you’re super inspired but have too many ideas and don’t know where to start.
I’m going to share with you some simple ways I like to start that may help you too.
Copy something you like. Don’t overthink the choice, if something takes your fancy that’ll do! (Its not copyright infringement to copy something for learning purposes. Don’t make a final piece out of it or sell anything you’ve copied.)
You could copy a finished artwork, a pattern on a leaf, album cover, book cover, something that pops up in your Pinterest feed.Draw what you can see. Whatever you’re looking at in that moment. It doesn’t have to be realistic, accurate, interesting or even what you can physically see. Maybe its in your imagination.
Colour swatches. Using whatever medium you like, make some swatches of the various colours, gradients or tones. I like to do this when I buy something new too, it introduces me to how the product works and looks. Make a little (or big!) swatch of paint, marker, pencil etc. and write what it is underneath. You could take it further and play with how you apply that product - think scraping, fingers, watered down, dots, lines, heavy, light.
Close your eyes. And go. Removing the visual helps to let go of any pressure to make something ‘good’. Squiggle, paint, stamp, splat however and try not to think about it.
Write down all the ideas. If you’ve got heaps swirling around in there and its overwhelming, write them all down. It kind of airs them out, like journalling. It’s not like a to-do list where you pick one and do it, more like a tool to quiet the brain a little.
Clean your studio or space. Hmm, not as fun haha but a pretty powerful way to clear your mind and possibly stumble across something you feel like playing with. I’m always amazed how much lighter I feel when my surroundings are tidy!
Maybe these spark some movement in a project or two, but maybe they don’t! Maybe these ideas were a tool to switch off for 15min, maybe they shift something that you won't realise until further down the track or maybe you discover something small like a new favourite colour that you end up using over and over! It's all a valuable part of your journey and it’s the tiny pieces that are brought together to form your creations.
