I want to talk about creativity, specifically how to make sure that you always have a way to work through creative blocks. Do you have a storage chest of inspiration tucked away, a reservoir of your thoughts and ideas, a data bank to pull unique information from? Where can you find all of this? In a sketchbook…you’re sketchbook.
The best way that I have found to deal with art block is to mine my mind, yep, that's what I said mine my mind. Not the mind in my head but the mind I recoreded in my sketchbook. Having a sketchbook habit is one of, if not the strongest way to bring you through the dreaded blocks.
Here is a quick list of best practices for your sketchbook:
1. Practice your passion
2. Play
3. Suspend Judgement
4. Go for quantity
5. Challenge yourself with variety
6. Never erase
Doodle, draw, paint, scribble, write, it doesn’t matter what you do, just put it in your sketchbook regularly, as much as you can.
Why ?
Sketchbooks are great places for freedom from the pressure to make a piece of art. Regularly working in it allows you to get into that creative flow mindset without having to produce. You can just play. Colors, compositions, emotional expressions, all of these are wonderful and free from purpose in your sketchbook. Let me encourage you to become “religious” with your sketchbook. Jot down your ideas quickly, don’t worry about how good anything is, just put your ideas down on the pages.
I have close to 50 or so sketchbooks with a huge amount of visual information that I can use. One of the things that I do whenever I'm looking through my old sketchbooks is I look through them upside down. It allows me to see things in their structural form rather than their traditional descriptive form. Another thing is I always try to ask questions like “what if” or “yes and” or “this plus this plus this.” Another exercise is I try to redo some of the work that I've already done but I make opposite changes.
Most artists experience art block but it doesn't have to be a debilitating experience, it doesn't have to be something that you're afraid of. A sketchbook is the foremost tool to keep the wall away and your mind flowing.
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