I've been struggling with creative block lately. I want to work on my own project, for a change, so bad that I just cannot seem to decide what to draw! Over the last couple of months I've had some commissions to do, so my time to work on 'whatever' has been limited. So now that I have some time to work on something else, I'm frustrated because I'm stumped as to what to do next. So when I read Cindy's blog about "The Creative Muse", it caught my attention. I spend a lot of time looking for new ideas for my students. My advanced students seem to have problems deciding for themselves also. Today I'm looking for ideas for lesson plans and came across some articles about the creative process and where Artists come up with ideas. I came across Nita Lelands blog about "Blockbusters for Artists". I think this is a good list, but I feel such a time crunch that I don't always take the time for these creative activities. I want to jump right in to 'my next great piece'! HA. But it doesn't work that way! I do have her book "The New Creative Artist" and use it at school with my students. I've even made some lessons from some of her projects. So I just need to take my own advice to my students, and play around with some of her ideas. I know what medium I want to use, Neocolors II and Prismacolors on pastelboard are my new favorites, because of their speed and painterly possibilities. Now for deciding what to paint/draw.
So Cindy suggests creating a list to get ideas. I'm still working on the main idea...The subject! I want to chose a subject that says its ME! Cindy often does Still Life, Nicole Caulfied often does Still Life. Paula does Yarn and other cute illustrations. I just seem to be all over the place! (Maybe a result of teaching art for 25 years.) I've got to focus more on 'my subject'! I've done many architectural pieces, but I'm not sure if that is 'my subject' or if I should pursue more still life or what? So what do you think? If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My Kiln
My Little Kiln She is small but mighty. She gets the job done. The size of my kiln does limit what I can create, but I get a lot of use o...
-
Colored Pencils Artists are notorious for having lots of art supplies. I'm guilty as charged. It is a necessity. It is a passion. It i... -
New, to Me, Paper for Doodle Sketching I had some black paper that I used to use for my colored pencil drawings, so I decided to try them ... -
Keeping the Pencils Organized Do you have a lot of pens, pencils, markers? When you have a lot of art supplies, you need a system for ...
Hi, I'm Debbie and just stumbled onto your blog. This really spoke to me as I have done so many mediums in my life from, drawing, oil painting, took Asian floral arranging while living in Korea for two years and then got into pottery for the last few years and still have my studio back home. We have just recently moved and I picked up color pencils the other day for the first time in 9 years. To say the least, I'll be picking up some good pencils this week as I'm sick of using the grocery store crayola pencils that I picked up last week. I'm with you and really don't know how to advise but I will check back to see what others have to say.
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie. Thanks for the comment. Oh you definitely need some good colored pencils and paper! ScribbleTalk is a wonderful site with lots of good information about colored pencils, if you need any advice!
ReplyDeleteHi Beth! Thanks, I'll march right on over to Scribble Talk. However I did pick up a set of Prismacolors yesterday and I'm so pleased with them thus far. I'll continue to check back.
ReplyDeleteYou do such beautiful work and I look forward to seeing where your path leads.
I think that you're in the "teacher" mode of thinking for others--your students. When I taught weekly classes, my time was consumed with lesson plans, samples, preparations and teaching, and did not leave much time for "my" art. You teach daily! I think I'm in a similar place you're in--I'm all over the place with my colored pencils and watercolors. I'm just playing and enjoying the discovery and experimentation phase until I find my path. Whatever you choose, you will be excellent in it. You already do excellent work. ;-D
ReplyDeleteDebbie, have fun with the Prismacolors!
ReplyDeleteFannie, you are so right! Even after teaching for so long, I'm still looking for new projects, which means I need more samples, lesson plans, etc. And thank you for the vote of confidence!
You're welcome, Beth! A teacher encourages his/her students. Who encourages the teacher?
ReplyDeleteI admire you as an artist and teacher. Great job!