This week, I found myself at multiple fun painting events that my coworkers were holding. At each one, I ended up staring at the canvas and not knowing what to do. I really wanted to participate, but I was at an impasse of not knowing where to go, what colours to choose, or what design/picture to paint. Clearly, I am not the only person to ever have this dilemma, so I wanted to focus this post on what you can do to get that creativity and inspiration back and finally figure out what the heck to paint.

The first technique is pretty simple and that is just to use the technology around you and google simple painting ideas. My technology was my phone and the use of my Pinterest account. I find that Pinterest produces much better results than Google, but Google will work in a pinch if you do not have a Pinterest account. If you are interested in creating a Pinterest account, I highly recommend it because it truly is a fabulous site for all sorts of things, such as artsy ideas, new recipe ideas, and so much more! Anyway, back to what I was saying. Asking Google is always an option, but if you want to go more high-tech than that, you could ask an AI generator to give you ideas. If you are looking for low-tech, you could ask someone sitting around you, but in my experience, their suggestions tend to be above my capability.

A pic of my Pinterest-inspired painting. It is simple because that is all my brain could handle after a LONG day. I might add to it later by adding zentangle-like designs with black Sharpie.

Another way to bulldoze the art/creative block is to simply start painting. With the painting below, I had no idea where to start and the internet had already failed me. I found a few colours I liked -baby blue, light blue, medium blue, dark purple, light purple, white, and gold- and I just started painting the whole canvas the light blue. I made the corner medium blue, and with no more inspiration, I painted the heart and the big sun. I then added dots and the light purple rectangle and the idea had formed. I was going to add random shapes and things chaotically and hope to everything that it turned out ok-ish. I still had a little bit of brain block, so I asked my friends/coworkers for shapes that I could add and, as expected, I got weird math-type shapes that I could barely spell, let alone paint. Eventually, I was able to strongarm enough inspiration to add all the different shapes and colours, which was really enjoyable. By the end, I could look at it and be happy with what I created and proud of my victorious win against art block. The moral of the story is that sometimes you just have to start and force creativity rather than waiting for it to come to you. Eventually, an idea will come, and from there, you are set!

This type of painting can also be done with students where they choose their own colours and shapes and design their very own EYE SPY painting/game.

Eye spy a fish…

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Thanks for joining me on this artsy fartsy adventure,

-Kristen