Do you want to get more creative freedom in your artwork?
There are two essential shifts to getting this, and while that are simple, they are not always easy to implement.
1 – Open yourself up to creative mistakes This sounds simple, but it’s very hard to see an artwork go ‘wrong’ and try to find the creative potential therein. But, it’s these chinks of creative potential that can lead us to the most fulfilling creative freedom.
I go through an effective reflection process in my online art school which is summarise as CREATE – DEVELOP – REFLECT – REPEAT. It’s a little more complicated than this of course, and a lot of artists don’t follow it. But when we do, exciting things happen.
2 – Experiment! Again, sounds simple, but it often means doing something we are unfamiliar with, not confident in and feels uncertain. But, there can be no creative development without it!
In my online art school I give tasks and strategies that are specifically designed to get you experimenting in a productive way.
Last month we worked on the theme of ‘Romantic/Sublime’, and my students picked one scene, and did a romantic and a sublime landscape version. It pushed some of them out of their comfort zone and gave them a reason to experiment with different methods, materials and subject matter.
Some fantastic artwork was made that opened out new creative avenues for them.
Here are a couple of examples:
