Trying to Be Creative – a lesson in not trying

Lately, I’ve had a major artistic block. I’ve felt the strong desire to make something, but when I try to think of what I want to make nothing happens. It’s extremely frustrating. So, when I get these intense needs to make something combined with a terrible creative block I have a back-up plan.

I break out my trusty Prismacolor colored pencils. They are so amazing to use, the pigments are vibrant and super soft. I haven’t used my Crayola pencils in a long time, so I’ll have to try those out soon and see how different the two brands are.

This is a book I picked up in Paris. I had been wanting a good art therapy book for a while, but I had been struggling to find one that was affordable and had interesting pictures. Of course, a month after I return from Europe with about 7 art therapy books in tow, I find that adult coloring books have really taken over. TIME TO BUY MORE I GUESS HAAA.

Anyway, I love this one especially because it’s color by number, so I really don’t have to be very inspired at all, no pressure, just color and make something pretty. Also, it has the oddest collection of faces ever: Princess Diana, Kanye West, Ghandi, etc.

The uncolored portraits are super hard to tell what they are, so I usually just choose one at random and don’t look at who it’s supposed to be until I’m done. Here is the one I chose this time, supposed to be done in grays.

However, because I’m SO CLEVER, I decide to do these in alternative colors, sometimes monochromatic, sometimes just a bunch of color chaos. This time I chose some shades of green.

I didn’t manage to get a shot of the portrait before I started, but even after one or two colors, you can see that it’s a little hard to tell what the image will be.

Here’s a few more colors. (This one only needed 5 colors so pretty simple)

And here’s my finished product!

Doing these helps relieve so much stress. I get to zone out and just get out some creativity without any of my self-imposed stress. And I’m often very proud of what I make. I’m thinking next time I’ll do some bold crazy color combos. I did one like that in Paris and I really love it, even though it looks like nonsense.

I hope this post inspires you to find a low-pressure, fun way to get out your creativity so you can feel productive!