The benefits of a daily creative practice are many. Here are my tips for setting up a habitual creativity space based on my fine art practice. I think you’ll be amazed how it pushes you to re-evaluate your use of time, and makes you a better artist for any medium.
Organize your studio. Before you begin, organize your creative area, gather and sort inspirations, sketches, and photographs by subject matter. Landscapes, floral, portraits, etc. Bring in some plants and remove the things that are weighing you down.
30 in 30 paintings © Sandra Mucha | Acrylic on Canvas
Having a daily art making practice can help motivate you to prepare by just prepping and Checking supply levels such as canvas, paint, brushes and other necessary materials. I leave a fresh canvas on the easel at the end of each day. I also liked having fresh water and clean brushes waiting for me the next day.
Planning, but it is okay to expereiment. Pick a theme a week, allowing for 5 or 6 creations per series. Think final layout like my below image. I tried this a second time sticking to the columns and it makes for a great recap as in the above verses the below recap. Your call. Be ready to shift and finesse any evolving ideas that tend to the cross pollinate.
30 in 30 paintings © Sandra Mucha | Acrylic on Canvas
Write it down on paper. Use a journal and a daily planner. Checking in weekly a Sunday eve or Monday am and continue with noting in a daily journal and planner to indicate what is working, what to stop doing, and what to continue, will help reset your mind set for the coming week. I set a reward for the end of each painting, and/or week. Hike with my family, gardening, reading a good book, movie, etc.
Write below in the comments what helps you to reset?
“Note what is working, what to stop doing, and what to continue, will help reset your mind set for the coming week.”
Post and give support to other artist during the process to a social platform of your choice. Use hashtags to help see others using this constraint of 30in30, 100in100, styles, or subject matters.
Another idea is to post daily to your own blog. You may post every other day, or once a week with a recap if your schedule prefers. Plus, social platforms keep changing, but your blog is always there for recording your process.
“Social platforms keep changing, but your blog will always be there for recording your process.”
Ideas evolve. The process of creating allows the artist to grow and experiment with the variety of series. Trying mixing and apply previous ideas to the next piece. My ideas tend to mash up or cross pollinate. Some call it flow. See where your ideas take you and adjust your themes if needed till It becomes a ritual.
Life happens, and one will find the creative process is always waiting there for you. I have a separate studio space. There is something about respecting the process and honoring it with its own set up for each department. Think research, sketching, painting, photographing/archiving, wiring, vanishing, displaying it helps to keep things in the same spot for quicker task too.
I’ll be sure to write more on studio setup, and my virtual art teaching setup in a later post.
In the meantime, Drop me a line at sandra@sandramucha.com or leave a comment below this post.
Check out my socials (located at the very bottom of this page) to see how I continue to post, or join my online art lessons and community available at www.SandraMucha.thinkific.com