One of the biggest misconceptions is that creativity is something that appears out of wide-open spaces with endless possibilities. The image of an artist who is so prolific they just sit at a canvas and ideas flow like water, has tortured many a struggling creative.
Sitting in front of a blank page waiting for an idea to strike can be so intimidating.
I have sat in that space so many times. Ultimately, I would see it as confirmation that I’m not really an artist and should basically stop “pretending” I had any hope of ever being one.
However, this past year, I have discovered a solution to silence those judgments and help me thrive as an artist.
Of course this is only worth reading if you have ever struggled or doubted yourself. If you have no idea what that’s like, you should probably stop reading this and go about your merry way. (and p.s., we all hate you)
So here’s the deal: if you are feeling stuck and you can’t think of what to do, create some restrictions & boundaries to work within.
It may seem counterintuitive, but working within certain parameters can actually increase your creativity.
I don’t know the reason behind it, but my guess is it has something to do with the benefit of having a structure. Of course, that could be some of my “type A” proclivity talking.
Regardless, I’ve seen it work and I encourage you to give it a try.
You can play with the number and type of restrictions that you establish. There is certainly a point when establishing too many can result in bogging down the process.
But, that’s also the good thing about self-imposed restrictions; if something isn’t working, you can make adjustments accordingly.
The restrictions for my 365-day challenge are:
- Every piece of artwork contains either a word or phrase (I sometimes add other graphics, but initially the purpose was to help me work out an entire alphabet, so I wanted to work with letters every day)
- The word/phrase needed to be something that I had a connection to. (As a working artist there are times when I need to create artwork for something I’m not really connected to. Since this challenge was entirely mine, it was important to me for there to be a connection to the subject. The type of connection can vary; some things are entertaining to me and others have a personal connection. In the end, it really is an intuitive thing as to whether or not I have a connection. If I don’t feel it, then it isn’t content I will use.)
- No swear words (I don’t have any issues with swearing. Catch me at the right moment and I can $%*# with the best of them, but it felt like it would be too easy to rely on curse words for this project. In fact, that specific limit has resulted in creating work that, in my opinion, is more genuine. Because on the days when it feels like an f-bomb would capture what I want to say, I’m forced to get underneath that energy and find other words to express that message.)
Those 3 restrictions have helped me to create an entire year of artwork.
If you are feeling stuck as an artist, regardless of what kind of art you create, put some restrictions in place and see how that helps your process.
I’d love to hear from anyone who gave it a try. Did having limits help you create? What were your restrictions?
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