Artist's Block Cured!

201 ways to unleash your creativity

Linda Krall, Amy Runyen

• Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781610586054
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

Beginning and advanced artists alike have experienced "artist's block" at some point in their endeavors. Now artists can turn to this book in their time of need. Artist's Block Cured! provides a stimulating array of ideas for beating blank canvas syndrome and conquering other creative ailments. Broken down into four color-coded categories, beginners will find activities, lessons, quizzes, and inspiration from the Masters to help jumpstart creativity. Written by creative thinker and illustrator Linda Krall, this book is an effective and entertaining tool no artist should be without!

Introduction

There’s no doubt about it—“blank canvas syndrome” can be a giant burden, indeed. But if you open your mind to new ideas, processes, and the possibility of fun, you can overcome it and learn a lot about yourself as an artist while doing so. Whether you’ve hit a creative roadblock or just need some encouragement, Artist’s Block Cured! offers a multitude of ways to help you move outside your comfort zone and into the realm of heightened creativity.

How you use this book is completely up to you. Although each of the 201 entries is numbered from start to finish, you can just as easily start from the back of the book and work your way forward as you can from the beginning. Open the book at random, and there it is: inspiration. Beautiful, isn’t it?

Entries are divided into six color-coded categories to make selecting an activity or piece of wisdom that much easier:

ASSIGNMENTS

This category is full of creativity-boosting challenges and step-by-step projects that outline a process, but also allow you to make the final determination about where your project goes. It’s like school, but without the pressure and harsh grading.

INSPIRATION

Inspiration comes in all forms, and the entries in this category are no different. There are new concepts to ponder, thought-provoking examples of how other artists work, and suggestions for finding sources of inspiration.

MENTAL EXERCISES

These prompts send your mind in new and stimulating directions. The end product of your cerebral labor won’t be on your canvas, but it will certainly be evident the next time you approach it.

EXPERIMENTS IN MEDIA

This category provides a quick and basic overview of a media or technique that may be new to you. You’ll be surprised how entering unknown territory can kick start an entire series of new work! If you find a project particularly enjoyable, research the medium further. There are myriad ways to use and apply all of these examples.

GAMES

Like Mental Exercises, the games included in this category will get your brain working, but they’ll also get your hand drawing in a fun and uninhibited way. Keep an eye out for collaborative games that wrangle friends and colleagues into your creative process. They’ll thank you for it.

ARTIST’S SPOTLIGHT

These full-page profiles of professional artists from various genres and backgrounds offer useful advice for combating creative blocks, as well as encouragement about making a living in the art world.

You might also notice several “Did you know?” and “Do it now!” entries throughout the book. They’re exactly what they sound like they should be: intriguing facts about the world of art and suggestions for spontaneous creativity-enhancing action.

We’ve offered 201 ways to reawaken the artist within. What you can achieve with what you learn, however, is limitless.

#1 Did You Know?

Artist Jasper Johns took cues from Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein when approaching the canvas. Johns appreciated Wittgenstein’s regard for logic and his analysis of how and why logic falters. Johns, too, sought a higher understanding of logic and used painting as a process by which to better comprehend it.

GAMES

#2 Squiggle

This is a fun drawing game to play with a partner or alone. First, draw a squiggle on a piece of blank paper; just let it flow—don’t think about it (A). Then, with a different colored pen or pencil, try to make something out of your squiggle (B). Make sure to turn it around several times and view it from various angles. It can be anything: a person, animal, object, or a monster. It can even be a scene of some sort. Perhaps it becomes inspiration for a short story (C), (D), (E). . . —A. R.

Octopus and man artwork © Amy Runyen. Bird and Rhino artwork © Max Lizzaraga.

ASSIGNMENTS

Photo © Juliette Becker

A flower display outside a store caught Juliette’s eye.

#3 Random Shots

Artist Juliette Becker has a useful method for unblocking creativity: When you lack the inspiration to paint or draw, take your camera and start shooting anything of interest. Even random shots that may not engage you are useful because when you examine the photos later, you’ll likely find something unexpected. After you finish shooting, use your computer to make a slideshow of what you shot. You can even enlarge pieces of a shot to discover unusual elements you didn’t see initially. “Because I often find inspiration this way, I always carry my camera with me,” says Becker. “It’s amazing how many opportunities you have to find interesting subjects by keeping a camera handy. I was doing my grocery shopping one day and found this inspiration for a painting for my daughter’s housewarming gift. Even grocery shopping can inspire you.” —L. K.

Artwork © Juliette Becker

The painting that was inspired by it.

MENTAL EXERCISES

#4 Ritualistic

Do you participate in a ritual on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis? Analyze some of your usual rituals. Why do you perform them: out of habit, a sense of duty, or because they bring meaning to your life? This could be as simple as your morning routine or as meaningful as a religious ceremony. You’ll be surprised how this investigation generates subject matter for new works of art. —A. R.

Artist to investigate:

—Janine Antoni

ASSIGNMENTS

#5 The Big Little

Create a painting of a small object from life using only large brushes on a small surface. Build up your surface from large shapes using the flat part of the brush. Use the corner and thin edge of the brush to achieve lines and details. Whatever it is that you’ve chosen to paint, remember that this technique is about large, bold swatches of paint and impressions of forms. The uniqueness of this process is revealed near the end of the painting when you get to the details and can’t switch to a smaller brush. Detail shapes will be overgeneralized, but that’s the beauty of this technique. —A. R.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Acrylic or oil paints

• Set of large brushes

• Small canvas, panel, or paper support

This painting of a tomato was done on a 4" × 4" canvas board with a 12 flat brush in oil paint.

Step 1 After toning the canvas with burnt umber acrylic paint, block in the negative space with a few bold strokes. If you feel more comfortable beginning with a drawing, draw the object using the edge and corner of your brush.

Step 2 Block in the cast shadow and basic form of the object with its dark shade.

Step 3 Block in th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• #3 Random Shots
• #49 Reincarnated
• #106 Inspiration Connection
• #153 Transparencies
• Contributing Artists and Experts
• Meet the Authors
• Copyright Page