I got some new-to-me kinds of watercolors. Chinese watercolors to go along with my Sumi ink. So I had to play with them. Here’s my test case below.
Feels good to just play around with my art supplies – kind of like eating mac-n-cheese right out of the pan while wearing pajamas and watching a movie.
After I was finished it turns out that I like the yellow spoon drawing best because after attempting the green and the blue spoon drawings I learned that applying the sumi ink last makes for the boldest lines.
Yep. I highly recommend playing around with ones art supplies as a way to refresh and sustain creativity. I’ve not seen this important sustainable creativity business method discussed much in the business-of-art books. It oughta be…
My business-of-art model goes like this:
- Play around with my materials often. Both new materials and old ones. Experiment. Make a mess.
- Focus on what I’m doing instead of how well I’m doing it. Focus on the fun.
Another way of describing my business-of-art model goes like this:
page from “Dr. Bob’s Emotional Repair Program First Aid Kit” https://store.bookbaby.com/book/dr-bobs-emotional-repair-program-first-aid-kit
Like happiness good artwork often happens while we’re doing something else.
I took a writing class called “Story is a State of Mind” and the head honcho advocates the same philosophy as yours. Play. Don’t focus on outcome. Experiment. And then delete. Let go of the result. Its harder to do than you think because we’ve been conditioned to want good outcomes and to believe that failure is bad. Play-on, Sue.
Sounds like a writing class I’d have liked too! And yes, you’re right – it is harder to do because we are often conditioned to be “perfect” right from the start. I hope you’ll keep playing-on too Susanne!