Finding a creative process that you love
My recent experiments
Recently I listened to a podcast episode by Kendyll Hillegas (which I highly recommend) about finding a creative process that you love and enjoy repeating. It inspired me to try a technique she calls “process enjoyment test“, which is a process aimed at experimentation and exploration. The idea is to choose fixed parameters, such as media, subject, method and scale, create experimental artwork, reflect on whether you enjoyed the process, and adjust the parameters if necessary. It is a very accessible and flexible approach and so far I am enjoying to experiment and play.
I decided to choose landscapes as my fixed subject. I found several reference photos mainly with coastal sunset scenes (after all we are heading into summer!) and played on paper using different media. My main idea is to create multiple studies and experiment with the idea of loosening up, simplifying the composition and creating pieces with an impressionistic feeling. Writing down ideas and reflections is a big part of my art process, so first I created some notes about the chosen limitations and general idea about colour, mood, style, scale, etc. So far I’ve been enjoying a process that consists of several steps:
Creating simple compositional thumbnails
Developing small studies on watercolour paper using water soluble supplies (pencils and crayons)
Painting larger studies with acrylics
Reflect and repeat :)
My intention is to create more of these studies, choose the ones that I like most and try bringing them to a larger substrate with acrylics. This exercise really helps to focus on the process and on experimenting instead of finished artwork, which is freeing and helps to relax about the end results. It also helps to learn more about your artistic preferences and just have fun!
Hope it was interesting, I recommend you to check out the podcast!
Until next time!
Lisa