I’m sure that during this pandemic changes are occurring in everyone’s life. Whether you consider yourself a full time artist or once in a while creator doesn’t matter, the lock down has a withering effect upon creative output if left unchecked.
After the first days I noticed that my artistic practice had changed. I asked myself
“What was the driving force behind my creativity?”
As a landscape painter who finds inspiration En Plein Air the answer seemed simple. The lockdown prohibited me to leave En Plein Air (outside). Infinite landscapes had all been taken away. The ease in which my muse was to be found anew, each time I left the house, was now gone.
There it was, the issue that stifled my creative output:
I require change.
If the avenue in which I found inspiration had become closed I must switch streets.
Over the next week I came up with several artistic aspects that could change and provide inspiration.
My Creative Quarantine Top 4:
1. Change the Subject- Drawing houseplants like people. Regardless of whether it was a subtle or gross shift in light, or even the movement of leaves these plants are alive. The change from still life to portrait happened very quickly. Guiding me to view a world that I once thought of as inanimate and boring, into alive and filled with energy.
2. Drawing from Netflix: One of my favorite exercises was sitting among a crowded area and trying to capture a person’s essence in a lightening fast gesture drawing. I’ve been watching a lot of movies, more than normal. Using the actors as models has been fun to try and keep up with my pencil. Treating the gestures as shorthand, I go back and see if I can fill in the structure after the fact.
3. Change Materials and Tools: It started with all of my pencils being dull with the exception of a prismacolour and The experimentation hasn’t ended yet. Having to work differently because you have stepped out of your comfort zone is an easy way to inspire new ways of thinking. Wyndham Art has been open for delivery and pick up for the majority of this quarantine. Just Saying
Mark Making is different depending on who/what is making the mark
4. Relax: have fun and keep it simple. It’s easy to forget.
Kick back and enjoy some quality time. Benga and Thirteen not included