Shake things up

Habits. We all have them.

Good ones and bad ones. Old ones, and hopefully new ones too.

I am a creature of habit, following routines I feel comfortable with. But at the same time, I like to shake things up every now and so often. The creative habit for example, thrives by being reinvented regularly.

It can be simple. Below you’ll find a few suggestions:

-Change the tool you use to make art with.
Pick up a brush instead of a pencil. Or get out your crayons and go wild. If you usually draw line first and then add color, swap that around. Put your color down first, then draw on top of that. Notice the difference in approach and style!

-Choose a different sketchbook size or format.
You will notice that your art will change and that you may need to use different tools or techniques. I just switched to an A4 sketchbook after using the A5 format for a while. I even need to adjust the bag I take with me when I go drawing on location, let alone the materials and tools I want to work with.

-Come up with a theme or subject that pushes you out of your comfort zone.
A little challenge shakes things up for sure – but keep it playful and fun.
I am still working on my shoe project; drawing all the shoes I own, using dip pen in an accordion sketchbook. It keeps me on my toes, and it’s a great go-to when I don’t feel inspired.

-Sign up for an online drawing session.
The drawings in this post were done at a live online Dr. Sktchy event. You’ll get served fantastic models in great 2-, 5-, and 10-minute poses, and longer. There will be music, and sometimes stories - and you’ll be there with people from all around the world. There are many online life drawing sessions to be found these days. Google search for them or find them through social media.

-Find a buddy to make art together
You will inspire each other with ideas and techniques. You can do it in person, or online. By now, most of us are pretty used to doing video calls… make a date with your drawing buddy or even a bunch of sketchers and draw, chat, have fun and learn from each other.

Those are just a few ideas that pop up in my mind – maybe you want to try them to revamp your art habits!

Speaking of changes

I sure needed a revamp for my website. You may have noticed that it recently got a new look. Thanks to my friend Rob Jelinski, who is a branding specialist and fantastic designer. Very much in the beginning of my creative entrepreneurship, Rob helped me out by designing a great style, with a very fitting color palette, the right kind of fonts, and fabulous banners for my classes and emails. I still refer to ‘The Jelinski Banners’, they were kind of like the standard of how things should look when I followed Rob’s style guide. I keep turning back to him every time I need a revamp of my website and style guide. Because, yes - change is good, but the good stuff (and especially the good people!) in life, you should hold onto.

So this is a shout out to my friend Rob and the team at Infinite Design that he grew over the years since we met!

I hope you like my new website. I sure do!