☆ My Top 10 ways to Beat the Creativity Blues [PART TWO]

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Every year, about this time, I feel a little run down, a little empty + a little inspiration-less.

I have been struggling with the last of the winter blues + I thought I would share the ways that I have been jumpstarting my creativity lately.

Now I know there are hundreds of ways to jumpstart your creativity + I would love it if you shared your favourites, these are just a few of my GO TO'S when I am creatively frustrated or empty.

This post ended up being the size of a small book, so I decided to split this into two posts. The first part is here.

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MY TOP 10 WAYS TO BEAT THE CREATIVITY BLUES 

{part two}

6. ALTERING ART...

Once I had a few photos of my family lying around, that I wasn't going to use in frames, the quality wasn't great, or they had printed wonky.

So I glued a few in my sketchbook + found a permanent marker + my extremely cheap metallic gel pens + started to doodle over the photos.

I ended up with some very cool ideas to then translate onto paper. (Bonus - It was super fun + my kids love looking at them!)

7. WEEKLY CHALLENGE SITES...

There are heaps of these around. These are websites which provide you a weekly prompt - usually just a word + it is up to you to create something based on around that word.

My favourite sites are Illustration Friday + Inspiration Avenue - but feel free to share you favuorites in the comments section for others to visit.

I often use these prompts, when I am struggling for ideas. 

You can share your work with others on the sites, but quite often I don't, I just spend a quick ten minutes sketching a picture.

8. ART COURSES...

Again there are so many courses out there, and if you a regular reader of 'Listening to the Squeak', you will know that I have done the LifeBook courses for the last two years.

I love these courses, the many different techniques + different styles of the artists teaching is so inspiring, but the best part of this is following a lesson plan, which if you are in mood you can just follow as is, or taylor to your imagination.

This makes art courses perfect for keeping creative with out having to think of inspiration.

The cost can be prohibitive, but you can find free art courses online - Tam Laporte's Art, Heart + Healing was one that I did early on + was fantastic. 

9. MAGAZINES + CATALOGUES...

You can usually find magazines everywhere, at your mums, your nans, the doctors surgery... 

And every week, we receive half a dozen junk mail catalogues, so if I am running on empty, I will find a picture of a dress I like, a cute wall decal, a tea set - something + I use it as a basis of my sketch.

The sketch on the left was a pose + hair style I liked + on the right, I liked the neck on a dress I found.

It doesn't need to be an elaborate sketch if you don't have time, just enough to give you an idea when you flick through your sketches later.

10. PINTEREST [OR MY FAVOURITE TIME SUCK]...

I hesitated about suggesting this one, the site itself has caused some controversy, but I love using pinterest to spark my creativity.  

I have several boards like a wings + things board or poses board, that I go to for inspiration on days when I am stuck.

But you have to be careful not to spend time mindlessly surfing or you can end up spending hours on there. (time suck!!)

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So I hope this has given you some ideas on breaking through those creative dry spells that seem to happen to us all. 

What are your favourite inspiration busters? I would love it if you shared yours with us below.

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☆ My Top 10 ways to Beat the Creativity Blues [PART ONE]

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Every year, about this time, I feel a little run down, a little empty + a little inspiration-less.

I have been struggling with the last of the winter blues + I thought I would share the ways that I have been jumpstarting my creativity lately.

Now I know there are hundreds of ways to jumpstart your creativity + I would love it if you shared your favourites, these are just a few of my GO TO'S when I am creatively frustrated or empty.

This post ended up being the size of a small book, so I decided to split this into two posts. The second part will be posted next Monday.

So jumping right in......

MY TOP 10 WAYS TO BEAT THE CREATIVITY BLUES 

{part one}

1. TAKE THE DAY OFF...

WHAT? 

Seriously take the day off.

Do not go near your work space or sketchbook. Shut the door, close the book and take the day off. But the most important part of this is to LET GO OF THE GUILT + WORRY.

Instead do something different, something you don't normally do - go for a walk, read a book, visit a park with a coffee or watch a movie. 

Stepping out of your routine + taking the day off can open yourself up to new inspiration.

2. DOODLE, ZENTANGLES + MANDALAS....

These are such great ways of letting your mind wander, I find them almost meditative, and often once I have spent just ten minutes doing one of these, I am open to new ideas + solving problems that have been worrying me, and unblocking my creativity.

There are so many 'how to's' when you Google any of these terms + so many free template downloads you can fill in. This is one of my favourite inspiration busters.

3. VISIT THE LIBRARY...

or bookshop, or second hand book store or charity shops. 

But instead of the how to books or art books, go to the children's sections and look at the beautiful illustrations in their books.

I love doing this, and often drag my kids to the library under the guise of borrowing books for them, but I am actually choosing books whose illustrations sparked inspiration.

4. YOUTUBE...
There are so many how to tutorials out there on YouTube. And definitely worth watching - my favourites are this one + this one.

5. USING A DIFFERENT STYLE...
Sometimes, I just need to do something a little different.

I have often done several quick sketches of cutesy mermaids, pirate queens or zombie queens (not my usual stuff).

Sometimes, I draw disney princess for my girls to colour in. Anything to just keep my creative brain going.


Make sure you come back next week for the rest of my favourite ways to beat the creativity blues, but I would love to know What your favourite inspiration busters are? I would love it if you shared yours with us below.

By the way - this months give away is open + ready for your entry! It is free + so easy to join in, I would love it if you entered.

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