Showing up has to be at the top of my list for hardest parts of the creative process.
This week, as I started the Creativity As Hope challenge, simply starting was what I fought the most. Not due to lack of excitement, but because it seemed like every time I sat with the first prompt, connection, I wasn’t sure where to take it.
I was afraid of the blank page.
And even with a prompt, I found myself being held back by the same loop of ideas and questions:
“What will I make?”
“Do I actually have time for this?”
“What if what I make is no good?”
On top of this, my son has been under the weather so I’ve been holding that, too. I am candidly sharing this for two reasons:
I know that life does not stop throwing us things, ever.
We will always be carrying multiple things while trying to create.
And still, we MUST keep believing creativity is worth prioritizing.
So yes, already, this challenge is stretching me. :) In fact, it feels kind of perfect for the first prompt to be connection, as I have felt totally disconnected from my art making practice lately.
As I worked through the prompt and finally made my first piece, I remembered how many small tools I rely on that help me through to still showing up on the page when things seem uncertain, or are blocking my creativity.
So let’s go behind the scenes a bit. Read on for 4 Notes From The Process of creating this week including:
1. The beauty of making at a slower pace.
2. ‘Trusting the process’, leaning into uncertainty.
3. Naming your questions instead of avoiding them.
4. Removing barriers and making space for real life.
Notes from the Process
Lean into uncertainty. Trust the process.
Gosh, what does this really mean? I know the phrase trust the process gets thrown around, but its for good reason.
When I approached the page, I didn’t know what would come. But I do have a process that works for me. I think we all develop a process of how we get into our groove, and we have to kind of trust what our process is leading us to do.
I know for me I need images and ideas in my mind so I can start to build out a composition that I can work from. So often, I actually am collecting ideas in my everyday life. I am always taking a photo, screenshotting something interesting, or making a note in my Notes App to remember something I heard or an idea that came to mind. Then when I sit down to create, I can pull these up as a visual or sensory reminder that hopefully triggers something for me.
For this week’s prompt, connection, I wasn’t immediately sure what I wanted to paint. And honestly, it’s often in the not-knowing where the most interesting things tend to happen. So I started by looking at what I had collected. Soon, I found an image of a woman leaning against a wall, in a pose I loved. From there, I knew I wanted her to have a big fro, curls full of life. Leaning into small little choices, start to shape the piece. Not exactly sure where its going, but that’s the fun of it.
Remove the barriers.
Over the years, I’ve created in many different mediums, and each one served a purpose for the season I was in. When my first child was still in my belly, I was drawing in the margins of notebooks, sketching on Post-its, experimenting with watercolor as a way to connect with myself.
As my kids were toddlers, I was gifted my first Wacom tablet, then eventually moved to the iPad and Apple Pencil, those tools helped launch my digital illustration career, when I didn’t have the time to take out my paintbrushes and easel.
