It starts with a simple question: “What kind of artist are you?” As someone interested in selling my work, my default answer was, “I draw realistic portraits of celebrities, but I also do some abstract painting.” That explained what I make, but did it answer who I am as an artist? My creative spirit would answer, “I don’t know—what day is it? What mood am I in? What seems fun?”
At least, that’s how it used to feel. Let me tell you the worst advice I ever got while trying to grow as an artist. “Niche down and focus on one style. Your target market won’t care if you’re all over the place.” If this advice worked for you, great. But I HATE it. It KILLED my creativity. Wanting to grow my art business, I followed the so-called experts - listened to their lectures, studied their downloads and followed their advice. Their bland and boring advice led me to abandon fun, experimental ideas. My wild colored paints dried out, my sketchbook doodles felt foreign, and my art’s “direction” became a restrictive box.
I didn’t realize the damage while it was happening. But after stepping away and asking, “What am I doing?” it became clear. Not only was my art not getting any better even as I tried to produce more and more, but when I would sit down with a sketchbook, I couldn’t even think of a way to fill it. Doodling, line art, silly little sketches and colorful nonsense were suddenly foreign concepts to me - the person who used to fill up a sketchbook a month just with these silly little things. In trying to become a “real artist,” I lost the very thing that made me want to create: my CREATIVITY.
Rediscovering Creativity
So, how do we get it back once creativity is gone? The good news is creativity isn’t truly lost. It doesn’t disappear forever, though finding it again takes effort. This year, I’m on a journey to reclaim it. It’s going to be a whole journey, and you’ll be able to follow along with it here, on my social media (Instagram, BlueSky, etc.) and you’ll get your behind the scenes views in my newsletter. But this year, I’m going “back to basics” once again.
Step 1 in my "back to basics" process was to purge projects that weren't bringing joy. I cleared out everything that didn’t make me happy—even “good” or 90% finished pieces. If it didn’t make me WANT to finish it, it had to go.
With my new, clean slate, I'm moving on to step 2 - I’m approaching art as if I don’t know how to draw. I found an online course that starts with basics (think: how to hold your pencil for certain techniques, how to draw a circle, line weights, art warm ups, etc.) and guides you all the way to creating scenes in your imagination. It’s reigniting my creative pathways. I'm clearing out brain cobwebs that have been blocking creativity for what feels like years.
And then we come to step 3 in this journey. I’ve brought back “art play time.” No more rigid schedules or deadlines (for now) and no more planned out productivity. Instead, I’m taking time every day - even if it’s just ten minutes in between Zoom calls - to open my sketchbook and get something down on the page. Some days it will be sketches, and some days it might just be colorful blobs. Some days I might try to draft out an idea that’s sitting in my head, and some days I might actually come up with a really incredible idea that I want to turn into a full-blown art piece. The point is to play with pencils, paints, colors, and textures, generating that creativity again.
Creating for Joy, Not Approval
I’ve let go of the “niche down” mindset and returned to making what I enjoy. If someone loves a piece and wants to own it, that’s wonderful, but it’s not my focus.
Today, I spent an hour drawing ellipses and S-lines. It might sound ridiculous, but staring at that page made me think, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?”—ideas my brain hadn’t entertained in years. Tomorrow, I might add color. The next day, I might explore negative space. Where will it lead? Who knows! That’s the fun of creativity. The journey is the reward; a finished piece is just a bonus.
Balancing Exploration and Focus
Now, with all of this talk of unstructured, back to basics art time, I want you to know that this does not mean I am going to stop creating things like portraits and my sports paintings. I still do truly love creating those pieces - that’s why they became what I focused on in the first place! But what it does mean is that maybe there won’t be as many “final reveals” this year. Maybe there will only be one or two drawings a month, and maybe a painting or two here and there. And hopefully you’ll realize (and be excited) that my dedication to digging up my creative ideas, letting my art brain flow more organically and bringing my heart back into my pieces will mean better, more unique and heartfelt pieces in the end.
This journey is just beginning, and I’m excited to share it with you. Here’s to rediscovering the joy of making art