It's 9 o'clock in the morning. You've scheduled the next two hours solely for the purpose of making art for your next show/commission/100 day project/fill-in-the-blank, so you sit down to make something and bam! a masterpiece is born. Right?
Maybe...
If not, what do you do? Do you...
- Just sit there and stare at the canvas?
- Move your brush around and hope something comes to you?
- Look at other people's art?
There is no wrong answer, but when you notice something actually works (and you think it worked once or twice before), make a mental note.
The next time you are bumbling around wondering how to start, you can pull that ritual out of your imaginary toolbox and see if it works again.
Personally, I like to have an idea before I sit down. Some things that work for me are...
- Driving long distances. My house is 45 minutes from the grocery store - so this one happens a lot.
- Yoga, pulling weeds or other not-too-strenuous exercise
- Lying in bed before I fall asleep
Basically, I've noticed when I stop trying and let my brain drift off is when the good stuff comes to me.
Since I know this about myself, I can do more of these activities more if I'm in a rut.