My physical therapy team!

I don't remember how the opportunity presented itself but I was asked to draw on the whiteboard at the place where I do physical therapy for my shoulder. I tried to use my style of character while depicting a little about each of the individuals that work there. My therapist is the tall captain on right and the technician is on the left. The major in the middle is always there but I have not had the pleasure of working with him for therapy but we always exchange pleasantries and he was the one that asked for the drawing. I included a couple of sound bites from each, just a few things that are commonly said.

two hand gesture

use both hands to gesture, this will cause the brain to use both sides as there is some science to say that each hand us influenced more by the opposite side of the brain. Get both brain halves working by using both hands to talk... try it.

Write Freely

Take a few minutes to put some ink down on some paper, don't restrict yourself in what you are drawing or writing, just open up your thoughts and let the pen or pencil be the guide. Do not rule out anything until after you are done and then you can sift through what you have and pick the best.

I have seen an artist doing warm-up exercises go through a ream of paper during just the hand, wrist and elbow warm up session before he even thought about really drawing something interesting. Now he always had some interesting things in those exercises but that was not the goal during the stretch.

Get the pencil on the paper and make it move around!

Scout Committee meeting

A lengthy sketch during a scout meeting.

Church meeting sketch

A quick sketch of the LDS missionaries chatting, that's what they do, eh?

Daydream

Normally we don't hear the suggestion to daydream very often or at all, but another way to take just a few minutes and boost some creativity is to daydream. There are those that tend to have a more creative outlook on the issues and challenges in front of them when their mind is wandering. And the idea of being balled up in front of the computer screen just doesn't sound very creative thought provoking to me. So give it a shot, let the mind wander for a few minutes and see what kind of a journey you can have!

Put yourself else where?

Think about something far away, either time or place, and let your imagination run wild. Think of as many of the things happening around you, use all your senses to imagine what could be going on. Get crazy with all the details and activities and events and your will be surprised at all the fun you can have.

greedo?

Another creativity tip for getting a little boost: Ask someone else what they think! You are already on the path and are moving in a direction or you might have a few you are working on, take the next opportunity to ask a friend or just that random person you see next what they think of it all.

Don't be afraid to ask for help. That next person might mention something that sparks a new stream of thought or just moves you in the right direction for what is going to make sense. The more ideas and perspectives you can get the better!

Listening to Music

I don't think this tip will be very new to you for boosting your creativity. I think you have to think of if differently or just simply listen to different music. Don't listen to the same music you normally do. Make sure your choice of music matches the theme of the subject you are trying to find inspiration for, or listen to music that will challenge you to be in a state of mind that is different than you normally find yourself in to be creative.

Jamming out can stimulate the brain in the places where the motor actions, emotions, and creativity can be engaged.

and don't forget the classics. Do your due diligence and find the stuff that increases creativity, concentration, and other cognitive functions, find those z pattern wave length music types as your are pondering the answers to the mysteries of the universe as we can't prove the effect so much as a little classical music can't hurt, or is it the superstitions catch phrase of it's only silly if it don't work.

Zombie penguin

This was suppose to be a design for a pinewood derby car. Not that the design has any advantage for speed down the track or a quick jump out of the chutes but just a drawing, cool as a cucumber or a penguin.

The last car the boys and I built didn't have the required time needed for the more important finishing touches like this. We ended up with a great racer but nothing I would want to put on display for the whole world, even if the old boy gets second place overall.

Coffee shop anyone?

This tip for creativity comes from the thought that you may want to try to go out of your usual place where you think and add a little white noise into the back ground. If you normally control your situation, you can go to a book store and sit and think, or a cafe that has some noise going on and order a hot cocoa and force your brain to have to work a little harder to think of those thoughts that normally come when you are in the quiet of your studio. Or if your studio always has music going in the background, take a walk to a park in the quiet of the morning and see what the calm and quiet can do to stir the brain waves and see what difference the change brings.

Weird cat update

Not sure if I have shared the cat but I just wanted to add that my wife really loves walking down the hallway and this s,all painting will catch her attention and give her a little startle.

Also I would like to take this opportunity to share a challenge to be more creative: don't turn the tv off, contrary to most popular advice on the subject. Simply watch it differently - mindfully, openly, actively. Question plot choices and acting styles. Pause and challenge yourself to come up with a better plot twist or to appreciate a particularly lovely musical composition.

I guess you don't have to change what you are doing and not to say that a change of attitude will be the answer to all the creativity problems we encounter but just thinking a little different or thinking a little more can make a difference. Take the experiences you are having in your own life and give them a twist.

Just for the record I borrowed some reference on this one from Don Seegmiller . He is a great digital and traditional painter. I think the cat he painted was digital. I used traditional acrylic on a piece of laminate flooring! 

Write by hand!

Here is a tip for some added creativity that may appear to be for the writers in the crowd but I do a little writing, not a story per say but just thoughts and notes, and you should put away the Word doc or the Open office and pick up a pen instead. It is a whole experience of using your hands, the feel of the pen, the ink on your fingers, teh smell of a fresh notebook. Take it all in as you get your creative juices flowing with the change of pace. Find ways that will challenge you to get out of your comfort zone to push the brain to think differently.

Pressure to perfect!

Today's tip for creativity is a long-term strategy. When we put unnecessary pressure on ourselves to creative the perfect piece of art work we stifle our creativity. We need to be willing to be wrong and wanting to make some mistakes as we push the envelope of trying to not only get better but also find the technique that helps to make the art better.

Its okay if the painting doesn't ever go anyway farther than your own kitchen fridge. Putting pressure on yourself to produce something outstanding can actually make it more difficult to create anything at all.

There are too many people that will say they are not creative at all, but we are all creative in our own way doing our own thing. Just try your best and see what happens.

Look at something blue or green

Okay, I will admit this one is a little strange for me, except I have seen those individuals with the dyslexia look through a blue sheet of paper to help focus on the right stuff, so why not try it. I am told the colors tend to enhance performance on cognitive tasks because people associate the colors with other things. Blue goes with water, sky, and openness in general, while green is all about growth. I got it, next time you are having a struggle look at a map of the world with all those blues and greens!

A little Story

A little story

This is a story about four persons named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Now Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody would do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Anonymous 

RUN! ZOMBIE!

I titled this blog RUN, cause one wonderful way to boost your creativity is to exercise. According to some studies, which at this time I don't know to document for you but they happened, when we are physically active and moving around and doing the groovy dancing moves, the body loosens up adn our mind is a little more free adn open to those wonderfully creative thoughts that are floating around just waiting for our brains to grab onto and develop.

Get Social

I want to add another tip to boost your creativity. So get out there and be social with your friends and family. When we spend time with people we trust, we are more likely to engage in conversation that is deep in meaningful. There are those that believe that the chats often lead to thinking of a creative nature because we are really able to open ourselves up and talk about those things that are near and dear to our hearts. You know those passions we are sometimes too afraid to talk about to the general public. We have the chance to see possibilities that we would not otherwise see.

What I learned from Noah's Ark

I don't know who originally wrote this, but here's somethin':

All I need to know I learned from Noah's Ark;
One... Don't miss the boat.
Two... Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three... Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four... Stay fit. When you're 600 years old someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five... Don't listen to critics, just get on the job that needs to be done.
Six... Build your future on high ground.
Seven... For safety's sake travel in pairs.
Eight... Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on the boat with the cheetahs.
Nine... When you're stressed, float awhile.
Ten...Remember the Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven... No matter the storm, when you are with God there's always a rainbow waiting. 

Meditate

Are you feeling like your having all the same thoughts and can't seem to think of anything new? When in the heat of needing to think, take a few minutes, ten or so, and try meditating. It promotes divergent thinking, and a state of mind in which we can get the new idea generator on its way to fun and exciting thoughts.

Close your eyes and let your mind wander or focus it on the calm and tranquil.

Articles of Art (first batch)

Talent is the ability to persist until you get it right. This is completely true. However, you also need to have an eye to be able to know what is right. Many designers over-design a project without knowing that they reached the best solution but kept going.

If it doesn’t communicate, it ain’t art [design]; any fool can make a mark.
Maybe the truest statement here. The purpose of design/art is to communicate whatever it is you’re supposed to communicate. If you don’t do that, it doesn’t matter how beautiful, hip, edgy, smart it is. It HAS to communicate.

Decide what you want to say and say it.
I love this one. So many designers start something without knowing exactly what they are doing and end up somewhere they never intended. It’s so important to always keep in mind the purpose of what you are doing.

Draw what you know, not what you think you see, until the day you know what you are seeing and then draw it.
This is more of a drawing principle, but very important. We so often draw what’s in our mind rather than what’s right in front of us. The relationships of negative/positive space, colors, contrasts, dark/light shading, lines, and textures in actuality are much different than what we perceive them to be.

To do a good drawing sooner or later you are going to have to look at it.
When drawing or designing it’s so easy to be so focused on the details that you don’t take the time to stand back and see the big picture, see the context.

If it looks dumb, don’t draw it.
Too often someone will draw something because it’s there. We are under no obligation to draw everything we see. This isn’t photography. See next.

When something looks out of place, remove it or add more of it.
One of my favorites. I’ve seen a lot of designs that would have sucked if this principle hadn’t been applied.

If you live by the sword, you die by the sword (if you are going to do something, do it all the way).
It’s almost always apparent when someone does a half-effort job. Even a bad idea can work if pushed to an extreme (unless it’s an extremity in badness).

I didn't include every Article of Art here as given by the great art Professor Leon Parson but there are a few soundbites and some additional info from a fellow artist. Hope you enjoy the silly photos from the silly lens features of the silly electronic devises we carry around and don't do enough with!

randomnesses

Over the next little while I am going to be sharing some tips I was given to boost creativity. With each post I have included a page from some sketch books that I have made by repurposing other items from cereal boxes and un-used worksheets from elementary schools and else where. I have included pages that are cool and exciting and ones that I am happy to show but I have also included those pages that I am not that excited to show the world but I am doing this to show that there isn't always great days of art. You have to keep movig through the not great art days.

Excitment on the Horizon

Life is full of wonderful surprises and oportunities that just need our making them into those 'lucky' breaks that are so often spoken of after the fact!

I am trying to take advantage of the recovery time after my shoulder surgery and do some exciting things but I really forgot what it takes to recover physically from these things and then trying to stay level headed on the wonderful pain meds is another adventure in itself.

The image above is a little mixed media workbook I am working on. I took another book and am painting, taping, glueing, scratching and doing all sorts of stuff all over the pages and this is the cover. It will not be starwars themed but the cover just happened to move in this direction. I can't wait for more as I work on all the other little projects I have that I am working on! I love creation!