Exhaust All Possibilities
Grids are still going strong over here at Lynn Dylan Designs. The ruler seems to have permeated all areas of my art making. I have so enjoyed all the various color combinations and working with colored pencils over and over again. I do wonder if you might be growing weary of it, but alas I cannot call it quits just yet.
How do we as artists work with ideas? It is a question I have pondered and really wrestled with over the years. Ideas come and go like the wind. They spark creativity and bring us into excitement. Other ideas bring us to the brink of quitting or give us serious doubts when we try to execute that glorious “something” that came to our mind. I am not always the master of ideas to fruition, but I have some tips that I want to share that can maybe help you work through your ideas.
First attempts of working through an idea can be rough!
How one idea came to be….
The grid idea came up one day while I had a few moments between classes at work. I remember thinking to myself, I just want to take a ruler and colored pencils and make a grid. It was nothing more than a thought of me wanting to create something so basic and simple and really just for fun. This idea had no expectations except for sheer enjoyment of creating. When I had a little more time, I began on the closest piece of paper I could find. I finished designing the grid and remember thinking “that was very enjoyable” and I wanted to try another grid pattern. I had already been cutting up scrap paper into organic forms for another idea and took one of those and began to design another grid. The idea had somewhere to land rather quickly and it took off from there.
I want to talk more about ideas, but first here are some cards I recently designed for friends and family….
IDEAS… What to do and where to go
Ideas can come from anywhere and for me they usually begin as a very small seed or a spark. You may have been inspired by something online or you may have just been doing the dishes and an idea hits. I have found that some ideas need time to “marinate” while others are ready for action. Here are a few tips that I have found help me do something with an idea.
Surroundings matter. As I tell my students, to see like an artist is to notice all the tiny details, things that most people overlook in their everyday life. I believe this helps your mind become a hot bed for ideation. So be on the lookout.
Connect the dots. I find that ideas are like connecting the dots that don’t always go together, but you have to try it in real life to know for sure. Take an old idea and make it new or try to combine 2 ideas together.
Write down ALL of your ideas. If ideas are flooding your mind, you need to write them down. Don’t lose the idea because of a timing issue. It is safely written and now more ideas can follow. Or if you feel that your ideas are no good, still write them down as it helps to clear your mind.
Act quickly! I have found that acting quickly can be a catalyst for lots of art making. Example - last November I created a series called The Holding Woman and the original idea was me loosely drawing a figure holding something for 30 days. I acted quickly and before I knew it I had 30 drawings.
Repeat the idea again and again. Try to see how many combinations you can create with just one idea. This has been solid for my ideas in the past year or so. Run with the idea over and over.
Try your idea in different media. If your idea came with a materials list - go with it. But my ideas always take a little time to figure out the best material I need to use. This means colored pencils may not be the best material for your idea, maybe you need to try watercolor or gouache paint? Maybe your idea works best in clay or as a wood sculpture? What material to use is always a big question for me.
Don’t get upset over the imperfections. This is a big one for me and one I always tell my students. Actually, helping students work through bringing their idea to life has been huge in my own art making practice. This means when an idea comes and you need to bring it from a thought to real life, you have to do it even when all the details are not figured out. Just get started!
Don’t give up after the first attempt. This is another big one I try to help students with everyday. Their idea did not pan out on paper and they hate it and want to abandon the idea. In class, time is of the essence of course, but in your own studio - you can bring it out on paper or in sculpture and not judge it just yet. Let the idea have air and time or rather your mind to see it just a little differently.
Your idea is a dishrag. Push and pull the idea, throw it for a loop, ring it out, exhaust all possibilities then you will know all that you can do with your idea. (I realize this may be “artist speak”, so what I mean is this: your idea might need to be thoroughly explored in many ways, even in ways you did not think of at first or would ever try.)
Thinking time is creative time! Think about your idea in your mind, envision it BUT hold that vision loosely as it will most likely come out different in real life.
Share your seeds. Share your seed of an idea with a fellow artist friend. I have many friends and family members I toss ideas back and forth with and they help me a great deal bring my ideas to projects and/or products.
Still work out the dud ideas. Not all ideas are amazing and that is okay. Not all ideas will be “the one big idea”, they are not supposed to be. But each idea is a stepping stone to another and another.
Tiny Matchbook Books
A while back I was gifted something very special that I still am so excited to receive and work new ideas with this material. These matchbooks are from my husband’s Great-grandfather’s lifetime. My in-laws came across a few boxes and as they know their artist daughter in-law well, they asked if I wanted them. Of course I said yes without having an idea! Then once I went through them, a few ideas popped up, but not until brainstorming with a fellow artist friend did bookmaking come up. Thank you Pam!
These matchbooks are most likely from the 1930’s and I was worried about them holding up to the tugging of being bound to fresh paper. Most held up well, so far only one was taped and a little glue added. These little matchbooks have been so interesting and fun to look at and read and try to think about how life was lived back then. There is so much to dive into on these matchbooks, but for now I am so excited about these tiny little one of a kind books. The graphics and fonts are so awesome - classic styles. Apparently matchbooks were a great place to get recipes back in the day!
Check them out!
Taking an idea even further
Here is a video of an idea I had to take the grids even further. My idea was another simple one… draw a floral element and add the grid in the background.
Staying busy over here working out ideas and enjoying every minute of it! It’s been a fun filled month of creative living and trying to handle all the ideas that come my way.
May you find ideas that fill your days~
Hannah