5 ways to jumpstart your creativity in 2016

It is the first month in a brand new year. Perhaps you were raring to go all-out in the new year but two weeks in and you are feeling a little unmotivated. Trust me, you are not alone. I had grandeur plans to sketch, journal, write, paint...and the list goes on.

Guess what? I've only done one thing on my list daily for the last two weeks. Whenever creative productivity dips, I like to:

1. Find external inspiration.

Go visit a museum or a gallery for some inspiration. 

My go-to place is the national library. I grew up with my dad telling me that mastery of any subject matter is reading a dozen books on it. Here are some of the books I picked up recently from my local library. 

2. Get organized.

Clutter can sometimes block your chi and affect your creativity. My workspace is always a work-in-progress. But I did a little spring-cleaning...threw out some old cloggy pens, packed up some stuff to give away and assessed the additions I needed to make my creative process more efficient.

3. Add useful tools to your art supply collection.

For me, I've been obsessed with colour pencils for the last 9 months. So I finally splurged on a battery-operated automatic pencil sharpener that I'd been eyeing for months. I was pleasantly surprised when I was inspired to draw again once my coloured pencils were sharpened. [Of course, I had to ask everybody at home if they needed to sharpen any pencils first..*lol*]

I've a list of "useful" things I would like to get but always wait for a sale to get a good deal. I had a $5 coupon for this sharpener. *winks*

4. Think of new ways to use existing supplies.

Sometimes we don't use a particular art supply because it is too troublesome. Okay, it could be a me problem. 

I wasn't using my bottled inks because I didn't want to have to get a paintbrush and a palette and then clean up after. Last year, I saw that several artists were putting their inks in water brushes which was a total time-saver [minus the $5 price tag on each brush] so I finally got mine in Pentel Aquash water brushes. Perfect to practise my calligraphy...you know, when I finally get to it...it's on my list! *winks*

5. Just do it!

Throw paint, make marks. See what comes out or what doesn't. My art journal pages always go through several iterations of "ugliness" before I like them. The important thing is to keep at it. Doing something gets you closer to achieving something at the end. And the process can be therapeutic and fun! :)

There you have it. 5 ways to jumpstart your creativity in 2016. Totally do-able right? Especially the part where you get to go shopping to add to your art supply collection. *winks*