Day in the Life of a Real Artist

• Pouring with rain. My studio has a leak.
• Hubby is away at a conference.
• 8 year old discovered a hole in the sole of her school shoe - had to wear others and take a note.
• Best friend Judy came to paint last night - both of us worn out - had a chin-wag instead.
• House goes up for Sale by Auction this Saturday.
• Hope prospective buyers like the 'soggy-lawn-muddy-tiles-look'.
• Hubby has left his phone charger at home - phone calls are very brief.
• Came up with a great painting idea  - took great photos.
• Discovered that Hubby has taken the camera 'link-to-the-computer-thing' instead of his phone charger. I can't download my photos.
• Took paints out to work while baby had nap.
• Baby napped for 40 minutes instead of 2 hours.
• Put paints away with baby on hip.
• Cold and rainy - baby grumpy all day. 
• 8 year old had swimming this afternoon - lucky pool is indoors.
• Prospective buyers through the house at 'bath-the-baby-and-feed-the-eight-year-old-time'. MacDonalds for dinner.
• Couldn't find my sketchbook all day.
• Found it in the studio - wet.
• It's my birthday tomorrow - There'd better be cake!

Find Great Ideas For Your Paintings - Day 2

This is the second in the series where we find great ideas that get us hopping out of bed in the morning, eager to get painting.

On Day 1, we looked at our own sketchbooks as a possible source of ideas.  Looking at our own art work sparks new trains of thought, so does looking at the work of other artists.

Look at the work of other artists

This is a no brainer. Looking at art inspires us to make art! But don’t look passively, do an active search for clues. You may want have a notebook ready to catch those ideas as they come to you. It's always best to look at a painting in real life, but books and pictures or a Google image search will do.

Here are 5 ways to look at the work of other artists when you need ideas for your own.

1. Look at work that you really like: Figure out what it is that you like so much about the work. Is it the subject matter? The technique? The mood or feeling of the work? The use of colour? Try and answer this sentence: I like the work of (insert name of favourite artist) because … When you are able to articulate exactly what it is about the work that excites you, see if you can come up with ways to incorporate that into your own work. Artists have always looked to other artists for inspiration, but don’t be derivative. Looking and admiring does not mean copying.

2. Look at work that you really don’t like: This is less obvious than the first point. Find something that you really don’t like and figure out what it is that repels you. Ask yourself, how could I make this work better, what about it needs changing, can I use what I don’t like about this work to come up with some work of my own. Write down your answers! We are on a fact finding mission!

3. Find out something about the working process of an artist you admire: Some artists have interesting creative habits. Do your favourite artists have routines that help them to generate interesting ideas? Can you take some aspects of these routines and incorporate them into your own?

4. Read up about your artists’ working methods: Artists are often inspired by their materials and working process, can you find out more about those of the artists you admire? I will be elaborating on this as an excellent way to get good ideas later in this series.

5. Collect postcards, clippings and pictures of art work and stick it in your Trash Can Journal.


Now write down 10 painting ideas that have come to you from looking at the work of other artists. Don’t stop until you have 10. Some of these you may be able to work on right away, some may need a bit of incubation, and some you may never use.

'When truly creative people come up with a new idea, they do not reject it immediately because of its flaws. They play with it, looking for strengths and sliding over weaknesses." Dr David Campbell

Click here to go to: Find Great Ideas For Your Paintings Day 3