Month: October 2015

Focusing and following through

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

newtree
My last post was about “Coming up with Ideas.” A few of you commented that you have no shortage of ideas. This makes sense as Maya Angelou famously said,

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

The “ideas” post was from the early days of my creative resolution. While reading through my old posts, I realized that focusing and finishing were recurring themes. Previously I wasn’t successful with my creative projects because I was always starting and stopping, and never finishing. Which left me feeling discouraged.

I started this creative journey in 2014, by finishing several old projects and doing several projects that I had always wanted to try. Accomplishing these things made me feel good, and so I kept going, with new projects.

I’ve come a long way since then. I try to draw or paint every day. I always shy away from the word “daily” because I’m more likely to paint and draw a lot for a day or two. Do nothing for a day or two, and then get back to it again.

I keep a notebook of “to do” lists and project ideas. I check off things as I go, and look back to see if I forgot anything. I’ll keep an old idea on the list for a while. Of course, I don’t get to everything, but it feels amazing to accomplish something that’s been on my list for months. The percentage of unfinished projects is much, much lower than it was before MCR.

Recently I wanted to be creative, but didn’t know where to start. I literally felt anxious. I sat down and wrote out all the ideas buzzing in my head. When I was done, I felt like I could breath again. Just writing the ideas down, cleared my head, and helped me prioritize. And then I started to create. 🙂

10 ways to find inspiration for your creative projects

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

10 Ways to come up with ideas for your creative projects
I originally wrote a version of this post just one month into my creative resolution. Almost two years later, many of these ideas still work for me! The biggest change since then? The inspiration I get from others through social media.

Ten ways to find inspiration for your creative projects:

  1. Scroll through your feed or do a search on WordPress, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. – there is so much to look at and be inspired by!
  2. Take a walk. Whether it is a walk in a nature preserve, along the beach, or through the neighborhood, you’ll notice things you’d never see driving by. And if you see something inspiring – take a picture!
  3. Find a photo. Look in magazines, catalogs, or your own photo library. Keep photos you like in a folder or hang them on a corkboard. Search Google or any social media. Virtually save links using tools like Pocket or pin stuff to your Pinterest boards. See mine here!
  4. Go to the library – where there is an endless supply of art and how-to books, and magazines on any subject.
  5. Learn about other artists. I love reading about other creative people, no matter how different their craft is. Each artist’s creative process, and how they got their start is so interesting. (Two great podcasts for this: What’s your story and While She Naps.)
  6. Just start. Once I get started drawing or painting, the ideas come. Sometimes ideas come to me, by just setting up!
  7. Keep a list of project ideas. I keep a notebook with an ongoing list of ideas and refer to them when I’m stuck.
  8. Look through old sketchbooks. I try to keep everything, because I enjoy seeing the progress I have made. Sometimes I find the start of an idea.
  9. Have coffee with friends. Find a creative friend, or two, and get together with them. When you share your ideas with others, you can get great feedback, and different points of view.
  10. Sit outside. I am so inspired by the Seasons – Spring flowers, the beach in the Summer, Fall leaves. I’m even inspired by the bare trees against the Winter sky.

Ideas can come at any time from unlikely places. Soak them up! I’ve gotten ideas for paintings while watching TV, eating breakfast, etc.

Read –

19 Books for Creatives

My Art Supply Closet

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

 One of the ways I’ve been able to incorporate creating into my daily life, is by having my supplies close by. I use a closet close to the kitchen table for storing my paints, brushes, paper, sketchbooks, inspiration magazines, and more. It makes it so easy to pull stuff out and work. Clean up is quick too. Since I recently organized my art supplies, I decided to give you a peek! Happy Sunday!

Halloween Illustrations with hidden pictures

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

halloween4
Try to find the hidden pictures: scarecrow, witch’s hat, broomstick, bat, owl, eyeball, spider, hands, tail, and a face (profile).

Last year I doodled a few Halloween scenes in my sketchbook. In one of them, I hid a few things. This year I’ve been inspired to do more of these. The illustration above is only 8″ x 8.” So hiding things was a bit of a challenge. It’s hard to draw details that small!

I think a better way to do this, is to create an illustration. Then, create the items to be hidden, separately, and a bit larger. And put it all together in Photoshop. I’m working on a second haunted house illustration now, so I’ll give it a try.

Last year’s Halloween sketches:

halloween3halloween2halloween1spookyforest

It’s interesting to look back on last year’s illustrations. I’m noticing that the thicker marker conveys a more playful feel.

Did you have trouble finding any of the items? 🙂

Be creative! It will super charge your senses

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

change
One of the side effects of living a creative life is your senses become super charged. Plainly stated you notice things. On a recent walk with a friend, I stopped her a few times to say, “Look at that!” Her response, “I forgot I was with an artist.” I was finding beauty in things she didn’t even notice. I mean just look at these flowers!
dahliaonwalk

I love this “stop and smell the roses” mentality. As a runner, I see things all the time that I’d never notice driving by in a car. I often stop running and snap a photo. A common caption on my Instagram is “Found during my run.” Many times these photos are inspiration for my paintings.

I’ve realized over the last year and half, how much the seasons inspire me. Here in New York, the leaves are just starting to turn. I see hints of it here and there. And I can’t wait. My recent artwork reflects how Fall is inspiring me.

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I’m already doodling Halloween stuff in my sketchbook…can’t wait to share! 🙂

I was asked to be a guest blogger :)

| Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

goodmorning
Hi everyone! A little over a week ago, I received a really sweet email from someone in Germany (I’m in NY isn’t it amazing how WordPress connects us?), asking if I would like to be a guest blogger. I have to share with you a part of the email. I was beyond flattered!

“You are the first person I contact for this matter. I would be honoured if you would like to attend my blog as guest blogger, and write about a learning experience, testing a new medium etc. I decided to take this step and approach you after your post about how to make a pattern in photoshop. It’s inspiring, and that’s exactly how I would like my small audience to feel when going through my blog.

I don’t wanna take much more of your time, please let me know if the idea is appealing. I don’t mind if you say no 🙂

Best wischen from Germany – you have fans here!”

Anamaria

Of course I said yes! I decided to write about painting in watercolor. Ana’s response to the topic and post was:

“WOW, thanks a lot! looks awesome and it’s great, it will help me in starting my first experiments with watercolor. Couple of day ago I bought the supplies, and I am ready to give it a try, so your post comes just in time! I always wondered how the “wet on wet” effect it’s made ;)”

Sharing feels really good! 🙂

I hope you’ll visit Ana’s blog. Here is the link to my post: Ana’s Learning Lab