Today I started reading a really great book, Sketch by Sketch: A Creative Path to Emotional Healing and Transformation, by Sheila Darcey. I really loved how Darcey encourages her readers – creators who are feeling discouraged in their art, writing, music etc. – to try sketching out their feelings, and see what creative ideas might come up.
Sketch it out
Let me tell you, I’m no artist, I think I am better at writing than art, by a long shot. But today under Darcey’s book exercises, I sketched wild, crazy waves for anxiety, while holding my pen tight. Then I sketched random shapes that came to my mind for anticipation, and it was neat to see what patterns emerged. It was also fun to draw just for the sake of it, and not to depict anything in particular.
My results
After those 2 exercises, I was encouraged to create a piece of “art” by splattering something across a canvas, paper, etc., whether it be wine, ink, tomato paste, etc. I have ink for my fountain pens in black and pink, so I eagerly splattered them across an empty canvas.
VOILA! Here’s my result:
It’s nowhere near completed, but I’m excited to see what I create from it later.
What are some ways you try to jog your creative inspiration to make something new, or get re-inspired? And how did Camp NaNoWriMo go for you, if you participated?
Until next time,
Chaitanya
Typing Madly 
I too write better than I draw, but have since picked up doodling and sketching, and I have to say, drawing does get me into flow state much more readily than writing does. Great stuff here. I should probably check out the book!
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