Over the last few months, I decided to create art without recording for YouTube, while also trying to take a step back from Instagram. If you looked at this website or my socials you might think I’ve had a very quiet few months – but quite the opposite!
I wanted to remind myself why I fell in love with art. It used to be a quiet place where I could escape the outside world and it’s influences – just me, my materials and an idea.
So what’s been happening over the last few months?
My phone is full of inspirational photographs
I’ve spent significantly less time looking down at my phone and more time looking up. Urgh, I know it’s a cliché but it’s true. I now have hundreds of reference photographs and a clear idea of how I want my art to make people feel, rather than a specific subject idea.
My sketchbooks have taken a beating
Without the pressure of presenting my work online, I’ve had so much fun experimenting in my sketchbook again. I even treated myself to a pocket sketchbook to make it easier to paint out and about. I’ve created some deeply personal paintings that will never appear on my instagram feed. This is something I want to make sure I keep creating even as I dive back into the world of social media.
Doom scrolling has lost it’s hold on me
When there’s a literal endless scroll of amazing artists and artwork on my FYP, I often fall into negative thinking patterns, for example “oh well, there’s no point in painting that -insert idea- because this artist has already done it way better than I ever could”. This is exactly why I needed to start creating art for myself again.
So what if someone has done it before? So what if their work is a thousand times better than anything I create?
The work doesn’t need to BE good to FEEL good.
Go paint something.