You Need To Take Yourself On An Artist Date!
As you might have read in my previous blog post I’ve been working my way through a book called ‘The Artist’s Way’ which focuses on helping you either find your creativity again or hone in on it further. I’m not going to dive in too much to the book itself and what it aims to help with as I think it’s just worth going and reading it yourself. What I do want to talk about is giving yourself time to be creative and play again which is something the book encourages consistently with fun suggestions. The way it pushes you to do this is to have your own ‘Artist Dates’, which sounds a little bit cringey and might even just make you instantly think that you want to stop reading. I had the exact same thought, but I can’t express enough how helpful it’s been in helping me find my inner artist again and really having fun with my work.
As I mentioned, I’m not going to go into Artist Dates in detail or the meaning behind them and why you should do them etc. I am, however, going to talk about some of my personal favorite Artist Dates that I’ve done so far and why I’ve enjoyed them.
To add to that, if you are looking for Artist Date ideas, there are plenty already out there that you can easily find on Google! I would also advise doing these alone so that you can really lean into them, yes it will be a little uncomfortable, especially to begin with but that’s part of the process!
Sitting and drawing in a coffee shop.
I’ll start this by saying I know that drawing in public is really nerve racking for a lot of artists, but I can assure you, no one will care and will be focusing on what they’re doing instead! I really enjoy doing this occasionally, partly because I like the environment and partly because it’s something I used to do a lot when I was freelance full time so it feels familiar in a positive way.
It’s really nice to have that change in environment and have some background noise while you draw away. It’s also an opportunity to treat yourself whether that’s a nice drink or cake and it’s a chance to really just appreciate some alone time.
Creating and filling out a memories or achievement book.
Something I used to do a lot in college was sketchbooking, not just drawing in my sketchbook but really making my sketchbook interesting to look through. I used to really enjoy finding new ways to do this and I used to get a lot of compliments from people looking through my sketchbook who found it really unique and entertaining to look through. I used to stick all sorts in there; bits of random paper, stickers, drawings I’d done on loose sheets of paper, anything to make my sketchbook more playful. I’ve started getting into this more with my sketchbooks again, but I’ve also started scrapbooking my memories too which has been so rewarding.
Having your photos on your phone is great, it’s a really nice way to store a ton of memories without having to take up a load of physical space. Even though my phone is good at reminding me to look back on certain memories there’s a lot that gets missed. I’ve started going through my photo album on my phone and making a note of certain events that have happened which were special, important and just a lot of fun. I now regularly get those photos printed off in batches and stick them into a sort of memory scrapbook. Honestly there’s nothing better than having the physical photos and creating a proper photo album. I’ve also kept things like tickets, stickers, invites, wristbands etc. to stick in with the photos. I’ll keep pretty much anything related to an event so that I can stick it in when I get round to adding to the book. Not only is it special to have, it’s also fun, creative and relaxing to put together!
Something I’m also terrible at is appreciating my own achievements when it comes to my work. I will hit a big goal or work on a dream project and then instantly move onto the next thing. So I’m thinking about creating a similar photo book for all of my artistic achievements. I think it’s a really nice way to see your own growth and just take a minute to really appreciate what you’ve achieved and how far you’ve come rather than always focusing on the future.
Visiting an art shop.
This will differ for everyone depending on what type of artwork you do but personally I don’t visit art shops that much anymore. I mainly work digitally and any traditional materials I do buy I usually buy online because it’s the only place I can get the materials I use. However, nothing beats actually just going into an art shop regardless of whether you actually need anything or not. It’s fun to just look around and see all of the materials that you could use for a new project, you’ll see things that will spark new ideas and items that will likely make you want to try something new.
I appreciate some people may already go to art shops often, so maybe next time visit somewhere you haven’t been before! I personally went to the Range which is only a 5 minute drive from me, I've been there many times before but I’ve always known what I needed and gone in purely for those items. However, when I took myself on a little Artist Date there I just fully appreciated the moment. I took my time while I browsed and I looked at everything they had to offer in the art section. It was a lot of fun, it made me feel like exploring new materials again and in a way reconnected me to how I used to feel when I’d buy new supplies for college (which was one of the times in my life when I felt most creatively fulfilled).
Gardening.
I never thought I’d personally be into gardening but for some unknown reason when you reach 30 gardening becomes really therapeutic! I think there’s just something really fulfilling about growing something yourself and taking care of it regularly whilst also building up a routine for yourself and being rewarded for your efforts. The other side is, it gets you outside! Sometimes when you’re maybe not feeling it and you just want to stay curled up in bed playing games or watching films, that added motivation of tending to your plants might help give you that push to get you outside.
Initially I just spent my time looking after the plants we already had in the garden and that in itself really paid off because our garden always looks nice and makes me personally want to be outside. I’ve recently wanted to start growing my own plants, flowers and vegetables and it’s something I saw as a bit of a challenge. I think that’s one of the nice things about it too, it’s a challenge that feels exciting, if it goes wrong, it doesn’t matter and you can start again. Once upon a time that’s what art was like for us too, but the more advanced you become the harder the challenges get and the bigger the risks feel (or seem) and it becomes daunting rather than exciting. It sounds stupid, but gardening alone gives me the time to think about my work and creativity along with giving me a different way to think about it too. I’ve started to grow my own pumpkin, sunflowers and peppers which are currently going really well and it’s wild to see how big they’ve got from a tiny seed!
Building Lego!
I don’t think building Lego in itself is a must but I think the act of doing something that’s creative in a different way, something that’s more playful is really important. I’m well aware Lego has become really popular again, especially for adults but I personally never got back into it and it’s something I only did as a child. I was gifted a pirate Lego set a while back and recently got into putting it together. I honestly had the best time! It was nice to do something that genuinely made me feel like a child again. I definitely now understand why adults are so into it, along with things like painting minis because it makes you feel creative in a different way.
If there’s anything you can think of that you used to do as a child that made you feel free and adventurous creatively just go for it! Lego is a good one but I also remember my mum buying me those massive rolls of paper to draw on which is something else I might try. Even play-doh could be a good one too or potato stamping!
If you are feeling a bit creatively stuck, I’d definitely recommend taking yourself on regular Artist’s Dates and I’d love to hear if it helps! It’d be great to hear other people’s ideas for Artist’s Dates too!