How to Get More Enjoyment out of Painting and Drawing

Painting and drawing are ways to express yourself. Many folks will tell you the right and wrong ways to do creative work. But the real secret of enjoying your own creativity has nothing to do with how well you follow instructions!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Set aside at least a half hour to do your creative work and let everyone know this is YOUR time and not to disturb you if at all possible.

2. Paint or draw something that fascinates you. Forget about what someone else wants to see you do.

3. Study all you want about the right and wrong ways to paint and draw. Then forget about them. You will have assimilated whatever you really needed to know. Then forget about every "should" you've been told.

4. Turn off that little voice that judges what you are doing as 'okay' or not.

5. Throw yourself into having a good time and not caring about what the final results will look like. By trying to figure it out ahead of time you are short-changing the chance to surprise yourself.

6. If you aren't having fun, either take a break or try to identify what's getting in your way. If it is some kind of expectation, judgment or attempt to control the process or the outcome, imagine putting that little voice in a box, locking it up for the moment and stowing it on a shelf. Then try again.

7. Painting and drawing are forms of self-expression. That is what you are doing. Being yourself is the most important goal. The creative process is one of you just letting yourself go and have fun. It is full of surprises. There is no good or bad, only the experience of seeing what happens when you let yourself loose with pencil or paint. Who cares what it looks like in the end? And if you try to control it too much not only will the fun get strangled, but you won't get to be surprised about however it turns out!

8. If you practice these steps and succeed at squelching the 'Voice of Judgment' in you, you will not only discover just what you are capable of creating, but you will have a wonderful time doing it. And what could possibly be better than that?

[acole]

on 7/21/2008 Good article. You should enjoy doing these things if you are going to do them. Personally, I enjoy writing.

[Ladybugblue]

on 7/19/2008 Great article. My art teacher used to say, there is no right or wrong in art. It really is an expression of what is inside of you and how you view things.

[vdeneen]

on 7/12/2008 Great tips.. thanks for sharing!