Coping with Artist's Block

Everybody deals with artist's block at some point or the other. Trust me, I have days where there's not a single idea in my head. And there are days where the ideas just don't translate well; a hand turns into a paw. So here are a few tips that I use to get over the hump:

1. INSTAGRAM BOOKMARKS

So as you know, I run an instagram account for this website! I'm on instagram everyday; posting and interacting with other artists. So I naturally come across pieces that inspire me. The trick is to bookmark them so you can scroll through this for ideas later! Even if you don't run an instagram for your own work, you should definitely follow some artists or even just check out the art hashtag! 

2. PINTEREST BOARDS

This was my first way to find and categories art for inspiration! This is my art board, I have a lot of others for architecture, tutorials and references! This is a really good way to find some amazing pieces! And hey you can just follow my board for a constant stream! 

3. GALLERIES AND ART MAGAZINES

Galleries are pretty self explanatory, but it's also a great way to understand how to curate and talk about your work! But the art magazines are a great source of inspiration. The Lumas Art Magazine is my favorite! It has such vivid pieces and although I don't usually use the techniques, the colors palletes are amazing!! So you can subscribe or just go to the gallery and pick it up. If you cant go to a gallery, check it out line. 

4. TUMBLR BLOGS

This is a little strange but tumblr art blogs are actually really interesting. They work like a combination of the Pinterest boards and the instagram blogs. I run the blog below for this website but I follow quite a few artists. Unlike instagram, they tend to reblog a lot from other artists and galleries instead of posting their own art.

5. Worst comes to worst: just put pen to paper, brush to canvas or pouring medium in the cup. It's a cliche for a reason, right? I think the key is to not get completely discouraged when the hand drawing turns into a paw!  

Try them and let me know how they worked for you! And, of course, if you have some tips of your own, please share them! 

Shivani 

Painting Miniatures - A Tutorial

I love painting miniatures! You can so easily engage with the canvas and the images so you can spend anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours on it! And, of course, they usually turn out amazing cause no one can see your mistakes!!

Here are a few that Ive done recently, so Ill take you through my process:

1. Lay down a base colour or if you're a bit lazy (like me), buy a canvas of that colour

2. Choose a few reference images. It makes color matching much simpler and you can think about your composition before hand. If you need it make some light pencil marks to lay down the image. 

3. You can skip this step if you want to use your own pallet but i do recommend fixing your canvas to another piece of card so you can move your canvas around without actually touching it (a smudge could easily ruin the whole painting). I fix my canvas to an A4 size piece of cardboard and then put small amounts of paint along the top. It just makes the whole process more accessible. I sometimes use a small bottle of water to clean my brushes as well.

4. I then apply the paint in small circles. This is just a technique I use though, feel free to apply as you want to! If I need to create a gradient over a large area, I actually use my finger to apply paint, it usually works better than a brush.

5. After I'm happy with it and its dry, I just spray on a thin layer of varnish to finish!

It's not much, but these techniques work for me every time! Let me know what you think!

Shivani

A Fluid Art Tutorial

I have recently begun experimenting with Fluid Art and unfortunately discovered that its not as easy as it looks! I'm far from an expert, but here's my simple tutorial. It will probably change in the future, but I'll keep you guys updated!

This is a final piece; I'm going to take you through the process.  

Final piece  

1. I first spray a thin coat of varnish on the canvas (make sure it's a stretched canvas) to allow the paint to move across it easily  

2. I then mix the colors I want with flow aid, water and pouring medium. First mix the flow aid and water 20:1. Add this mixture and pouring medium to the paint until you've got enough paint and the drips are continuous streams. Below is more than enough to cover 40x40 cm. 

The paint  

3. For this painting I attempted to be more controlled so I poured the paint in a pattern and attempted to spread it without disturbing it. There's no right way to do it, you can pour them all into another cup and pour this, or flip the cup onto it (a dirty cup pour). To spread the paint simply tilt the canvas in what ever direction your want it to fall.  

Applying the paint

Below is what it looked like after I finished pouring and spreading.  

4. I then added more detail by swirling the paint around. If you do it when it's wet the paint will Reform with the pattern you create but if you wait too long or move too much it will create a 'hole' in the surface. You can also use this method to correct any stray drips like the blue drop in the bottom left corner. Lift it out with a straight edge (some cardboard or a chisel tip rubber brush and move the surrounding paint to close over the gap. 

Adding detail

And here is the final piece!! I added more detail almost exclusively in the center.

Final piece

I've been watching a lot of tutorials and looking at a lot of fluid art pieces to come up with this technique but I'm still learning! So let me know if you have any suggestions! Comment below!  

Shivani  

My First Process Video!

I've recently started experimenting with fluid art! So I decided that the first glimpse here should be in the form of my very first process video! Check it out below!!

I really have no clue how to make Process videos so if you guys could comment some tips or send me an email through the contact page that would be great!  

Shivani 

Planning my Instagram

So, recently I started an Instagram account for my art! It's been a really great source of inspiration and, of course, it allows my art to be seen by more people. I put a little planning ito this as I still haven't found a scheduling app/service that works for me. So here's how I manually plan my feed!

I generally photograph all my work and processes and I put these in a folder. I can then look at these images and group them by project, series, technique etc. I then use Layout (an app associated with Instagram) to organize these photographs into a grid that can be visually followed. I'm quite new to this but let me know if it 'makes sense' to you!

A 9 day plan

Im trying to introduce some variety to my feed as I think that only 'final' pieces make the feed a little monotonous. It also gives my followers a chance to understand my art and my thought processes as I create. Currently, I post: finals, displays, details, workbook pages, and experimental pieces. 

Details  

I also use Layout to create a composition of details or works so I can compare or display them together.  

Display

To create the "display" photos, I use a web-app called Wall Art. It's pretty limited as you only have a few situations to choose from and you simply place your painting. But for now, its working quite well!  

I would love some suggestions 'cause I really have no idea what I'm doing! And if you have any scheduling apps/services, please comment them below! 

Shivani