Ink Blot Magic: Creative Activation for Artists Who Feel Stuck

1. Ink Blot Magic: Creative Activation for Artists Who Feel Stuck: Hi, everybody, Let's create an art journal that we can easily take with us wherever we go. And using minimal art supplies, find some ideas and Guan qui weirdos while we are waiting maybe at a doctor's office or at the bus stop, doesn't matter. This journal will help us to keep our creativity alive in a very low effort way. And if you ask me, those are the best ways because that's when we stick to our art practice. Why am I wagging my finger at you? So if that sounds fun to you, then let's go. 2. Making Our Art Journal: Let's create journal. First of all, choose a sketchbook that you know you enjoy working in. That is so important. And the process is pretty straightforward. Just put some ink somewhere on the page. Just make a little mark with your dropper. And then close your book, lightly press on it. And in this case, I noticed a pull of the ink so do a little rub there, and that's better. And then it's time to dry the page. Dry it thoroughly because otherwise it's going to stick together. And then repeat the steps until your journal is full of inspiring shapes. And try to experiment with your movement of the ink and the amount of it. Don't put too much under. Otherwise, your whole page is black, but other than that, go nuts. And me personally, I like to find little faces, and sometimes I try to steer it in that direction. Like, here you can see me put in the eye sockets, shadow underneath the nose, and a little mouth. But I don't do this for all my pages because I want a bit of spontaneity in there, you know, I like a little bit of control, but I also really enjoy the shapes that are so surprising to me that I couldn't have thought of myself. And you'll see why in this one, it's very chaotic, and while I'm doing it, I'm thinking, Oh, my God, where's this going? But it ended up as one of my favorite pages in this book. And if your fingers get inky like mine, just get a paper towel and protect your pages. And just keep going like this till your journal's done. Have fun, and I'll see you in the next lesson. 3. Gather Your Favorite Art Supplies: Since we're going to use this journal wherever we go, I want you to take a little bag and put some of your favorite art supplies in there. As you can see, I already have posca pen, some gel pens. I use these to the most. And I'm just going to leave them here. In case I want to collage something, I can put glue stick in there. I like the oh stick very much. It works very well. So maybe a brush. I'm going to put these in there after all. And I really like this MNR pencil sharpener with the two holes, and this large one is perfect for my neocolor cranes. These are water solub and I love them, and I use them all the time. So my favorite colors will also go in there. And I also really like this tint that I've filled up with these little pans with my favorite watercolors from Daniel Smith. And I especially like these idscent ones and the geochrom and such. But I want you to go through your stash and just make a selection so you can make art every time. Now, let's go to the next lesson, and I'll do a little demonstration for you guys. 4. Let's Find a Wonky Weirdo: Okay, so here's how I would go about it. First, I'm going to find my little wonky face by lightly sketching it in there where light would hit the face. And at first, I'm not going to worry about the eyes because I don't know what's happening yet, because I like to just start, even if I don't see a story or something, because if I wait for inspiration to strike, then I can wait forever, you know? Inspiration comes while we are creating. So let's be brave and just do some weird ****, you know? I just go wherever I see a shape that inspires me the most, and I'll take it from there. Not bothered by reality or anything. Now I'm going to press a little bit harder wherever there would be more light. And that is how I sculpt my figures, basically. Now let's take some of that watercolor. The reason why I really love the Daniel Smith brand is that it has a nice coverage, see? So I can work on top of my inky shapes. And also, I don't lose my contrast as much as when I work with different brands. I used to really hate watercolors because when I was working, I would think I would have some nice contrast and then it dries, and I lost everything, and I have no patience for that, you know. Right now I am just connecting the weird shape, no idea what it means with kind of the brain part of my figure. She was kind of an airhead, and I thought, I'm just going to do some doodling in there. And right now, I have no idea what it means, and maybe it will stay that way, and maybe after a while, I can find some meaning in there because usually there is some, you know, something below the surface that maybe I don't know right now, but after a while, it makes sense. And that is the great thing about intuitive art. So I really hope you'll give it a try and just do it in your own way because in the end, it doesn't really matter how it looks. It matters that you've been creative and along the way you are learning. And that's why we're here, right? So don't be shy and just have some fun with me. Take it step by step and smile while your wonky weirdos are coming into existence. I hope you enjoy this inspiration, but feel free to go rogue on me. In fact, I love that, you know, do your own thing and have fun doing it. Now, let's go to the class project. 5. Go Forth and Create!: Now, for our class project, let's flip through our brand new journal and see which page resonates with us the most in this moment and just have a little bit of creative time. Personally, I love to use just one or a couple of new color crayons and bring out some wonky weirdos. And if you would like to see me find this weird genie in a bottle doing strange things from start to finish, then you can click on the link in the PDFle you can find in class resources. But I would like to encourage you to create in your own way the way that makes you happy and inspired. And if drawing is too intimidating to you, you can maybe start with some collaging, or you can do some Zentangle doodling. There are endless ways to use this journal. So just have some fun, take it with you when you go outside or go to bed, do some nighttime doodling before going to bed. It's better than screen time anyway, and have some fun. Now, go forth, create, and don't forget to share your page in the classroom because I'm nosy. I want to see. Have you creating, everybody.