How to Get Out of a "Creative Rut"

Hello Everyone!!!

 

I had a gallery visit planned for today's post (which I still will post, don't worry) but this post felt more natural to write today so here goes...

 

Have you ever been stuck in a rut? Be it creative or just life in general? Because that's how I feel right now. And as this blog is a place were we can hopefully learn and grow creatively from each other, I thought this might be the place to hopefully help you with tips to get out of the rut if you feel the same way.
 

Here are some really fast hand drawings I did yesterday. If you think you have nothing to draw what's in front of you!

 

I don't know about you but I feel like sometimes when we have a hobby, passion or career that we love and it feels so much worse when something goes wrong. I suppose this shows how much we care.

 

Sometimes when there is too much thrown at me or a project is too exciting I get completely overwhelmed and just pause.

Do you know what I mean? And then it feels like the longer you pause the more effort it will take to start the project again. This my friends is what I call a "Creative Rut".

 

Make your creative space helpful to you. I stuck inspirational quotes on my wall.

I am no professional (unless you're taking about a professional procrastinator) but I would say, you have two options: 1. sit around watching random Youtube videos all day until you finally look up and your eyes feel square and you realise you have done nothing with your life or 2. kick some butt (metaphorically, please don't kick any real butts)! Get out of that rut and produce a body of work that you will feel so proud of!!

 

Hmmmmm... well to me it's a no brainer, the second option is the one for me! So then why do I keep finding myself having square eyes and an empty sketchbook??

 

When I hear people talk about their passions I find it so beautiful! To think that someone works constantly, and never has a reason to stop because they love it so much, is absolutely awesome! I used to feel like I was one of those people but ever since I've been going to college and applying for Uni, I suddenly feel so small.

 

Don't get me wrong I absolutely love college and really feel like my mind has been opened and maybe this "Creative Rut" feeling is a perfectly normal side effect.

If you're tired of drawing, use your hands!! Start making in 3D, I guarantee it will help you see from a different perspective!

 

I think the main thing of a "Creative Rut" is the feeling of being completely overwhelmed. I keep hearing all these amazing stories of how people make their creative practise their everyday life and never separate the two. So then when I don't quite feel in the mood to draw, I suddenly feel so inadequate.

 

But you see I am human at the end of the day, I'm not a machine.

Step out of your comfort zone! Rethink what drawing is for you. Try drawing sound or how you feel in your mind instead of a physical object.

 

Rethink painting! This is when I got frustrated with my painting so I dipped tape in paint and covered a page in it. Now I suppose you could say its a representation of my frustration at the time haha! (There is no right or wrong with paint do what you enjoy!)

So! I don't want to be in a "Creative Rut", I'm sure we all don't, so how are we going to fix it?!

1. Turn off the screens (not yet if you want to finished reading this post first haha!). If you're procrastinating in anyway try and break the habit. Believe me I know that feeling but one step at a time will help you.
2. Get your camera out and take a photo (of anything, you don't even have to move, not yet anyway) I find that a camera can be a frame to help you see the beauty in something. Also flicking through old shoots you have done will help remind you of your creativity!(If you don't have a camera draw quickly or just look around for a bit and be inspired.
3. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!!! It sounds so rediculously cheesy I know but it's true! Remember how strong and creative you are! YOU CAN DO THIS!!
4. Don't compare yourself to others! Now I love appreciating other people's work, I think talent is a truly beautiful thing but don't put yourself down for it. There is no such thing as perfection, it's just something we construct in our heads, so we will never reach it. Just look after youself and you'll find the creative you will be back in no time
5. It's up to you. If you still feel stuck then its completely up to you to turn it around. Find an outlet for you, whack paint on paper, draw with your eyes closed, hit a piano and see what sounds you make! It's up to you at the end of the day to change how you feel.

Get out there!! Tell a friend or family member that you're stuck and go see an exhibition together. Different points of view can really open your minds. 

When I was flicking through my camera I saw the last few photos I had taken. They were pretty cool and I hadn't done anything with them. It made me realise that when I feel inadequate next to these amazing people that make art everyday, it is not because I don't make art everyday but that I don't show it!

Here's a photo I took ages ago, I really like it but I've never shown anyone.

 

So I suppose what I'm trying to say (and if you're still reading this then you are the best!) is just GO FOR IT!!

 

Be fearless! Put yourself out there! YOU ARE AWESOME!
 

The world is a beautiful place so get out there and make the most of it!! Here's a photo I took on a little Paris adventure!

 

So there you go! I hope that has helped you if you feel a little less stuck in a "Creative Rut". And if you still feel stuck, well at least you know you're not alone!

 

I wish you all the happiness in the world!

Hope you have a great day!!

 

 

Guess Who's Back?!

Hello Everyone!!

 

I'm sure you've guessed from the title and the fact that I've posted this that BLANK KANVAS IS BACK!

 

I took this on my Canon DSLR 1200D at Sky Gardens in London. This was a great photography day out! I'll blog about it to show more photos and I am definitely going back!!

I had to put the blog on hold while I sorted my life out, haha! But all is going well! I worked hard and passed my A levels with an A in Art (Wahoo!). I also had to apply to art college. After working on my portfolio and going to many interviews, I was accepted into University of the Arts London and I am now studying an Art and Design Foundation Diploma at Camberwell College of Arts. (Wow all of that sounds so official - in a nutshell I now go to art college).

 

So, there is a lot to catch up on and its all very exciting!

 

I thought for todays post I'd like to reintroduce myself  because it has been so long and I feel like it will be nice to start again. So here goes......

 

Hello everyone, My name is Katherine and I am the writer and creator of the blog Blank Kanvas. I am an art college student and I have recently specialised in 3D Design: Theatre, Screen and Performance. Art is my life and I know it sounds cheesy but it is very true! Look around you, everything has been designed, everything is art. Isn't that exciting?!

 

Here is an outdoor installation I created in A level. With everything going on I never got a chance to blog about it. Better late that never right?!

Don't worry I'm not going to change the existing format of the blog too much but I have got so many new ideas!

 

Here's a little taster of what's to come!.. 

• My First week at art college

This is my favourite photo I took of a sculpture we created in the first week of art college. Can't wait to blog about this!

• Explaining the different pathways in art

As brilliant as Painting and drawing are there is a huge world of art out there. This is a section of a 3D piece I worked on a few weeks ago.

• DIY room decoration
• Gallery visits (because you can never have enough!) and I'm hoping to collaborate with other bloggers! 

I have been going to so many galleries so I have a lot to tell you about! In this photo is the lovely Isabel (aka Izzie the illustrator) She is absolutely brilliant and we have so many plans for collaborations, so watch this space! (I'll put a link to her blog at the end)

• Photography days out
• Experimenting with new and different materials in art

Here is a little experiment using textures.

 

One of my favourite weeks at college. We made the wall in to our sketchbook, anything we made went on the wall. I loved this project and will definitely blog about it soon!

• Experimenting with baking and cooking (I'm not a pro but this way, I can make the mistakes so you can keep your kitchen clean when you have a go! haha!)
• Drawing in public
• Life drawing

Sorry about the nudity (you can scroll past if you want haha) this is a few 10 minute paintings I did in a life drawing course.  Life drawing is a brilliant way to improve your observational drawing skill, once you get past the naked people fact... 

• Explaining my specialism

This is the first ever maquette I made in my specialism of design for stage and screen. I am hoping to one day go into model making. This project was all about developing characters. I learnt so much and will definitely pass on my knowledge to you in a blog post!

• Looking back at old A Level work (advice)

Here one of the pages from my old A level sketchbook. Oooo it will be wired looking back and seeing how far I've come!

• AND SO MUCH MORE!!!!

So there you go! I'm back in action!

 

If you are reading this now then thank you so much for sticking with me! The future is very exciting and I can't wait to share all this creativity with you!

 

As always Blank Kanvas has been about inspiring creativity between all of us. I'm still only learning and so we can go on this creative adventure together!!

 

Here's a link to the wonderful Isabel's blog https://izzietheillustrator.wordpress.com/

 

Thanks again!

I hope you have an absolutely brilliant day!

 

 

Ai Weiwei Exhibition at the RA

Hello everyone!

 

Happy new year!! (I know it's a little late, but better late than never).

 

For today's blog post I wanted to look back on the best exhibition I went to in 2015, the Ai Weiwei exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (RA). This exhibition was truly inspirational, and incredibly moving!

 

This was the entrance to the gallery. It was a small courtyard outside filled with Ai Weiwei's reconstructed trees.

This exhibition has been very popular. I thought I would make this post so that, if you didn't go or just want to experience it again, you will hopefully feel like you came to the exhibition with me! I hope you enjoy!

 

This post will be quite long, so please feel free to just scroll though and pick out what interests you!

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/ai-weiwei

The entrance

Before we had walked into the exhibition there was an installation outside in the courtyard of the gallery. The installation was by Ai Weiwei and his team and was of trees that had been reconstructed using ancient Chinese techniques.

I noticed that a lot of Ai Weiwei's work is based on specific materials used to create symbolism and a deeper meaning.

A lot of his work created intrigue. I tried to show this through my photography of the exhibition. There was a sculpture of a chair in the corner, where you could sit, reflect and take in the intertwining branches of the installation. 

'Bed'

This piece was made from Qing Dynasty timber using traditional Chinese cabinetry methods. The 'bed' represents an unfolding map of china. Furthermore the idea of a 'bed' symbolises the idea that life usually begins on a bed and it is an important part of our lives.

 

 

Honestly, at first I didn't really know what to expect from the exhibition, as I had only seen a few of Ai Weiwei's works online, before going. Luckily I had the audio guide, this really helped me to further understand what these abstract pieces represented and soon enough I was completely enthralled by the exhibition.

There was a lot of detail in this first piece which made it quite mesmerising.

'Grapes, 2010'

This sculpture was in the next room on the right. It is made out 27 Qing Dynasty wooden stools.

 

This whole room had sculptures linked with the idea of giving precious antiques a 'new form'. This is incredibly controversial and a lot of people believe that Ai Weiwei is destroying these antiques. However, Ai does this to express the problem society has in valuing antiques over human lives.

 

This was another antique that has been given a 'new form'.

 

Personally, I loved this idea! I feel that it stood out even more because of its controversial nature, purposely trying to shock to evoke emotions, opinions and possible change.

'Straight, 2008-2012'

This was my favourite piece of the whole exhibition. I had heard many times before, that art is only art if it makes you feel. Before seeing this piece I had never truly been emotionally moved by art.

 

The more I learnt about this piece, the more emotional was the experience. I cried. This was the first time art has made me cry.

This huge installation piece filled the room. In the middle were thousands of straightened poles pilled one on top of the other. These poles were from the ruins of a school in china from an earthquake. The money to make the school resistant to earthquakes was pocketed for greed. When there was a earthquake the school collapsed and thousands of children died.

 

On the walls were the names of the every single child, written in both Chinese and English. On the other side of the room there were framed photographs of the wreckage and a TV playing a video of people walking around the destruction and expressing their thoughts and feelings.

 

Ai Weiwei and his team took each pole from the destruction and had taken years to straighten out each one. I found this symbolism so incredibly powerful as it expressed the neglect in not making the school resistant to earthquakes; yet, Ai Weiwei and his team could go to the effort of straightening each one. Showing how possible it was to have prevented all these deaths.



 

Once I saw the photographs of the destruction, clearly being able to see the bent poles in the rubble, I cried. I cried because it suddenly hit me that we were standing next to the same poles in the photographs, the same poles in the destruction. I stood there watching everyone looking at the installation, admiring its shape and structure; yet, these poles had heard, seen and caused true terror and suffering. This was wrong.

 

I cried because of the injustice. I cried out of frustration. I cried because this could have been prevented. This installation has motivated me further, to know I want to do something that helps people in the world and that it is possible.

'Souvenir from Shanghai, 2012'

This sculpture was made from the bricks and rubble of Ai weiwei's art studio that had suddenly been knocked down by the government for no just reason.

 

Ai Weiwei is not only an artist he is also an activist. Therefore he is sometimes seen as a threat and is silenced by events like smashing down his newly built art studio.



 

'He Xie, 2011'

This piece was in the corner of the room and was made from 3,000 porcelain crabs. This was another piece that represented the defiance against the government attempts to take away freedom of speech.

Again the materials used are key in the piece. These crabs almost look as if they are a cheap seaside souvenir; however, they are made of porcelain. This contrast makes the piece stand out.

'Colours vases, 2015' and 'Ai Weiwei dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995'

Again, this is another controversial topic of 'destroying' antiques, or giving them a 'new form'.

 



 

In the foreground of this photograph, are the 'coloured vases, 2015'. These were twelve Han and four Neolithic vases covered in bright, industrial paint. In the background are three large photos of Ai Weiwei smashing a Han Dynasty Urn.

 

I'll be honest, this did shock me at first, and I had conflicting opinions. However, I think this shows that his piece worked successfully, as it evoked emotion within me. The idea behind this was to express that society is wrong in valuing these antiques over lives.

Ai Weiwei has ground down vases to dust, giving them a 'new form'.

'Fragments'

This huge installation piece was created from salvaged timber from Qing Dynasty temples. You are able to walk in and out of the piece. I really liked being able to do this, as it made me feel more of a connection to the piece and to be able to see every detail.

 

The work was intentionally chaotic looking, and from above the piece was a 3D map of the intricate borders of China.

'Marble Pram' and 'Cao' (meaning grass)

This piece was entirely made of marble. The room was all bout surveillance and the invasion of privacy.

Due to Ai Weiwei being a controversial activist, he was watched by the government and they were also taking photos of his child. The pram symbolises this.



The title of ' Cao' (grass) is also a pun on the Chinese pronunciation of Cao as it can also mean 'f*** off'. (Sorry for the bad language). This conveys Ai Weiwei's fight against being watched by the government.





 

'A Ton of Tea'

This room was filled with four cubes made from different materials and representing different aspects of his life growing up in china.

 



I took this with a slow shutter speed to create this effect. The main cube in the shot is made of tea.



'S.C.A.R.E.D, 2011-2013'

This was a six part installation in one room. There were six large metal boxes, representing the cell Ai Weiwei was kept in for 81 days, just for being an activist.

 

 

The boxes were incredibly life-like, representing his terrible experience. There were small slots in the boxed to look though making you feel like you were a CCTV camera, being intrusive in watching Ai Weiwei.

 



This was the wall paper in the room.





'Bicycle Chandelier, 2015'

 

This was the last piece of the exhibition and had quite a contrast to the rest of the exhibition. It was in representation of bicycles being popular in china and was made specially for the RA exhibition.



 

So there we go!

 

Thank you for getting to the end! And thanks for coming with me to the Ai Weiwei exhibition (I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did).

 

2016 is going to be a big year for the blog and I would love for you to join this creative adventure, be inspired and inspire!

 

Let me know what you think of the exhibition and any of the pieces. I'd love to hear your opinion!

 

Thanks again for reading!

 

Hope you have a brilliant day!