Behind the Scenes of My Creative Process

I’ve been creating consistently for about 10 years now and I absolutely love the creative process. It is my happy place! What is the creative process? It is the course an artist takes from coming up with an idea to finishing a piece of artwork. 

My creative process has changed a lot over the years as I have grown as an artist. I am always re-evaluating my process and trying to find ways to improve. In the past, I had no plan. I would sit down at my easel, start painting and just “wing it.” My time to create was limited and all I wanted was to put paint on the canvas.

Through the years, I found my paintings to be more fluid if I had an idea in mind or a reference photo to use before I started a creative project. Once I realized this, I became more intentional about what I wanted to paint and where I got my inspiration from.

In this blog post, I will be sharing my 3-step creative process with you. I think this process can apply to anyone, not just creatives, as it helps to build a good foundational mindset when working on any project whether it is work related, personal or artistic.   

MY 3-STEP CREATIVE PROCESS FOR PAINTING

STEP 1:INSPIRATION    

In Jupiter, FL I took this picture of a Loggerhead Turtle.  She just built a nest and laid her eggs and was heading back into the ocean.  

My true love and what inspires me most is nature. Now I know that sounds very cliche’ and a lot of artists are probably inspired by nature, but can you blame them? There is so much beauty around us.

What does it mean to me to be inspired by nature? Think about…

• The colors in a beautiful sunset or a flower.
• The intricate shapes in leaves, plants, or trees.
• The texture of rocks or sand. 
• A combination of all these things. Such as the colors, textures, and shapes of all the different animals and creatures.

When gathering inspiration I love to turn my phone off and step outside. I bring my camera (DSLR) with me and start shooting pics.  My goal is to capture the beauty of nature and bring it indoors into my studio. I am not a fast painter so I use these pictures as reference.

STEP 2: BRAINSTORMING

Now that I have my inspiration, I brainstorm ideas for the painting. I use a sketchbook and pencil and start doodling ideas and words to describe my vision for the painting.   I typically will sketch 3-5 ideas and brain dump about 30 words to help shape my painting. The brain dump helps set the tone of the painting.  For example, let’s say I am going to paint a dog. If I take words from my brain dump like “protective” and “growling,” the painting would look very different from using words like “playful,” and “cute”.  Do you see how the brain dump works?

STEP 3: CREATING

Before I start making art, I first determine the medium I will be using for the painting (type of paints and whether I will use canvas, wood board, watercolor paper, etc…). Next, I set up my painting table and place my photos, sketches, and word dump in front of me to use as reference while I paint. Now I am ready!  It’s time to start the “creating” process.

The 3 steps above are the ones I use to create paintings and I hope they have been helpful,. Having a process really helps when tackling a painting or really, any project. 

Can you see how these steps can relate to any project in life, not just painting? Do you have a routine that works for you? What is your creative process? I would love to hear about it! 

 Send me an email to Jen@artislifestudio.com.