10 Strategies For Artists In Need of Guidance

Inspiration can sometimes be fleeting, leaving even the most passionate artists feeling lost and searching for direction. Whether you paint, draw or sketch, it’s perfectly normal to go through periods when inspiration seems distant and creativity at half-mast.

In this series of articles, we’ll explore 10 practical tips to help artists find their personal path and unleash their creative potential. From finding new sources of inspiration to exploring creativity-boosting techniques, these tips are designed to help you overcome artistic blocks and rediscover the passion that drives you.

Although it’s tempting to think of inspiration as a bolt from the blue, it’s often closely linked to mastery of artistic techniques. Indeed, when the artist knows his or her tools well and has received appropriate guidance on how to approach his or her creation, success becomes more attainable. A solid technical foundation creates fertile ground for inspiration to flourish, keeping the artist in a dynamic and powerful creative state.

This series of strategies is not limited to simply finding inspiration, but is also dedicated to exploring the sometimes overlooked tools and innovative approaches for conceiving an exceptional work of art. By focusing on both traditional techniques and contemporary methods, we aim to provide artists with the resources they need to stimulate their creativity and create works that captivate and inspire.

Artist working in the right position

Strategie 1:
What position do you work in? Standing? Sitting?

When you settle down to work on your artwork, the position you’re in can have a significant impact on your creative process and the final results. Whether you’re standing at your easel, sitting at your desk, or even with a block on your lap, each posture has its advantages and disadvantages.

The traditional idea of the artist sitting at his easel may seem romantic, but the reality is that this position can sometimes be a source of physical and optical constraints. Indeed, when you draw or paint while seated with the support flat on a table, it causes optical distortions in your work, as you draw with proportions that don’t always match those of your subject.

If you transfer the correct proportions onto a support that is not perpendicular to your view, you are bound to have a distortion that only becomes apparent when you put your drawing to face you.
To understand this, just think of the arrows painted on roadways, whose proportions are ten times longer than they would be if they were viewed vertically, without the enormous shortcut that the road presents to your eyes.

The best position to work in is upright, facing your work surface, whether it’s an easel or a vertically adjustable drawing table. This upright position enables your eye to aim at your support perpendicularly to your gaze and leads you to transcribe it onto your sheet of paper without optical distortion. This means you can capture proportions and details more accurately, resulting in work that’s truer and more faithful to your artistic vision.

If you can’t work standing up, at least try to keep your sheet or canvas as vertical as possible. Use an adjustable easel or stand to tilt your work surface at a comfortable angle, but close to the vertical position. This will help minimize optical distortions and prevent back pain, especially cervical pain, often associated with poor working posture.

Your breathing will also improve, and a well-oxygenated body means a more active brain.

By adopting the right work posture, you’ll benefit from two major advantages:

More accurate proportions: By working with a straight view of your sheet, you avoid optical distortions and don’t betray the proportions you observe.

Prevention of back and neck pain: By maintaining an upright posture or tilting your work support correctly, you reduce the strain on your back and neck, helping to prevent long-term physical pain and discomfort.

This brings us to the end of our first tip on the importance of choosing the right work position to nurture our creativity while preserving our physical health. It’s the first in a series of ten tips we’ll be sharing with you, day by day, to help you find your personal path and unleash your creative potential.

Each day, we’ll explore a new strategy, technique, or approach to stimulate your creativity and help you avoid artistic blocks. On the last day of our series, we’ll also offer you the chance to download the full report for free, in which we’ll answer additional questions and go even deeper into the tips shared.

So stay tuned for our next tip. Tomorrow, you’ll discover a seldom-used tool that you don’t even need to buy. This tool will bring you a little closer to your full artistic potential. And if you have any questions or concerns along the way, feel free to share them using the button below. We look forward to discussing your creative adventure with you!

Piet Herzeel has helped many artists achieve their goals. His approach and vision of the artistic journey is personal and original, but full of common sense and efficiency.

Disclaimer: As a Swiss citizen born in Paris, his command of the English language is sometimes imperfect. He can sometimes be inaccurate when writing his articles in English. If you see an error, don’t hesitate to make a suggestion, for which he thanks you in advance.

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