My Virtual Studio: Creativity: Questions for storytelling

First, CONGRATULATIONS for making it through all these lessons! And to those who skipped to read the last page of the book, well, I get ya. LOL!

I believe art tells stories. It engages the senses of the viewer, no matter what kind of art it is, and tells them something. Sometimes it tells them about relationships between images or characters on the page. Sometimes about the setting – a rainy day, snowy night, or joyous sunshine…..or a fantasy or realistic perspective. Some pieces communicate more than others – but those that tell a story engage the mind in the piece, and encourage the viewer to imagine more.

One thing I’ve discovered in my work is that storytelling is behind much of it. I’ve loved creating crazy scenes on cards that juxtapose different images, or set a scene, or make the viewer laugh at the craziness. In my fine art I create an atmosphere that helps the viewer take a walk with me through the landscape. I want that engagement, and though it often comes naturally after years of doing it, there are days I get totally blocked.

When that happens, I have some questions I ask myself. Especially when faced with a stamp set and I need to find an idea – I start asking myself a lot of “what if” kinds of questions. Not in a systematic way, I don’t have a checklist – but I decided I’d at least try to put something together….for you!

What I’d like to give you as a creative gift is a little 2 page pdf that I truly hope will get your creative mind thinking. It’s full of questions to ask yourself when creating, when you’re trying to be “unique” but you just have no ideas where toi go. This applies to stamped designs as well as fine artists – these are just ways to stretch your mind!

What I decided to do was to create some tags for myself and put them on a ring and hang it in my studio! I used these tags that I picked up on Amazon – those who have taken the Scripture Gifts class may have some leftover to use for these, or you can cut your own tags to 2″ x 4″ so you can trim down and adhere these 1-3/4 x 2-3/4 pieces. You can also come up with any creative way to make a little book that you’d like – be sure to share it in our Facebook group and tag me with it on social media!

I also took an old failed painting and chopped it into the 1-3/4 x 2-3/4 panels adhered onto the other side of the tags.

My hope is to use these sometimes when I get stuck too. Pick one by looking at the art on the front, then turning it over and challenging myself to create with those questions in mind!

A challenge for you

Once you’ve printed out and studied the prompts (questions)….watch this video of my Inktober 2019 sketchbook. Pause as needed, and see if you can figure out how I got to the picture I created, based on the questions in this lesson.

A challenge like Inktober is an excellent way to stretch your thinking skills to come up with creative solutions – whether or not you execute them well, the ideas are what matters! You can search the web for prompts – Inktober and Doodlewash have lots of challenges, for short periods or long ones. I find daily challenges for a specific period work well for me – forcing me to keep up day after day to force myself to find an idea rather than wait 2 weeks to pick up a pen. But with a month long period, I know I can look forward to the end of the month and resting up!

I hope you’ve found this class to be inspiring – if so please share this link with your friends so they too can come be inspired!