Exercise Your Creativity

The primary object of exercise your creativity is to begin it without any preconceived ideas as to what the final outcome will be. As you work through it you will start to recognize patterns and shapes that could represent ‘things’ that could be integral to a particular study.

The object of this drawing is to exercise and consequently strengthen your creativity. Besides the fact that it will buildup your draw skills it will improve your creativity in two ways. Firstly: Perception. (Your interpretation of what you see) Secondly: Your ability to express your perception in a way that is natural to you.

Here I have used charcoal and a course regular grain paper. Begin at the top left and work towards the bottom right. I this way you will avoid smudging. Alternatively, if you are left-handed the inverse will apply.

To improve the graphic quality of this demo only the top left quarter of the piece of paper is displayed

1: Start a little in and try to create textures in whatever way you can.

2: Use either a sharp edge of the charcoal, or a flattened area.

3: Draw it softly or hard.

4: Try drawing the textures using a circular motion.

5: Try scribbling or draw the texture with a backward & forward motion.

6: But only do a little at a time.

7: When you are done, move on, and try a different technique.

8: Gradually you will see commonalities.

9: Patterns and shapes will start to emerge.

10. But don’t let them takeover.

11. Do something new and see what comes from that.

12. Move from one point to another and continue creating textures

13. If you can’t find patterns or shapes, don’t worry. They will come.

14. Just keep on going and don’t get distracted by preconceived ideas.

15. Work only with what you have in front of you.

16. Continues until you have done approximately a quarter of the page

17. Okay, let’s see what I have here.

My first impression tells me it could be a part of some type of landscape. Maybe an English garden, but it’s too busy for a Japanese garden. A tropical jungle could be a possibility. On the other hand it could be an African game park. But where are the animals, you may well ask. Have you not heard of camouflage? Although I do see some partly hidden stripes. Could be a zebra hiding behind a thicket or maybe a tiger. Let you imagination run, exercise your creativity and see what comes.

On the other hand those stripes could be fish and I do see something that could look like coral. Yes it could be an under water seen. Well, whatever! Why don’t you try it and see what you can come up with?

Start by experimenting with what textures you can be created. Gradually extend it by testing different methods until you have reached a point where you can recognize a possible topic.

Thereafter, continue in much the same vain. Add similar shapes and pattern that will give the viewer an impression of what the study is focused on.

Click to see other Creative Exercises that can exercise your creativity.

You could try the same. There is a further example of how to exercise your creatvity in What to Draw of how a reflection of St. Basil’s cathedral will be broken up by the erratic checker pattern of the cobbles of the Red square. Alternatively, you could try a still live, a tiger partly hidden by the bamboo and foliage of a tropical jungle. In the same light it could be zebra grazing in thick bush of a game park.