Muse, oh muse, where for art thou?

You've got an hour/ day/ week off where you can dedicate time to painting. You sit down in front of your empty sheet of paper/ canvas and ....

Nothing.

After weeks of not being able to paint you FINALLY get the chance, and your muse has gone walkabout. So what can you do when this happens?

1. Relax, it will come back eventually. It's like spilled milk. You can't change the fact so you might as well take a deep breath, recognise that maybe today is not going to be the day for painting, and get over it.

2. If you can't paint, go and do something else. Why waste a couple of hours bashing your head against the proverbial brick wall. Be practical. Do that website update you've been putting off, go watch a movie, do a puzzle. Just stop sitting there hoping that inspiration will magically happen by staring at a blank page. It will frustrate you no end, and at the end of the day if nothing has happened, you may feel worse than when you began.

3. Flip through an old sketch book. If you're feeling uninspired, go back and see if there's a half finished sketch that needs some shading done, or a painting that needs details added. Looking at your old stuff can inspire new stuff.

4. Write out a list of things you'd 'one day' like to paint. It can be anything from illustrating a specific book, to something vague like 'a blue elephant'.

5. Pick a topic you're interested in doing some paintings on and research it. Just because your painting muse has gone walkabout, it doesn't mean that you can't be planning future work. Do a google image search, follow links, look at technique articles. It doesn't matter if you start out researching 'The sleeping beauty' and end up at 'Martian icecaps'.

6. Join in an art challenge. Some great ones are
- 100 Themes Art Challenge - this is about interpretation of a single word
- Illustration Friday - a weekly challenge site-
- Speed painting challenges on most good art forums - particularly useful for digital artists

7. Experiment. Work through a tutorial you've had bookmarked for years. Don't worry if you're copying a painting in order to learn a new technique - this is how many artists learnt their trade. Just focus on keeping your skills up to scratch. This is about doing art stuff, but not letting your brain get in the way.

Your muse may be nice and come back half way through the first 10 minutes of the movie you've switched on. Then again, it might be vindictive and take a holiday in Barbados for three months. The point is, when you force things in art, it doesn't always work. The more you try and make it happen, they more you may dislike what you're producing and get miserable. Artist block happens to the best artists. It doesn't mean you suck, it just means that you aren't necessarily meant to paint at 2pm on Tuesday afternoon! So don't give up, just relax and fill in your time while you're waiting for Muse to come back.

Or fire her, and hire a new one!

The healthier artist - 10000 step challenge

Working in IT, I'm pretty much tied to the computer. I get up, go to work, switch on the computer and sit there for 8-10 hours a day with the occasional interruption by a meeting or visit to someone else’s desk. On my down time when I work on my art, if I decide to paint/ work on website updates/ check emails/ visit forums, again I’m tied to a desk.

All this desk time is not really conducive to an active lifestyle and can cause health problems, and exacerbate stress. But there are a number of things that you can do to help keep from seizing up or becoming unhealthy. This is one idea that you might like to consider as it’s cheap, easy to get involved with, and takes little effort:

My work is currently taking part in something called the '10 000 Step challenge'. The idea is to aim for 10 000 steps (the equivalent of 8km walking) every day. This is the recommended goal for an ‘active adult’. You use a pedometer, a conversion chart and a group of people to heckle support you and you track how you measure up. I must admit I’m a bit up and down at the moment, but I’m definitely averaging 10000 steps every day.

Here’s another article people in sedentary work might like to read: 7 important steps for a web worker

Stock photography - making your own - what can you photograph?

Even though I'm not a photographer, I use photographs to reference from to help create realism. Sometimes you have to use stock photographs, but if you are lucky and have the right resources, you can create your own reference stock to work from.

Why is this great? Well, it means you have less to worry about on the copyright infringement front, as well as being able to get the EXACT photo you need for your painting. However there are a few things you need to be aware of when taking photographs of places, objects and people, particularly if you want to use the photos for commercial use.

Here are some great articles on stock photography:

• Tutorial 9 have included a basic article on your rights as a photographer
• Digital Web has an article for designers A Designer's Guide to Making Your Own Stock Photography (for non-photographers)
• USA Today has an article on What and where you can photograph
• An interesting article on what can happen when the authorities get involved with your photography

Please note, each country has different laws on what can be photographed.

Links Shout out - BG Patterns

http://www.bgpatterns.com/ is a background generator that allows you to use a range of images, colours, textures and rotation. It's simple to use and features a range of already created patterns for you to browse.

Backing up bookmarks - foxmarks

For those of you who like easy backup ideas, firefox has some nifty addons to synchronise your bookmarks. One that I've recently used and found incredibly helpful is Foxmarks.

http://www.foxmarks.com/ is a tool that can automatically synchronise your private bookmarks so that you can access them from any computer, backup your bookmarks everytime you change your bookmarks, and allows you to access your bookmarks from anywhere you have internet access. This tool was great when my computer died a few weeks ago and I had to buy a new computer. You can even keep two sets of synched bookmarks - one for at home, and one for work (http://blog.foxmarks.com/?p=160 )

Should I, shouldn't I ? What makes a good decision

Decisions are made all the time. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they suck. Remember that pair of awesome boots that hurt your feet every time you wear them, or that licensing deal that you wish you could rip into shreds, or maybe that commission enquiry that turned into 12 months of the best illustration work you've ever done? Every time we are faced with a choice, we are faced with making decisions.

In my work in IT, I am faced with decisions - some as minute as which room to have a meeting in, to big ones like do we hire this contractor, or how much will a 6 month project cost? Each time I make a decision, or am involved with making decisions, I have to be aware of the consequences- what happens if it goes well, as well as what happens if it's a dreadful decisions. I've done a few courses on Ethics and philosophy, as well as doing some sessions on decision making through management training. I'm by no means an expert. But here are some questions you should ask when making a decision:

1. What will the benefits be if it all goes well/ what's in it for me? Monetary, skills, networking? All these things are important. *
   
2. What happens if it goes terribly wrong? Is there a termination clause? Will I be out of pocket (time, resources, money, reputation). Sometimes you can't avoid it, but if something smells fishy, it probably is. Talk to other artists who have dealt with a commissioner or a licenser. Join communities that black list or white list commissioners. They are out there!
   
3. Will I learn anything new?
   
4. Will I get bored? See number 3. If something is going to bore you to tears, only consider it if you are desperate for the money. Boredom means the work takes 10 times as long, you're never really going to be happy with the work
   
5. Is it fair? Are both parties getting something in return, or is only one party getting something. Treat each decision as a business decision.
   
6. Is it legal?

*Exposure, unless its on a global scale, like a competition book such as Spectrum is the ONLY type of exposure I'd really consider. Exposure by painting something for free to go on someone's personal website is a waste of your talents and time, plus they're getting a free service they should be paying for. I'm not saying you should never do 'exposure only' art, but consider your worth as an artist - this is supposed to be part of your livelihood. A mechanic would never fix your car because you could give them 'exposure'. Sure, you're on the road with a million other motorists, but you're not going to tell everyone you meet about the quality of the workmanship - it will come out as 'hey, this mechanic works for free, why should I pay?'

How to make a decision

Each person will find something different works for them.

I tend to use the pros-cons-interesting (sometimes called PMI) type of methodology where you list out all the good things, all the bad things, and all the 'other' issues. Rate each Pro/Con and compare the lists. Work out which one has the most in it and that will probably be your decision. Of course your gut/ instinct generally will have a say in the manner, and if you can't get away from what your gut is saying, then ask a trusted friend for an opinion or to act as a sounding board.

Here's some further links on decision making and tools/ methods available.

• http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TED.htm
• http://www.43folders.com/2005/09/01/eight-tools-for-streamlined-decision-making
• http://www.liraz.com/tdecision.htm
• http://www.managementhelp.org/prsn_prd/prb_bsc.htm

Uses for clear post-it notes in the art studio

Ah post-it notes. I love simple office supplies that become near indispensable in the office. When I read this article http://unclutterer.com/2008/05/28/how-to-write-in-books-that-arent-yours/ I got to thinking about some of the uses that an artist could apply this simple technique too. The article talks about the using clear post-it notes for making notes in library books and text books.

The transparent post-it notes are fairly small (normally 4 x 4"), but they do stick to the page without damaging the book. This is great when you're using a library book or a magazine you don't really want to keep, or a text book you want to sell next semester! Unfortunately, these post-it notes can be somewhat difficult to find so I have some alternate techniques listed further down the page.

Uses for artists:

• Make composition notes from other paintings, photos, images
• Highlight phrases of text such as instructions in how-to books while you're working through a technique
  
• Highlight colours from lists of paints that you need to buy
• Try alternate compositions/ costumes/ expressions
  

Alternate solutions:

1. Attach with blue tac a small sheet of the following
   


1. Baking paper/ greaseproof paper (though you may need to use a Sharpie pen with this)
   
2. Tracing paper/ velum and pencil
3. Clear acetate and a whiteboard marker/ Overhead projector marker. This is only a temporary solution as eventually it will wipe off. Plus Acetate can be expensive!
   


2. Photocopy the image and draw directly on the photocopy. Use white-out/ correction fluid and coloured pens/ highlighters to explore different ideas
   
   
3. Take a snapshot/ scan of the image and transfer to the computer. Create a 'trace' layer in your photo editing software and go mad!
   
   
4. Use software such as http://www.qipit.com to "Copy documents, whiteboards and handwritten notes with your camera phone or digital camera to store, fax, email or publish!" (From the site)
   

N.B. make sure you are following copyright laws whenever you trace/ copy/ reproduce anything.