Conquer Your Fear of the Blank Page: 4 Watercolor Exercises I Swear By

You're probably familiar with know feeling of staring at a blank page. You want to create something. You want to so bad that you even feel pressure to, but your mind is like crickets.

You just stare at the page and if you ever get around to painting/drawing/etc. it's just meh. So here's the thing...

This happens to every single one of us (myself included)! I broke the ice one day and since then, I've never had a problem when I've faced the blank page. And it is all due to a simple exercise/ritual/practice that I do each time I sit down to create something.

This short video is in the introduction to my newest class - Conquer the Blank Page: 4 Watercolor Exercises I Swear By

Before you open your sketchbook or take out a brand new shiny piece of paper, I want you all to take a moment to connect with your surroundings and set the right intentions for the sacred space that your creativity belongs in.

Welcome to a meaningful and intentional class that gives you creative permission to play with watercolor paint anytime the urge kicks in.

As somebody with a very busy mind (I'm sure many of you can relate, as creative people often do), I believe my brand new class will deeply resonate and help ground you in continuing to develop your art practice. It's so easy to put pressure on ourselves and I want to help you quiet racing thoughts and release expectations.

This under-an-hour class is going to help you break through some of the walls you're met with each and every day, just by infusing a few exercises into your creative practice.

These are exercises that I personally visit nearly every time I sit down to paint something and it's because it conquers the blank page. You don't have anything standing in your way and the blank paper is no longer intimidating. I know that at least one of these exercises will organically become a part of your process if you work along with me and feel the benefits of letting go.

Watch the full class!

*This link will unlock a month of Skillshare Premium for free for new members - no strings attached.

Transcript:

I am very affected by my surroundings, which I'm sure that a lot of us are. What is right here in front of me is going to affect the energy that's infused into my creative process. For that reason, I like to set up a creative ritual, where I bring in items, smells, anything that's going to really make me feel grounded and more connected. And this can take form in a lot of different ways. It might be lighting a candle with your favorite smell. I am lighting some handmade taper candles that will be in brass holders. And for me that leaves a little bit of mystery, but also elegance to my space. That's how I'm feeling from it, but it's also still grounding with its organic handmade properties. I do this with tea as well. I love having a nice comforting black tea. I love how soothing it is to have a warm hug. The other thing that I love so much is to bring in earth. I have a ton of plans that are surrounding me everywhere. And sometimes that takes the form of actually painting with earth pigments. Today that is going to be taking form in bringing in some found in nature items that bring me a lot of joy. Maybe that special item to you is a vintage piece that came from a relative or maybe it's your favorite book, something that you can have nearby that just brings you connect. This could be in sound and maybe you open a window and hear the birds sing. Maybe you turn on some relaxing music. This could be a perfect time to go outside and be in the elements. So before we get started into our lessons, I want you to take a moment and find something to add to your space that is going to really enhance your experience. When that's in place, we are ready to go.