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Project: Creating Contrast in a White Door Subject – Watercolor Portrait Painting

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Watercolor Project - White Door Portrait - How to create contrast and interest with White Subject Matter in Watercolor | ChocolateMusings.com

Project Details: White Door Portrait

In this post, you’ll learn how to create contrast when watercolor painting a white door.

I love painting doors. There’s something magical about entryways. Some doors could be the portal to a whole new world. I love to paint colorful doors with contrasting colors of flowers framing the door frame. But what do you do if you want to paint a white door? How do you create enough contrast in the painting?

When someone near and dear to my heart came to me and asked me to paint their grandmother’s door – which they called their happy place – I knew I was in for a challenge since the door was white. Not only was the door white, but so was the siding, the railing, and the front stoop.

How in the world do you paint white on white with watercolor? By using shadows and other contrasting elements. Challenge accepted.

White Front Door Portrait - Create Contrast with Shadows when white is the main color in your painting | ChocolateMusings.com

Table of contents

The Challenge: White Door Painting

The challenge with this painting is that this door is white, the house is white, the railing is white, and the stairs are white. Creating contrast is difficult when everything is white. If you stop and look at the photo for a minute, you’ll start to notice shadows and variations of color. This wasn’t going to be a painting of a white door. No, instead, this painting would emphasize the shadows and colors to frame the door to make this door stand out.

I used several reference photos and combined them to create a whole new photo. One where I could see the welcome mat, another photo featured the bushes in the front, and a third photo featured the door details.

Project Details

(See Below for Shoppable Product Links)

5×7 Arches Watercolor Paper – Trimmed from a bigger sheet
Daniel Smith Paints
#4 & #6 Round Brushes
Flat 1″ Wash Brush
Masking Tape
Art Board

Believe it or not – despite this project being a white door with white siding, here are all the colors I used.

  • Buff Titanium
  • Paynes Gray
  • Raw Umber
  • Indigo
  • Quinacridone Rose
  • Sap Green
  • Deep Sap green
  • Amethyst Genuine
  • Rose of Ultramarine
  • Imperial Purple
  • Raw Sienna
  • Raw Sienna Light
  • Yellow Ochre
  • Cobalt Blue
  • Phthalo Blue – Green Shade
  • Dr. Ph Martin’s Iridescent Copperplate Gold

Do you know someone who wants to start watercoloring? Check out my Christmas Watercolor Wish List!

Colors in this watercolor project - is it a garden? a tree in full bloom? No. Believe it or not, it's a door portrait painting. A white door portrait painting with white siding. What did I do with all these colors? Find out more. | ChocolateMusings.com

YouTube Paint With Me Video

Watch the YouTube Video here. I’ll show you all the techniques I used to create contrast while painting this white door and give you even more tips and tricks.

How I Created Contrast in this White Door Watercolor Painting

The trick to watercolor painting anything white is to paint the contrast in the shadows but not let the shadows take over. In the case of painting this white door, I used the shadows from both the door frame and under the siding to break up large blocks of color.

The other trick is to find and emphasize any color in the frame – use it to contrast the white. In this case, I used the flowers upfront, the doormat, the little decorations hanging outside the door, and many-layered shadows to emphasize the door frame and siding.

Door Portrait Line Drawing #beforethepaint - How to Create Contrast with a white door and white siding - watercolor tips & techniques | ChocolateMusings.com
Door Portrait - Finished - Lots of Color, Lots of Contrast in What Could Have Been a Boring Painting | ChocolateMusings.com

Base Color

Instead of pure white, I used watered-down buff titanium for the base color. It’s very soft and warm – a perfect undertone for this door. The more water you use, the softer the color – but the more color you will need to build up to create contrast.

Painting deeper tones such as (very) watered-down Indigo, Payne’s Gray, or Neutral Tint around the door frame adds more contrast and helps the door stand out from the background.

The idea is not to be too dramatic with the colors but to create layers of varying contrast as you watercolor this white door.

Adding the first layer of shadows surrounding the door for this door portrait. It's important to build up the color when the colors are soft and muted | ChocolateMusings.com
More layers of shadow to create more contrast with a light color palette | ChocolateMusings.com

Keep Your Shadows Consistent

Painting in shadows is one of the best ways to create a distinction of color in this painting. Build up watercolor layers to create the right contrast around the white door and frame.

To keep your shadows consistent, decide where your light source is before you start painting. In this case, I chose the light source from the left.

TIP: If you struggle with remembering and creating consistency in your light source, add a reminder dot or sticky note to reference while painting. You could even cut out a cute little sun or light bulb and tape it to your painting board to remind you where the light is coming from.

Fixing Watercolor Mistakes: When You Add Too Much Color

One struggle throughout this process was that I kept adding too much color to the siding. I used a paper towel to dab the still-wet color away to fix the mistake.

Don’t forget that you can lift watercolor off the page if you make a mistake or need to lighten the tone slightly. This works best if the paint is non-staining. But even with staining paint, you can lift a lot of the color off the paper when the paint is still wet.

Added too much color? Blot it out with a dry paper towel before the paint dries. It's much easier to remove wet paint than to try to remove paint once it's dried. | Watercolor tips & tricks | ChocolateMusings.com

Tips for Painting While the Layers Dry

Sometimes I get too impatient with watercolor – but if you don’t let it dry between layers, you’ll end up with a muddy mess or watercolor blooms. So that’s why I flit about the painting and work on different areas at different times.

In this door painting, I used the door frame as a buffer between the areas of wet-on-wet painting so I could paint one area (like the door) and work on a different area (like the siding) while the different areas dried.

How To Know If an Area is Completely Dry

You will know if an area is completely dry if it is no longer cool to the touch. If it’s cool when you touch it, the paper isn’t yet entirely dry.

Use a Good Brush

Use a good paintbrush. Except for a wash in one place, I painted nearly everything with a #4 or #6 size brush. What’s nice with these size brushes is that you can get a pointy, fine tip to the end of the brush. You can hold so much water in the brush and get amazing blends and washes when needed.

Adding Shadows to the Railing - Build up your color base and add layers of watered down color to create more contrast in your watercolor paintings | ChocolateMusings.com
Shadows to the siding - add color diluted with gray for more shadows, then blend it out with water to create soft shadows | ChocolateMusings.com
Adding more color with plants - creates interest and contrast in your color scheme | ChocolateMusings.com

Removing the Tape & Finishing the Painting

For the oh-so-satisfying part of removing your tape, ensure the page is 100% dry before removing the tape. If you don’t, it will tear. Remove the tape at an angle and watch those satisfying, clean lines reveal crisp edges.

I’m glad for the opportunity to paint this client’s happy place. It was such a great exercise in balancing contrast and tone for this white door portrait. I’m sorry I didn’t take better pictures of the final result. I sent off the final painting too quickly to its new owner. And I didn’t photograph it very well.

Satisfying Tape Peel from Completed Watercolor House Portrait Painting | ChocolateMusings.com
Satisfying Tape Peel from Completed Watercolor House Portrait Painting | ChocolateMusings.com
Door Portrait - Finished - Lots of Color, Lots of Contrast in What Could Have Been a Boring Painting | ChocolateMusings.com
White Front Door Portrait - Create Contrast with Shadows when white is the main color in your painting | ChocolateMusings.com
How to Create Interest and Contrast with White Doors and White Siding - Watercolor House Portrait - Watercolor Door - Watercolor Tutorial | ChocolateMusings.com

Battle With Stuff #2: How to Create Decluttering Habits

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How to Create Decluttering Habits

Create your Own Declutter Habit Plan | Create, Do, Conquer the Everyday Clutter | ChocolateMusings.com #declutter #organize #plan

Hey! Welcome back! Here is post #2 in my Battle with Stuff Series – I call this one Decluttering for Life. It’s all about creating putting those decluttering habits on autopilot.

I’m excited to show you what I did to make decluttering and straightening my house a daily part of my routine. This process helps me identify the biggest “Clutter Problem Areas” for my house, what I would “ideally” see and what I’m going to do about it.

Read Post #1 Here

I hope that it will help you and help you start thinking about what you can do in your home in small snippets of time rather than waiting for a big chunk of time or feeling like you ‘wasted’ an entire Saturday or weekend just to have it fall back into disarray the moment your kids get home from school.

My Ah-a Moment for Creating Decluttering Habits

In the last post, my aha-moment was that decluttering is not a one-time event, it’s an everyday battle that requires specific decluttering habits to combat the on-going clash between all the things and the ideal view I have in my mind’s eye for each room in my house.

Now here’s the hard question: How can I make a habit of decluttering my life? Because it’s not just one act, it’s an everyday movement to keep stuff from taking over every inch of space. Part of my clutter is the everyday neglected chores. The laundry that piles up, the dirty dishes scattered after cooking a meal. All. the. legos.

I knew I needed to identify specific times and events that helped me take care of the ‘clutter problem areas’.

What To Do First

First, I started with the known – my schedule. And then I will figure out where the problem is and how to tackle it with clearly defined decluttering habits.

You can think about your schedule and the sequence your day follows. Make a list of the things you do every day starting when you wake up to leave the house then what you do when you return home.

My Schedule:

I go to work at 9:30 am every day. I get up with my kids at 6:30 every day, and the oldest two leave at 7:20 when the bus whisks them off to school. We get home at 4:30 after taking one of my friend’s kids home from daycare. From there it’s homework (which drags on forever) dinner prep, dinner, and then it’s time to get the little one to bed followed by the other two with some spare moments in between.

If you saw my Ideally Planned post a while ago – the day is rarely ideal. Maybe I need to declutter my day as well….But that’s a story for another time.

Do you feel like your days are also cluttered with ‘stuff’? Such as stuff to do, stuff to finish?

Here’s the Plan to Create Decluttering Habits:

Declutter Habit Key: Use snippets of time to keep areas organized, and doing specific tasks when other known events take place.

For instance: Dishes in the morning while the kids were making lunches. Sweeping while talking to mom on the phone. (Does anyone else do this? Just me?)

Nightly Decluttering Habit: Just before switching the light off in my office nook – look at my desk before turning out the light at night and taking a minute to put away the markers, throw away the scraps of unused paper, nestle all the pens back in their spot, plug in my iPad, set out my planner for the next morning, dump any dirty watercolor water. Generally, straighten before going to bed. That way, I wake up with a clean area – a place to work in the morning with fresh ideas. Rather than worrying about the mess from the day before.

Create Clutter Busting Habits - Grab your Free Worksheet | ChocolateMusings.com #clutterbusting #declutter #organize #habit

How to Start

To start ‘decluttering for life’ I collected a list of all the ‘problem’ areas in my house. (Scroll to the bottom of the post, my video walks you through the process.)

Make a list of all the problem areas in your house. If the ‘stuff’ has a place, then it needs to be straightened. If you put something away where it belongs, and it spills over the space, it either needs a different space or there’s too much stuff. So in that case, ask yourself “what can I pare down?”

Declutter Inventory Checklist | ChocolateMusings.com

My big issues in my house:

  • Kid’s toys picked up and put away
  • Dishes in the dishwasher/sink cleared
  • Table cleared
  • Too Much Paper (school paperwork)
  • Laundry – specifically when laundry has to be re-washed several times or clean laundry piled up in my room
  • Master Closet
  • Surfaces cleared

You can also make a list of the big issues in your house. We might have some of the same issues. Whatever they are, you can use the worksheet to create a plan.

Second Step: Imagine – Give Yourself a Visual Reward for Your Hard Work

Imagine what you want to see. What is your ‘ideal’ view? What do you want to see when you look at a particular drawer? How do you envision your living area? Where are your kids’ toy’s stored? What feeling do you get when you see a clean space instead of a cluttered mess?

Third Step: Be Specific about Change

Considering that I do not have huge spans of time to dedicate to straightening or decluttering, I need to use triggers or certain times of the day or events to change my everyday actions.

Clutter Problem Area:

Piled Up Clean Laundry

Ideal:

Laundry sorted and put away when it comes out of the dryer instead of stacked against the wall in my bedroom.

Plan – Be Specific

Here’s how I break never-ending, always overwhelming laundry into specific tasks per day:

Do one batch of laundry per day. Start the batch at 6:45 am while the kiddos are eating breakfast. 8:00 am switch the laundry from washer to dryer. 9:15 am just before leaving for work, take the laundry out and put it away.

I’m a fan of anything that doesn’t create too much overwhelm and can be checked off on a day-to-day basis. In other words, laundry is a never-ending task, but telling myself that I’m required to only to do one batch per day gives me the freedom to do something else without the guilt AND bonus – I can check it off my to-do list! So instead of a chore that never ends, I’m done after one!

Set a Specific Time – a Switch in Mindset

Setting a specific time makes a HUGE difference in my mindset. The ideal is no longer arbitrary. There’s a means to accomplish the goal and I know what I must do every day to do it. Decluttering is a life skill and I plan on learning it so well I don’t realize I’m doing it.

Setting a specific time is something that I learned from a Skillshare class taught by Cynthia Koo – “How to Design Your 365 Day Challenge” – she also suggests writing the event you will do before or after your task. Just that simple step makes all the habit-creating difference in the world.

(By the way, look at her Instagram @wontoninamillion) she said she used the 365-day challenge to help build her business and post every day, which made her have to create new content for Instagram, which was a win-win.)

The Power of Habit

As Charles Duhigg suggested in his book “The Power of Habit” – we need to create a simple and obvious cue, implement it in our routine and receive a reward, and create a craving for that reward. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to walk into my room and see no laundry piles. That in and of itself makes me do a little happy dance. Up until I came up with my trigger, doing this happy dance was far and few between, but it’s something I want.

So, let me ask you…when it comes to clutter, what do you want most to see when looking at your own clutter problem areas? What is your ‘dream view’ and subsequently what is your reward for dealing with clutter?

11 Reasons to buy Postcards as Souvenirs – Genius Idea for Traveling

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Do you listen to podcasts? I haven’t until recently, and even then, it is difficult for me to pick up in the middle of a podcast. Should I go back and listen from the beginning? That will just set me back even further in the listening queue. I received an email with a link to a podcast from Gretchen Rubin (I have read several of her books and will link them below).  So I listened this morning without going back and starting from episode 1 and surprisingly, I enjoyed it.

(I started listening to books/podcasts in response to this post)

A small part of the 34-minute podcast was a note from a listener. The listener said they buy one or three postcards from their travels of significant memories of the trip such as their favorite art piece at the museum. Postcard as souvenirs don’t take much room to pack, requires no customs, and stored in a small tin at home. She writes a note on the back of the card to herself which captures more memories of the trip!

Genius!

What a genius idea of buying postcards as souvenirs! The cost is minimal and you still get the feeling of ‘buying something’ from your trip.

I remember in my parent’s basement a couple of little dolls from their visit to Pennsylvania and Amish Country. I asked my mom why she didn’t have them on display. She said they were just silly little dolls and wished she wouldn’t have bought them. But she couldn’t throw them away either.  I asked her why she didn’t just throw them away and she couldn’t give me an answer and just ushered me out of the room. There is something about buying a souvenir on a trip. Then there is something about having to get rid of it afterward.

How Many Things are Too Many Things?

I have a child who cannot throw away anything because it is all significant to him. I have the same struggle with anything I create. (At what point does my pile of paper become a fire hazard?) I understand the struggle of loving things, but I also understand the struggle of having too many things.

This idea of selecting a postcard to commemorate the best moments of your trip is fantastic, plus you keep a short journal entry on the back for even better memories.

11 reasons to buy postcards instead of souvenirs when you travel - sketchnotes adapted from a podcast

Here are the Reasons to Buy Postcards as Souvenirs

(I’ve adapted this list from the podcast and added my own thoughts)

  • Choose the best memories from your trip
  • You don’t have to take pictures all the time
  • Your friends can help you choose which one you want to take home
  • Easy to pack
  • Doesn’t take much space on the trip home
  • No Customs
  • Inexpensive
  • Write a note on the back for memories
  • Easy to store at home, doesn’t take much space at home
  • Buy two or three of them without guilt
  • Isn’t a picture worth a thousand….trinkets?

If I find more gems like this from podcasts, I may have to make an effort to listen to more! And travel more. I definitely need to travel more just so I can buy postcards as souvenirs as if that’s the only reason.

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

From Drab to Fab #1 – Headers, Calligraphy & Outlines – How to Make Fancy Headers Part 1

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Turn a Drab-Looking Collection into Something Fabulous by Adding a Fancy Header

I love to make pretty headers for my bullet journal. Here’s a guide to dress-up your collection. Organizing the information in the journal is another way to make it pretty. I like lists, but I also enjoy variety (thus a huge reason why I like bullet journaling – I can change things up every single day for variety). Here are some ways to make your lists ‘pretty’ or just change-up the format.

But I also know that another key part to refer back to information is to make it look amazing. Making fabulous headers is a very easy way to dress up the page – especially if a majority of the content is a list. I realize that a lot of lists are day-to-day tasks compiled on Daily Spreads or Weekly Layouts. Not every list needs a fancy header. Personally, I just list those out and check them off when done. Because the next day or the next week, I turn the page and rarely refer back to that page again.

Dress up your Bullet Journal Collections with Fancy Titles - step-by-step instructions to create this one + Printable

A Collection is Different

A collection is something that you’ll probably refer back to time and time again and probably won’t be recreated regularly. These are the ideal page to dress up the titles and organize your lists into unique spreads. A collection is a little more special than a calendar spread. So it can look a little more special.

Side note: I have (for over a year) kept my collections intermingled with my weeklies and monthlies. Since starting my new journals, I have a planning journal and a permanent collections journal and I love it!

Learn to create fancy titles like this in your bullet journal, includes step-by-step instructions + a printable

10-Minute Collection – Title

I created the “Have 10 Minutes?” collection page in my Bullet Journal on a whim. I started making a list in Google Keep on my phone (you can read the post here and a follow-up here) but then I decided to move the content over to my collections in my Bullet Journal because I knew I would use (more) it if I wrote it down.

My ideas are best started in pencil. Just like a rough draft when writing a paper, the pencil provides a good outline, but you can change it easily as the ideas develop and progress.

Ways I Dressed Up the 10-Minute Collection:

  • Title – added a fancy-schmancy title with blended colors outlines and swirly-twirly flourished fonts
  • Sub-Titles – separate sub-titles for each area of my room help organize the page
  • Organized Lists – Classify each item and list them under the correct sub-title
  • Mind-Map Layout – Change up the layout – the title doesn’t have to be at the top. Put the title in the middle of the page and spread the sub-categories out and around the title.
  • Uniform Font List – use a uniform font to write out all the items in the collection

Dressing Up the Title:

The Number

Starting with the number – I wanted that to be big and bold but have a unique look. I looked through my font list on my computer and chose Algerian. I think this is a pretty standard font on most computers. If not – you can find it on fontsgeek.com or myfonts.com or a variety of other font websites. I chose this font because it was thick in parts, thin in others, I liked the flip on the 1 (the serif) and the line on the right side kind of like a shadow.

I sketched out the number and made it bolder than the referenced font so I could blend colors from lightest at the top to darkest at the bottom and have more space to color it in.

Tip: draw inspiration from fonts, but if your font doesn’t look exactly like what you see – now it’s yours.

Create fancy titles - start with a pencil outline in your bullet journal and add the words

Blending Colors

Start with the lightest color as the base when blending. Then add the next darker color slightly overlapping the lighter color and so on. I added black to the bottom in this case. Use the lighter color to smooth the edges. Then use the colorless blender or a water pen to further even-out the color. Don’t blend too much or you might make the paper pill.

Tip: Blending colors can sometimes make messy edges on the outside. Outlining the text after blending can ‘clean up’ the lines or disguise uneven edges.

Create fancy titles - blend the colors together

Finishing the Blending

I find that I when I use the next lighter color to blend – it ends up looking more even. But sometimes you need to use the colorless blender to smooth out the edges. The blending marker I have has a stained tip, but if you clean it after each use (just rub it along some paper until it goes clear) it will be fine. I have noticed that the tips of the lighter colors will stain, but that doesn’t matter.

Flourished Text

After sketching the number, I wrote the text in script font. But I didn’t add all the flourishes. I wanted the word ‘have’ to mingle in and out of the numbers – so I could rearrange the text to adjust placement. Once I liked the layout, I added the flourishes with a pencil. After working through the flourishes, I added the thick and thin lines of the text.

Normally I’d have used a brush pen to make the thick and thin lines, but I decided to use a mono pen and thicken the lines on the downstrokes because I thought it might be hard going across the center of the two pages.

Tip: Anytime you pull the pen or marker down, that would be the thick line. When the lines turn up or are horizontal, those are the thin lines.

Create fancy titles - outline the main text, then fill in the downstrokes on your faux calligraphy

In the next fancy headers post, I will show you how to outline the text and finish off the spread.

If you’re just anxious to have the header, you’re in for a treat. I have it available in my shop! Click here to visit.

 

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

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Want to know what I used in this post? I’ll tell you. (Contains affiliate links – if you click-through and end up purchasing a product, I receive a small commission – though the cost is the same to you.)

A Confession of Unfinished Projects

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How unfinished projects seem to take over my life, and how I broke out of a rut and coaxed creativity to come out of hiding.

I get all wrapped up in so many big and small projects. Then thinking that the best way to get the things done, I constrain my creativity and it all backfires, and a week later I’m waking up from a veritable coma of uninspired late nights where I accomplished nothing except me feeling sorry for myself and the amazement of how much time has passed.

A Confession of Unfinished Projects

I confess: I’ve fallen into a slump, I tried to blame it on ‘monthly’ woes, but that’s not going to work anymore. I just can’t find the motivation to do the things that I usually do.  There are so many unfinished projects needing attention that I don’t know where to start. Moping around for the past few days wishing I had the energy or the deep-down willpower to just muscle through skip a few days of sleep to get everything done.

I know many people fall into this dazed state where they don’t know where to begin or what needs attention the most. For me, it’s unedited raw videos sit waiting on my hard drive. Images in various stages of editing, and ideas floating around my head and never doing anything about them. All of these unfinished projects vie for a snippet of time, and I am trying to keep them all straight but never focus on one.

There is my problem.

The Problem

The problem is my focus (or lack of focus). Choosing one thing during a block of time to complete (and be entirely done) and then move to the next. The other problem is trying to remember everything. Um… I bullet journal remember? That magical dotted notebook is supposedly the keeper of my secrets, my tasks, my second brain! That’s a big problem, and I wasn’t using the most obvious solution to help me organize these projects.

How Did I Get Here?

Recognizing the path that brought me to this point is essential so I don’t repeat the same mistake again. Why didn’t I just use the obvious solution of using my bullet journal to organize these unfinished projects?

I realized that the reason I didn’t use a bullet journal to organize myself is that I am moving into a new notebook and haven’t transferred over spreads yet. In fact, to combat having to go through this move situation in the future, I am moving into two notebooks: one for planning and one for collections.

In the middle of that transition… well… I decided to put together some tutorials using my real-life experience to create these tutorials. But since I was moving into a new notebook, I had nothing to guide me and tried to do it all in my brain and became overwhelmed. If I had had a journal to help me keep the tutorials straight, I would not be in this mess. Aaaaaah, classic catch 22.

The Solution for Unfinished Projects – Why Didn’t I Think of That Before?

In my collections notebook, I made a list of my unfinished projects. HUGE ‘duh’ moment – why didn’t I think of that before? I considered scrawling a quick list of projects. Unfortunately, that is the type of list I will ignore once it’s written. If I’ve learned anything about myself by bullet journaling, it’s that it’s got to be ‘pretty.’ I feel like a bee attracted to beautiful and fragrant flowers. But in this case, I didn’t want to spend a lot of time creating this ‘project list’.

I lettered the title and then sketched in the projects – but I left it unfinished. Fitting for a page that highlighted the unfinished projects in my life. I decided to ‘finish’ the boxes one-by-one as I completed each project. Once the page was complete, I’d create another ‘unfinished projects’ page and continue the trend.

Unfinished Projects Bullet Journal Spread

The Solution: Have a Keeping Place

Mind-map is one of my favorite ways to layout ideas on a page. For one thing, it doesn’t place importance on any one idea. You start with a central theme and spread out. There are apps and software to create intricate mind maps, but mine rarely go more than a couple of levels deep. For example, my 10-minute task list was a mind map.

Tips for completing unfinished projects

Keep It Organized

Even if I am in the middle of moving notebooks, I need to make sure I have a place to keep ideas organized. When I organize my ideas, it makes ME feel more organized and confident. When I am confident, I’m pretty sure I can take on the world.

It’s Got To Be Pretty

Oh, and it needs to have a pretty header. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for quick note-taking and ‘brain dumps’ but if I intend to spend any time on the page, it has to be attractive. The goal here is to choose a project and get it done not feel more scatterbrained after I look at the page.

This spread is a ‘brain dump’ or idea log of sorts, but it’s more than that. It’s a place where I can sort through all unfinished items and figure out where to focus first. And knowing where to focus is what got me into trouble in the first place.

The After-Effects of This Realization

As I unleashed my creativity and watched my brush pen slowly mark the page lettering the words ‘Unfinished Projects’. I made another realization: when I restrict my creativity and restrain myself from writing, drawing, painting or creating in any form because these do not complete the to-do list I rebel and instead do nothing.

‘Idea Keeping’ is Like Beekeeping?

I’m going to think of this page as ‘idea keeping’ kind of like beekeeping without the stings and the buzzing. If I want the sweet stuff (finished projects), I need to have a place for the bees (ideas) to come home but allow them the freedom to explore, just like giving myself creative freedom to explore. (This is a fun idea! I think I may have to see where that one takes me).

idea keeping is like bee keepeing

Allow Creativity

There will be some days that are more productive than others. If I have learned anything from this experience, it is that creativity spurs my productivity and restricting frustrates me. Taking a lesson from the 10-minute task list, if I need to get things done but am itching to create something, I need to give myself just a few minutes and listen to my inner muse without restriction. Doing this frees my brain to think and organize subconsciously, which, ironically is just the thing that I need.

Sometimes we are our own worst enemies when it comes to productivity and creativity.

Choose the First Thing

I’ve honest so far, so here’s a little more honesty. I am going to choose the easiest thing to check off my list and ignite the momentum. It feels good to get something done, and now that is important to keep me going. I feel the spark again, and it’s lovely. I am sure there will be follow-ups to this post. This breakthrough in creativity has spurred many other ideas. It’s nice to have the spark alive in my soul again.

Question:

What do you do to break out a slump?

My solutions are:

  1. realize why I got here (to prevent for the future)
  2. write down all the things I need to do
  3. make it pretty (so I want to look at it again)
  4. allow time for creativity and not restrict it (helps me mentally sort through the tasks)
  5. choose something from the list and get it done to create momentum (choosing the easiest thing is the fastest way to create that momentum)

All of this will enable me to focus which is essential for feeling accomplished. I know I don’t get anything done when I bounce around from thing to thing, but if I give myself 10 minutes to do something that has bothered me, I can then turn my attention to other tasks done.

I’d love to know what you do let me know in the comments below.

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia