Drawing
From my experience, almost everyone I have met drew pictures
as children. We all did. It’s a relatively inexpensive hobby that can be a lot
of fun, time filling, and very creative! If you are interested in fine arts,
especially painting, honing your drawing skills is a great way to prepare for
the more challenging task of creating a painting. In painting not only are you
concerned with the ideas of line, shape, shading and perspective (you practice these
in drawing), but also color, tone, value, and texture.
What You Need:
Basic Set of Drawing Pencils
Pink Eraser
Drawing Paper
Drawing Paper
There are many videos to be found on Youtube for free that
show you how to draw various things, find something that you like and start
sketching! I recommend watching a few videos on the topic of “Perspective” to
get started.
Here is short YouTube video that I created near Christmas
(hence the music) of an easy drawing of some lakeside pine trees that you can
create yourself. The image is not overtly Christmas themed, and will be a great
place to start for you to practice!
Winter Pines Drawing Video
Winter Pines. Charcoal Vine on Paper. Artist Charles Wolf. Impulsive Artistry © 2015.
Impulsive Artistry Blog Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Here are some a links to Amazon where you can purchase a great set of drawing pencils, pink erasers, and a quality drawing pad:
Coloring
There has been an advent of coloring books for adults in the
past few years (of course kids and teens can do it too as always), but it’s a
fad that I can really get behind as a creative person. There are many benefits
to coloring, which can also be applied equally to the other creative activities
listed here.
What are these benefits? Coloring promotes relaxation,
reduces stress and anxiety, improves you mental state overall, and can make
your day a little brighter. It’s a highly creative activity, while providing
the structure of the image already, enables you to freely explore color and be
yourself! It can be a great collaborative endeavor with your kids or spouse.
Finally, coloring improves you fine motor skills (just like drawing, painting,
or playing a musical instrument) and can increase your ability to focus.
What you need:
Color Pencils or Crayons
Coloring Book for Adults
Here is a link to where you can purchase these on Amazon:
Painting
As those of you who regularly read this blog know, this is
one of my personal favorites creative endeavors to pursue. Painting brings a
lot of joy to my life, and I know that it also has all of the same benefits as
coloring. There is a great deal of satisfaction that can be had when you
complete a new painting, each one presents a unique challenge, but are very
rewarding in the end.
Anyone can learn to paint! It may take time, patience, and
practice, just like any new skill, but its completely worth the effort in my
opinion. Again, there are so many great videos to be found on YouTube for free,
find one that you think that you could do and give it a try today! I recommend
starting with Acrylic paints for a number of reasons; acrylics are the cheapest
option, and they are easy to use, easy to clean up (just use water), have a
fast drying time, and do not have a strong smell.
Here is a link to another article that I wrote dedicated to
this topic, and it includes a very basic painting “Autumn Field” with
step-by-step instructions that you can learn to paint yourself:
Learn to Paint an Autumn Field Link
Learn to Paint an Autumn Field Link
You can find all of my painting videos at my YouTube channel
here:
Photography
This is perhaps the easiest creative hobby to get into, and
with the explosion of social media and the power of the Internet, you can share
you photographs with the world in a matter of seconds (as I am sure that many
of you already do).
I was born in the
early 90s, and remember, having to go to the store to get your film developed.
Great cameras were expensive, and seem to pale by today’s standards. If you
have android or iPhone you already have a wonderful camera to start with that
can take professional looking photos, at least by 90’s standards. I use my android
to take most of my pictures, and then using the software that I have on my
computer, I am able to filter them to improve their look even more!
I can then share them on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, or
Impulsive Artistry Blog… you get the idea. Social media sites like Instagram
are amazing, because they already have the filters setup for you. Just snap the
photo, select the picture you want, pick a filter and in under a minute you can
share it with the world - so easy!
Here is a link to the Instagram extension of this blog where
you can view my photographic work—Yes, there are photos here that you will not
have seen on the blog:
My Instagram Page Link
My Instagram Page Link
Here are a few links to several Photographic Essays that I
created for this blog:
The most recent Featured Guest Artist on this blog was a
young emerging photographer, Julia R., and you see her beautiful work in her
article that she wrote:
Writing
Writing can be a great way to be more creative in your life.
I write new articles every week for my blog, and I enjoy the process of coming
up for with new content to think and write about. I often find that learn more
of what I think about a topic when I write a new article. Of course, creative
writing falls into this category, and when I was sixteen I wrote a two-hundred
page fantasy book that was, to be honest, a bit clichéd, but I had a lot of fun
doing it. The point is anyone can write a book, a short story, an article, some
poetry, or even begin a blog – it just takes dedication, a bit of practice, and
away you go!
If you are looking for some creative ideas to help get you
started, I highly recommend the engaging and inspiring book “The 3A.M.
Epiphany” by Brian Kiteley and published by Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati,
Ohio, © 2005. It contains unique writing prompts to get your creativity flowing
and will help you think about creative writing in a new light!
Here is link on Amazon where you can purchase this book:
Play a Musical
Instrument/Write Music
I started playing the piano when I was eleven, and have
loved it ever since! When I was seven, my Mom tried to teach me how to play,
but I didn’t get it, and I found it to be too hard at the time. As you might
have guessed from knowing how kids are, when my best friend at the time began
taking lessons, I wanted to learn also! He took lessons for only a year, and I
went on to major in music… you never know what you will be passionate about.
Out of all the activities that I have discussed in this
article, I think that learning an instrument, particularly the piano, requires
the most guidance. There are many self-taught musicians that are really
talented, but a general rule, most people learn fastest when being overseen by
an instructor.
I actually recommend
taking a class in any of these aforementioned activities or getting a private
teacher, especially if you desire to become really proficient, as you will
progress much faster than trying to learn solely on your own. With the advent
of the Internet, there are so many things that you can use to supplement your
learning experience!
Creativity can be expressed in a number of ways on an
instrument, through personal expression in how you perform the notes,
improvisation, and in composition, of course. If you are interested in learning
more about music, start with learning how to read the notes in this easy to
follow five-part article series:
How to Read Music Link
How to Read Music Link
You can also read my latest article series about the “Fundamental
Topics in Music” here, in preparation to writing your own music:
Sculpting (Polymer
Clay)
Of all the creative activities that I have engaged in over
time, I have the least amount of experience in this particular project;
however, back in November, one the first Guest Artist Features on this blog was
written by the very creative, excellent polymer clay artist, Chantal Noordeloos.
In her article, not only will you get to see some of her amazing work, read
her very funny and engaging writing, but also learn how to start working with
Polymer Clay with some helpful tips to get you started!
Final Thoughts
There you have it, seven creative activities that anyone can
do! These are just the tip of the iceberg, and there are many other artistic
projects to explore, such as woodworking, quilting, sowing, mixed media,
printmaking and more! I sincerely hope that you will take a little time this
next week and try one of these very engaging and fun activities, either by
yourself or with your family! Go out there and be creative today!!!
—Charles
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