This Post is by Keith Bond, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews.  Find out how you can be a guest author.

Have you ever had those days where you just can't seem to find the creative urge?  I have.  Some days I look through my stacks of plein air studies and photos trying to find that spark of inspiration.  Often I will waste countless hours.  Over the years I have found things that have helped me find my absent muse.  For me, the most effective is to go outside and paint on location.  But this is not always possible or practical. 

So how do you find your muse? 

I have found that for me, creating often begets creativity.  So, if I can just pick up the brush and push some paint around, those creative juices begin to flow again.  It sounds simple, but I admit, it is sometimes hard to just jump in.  Let me offer a few ideas to get yourself playing around with your art.  Little, quick 'studies' or 'exercises' often do the trick.  Musicians do exercises as they practice (scales for example).  They do this to develop certain techniques as well as to loosen up and get into the groove.  Likewise, use little exercises in your art to loosen up and to develop art techniques.  Build your creative muscles by exercising often.  As a painter, my ideas are geared more for other paintiers.  For those of you who use other media, I hope this sparks some ideas of exercises appropriate for your creativity.

There are scores or even hundreds of possibilities.  I will list a few that I have done recently and/or are my favorites. 

1. Paint upside down.  This is one of my favorites.  Turn a photo upside down to paint from.  This forces you to look at shapes rather than 'things'.  Don't spend long looking for the perfect photo.  Remember it is an exercise.  Also, don't cheat and turn it right side up while painting.  Just focus on copying shapes of color.  You will be amazed at your results. 
   
   
2. Paint from memory.  Again, take a photo or plein air study (you could even do this from life).  Study your reference intently for five minutes.  Then look away.  Again, don't cheat.  Put your photo or plein air study where you cannot see it.  If you are doing this from life, turn your back on the subject.  Paint what you remember.  Paint how it made you feel.  This will help you develop the ability to paint an emotional interpretation of your subject.  Rather than copying the 'things' in the photo or in your still life, you are painting the impression they made upon you.  You will paint the characteristics that are most important to you within the subject.  Do this one often to develop this skill of memory painting.
   
   
   
3. Change your color palette.  Try using only the primaries and white.  Since there are many tube colors that fall within each of the primary colors, you could switch things up and have endless possibilities.  Use three different primaries each time.  As an example, try using the black in place of blue along with your other two primaries.  Or use earth tone primaries:  yellow ochre, transparent oxide red (or burnt sienna) and payne's gray along with white.  Or use 2 earth tones with one vibrant color.  A good friend of mine paints with yellow ochre, cad red light, black and white.  Another way to mix up your palette is to randomly select 5 colors (put the tubes in a bag and pull them out at random – I got this idea from Kevin Macpherson's book, Landscape Painting Inside and Out).  Or try painting with only the secondary colors (purple, orange, and green, plus white).  These exercises will develop your understanding of color.  You will realize that you can do amazing things with a very limited palette.  I learned a few years ago, that a larger palette actually was a crutch.



4. Paint from a distance.  Take a large brush (a #6 or #8 flat or filbert) and attach it to the end of a stick (18-24 inches long).  Then paint a small painting with this elongated brush at arm's length.  This will put you several feet away from your painting.  You will learn several things.  Firstly, you will be unable to put in detail.  You will develop the ability to rely on the strength of larger shapes and implied detail.  This will help you loosen up and become more painterly.  Secondly, you will see the entire canvas at once from this distance.  You won't get so caught up in (and thereby overwork) selected areas.
   
   
   
5. Limit your time.  Set the timer for 20 minutes and paint a 6 x 8 from your reference photo or from life.  I like to have my students do this from life in my plein air painting workshops.  We do about 5 or 6 of these quick sketches in one afternoon.  Remember, set the timer and stop when the timer goes off.  Your first one or two may be far from successful.  But you will learn to see and respond to the most essential elements of the scene.  You will learn to overlook the superficial.  Details will become unimportant.  The feeling or essence of the scene will be more easily captured.  By the time you have done 4, 5 or 6, you will be surprised at how much you are able to capture in such a short time.   
   
   
   

As mentioned before, there are many more possibilities.  Paint with a palette knife, or try a new type of brush, or even a stick.  Try new techniques: glazing, dry brush, broken color, blending, etc.  Focus on design.  The options go on and on.

I have enjoyed doing these little exercises so much, that now I usually begin my day spending 30 minutes doing one, even when I am not lacking for inspiration.  Yes, they will help you find your motivation or inspiration.  But just as beneficial is the development of skills.  The 'health' of your art and creativity will increase if you exercise regularly. 

Happy Creating (and exercising),

Keith Bond

PS  You will notice that a few of these ideas are also found in Kevin Macpherson's book.  In the book, he has a number of great ideas.  But, the ideas are not solely his.  I have seen many other artists do similar things.  Ask around and you will likely come up with many, many more.  In fact, if you have a favorite, please share it here for the benefit of all.