Tuesday 27 January 2015

Taming Your Troublesome Muse!

Hello again!

Are you well? I hope so. If you're having a great day then THANK YOU for sharing your sunshine! If you're having a poopy day - here have some sunshine to brighten it up -


Today's post is a fun little exercise to help free up your arty doodle muse. How often do we sit down with every artistic fibre of our souls straining at the leash, ready to burst forth with creativity and awesomeness, AND

....... meh.....

Nothing......

Our muse is off at the shops or snoring in a corner. It's SO frustrating, and it only takes a couple of times for that annoying little voice that lurks in the dark parts of our brains to pipe up and tell us that we CAN'T do this, we CAN'T make art....we should give up.

Well. That's NONSENSE!....a load of rot!  Lazy muse just needs to be woken up so that she can pay attention! In time, you'll develop your own muse-nudgey methods, but for now here's a fun little exercise that might just help!

This exercise is to help you put marks on paper quickly- NOT to produce universe-altering art! Judgement free fun! You'll need some scrap paper, a pen or pencil, and some colours - either pens, pencils or crayons would be ideal.

You're going to make eight little drawings, each one taking no more than one minute. Yep - ONE minute! I promise - this is easy.  The pictures will all be variations on a single theme, which is easier to show than ramble on about, so without further ado....

Choose something simple - you'll need to think of eight different images! Start with something basic - SHAPES.You're going to draw eight different shapes and colour them and each one will take you less than one minute! So - pens and pencils at the ready.......GO!


HA HAAAAAH!!!! Scribbly fun! That was easy, huh? TOLD ya! You can do this as often as you want or need to. How's about upping the ante a bit? Something a little less basic - stretch the thinky muse! How about......emoticons! Circles with faces on them....different expressions.....GO!

I'm not stressing AT all - no worry about colouring in neatly! Scribbly scribbly. But lookee - that's sixteen drawings in the blink of an eye! And you thought you'd stare at a blank page for HOURS! Holy moley, you're AWESOME!  What else can you do? If you need more exercise, choose another thing to draw....not too complicated......err......LEAVES! there are thousands of variations! Ok....think about a few plants or trees in your garden.......got it?  ok.......GO!

BAZINGA! You aced it! Another eight drawings! That's .....err.....twenty-four pictures in almost no time at all - you're on FIRE baby!

If you do this regularly, it'll feel like a game, and you'll be able to challenge yourself more and just enjoy the silly fun of it. Here are four further doodle topics I chose to stretch my (VERY useless) brain a bit -
- flowers, buildings/homes, woodland creatures and cats. Same time restrictions apply -




THAT was fun! I have a stack of weird, scruffy doodles and my muse is wide awake and ready to kick some arty arse!

This is a great exercise any day, any time. If you're with a friend you can do this together - see what nutty stuff you both come up with! (can be quite questionable if you've both had a glass of wine! I am not responsible for your dodgy-doodle-related trauma!!) You can do this with your kids - make it a race. I like to cut eight pieces of paper (just roughly the same size), stack them in a pile and turn each one upside down as I finish it so I don't waste time staring at the ones I've finished. Plus each time I doodle it's a new little blank page - no fear of them for me now, my friends, OH no!

What to do with all your doodles? Well, that's up to you. You can throw them away - OR you can incorporate them into your artwork or journaling and make that muse work a little harder for you. Here's a page spread I created with three cut-out doodles -

Step one: Choose a book of booky bookness, liiiiiike so -


Step two: Cut out the doodles you want to use and riffle through your bits and pieces of arty crafty supplies until you have a bundle of inspiration lying in front of you (forget tidy - this is about fun!)


Step three: a background. I scraped a little white acrylic paint onto the page, then tore up some pretty paper pieces to fit onto the four corners, plus a bit extra because it looked cool... Then sticky sticky sticky with your sticky stuff of choice (not jam....jam is not good for this....make toast for your jam):


Oooooh! It left a white spot. Looks like a cloud.... I'm taking that and running with it....

Step four of fourness: Sploosh on a little sexy colour. Go ooooooon....  I used my trusty Gelatos and Inktense pencils and added a bit of a border and some life to the whole thing. Go on - get mucky!






Smooshy smooshy! Be messy - be creative! Paint with your fingers! Let your cat paint for you! No....that's probably not a good plan.....wet painty paws and angry claws.....Paint with your fingers! Aaaah.....you rebel you!

Step the fifth: I cut out text from some magazine clippings I've obsessively hoarded (as you do). You don't have to....you can always write!


The sexy sixth step! - This is where you get to add your awesome doodles! TA-DAAAAH!



The final lucky seventh step! (you take AS MANY as you jolly well like!): Add faffy fun doodles to bring the page together. Add some colour to the border if you need it, then do a happy dance!


Now stand back and and admire your work! You....are.....EPIC! Hug your muse, that way she'll come back quicker and pay attention in the future... Now party like you've earned it!

This is a good day and you're a legend! I'm off to boil a kettle ....and make toast! I'll see you soon with more journaling exercises and some notes on my favourite art supplies. NOW GO AND LET THE WORLD WITNESS YOUR AWESOMENESS!!!!

Love and hugs from Shroo :) xxx


Me and my mum - my inspiration!



19 comments:

  1. oh wow Shroo maybe I can do this too-hugs

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    1. I totally promise this is a complete doddle - just play some funky music and have some fun. Start simple and don't be telling yourself "I can't". Honestly missus - someone who makes and creates the awesome array of stuff that you do will find this easy peasy! Mahoosive hugs from moi and the Colonel :)xx

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  2. Shroo, you make this look so easy! I do have a blank journal book so that's a start. Considering it is a drab brown it does need some color ....
    maybe I can do this too.

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    1. Hi Debbie! This really is easy - guaranteed! Why not use the names of your lovely grandchildren and write and colour each letter in block capitals - that's eight letters, yeah? Then you can cut them out and make an arty page for each little lovely person using a couple of photos. It'd be a nice project and keepsake journal entry? Whatever you do will be fabulous! Hugs from Shroo:)xx

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  3. This just made me smile. My muse? The little minx often pops out without any regard to me!! What a great way to restrain her!

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    1. ach - TELL me about it! These muses are impish creatures! This is a great way to pin her down:) Hugs from Shroo:)xx

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  4. This is so inspiring! I may have to break out my colored pencils (all I have on hand)! Even your doodles have turned into artwork! :)

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    1. Go oooooooon!!! You know you want to!! Coloured pencils are all you'll need - and whatever you do will be FABULOUS! Encouraging hugs from Shroo:)xx

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  5. What fun! Once I poke my Muse with the doodle pen she doesn't always like to give it up. But now I see I can cajole her with the promise of scissors and glue. She's in heaven!

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    1. Aaaahh - scissors and glue: CLASSIC muse-tempters!! My muse has the attention span of a hyperactive three year old....flashy colours will attract attention but the promise of messy paint and glue makes her very giddy! ha! Big hugs- Shroo:)xx

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  6. what a great Idea! made me smile all the way through, love your cat doodles, it reminds me of simon's cat LOL love it!

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    1. that's an AWESOME compliment! Thank you so much!! Big hugs - Shroo:)xx

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  7. Wow, you sure do know how to make things fun and inspiring. This was a great exercise and a fun way to make an art journal. Thank you so much. Love the photo of you and your mum.

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    1. I honestly think that the best part of making art is having fun - this exercise usually clears any weird brain-blocks I have, I hope it helps my readers! The photo of mum and me was one I found after she'd passed away - never saw it in my life 'til then! She kept in in her bedside drawer. It's oe of my best things ever now! Sending hugs - Shroo:)xx

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  8. That is gorgeous! And you made it sound such fun too.

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    1. Aawww! Thank you! Art SHOULD be fun! Sending hugs from Shroo:)xx

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  9. I sat down in quite a grump to read this this morning and came away with a huge smile on my face. SUCH a cheery positive post and I love this idea. Have to say though I would not consider your critters as doodles! Love your cats - especially the cat butt *chortle* Yes I am a child!

    I keep hearing good things about these gelatos - I may have to stick them on my wishlist.

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    1. ha....I still laugh when people say 'Uranus'. I am five. Hope you're not grumpy today! There's a cheeky Party Raven winging his way to you as I type! Squooshy hugs from moi and the Colonel! xxx

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