How To Be More Creative in Art? 3 Tips I Wish I Knew Sooner

Creativity is unpredictable.

Being a creative person means jumping head-first into the abyss of possibilities.

How will your new work of art turn out? Will it make the viewer stop scrolling, even if just for a second? Will it prompt an emotional response? Will it make someone laugh, cry, think, or feel anything at all?

Will it be memorable?

Creativity will make you feel lost at times, but that’s just what makes finding a way out that much more exciting.

Creativity is not taught in school, nor should it be. There’s no one way to be creative.

There are no course curriculums built for creativity.

It’s personal, just like your final artwork.

Yet, to make a timeless piece of art, you must allow yourself to get lost in the creativity. Then, like a brave explorer, journey through the unknown until you make your new life-changing discovery.

3 Tips For Expanding Your Creativity

So, how do you explore your limitless creativity?

How to be more creative in art?

There is no single best way, that’s for sure.

Still, I’d like to share three tips that helped me personally stay more creative and inspired throughout the years!

1. Journal / Visual Diary

Journal about your day, your shower thoughts, and your feelings.

Just rant, get it out, vent onto these pieces of paper that have no meaning except the one you give them.

Write down your dreams, and not just the goals you have for your life. But the bizarre, strange, illogical movies that play in your head while you are asleep.

If you just take a second to listen to the voice that is constantly rambling at the back of your head, you WILL find inspiration and a spark of creativity.

It’s all there for you.

It just takes a minute of peace and quiet solitude to find these goldmines that are always within reach.

2. Create

Now take these ideas, thoughts and ramblings and create artworks with them.

Make it literal or abstract. Follow every detail or just one. It doesn’t matter.

Even from writing one page, you can come up with hundreds of ideas for your next work.

👉 Join my Patreon and get access to a whole website with various art courses, tutorials, files, and step-by-step walkthroughs. Learn more at Learn.YourArtPath.com.

3. Reflect

Did you like creating a piece on this topic? Do you like what it turned out like?

Would you be able to develop this concept if it weren’t for your journaling?

But if you hated it, try again tomorrow. Try with a different idea. Just keep trying until something sticks.

And if you loved it, why not create something similar? Or expand on the concept, dive in deeper, create a whole world around this idea?

Each of the three steps, or tips, creates millions of possibilities for expressing your creativity if you only let it.

Apply Your Ideas

You know, I had this dream once…

I was running on top of a moving train. It was dark and snowing. I felt cold, and snowflakes prickled my skin with the wind. I think I remember that part of the dream because it was so vivid.

I can now take that little piece and make a series of paintings featuring people traveling or living on top of moving trains.

Or, write a novel about a woman running for her life on top of a train because shadows are following her, and she can’t stop running or she will perish.

I could make a sculpture of this, a movie poster, a song, a poem, or use it as an example in a different piece of content like I am doing now.

It can become whatever I mold it into.

I wrote it down, remembered it, and now it’s mine to do with as I please.

How many of your brilliant, creative, imaginative dreams, thoughts and ideas do you write down or remember? I bet one of a hundred?

What a waste.

By documenting your thoughts and experiences, you also learn more about yourself, make more meaningful work, and attract people to your work who have gone through or felt similar things to you.

Sorry to break it to you, but all human emotions and experiences are universal. But that’s a good thing.

This way, you know, you are never alone. And your work will find its admirers.

Get used to feeling lost in your creativity.

Some things will work out better than others. Let go of the need to write, draw, sculpt, paint, and sing perfectly.

Have faith in the process. Have faith in your abilities. Have faith that over time, everything you consistently put effort into will get better.

Have faith in you.

Realize that whatever your creative outlet is, you will probably, hopefully, be doing this for the rest of your life.

You will get better.

And still, you probably won’t ever feel like it’s perfect or that you know exactly what you are doing.

And that’s okay.