Our last post about creativity exercises for artists garnered so many great answers from our community that we decided to split the responses into two articles. Here is part two sharing even more tips and activities to boost your creative juices when you need a fresh wave of inspiration.

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Morgan Booth, Nerve, Image copyright of the artist

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12 More Creativity Exercises for Artists
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Mia Risberg: Looking at other artists’ work or through art books and seeing what others are doing makes me excited to get into my own studio!

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Morgan Booth: EFT Tapping.

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Denise Maio Lange: I'll use a limited palette to give my creativity a boost - it works so well! I'll grab a handful of paint tubes with my eyes closed, or decide I can only use whatever tools I have within reach. Sometimes it means adding my wine or coffee into my painting - or ripping a piece of cardboard to use as a 'brush.' It's playful and fun - which takes my mind off the creativity block. Also this kind of experimentation undoubtedly leads to my learning a new technique or adding some new element to my work that I wouldn't have found otherwise.


Laurén Magda: My favorite creativity-boosting activities are the things that are uniquely supportive to my wellbeing, such as journaling and being with pets.

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Tina Rawson: I make myself start! Just anything to get going!
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Pear LS: Attending conferences/workshops/festivals at the intersection of art and another discipline or reading in a park. Also, cleaning, doing laundry, the mundane things of life helps me create physical space to experiment.
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Paulina Ree, Perfidia a una Joven Madre, Image copyright of the artist


Paulina Ree: Spending time making art with my children, they can be fantastic teachers of really engaging with materials and letting creativity flow without any expectations.

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Melissa Manning Borland: Looking at a file I have on my phone labelled "inspiration". I look at different photos of landscapes, designs, etc, that I’ve dumped in there. It reminds me often of old ideas I had forgotten about.

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Nicolle Cure: Flipping through interior design and travel magazines. Lots of color and pattern inspiration!

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Jayn Anderson: My go-to for boosting my creativity is listening to music! I have several playlists that I’ve carefully crafted, each with its own vibe depending on what I’m needing. Some are wild and crazy. Others are soft and sereneretty much everything in between. It’s a major bonus boost if I can get outside and enjoy nature while listening.
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Nerea Azanza: Stories are a constant source of inspiration. To boost my creativity I basically absorb and observe. In the meantime, I always have a paper or a notebook and a pen. I write down words, sentences, thoughts, whatever that comes to my mind while I listen to other’s stories. No judgements, it’s just a brainstorming. I have a box where I put all these papers. A wood box that’s kind of a treasure. I can open it, take a couple of words I wrote and begin to write even more.

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Lillian Chun: Thrifting for neat little trinkets that I end up using as references.


Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this article, we invite you to check out even more of our career articles. The words of wisdom shared in this post were collated from comments in The Art Queens membership Facebook group. If you would like more information about joining this empowering and supportive artist community, please visit The Art Queens website to learn more!

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Alicia Puig has been a contributing writer for Create! Magazine since 2017. Find more of her work: www.aliciapuig.com