The Creativity Challenge’s are about finding new ways to create art pieces. It’s about taking a simple concept that will pull you into a new way of seeing things and exercising your creative muscle in order to create a new piece that you never would have thought to make.
It doesn’t have to be an amazing piece of art, it’s about focusing on the new and experimenting with different techniques of getting creative. Artists (myself included) have a tendency to get stuck with one style and technique and eventually hit a creative road block.
These challenges are meant to help you push through the block and create something completely new.
JUNK DRAWER Challenge
Welcome to the Junk Drawer Challenge!
All the Creativity Challenge’s are about finding new ways to create art pieces. It’s about creating a simple concept that will pull you into a new way of seeing things and exercising your creative muscle in order to create a new piece that you never would have thought to make.
It’s time to empty those junk drawer’s and see what you can make with it. I love this challenge because it’s really simple and it reuses stuff you already have to jog that creative mind of yours.
I actually learned about this challenge from Jim Krause. He has a series of design books that help generate ideas and creativity and this is one of the exercise in his book, D30 – Exercises for Designers: Thirty Days of Creative Design Exercises & Career Enhancing Ideas.
Grab those long lost treasures from your junk drawer, look for shapes, patterns and designs that you can incorporate into your art. Watch the full video above to see me go through the challenge myself.
Design a new piece of art, burn it, color it (if you want to) varnish it and send it to me!
Here’s what to do:
- Dump out those Junk Drawers and soak up the inspiration!
- Design a new piece of art with what you found that inspires you
- Burn it, Color it (if you want to) and Send me Pics!
Thanks Everyone! I can’t wait to see what everyone creates!
TAKE A WALK Challenge
Welcome to the Take a Walk Challenge
Take a walk and find something that catches your eye. Look for new patterns, textures, colors or objects and take pics. Then incorporate them into a new piece of art. A downtown area is my favorite place to do this challenge, but if you can’t get to a downtown area, try your neighborhood or your very own living space. You’d be surprised at what amazing art subjects are all around you when you open your eyes and start looking.
Here’s how it works:
- take a walk (preferably in a new place) and gather pics of things that catch your eye of possible art subjects
- create a new art piece with wood burned elements – experiment with different elements, shapes and texture
FIND A PATTERN Challenge
Welcome to the Pattern Challenge
It’s time to find a pattern or create one and see what happens. This is a great challenge and adds a new level of creativity and experience to the way you design pieces.
I use patterns in my work all the time. It’s such an eye catching method of artwork. There is something pleasing about a repetitive pattern that people gravitate toward. All you have to do is find a pattern that you like and get creative in how you incorporate it into an art piece.
You may find patterns in architecture, nature, free images online, or create your own. In the example video, I created my own pattern and made a simple quirky piece that was just plain fun to create.
Design a new piece of art, burn it, color it (if you want to) varnish it and send it to me!
Here’s what to do:
- Find a pattern or create one you like and soak up the inspiration!
- Design a new piece of art with what you found that inspires you
- Burn it, Color it (if you want to) and Send me Pics!
Thanks Everyone! I can’t wait to see what everyone creates!
LIGHTS AND SPARKLES Challenge
Welcome to the Lights and Sparkles Challenge
Have you ever wanted to incorporate shine into a piece of your wood burned art? If so, now’s the time to explore it. The holidays are a great time for this challenge and I was inspired to create this month’s challenge with a sort of holiday theme.
Lights and sparkles are always included in any holiday decor and it’s time to find a way to create a new piece with them. Just to be clear, your piece doesn’t have to be holiday themed. It was just the inspiration for the challenge. You can create anything you want using lights or sparkles.
I have wanted to add lighting to my pieces for a long time, so I used small fairy lights and incorporated them into a piece as back lighting. The lighting itself inspired me to create and get innovative and figure out how to build this piece so that I could backlight my art.
A few other ideas for adding sparkle and light could be: metallic paints, stones or crystals, embossing, metal accents (you can find a ton of accents in the jewelry isle at the craft stores), glitter, or anything you can thing of that shines, sparkles or lights up.
Here’s what to do:
- Find a shine, sparkles or lights that inspire you.
- Design a new piece of art with what you found.
- Burn it, Color it (if you want to) and Send me Pics!
Thanks Everyone! I can’t wait to see what everyone creates!
A CANVAS THAT INSPIRES Challenge
Welcome to the Canvas Challenge
This challenge is about finding a canvas that inspires you to create something. One of my favorite ways to do this is through flea market shopping or thrift stores. You can find great wood pieces for a few dollars, bring them home and sand them down.
I see wood pieces in the stores that inspire me and motivate to get back in the shop to create and make something new. But that’s not the only way to go. You may want to try a new type of wood, a new type of surface like canvas, leather, gourds, plates, spoons or paper. There are so many options out there for pyrography, so pick a new surface you’ve been wanting to try and let it guide you and inspire you to create something new.
Here’s what to do:
- Find a new type of canvas that inspires you to create.
- Design a new piece of art with what you found.
- Burn it, Color it (if you want to) and Send me Pics! I’ll post it!
Thanks Everyone! I can’t wait to see what everyone creates!
SUPPLIES
Need Supplies for Burning? I put together an Amazon supply page incase anyone needs access to supplies they can’t find in their areas.
Check it out!
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