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  • Artemisartemis@dice.camp
    Nov 4, 2026, 2:28 PM

    Advice for anyone who wants to make art:

    Make art.

    I've been focused on paper quilling for a few days & new ideas for designs keep popping into my head. I close my eyes & see swirling paper.

    This is what happens when I consistently do creative work. I go from having no ideas to having too many.

    When I sit down & start working on something at random without knowing what I want to make or what it could look like, it gets my brain in gear, & THEN the ideas come. To make art, you gotta make art.

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Replies

  • Artemisartemis@dice.camp
    Nov 4, 2026, 2:29 PM

    I haven't been making art as consistently, & I thought it was because my ideas had dried up.

    That's backwards. My ideas dried up because I wasn't making anything.

    Make stuff even when you don't feel inspired. Where do you think inspiration comes from?

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  • Artemisartemis@dice.camp
    Nov 4, 2026, 2:34 PM

    If you don't have any ideas of what to make, get a blank page & start making marks. Do whatever you feel like.

    It may turn out cool, but even if it doesn't, you will have woken your brain up.

    If you "don't have any ideas", then do random stuff. Try things. Mess around.

    Exercise your creativity.

    Don't wait for inspiration. Inspire yourself.

    At least for me, nothing fills my brain with artistic ideas in the same way that dedicating time to making things even when I "don't have ideas" does.

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  • Artemisartemis@dice.camp
    Nov 4, 2026, 2:40 PM

    I think it takes about 5 days or so for me.

    5 days from "I'm going to work on making something every day whether I feel inspired/excited or not" is when my brain starts to fill with images & ideas.

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  • Artemisartemis@dice.camp
    Nov 4, 2026, 2:40 PM

    I used to think I couldn't visualize anything in my head, but I CAN now visualize design concepts. I still can't picture my own mother's face, but paper crafts are a different story, apparently.

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  • Artemisartemis@dice.camp
    Nov 4, 2026, 2:45 PM

    But if I stop making things, the ideas stop flowing. The only way to get the ideas to come back is to start making again.

    It's not just okay to make art when you don't know what you are doing & don't have any clear ideas. It is essential.

    That's my personal perspective anyway. Creativity flows when you are being creative.

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  • CheesenessCheeseness@mastodon.social
    Nov 5, 2026, 10:18 AM

    @artemis I find this is very true too. I know some people who talk about it being like a muscle that needs to be exercised, or a pipe that needs to be primed, but I tend to think of it as inertia.

    I don't think we know each other, but as one artist to another, I'm so glad to hear that you've found a way to be open to/re-engage inspiration! Best wishes for whatever flows forth ^_^

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