Possibility or Limitation
10 limitations to your art practice that will open creative possibilities
How have you limited the creative possibilities in your work? What simple change could you make in your mindset or process that would allow curiosity to flourish?
The idea of infinite possibilities is exactly what makes many artists stop before they have ever had a chance to even start. It can be overwhelming to come up with an idea or decide what materials to use. Just visit Pinterest or an art store and you could be lost for hours. However it is also the knowledge that there are infinite possibilities that allows artists to still find new and innovative ideas and ways of working. That is because there will never be just one way to make art.
If the idea of infinite possibilities doesn’t get your heart racing, it might be the phrase “Just be creative”. What does that even mean, right? Setting your self up with limitations is a great way to begin thinking about creativity and to get you over the hurdle of where to begin. Putting a limitation on your work sets up a problem that will have to be solved and narrow your focus. When you begin to question the possibilities of what you have, what you want, and what you know, you will start to see new ways of creating.
The following are 10 limitations you can impose on yourself as an artist. These are specifically designed to help you open up to new possibilities in your creative endeavors. Many of the ideas are geared toward visual artists, but you can definitely find applications for many other mediums.
Limit the cost of materials: One of the biggest setbacks for artists is the cost of materials or tools. There is a fear of wasting mediums that you just spent an entire paycheck to purchase. This will only set you up for failure if you are an emerging artist. You can’t make something great until you have made a lot of things that are really terrible. Start with just a few items that are lower in price, work on paper instead of canvas, borrow tools or equipment, only buy on sale or with a coupon. Save the top of the line for later.
Limit your tools: If you use brushes, just use one. How many ways can you change the way you hold that brush? how many different marks can you make? How does that brush work with different media or on different substrates like paper or canvas? This works great for a low cost option. A short story feels different when written in a child’s crayon. Imagine how playful that might feel.
Limit where you get your materials: Imagine that you had to get your musical instruments from a hardware store, or your art supplies from a kitchen store, how would that change your practice? What if you went through your own garage or kitchen, could you find something that sparks your curiosity? Unusual tools or materials are an immediate way to change a process and resulting work. A large power tool will immediately loosen up a tight hand and finite drawing techniques.
Limit your size: How small can you work and still get your meaning across to the viewer? How short could a poem be and still create feeling? How many notes are needed to compose a musical score? Art doesn’t have to be the size of a wall to command a presence. Working small can also provide the opportunity to create hundreds of works or ideas. Thumbnails have always been used by artists to quickly draw different compositions and viewpoints.
Limit your color: We are blessed to live in a time where natural and man made pigments are readily available. Just look at the paint swatches in your home store. The number of whites available can be mind blowing. Beginning artists often work straight from the tube and are so excited to be able to find just the right color ready to go, Unfortunately that eliminates the joy and playfulness of mixing colors. If you only have two colors and white, you will have to work harder to get a range of colors, but you will find automatic harmony in your work. I even like to think of music, dance, and poetry in terms of color. If the entire creative work had to feel like red that would be a really interesting limitation.
Limit your time: If you only had 10 minutes and then you had to stop, what might you create? Limiting the amount of time is a great way to keep work fresh and from being worked to death. I can get very tight sometimes. As soon as I force myself to work quickly, my mind and my hand become loose. Some fast music can also do the trick. Working for long periods of time can cause fatigue and mistakes. knowing you only have 10 minutes means that you will be forced to take a break and come back fresh.
Limit an element: Taking away something that you use often will force you to find another way to communicate. Try leaving out the word “the” in a page of writing, the middle C out of a musical composition, or lines out a drawing. Finding a way around something that is always part of your composition adds a really interesting problem to solve.
Limit your subject: I have used crows as a limiting strategy for all of my artmaking prompts. It all started because I wanted to practice painting a black subject and I am fascinated by crows. I have used this subject in 20 works of art and I have not run out of possibilities yet. By limiting my subject it did not limit the meaning. I am still excited to use my subject to communicate my ideas. It is a fun challenge.
Limit what you love: I hate painting people! I wonder if I could paint people without painting people? I might imagine showing the remnants of people like clothes left on the floor, and abandoned chair, or trash left on the sidewalk. I might consider silhouettes so that I don’t have to make a portrait of a face. The shear practice of avoiding painting something I hate leads me in a new direction. If you never leave your comfort zone you won’t challenge yourself to try something new.
Limit waste: A wonderful artist and good friend of mine Kelley is currently working with her own limitation. She is not allowed to buy anything new. She must use only the materials and tools that she currently possesses to make her art. She has taken some donations and has used some materials that she has found. What a wonderful way to reduce all of the material waste found in the world and at the same time have a creative limitation to lead her artistic practice. Could you create your own limitation?
After you have tried one or more of the limitations, you may discover a new way of working that you had not originally expected. You may also find that you don’t like the results. No worries, you just learned something about your own artmaking. Its just materials, the world will not end.
I would love to know how will you create limitations and allow the possibility of curiosity to flourish?
Thank you for being part of my journey.
