Secret #3: Swirlies

 How can everyday creative journaling become the foundation beneath your studio work?  Here is the third post in a five part series. 

Here's the thing about people who do creative work on a daily basis:  They don't wait to be inspired. It's a practice. It's a habit. It's a ritual.  If you play the piano or go to the gym, chances are you start off your session with some warm-up exercises.  And when it comes to journaling, I start my warm-up ritual with swirlies. 

Swirlies. (See video below.)  Yes, I draw swirlies. It's part of the same studio warm-up routine that I learned in design school more than forty years ago.  Swirlies are a great gesture drawing exercise to sort of calibrate the eye/mind/body.  But that's not the point. 

​The point is:  Start off your everyday journal session with a warm-up routine.  Swirlies are good.  Or, practice drawing perfect circles.  Or straight lines.  Make a bunch of little compositions with just squares, triangles, and circles. There's all sorts of little practice exercises.  Pick one. 

And here's secret #3:  One thing leads to another. The act of putting marks on paper will activate your mind, stir up memories, and churn thoughts and ideas.  You will find yourself making a natural transition to sketching more complex designs.  Now that your imagination is awake, all sorts of things begin to emerge on paper.  And so it goes.  You're off to having an inspired, creative journaling session.