How closely are you really looking?
Designer Alan Fletcher, in his book "The Art of Looking Sideways", says the following -
"...we also only notice things which are directly relevant to our daily business. In consequence, we tend to reduce our environment to visual muzak - a perceptual symphony of shapes, colours and patterns. Blinkered by habit we glance around rather than look with acuity. In effect the eye sleeps until the mind wakes it with a question..."
How is this relevant to your life?
How many things of potential interest, stimulation and inspiration simply merge into the background collage of colour, rather than truly having an impact on you?
As an exercise, sit for 15-30 mins in a familiar position, maybe at your desk at work, in your study at home, somewhere you're very familiar with.
Take a pad of plain blank paper and a pencil and, beginning with a single object, start to sketch it on the page. Focus on the object in its surroundings, aim to re-create the dimensions as accurately as possible in your drawing, with the precision of a forensic scientist.
Gradually draw outwards into the surrounding environment, filling in more and more, one detail at a time, until you've drawn a representation of the scene in front of you.
Whether you're familiar with drawing or not, by embarking on this exercise, you will start to see the details in the objects around you everyday. Even if you don't think you can draw well, just try the exercise anyway and see what you notice.
Next time, tomorrow maybe, try drawing a different scene with the same focus and attention to each detail. Again, notice what you notice.
Do this every day for a week or two, as an act of discipline rather than of enjoyment, and notice at the end of this timeframe any changes in your general perception of your surrounding environment.
Inspiration can be found in the tiniest things and sometimes the most unlikely places. The more attuned you are, whatever your main artistic discipline, the more open you will be to receiving this inspiration. Extend this too to your other senses and really notice what's going on around you as you go about your daily life.
"...we also only notice things which are directly relevant to our daily business. In consequence, we tend to reduce our environment to visual muzak - a perceptual symphony of shapes, colours and patterns. Blinkered by habit we glance around rather than look with acuity. In effect the eye sleeps until the mind wakes it with a question..."
How is this relevant to your life?
How many things of potential interest, stimulation and inspiration simply merge into the background collage of colour, rather than truly having an impact on you?
As an exercise, sit for 15-30 mins in a familiar position, maybe at your desk at work, in your study at home, somewhere you're very familiar with.
Take a pad of plain blank paper and a pencil and, beginning with a single object, start to sketch it on the page. Focus on the object in its surroundings, aim to re-create the dimensions as accurately as possible in your drawing, with the precision of a forensic scientist.
Gradually draw outwards into the surrounding environment, filling in more and more, one detail at a time, until you've drawn a representation of the scene in front of you.
Whether you're familiar with drawing or not, by embarking on this exercise, you will start to see the details in the objects around you everyday. Even if you don't think you can draw well, just try the exercise anyway and see what you notice.
Next time, tomorrow maybe, try drawing a different scene with the same focus and attention to each detail. Again, notice what you notice.
Do this every day for a week or two, as an act of discipline rather than of enjoyment, and notice at the end of this timeframe any changes in your general perception of your surrounding environment.
Inspiration can be found in the tiniest things and sometimes the most unlikely places. The more attuned you are, whatever your main artistic discipline, the more open you will be to receiving this inspiration. Extend this too to your other senses and really notice what's going on around you as you go about your daily life.
posted by Dan at 2:17 PM
As a Creativity Coach I work with people who are frustrated that their creative talents are underused. 
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