It is hard to demand that creative flow come out on demand. I have found that one way to overcome this unfortunate plight is to start running on the treadmill and think about what you want to do. The repetition of pounding away on the machine will lull you into a nice state of concentration and relaxation so that you can just think better. It is sort of the Tom Sawyer , whitewash the fence plan. Doing the same thing over and over will take you focus off your deadline. Do the next step. That is all you need to do in every creative process. Just do the next thing and that thing will tell you what the next thing will be.
I remember a line in Gertrude Stein’s ‘How Written is Written’: “When you are not aware of yourself but only the thing you are doing then you are really doing it. ”
Neurons in the brain – illustration. Unmodified original here
Credit: Benedict Campbell. Wellcome Images
images@wellcome.ac.uk
I am a Northwest artist who is fascinated by faces and people. I work with a brush drawing of a face or human figure. Then I apply ink, paint and gel in various layers to create rich colors and textures. Along the way my images are painted, scrubbed, rinsed off, then ink and paint are reapplied until the final image is finally revealed. The process of discovering who the figures will become keeps me "intrigued and absorbed."