On vacation, I like to wake up late, the main fantasy coffee drinks, eat more candy than my teeth prefer and engage in local alcohol. Productivity is not a priority. But between all the relaxing, I also see a lot of new and interesting things, and I can just want to capture a part in a new way. Creative recharging is a natural part of the holidays, just like making a giant waffle during a continental breakfast.
If you also feel inclined to bend one or two creative muscles on train walks or rainy days on a trip, I gathered new ideas for you. I tried to get out of the average creative responsibilities that you may have in your work or your vision as part of your daily artistic activities. These are a vacation after all – you shouldn't have to feel like a content farm!
1. Draw something that you would not do normally
Choose something that you would not normally think of scribbling, such as traffic signs, beer labels, local plants or statues, and try to dodge one every day. A artist I often like the food for planes, and it's beautiful. No subject is too commonplace to be transformed into art!
2. Keep a cheese newspaper (or a beer journal, Gelato Journal, whatever)
My friend Katie Once, shared her British newspaper with me and it blurs me. It was funny, intelligent and revealing. I did not know that we could colline cheese with such a passion. Choose something that you love to ridiculously and note short criticisms each time you try it on vacation. This could be craft beer, noodles, pizzas or even foreign television shows.
3. Find a new subject to photograph every day
At the start of your day, choose something random to be your treasure hunt for the day. It may be a colorful door, an old church, a dark alley or a wandering cat. There is a good chance that you find more than one to photograph and you create a mini series of photos daily. In addition, it will train your eye to notice more colors and patterns around you.
4. do something with your hands
Do you generally spend your professional life in your head, solving problems and feeling pressure to produce great ideas? Try to use a vacation like a time to do some manual work. It can be knitting, cross customs, hand noodles or simply coloring in a meditative coloring book. See how it relaxes and opens your mind to new thoughts.
5. Try writing in the local language
If you are in a country where English is not the main language, try to learn the local writing system. Sketch it in a newspaper and get to know the letters or the characters. Then try to write a sentence, your name or even a haiku in the language. You might simply see that using a different language allows you to be honest new ways.
6. Capture a landscape in a new medium every day
Download some creative applications and try to use another every day to capture a landscape in different ways. Some ideas:
–Procreate To draw on your tablet or phone.
–Scribe To write a news. (To try Bear for a cheaper writing application.)
–Paper To draw and write in a private newspaper.
–Tayasui Tangram To build a scene from blocks.
7. Choose a family member to share moments with
My mom and I often send daily summary, photos and food tasting notes every day when we are on vacation. When she went to Hawaii, she sometimes called me just to tell me things like the quality of bananas, and I liked the experience by proxy through it. Sharing these details with someone in our lives can help us take more closely our experience and document it by telling it to someone else. In addition, it's fun and easy.
Good trips!
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Becky Lang is a writer, creative director and occasional podcaster living in Minneapolis. She also likes to draw female dogs and protagonists.
