Get Creative with Pareidolia




Stare at the Center

 

Good day all you fine aspiring artists out there. Have you ever stared at an empty canvas, waiting for inspiration to magically hop out? Do you need inspiration? I know many of you are wondering how to come up with ideas for original artwork. You may be asking yourself, how can I create something other than that fruit in a bowl painting or building on the side of the road sketch? While these are all fine ideas for some, others may be looking for more. I have written this article to show you some easy steps to spark your imagination. I get asked all of the time, “How do you come up with the ideas for your artwork?” To which I often reply, “They simply come out, Of Nothing” (to see what I’m talking about, click on the link). Many artists intrinsically understand this left brained concept but if you are right-brained or have no imagination to speak of or have just plain ran out of ideas; there is still hope for you.


Often times, people attempting to ‘come up’ with a new idea or concept are left dumbstruck, staring at an empty canvas. This is also known more commonly to authors as “writers block”. If you have ever reached this stage you may start to worry. You may be overly concerned with coming up with the next big thing or try to imagine what the final outcome will be before you even get started. Hey, who can blame you; it’s hard to put yourself out there for others to judge. That feeling of rejection can often hypnotize you into a thick malaise and cement you to your seat. All of this inner turmoil and your canvas is still blank, Van Gogh would have killed for this kind of anguish. An empty canvas can be a very intimidating obstacle to overcome but with the right tools, you’ll never look at an empty canvas the same.

Here are several tips to get you inspired
Why am I doing this? What is/are my intention(s)? These should be some of the first questions you ask yourself before beginning an expression of any kind of artwork. An intention or direction should be established so that you have a reason to begin creating. Later on, it can help focus your piece and give your inspiration the added direction it may need. Sometimes you may end up going in ‘another direction’ after you begin. Sometimes the focus is so apparent and you know exactly what you are going for that the idea just jumps out of the medium. However, at this point, if ideas were flying off the pages you probably wouldn’t have clicked on this article. The important thing is to establish a vague thought or idea that perpetuates action.

Now, this is where it gets a little weird. I want you to take that thought or idea you just came up with and forget about it. Put it in the back of your mind and out sight. It’s time to get started. You don’t want an overbearing concept dragging you back into the malaise we talked about earlier. Personally I like to start an idea or concept for a painting on a pad of paper. Pencil is easier to work with and can be changed as you go. You can start off in 2 different ways.

1.     Quickly draw a physical object, if you are bad at drawing this is fine, it will only help you in the end. Choose anything you like and it does not matter. After you draw the physical object, stop.
or  

2.     Start scribbling, draw lines, shapes circles, make smudges, tornadoes, dots, whatever you can think of. You can draw a lot or a little it does not matter.
Here’s what stops most people and the point at which we most often give up. We initially judge ourselves. If you chose to draw something like an object or a landscape and you aren’t very good at drawing then it probably looks like crap. Now, if you chose the scribble method than it most definitely looks like crap. Fact, nobody wants to buy something that looks like crap. This is where our imagination comes into play.


This next step is easy, conceptual and can most aptly be described as cloud surfing (Pareidolia). Have you ever played that game where you stare up at the clouds and come up with things that the clouds seem to resemble? Millions of people have been doing this throughout the ages. How do you think the constellations got their shapes? If you stare at them long enough the clouds appear to take on the appearance of something known, even though they are nothing more than gaseous mixtures of dust. Our mind forces us to make something out of the random patterns within the clouds.
Now, pick up your artwork and look at what you just drew. You need to focus and stare at a single point on the picture for a couple of minutes. Do you notice anything that your mind gravitates too? Does anything stand out from the picture? Does any part of the drawing resemble anything interesting? Try switching to a different portion of the drawing. Has anything caught your eye yet? If you stare at your artwork long enough the same phenomena will occur as it does in the clouds. It might be a 1 x 1 inch square within your drawing that inspires you but it doesn’t matter. Use as much or as little of that inspiration as you can to your advantage. Use everything you can to reveal the hidden image. Link lines, erase overlaps and shade in portions to create something out Of Nothing. The whole process can be like revealing a question that you only have pieces of the answer to. The question usually is, ‘What is it?’

Keeping it Rizeal
For those of you worried that this new fangled way of creating things might not represent who you are, the amazing thing is that this will always be a representation of you. If you go back to our little cloud example and think about ever playing this with others, you may have noticed that not everyone observers the same cloud the same way. Many different interpretations are usually created by a single cloud formation. Some may agree with your expression and see what you are describing, however others will not. This is what makes these interpretations so interesting because they are within our own mind. The great thing about this inspirational tip is that you are not only creating the ‘cloud’ on the paper but also the interpretation from that ‘cloud’. Your new creation is 100% you.

Conclusion

Once you have refined the image your final step is to transpose the idea onto your preferred medium. You may find that once you have discovered the image within your ‘cloud’ artwork that your mind will begin guiding you with its most powerful tool, your imagination. Be creative and artistic, this is your time to shine The next time you need some inspiration give this fun experiment a try and see if you can create some original artwork straight from your sub-conscious mind. Think of it as your own little artistic Rorschach test.

To see examples of my work go to
http://james-jilbert.artistwebsites.com/

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