25 creative project ideas for when you’re feeling blocked, overwhelmed, and uninspired
- Write a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story.
- Write your own artist manifesto or prayer.
- Start a One Second Everyday film.
- Collect stones from outside and paint faces on them.
- Write down the most important events in your life and create a timeline with magazine and newspaper clippings.
- Write a poem.
- Build a one-page website using free, no-code tools such as Carrd
- Fun-a-day project. Challenge yourself to complete one small creative act every day for one month. For example, send one postcard every day for a month, take one photo of a different basketball hoop each day of the month, etc.
- 100 day challenge. Similar to the fun-a-day project, but longer. A few years back I did my own 100 day challenge when I was teaching myself Adobe Illustrator. It was called 100 Cats in 100 Days and it was exactly as you’d expect. Due to the length of this project, I recommend you pick a topic/format that is sustainable. You should be able to complete your daily project in about 30 minutes or less.
- Make a self-portrait using some of your childhood arts and crafts supplies. Crayons, markers, Play Doh, Spirograph, etc.
- Make a self-portrait using items from your garbage.
- Make a sculpture using items from your recycling.
- Give yourself $5 and take a trip to the Dollar Store. Make a piece of art out of the things you purchased.
- Create a protest poster.
- Start a guerilla art project.
- Make a sidewalk chalk mural.
- Make a one-page zine.
- Write a screenplay using one of your favorite books as a starting point.
- Make a drawing using Microsoft Paint.
- Make a piece of art using Excel, Sheets, or Google Sheets.
- Join the online Obstructions.work workshop and utilize creative constraints to try something new.
- Open Google Earth and take screenshots of your favorite places in the world. Make an ebook out of the resulting images.
- Create a travel guide for your hometown or favorite city.
- Draw a map of your city from memory.
- Make your own journal using paper, card stock, string, and a pin (or a hammer and a nail).
- Remember, you are creative! Start small. Tiny projects are just as good as big, complicated ones.
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Soft Practice is about making art without an art degree, paying attention, and keeping the promises we make to ourselves. It's about practice. And quitting. And starting again.
It arrives in your inbox once a month (usually on a Sunday) and is best consumed with a hot beverage. In each newsletter I will share all the messy parts along my journey to becoming a full-time artist and maker, help you get organized to better manage your creative projects, and offer up some thoughtful (and sometimes weird) recommendations.