Painting During The Coronavirus Lockdown

Are You Improving Your Painting During The Coronavirus Lockdown?

Should you be painting during the Coronavirus lockdown? As you know there is a lot of concern around the world about the global impact the Coronavirus is having. Whole communities are going into lockdown and millions of people around the world are self-isolating to try and minimise the spread of the virus.

These are unprecedented times and unlike any we have seen before.

There is a real danger though of the impact that the Coronavirus is having not just on your physical health potentially … but also our mental and emotional health. The global media have many people in a panic causing irrational behaviour such as panic buying and worse.

Fear has spread at a faster rate than the virus itself. And when your mind is focused on fear you stop. You stop enjoying life. You stop doing what you normally do … things that give you a sense of normality and fulfilment.

And many artists I know have simply stopped being creative. Which is a huge shame because right now more than ever the world needs artists to brighten the place up with colourful, happy positive uplifting art. As an artist, regardless of your skill level, you can play a part in bringing a more positive note to the world when the world desperately needs it.

5 Ideas To Keep You Painting During The Coronavirus Lockdown

So if you have lost your creative mojo because you have been too focused on the Coronavirus issue then here are five things you can do to get back in your creative groove:

1/ Organise Your Studio, Art Supplies & Paintings

Focus back on your art by first organizing your art studio, your art supplies and your paintings. If you are like many artists you may find over time that your studio and art supplies tend to get dis-organized over time. So now is the perfect time to get them into order and tidy up.

And organise all of your past paintings. Hang some of them on the walls of your home to brighten it up. Gift some paintings to those who need a little bit of cheer and joy in their world. Sort out those paintings that you can sell or put into an art show when things return to normal.

You will find that just getting your studio, art supplies and paintings in order will give you a new boost of enthusiasm for painting during the coronavirus lockdown.

2/ Develop A New Creative Habit

With extra time on your hands now is the perfect time to develop a new creative habit. Start a daily painting habit where you do a small painting a day while in lockdown. A small painting that takes no more than half an hour. That way you keep your creative juices flowing and continue to develop your skills.

You could also develop a habit of daily study of new painting techniques. I like to make sure that every day I invest at least an hour of time learning about painting. This habit has served me well over the years.

Or maybe you need to develop a creative habit of sketching. Grab your sketchbook and sketch something each day. Soon you will develop the habit and skills of drawing and sketching which will only improve your painting ability.

3/ Doodle New Ideas

This is one of my favourite ideas … I have a seperate sketch book just for doodling. As a landscape artist I am always looking for new ideas on what to paint. Just creating little doodles for landscape compositions has served me well over the years.

What I do is think of an idea for a landscape painting ….eg A large tree on a hill with an old farmhouse under it.

Then I doodle away creating different composition ideas based on the my central idea. Try different formats, sizes, etc until you find an idea you think is worth turning into a larger painting.

4/ Experiment With New Approaches

Now is a great time to experiment and try totally new ideas with your painting.

If you always paint tight realism type of paintings … then challenge yourself to get wild, loose and paint with reckless abandonment.

Try different subjects. Try different mediums. Try different tools. Try different colour schemes. Try different approaches to completing a painting.

Experiment with abstraction of the form from realism to expressionism. Paint from your imagination or inspiration. See if you can paint pure happiness, positivism and joy on a canvas. What would that look like to you?

5/ Don’t Stop Learning & Practising

With everything that is going on in the world right now the one thing you don’t want to stop is being an artist.

Keep learning. Keep practising. Keep being busy creating. Even if you spend just thirty minutes a day it is important that you keep yourself engaged in your creative pursuits.

What Should You Do If Your Are A Working Artist Or Art Teacher?

So what should you do if you are a working artist who relies on sales of your art, or you run an art teaching business?

Well the worst thing you can do is to stop doing what you do in fear. Don’t jump to the conclusion that just because the world has been thrown into chaos right now that art sales come to a stop or that people around the world won’t want to continue to learn how to paint.

Yes we need to adjust our approach. So you are going to need to move from physical art galleries and art shows to an online approach. Start focusing your efforts on selling your art online via social media, your own website, and online art galleries. This is a trend that has been taking place for a decade anyway, however the current global environment means that the art world will shift online.

So get on the front foot and put your energy and mental focus into selling your art online. In a world of 7 billion people there will still be plenty of art lovers around the world buying art during this time.

And if you are an art teacher like me you no doubt have had workshops, tours and art classes cancelled as I have. So what do you do about this?

Start learning how to teach art online. Learn how to use your mobile phone and start filming yourself teaching on camera. You can even live stream painting sessions around the world via Facebook and YouTube like we do at the Learn To Paint Academy each week.

You will find, if you put your focus and energy into becoming an online art teacher, that there is an enormous amount of people around the world wanting to learn how to paint from the comfort of their homes.

Truth is … now is the greatest time in history to move your art business online and reach a global audience rather than a local one.

Keep Painting During The Coronavirus Lockdown!

What ever you do, do not stop painting during this period of time we are going through.

The world needs positive energy and focus right now. We know art brings joy to people. As an artist we want to be on the side of bringing joy and happiness to the world right now. So keep painting and sharing your art with the world.

I’m not trying to down play the seriousness of the Coronavirus situation at all … but what I do know is most of us can not control the outcome of what happens. We can only control how we respond. If we focus on the media hyped up reporting then we move to a fear based focus on everything stops … if we focus on being positive and bringing positive energy to the world through our art then the world will be better for it.

At some point in the future the dust will settle and we will get back to what will be the new normal in our world. The question is will you have grown as an artist during this time?