My creative process and how to find your own routine

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

One of the most special parts of being an artist is your creative process. It’s like the ingredient that makes the meal extra yummy, so the chef keeps it a secret. Your process can be personal, intimate, or something that just feels good to do while making. Maybe you haven’t figured your recipe out yet. That’s okay. 

A lot of people overcomplicate the beginning of the creative process — “it has to be warm and rainy when I wake up at the crack of dawn, I have to clean my entire studio, and then I can sit down to paint. If I wake up a minute late, the routine is ruined.”

But it doesn’t have to be like that. Your warmup and artmaking can take many forms. It can change daily if that’s what you like. 

I thought it would be helpful to share my morning routine and creative process. If yours looks totally different, that’s cool! Everyone has their own way of doing things, and having a unique routine is part of what makes your art unique. 

THE MORNING ROUTINE

I used to be a night owl. I think every few years it fluctuates, depending on if I’m in college or partying a lot or going through a hard time or whatever. But right now I’m 1000% a morning person. I blame it on my day job, but I hope to keep this rhythm going after I completely transition into a full time working artist.

Anyway, I wake up at 4am. On my days off. 

I get up at 3:15am to get ready for work, so 4am is kind of sleeping in for me. It feels nice. 

I wake up, usually with my black lab pouncing on the bed (“omg you’re AWAKE!!!!”) and I head downstairs in a loud parade of dogs to feed them and let them out. I make a cup of hot water, get up on my dining room table and do about an hour of yoga. If I’m feeling frisky, I might even do a real workout. 

Moving my body first thing in the morning helps me stretch out all my stiffness from the night and makes it easier for me to sit in one spot on the couch to work for the rest of the day, which is essentially what I do. 

After yoga, I eat breakfast, make coffee in my percolator, and sit down to work. 

GETTING TO WORK

Sometimes work looks like writing a blog post, sending an email to my private email group, listing new prints in the shop, or making new art. Sometimes I sit at my laptop calculating costs of supplies, shipping, taking inventory, and adding up how much I need to sell to make a profit. Some days are more fun than others. 

Sometimes I do a little of all these things in one day. 

Being an artist is really being a creative business person. You’ve got to set up your own bank accounts, take care of customers, make sure your LLC is legal, etc. (If you need help with becoming “official,” check out my post here.) But you also get to be your own boss and do whatever work you want, when you want. 

That type of freedom is why it’s hard to get started when you want to focus on a new painting. How do you know what your best creative process will be if there are endless options and no one guiding you on how to do it? Well, you don’t need a corporate manager for that, just good ol’ trial and error. 

Feel it out. Your creative process will come to you with practice — just like most things in your artistpreneur journey. 

MY CREATIVE PROCESS

Let’s talk about the art.

For me, the process is the same every time. I’ve gotten comfortable with my choice in medium, style, and materials. I think when you’ve found your style, your process for creating becomes streamlined.

SKETCHING

I sketch with a 2H pencil and a giant eraser I’ve had since high school. I sketch onto cold press watercolor paper — Arches brand only — and I never use a sketchbook at all. (I’ve found that when a drawing comes out great in a sketchbook, I always regret it and wish it were on my watercolor paper instead so I could paint it.) 

I like crisp lines, like the ones in a coloring book. Detail is done in the later steps, so I really just want an outline.

After sketching is done, I take a break. 

FRESH EYES

I take multiple breaks in my process and they are non-negotiable. Not just a break from drawing, but from looking at the piece at all. An hour or two usually does the job. A full night’s rest is better. This is so that when I look at it again, it will be with fresh eyes. I ALWAYS notice a few lines or shapes that look crooked or weird that I didn’t notice before and I want to change them. 

After these revisions, I paint.

PAINTING

I use a bunch of watercolor brands; I’m still searching for my favorite one. I never waste though, so I make it through each tube before replacing it with a new one to try. They take a while to use up completely. I’ll let you know when I decide to commit to a brand — for now don’t ask me for advice in this category lol. 

Usually my paint colors are dried in my palette from the last time I painted, and I use those again. If I need to mix something new, I’ll clear a space for it. 

I grab my mug for water, my palettes, the only two paintbrushes I ever use (a size 12 Grumbacher round brush and a ¼ inch angular brush — synthetic only), some paper towel for blotting, the sketch I just made, and I’m good to go.

Painting for me is coloring inside the lines I just sketched. I practice with gradients and color mixing, and the textures I love the most are the ones created with varying levels of paint thickness and thinness within the same shape. I love paints that crack a little when they dry — an unprofessional touch but a look I love a lot. 

PHOTOSHOP 

After painting and taking another break to make sure everything looks right, I will take a picture of my work.

I take the photo in natural lighting with my phone. I always make sure it’s level, because if you take a photo from an angle, your painting will look distorted. (I never scan a painting because I find it washes out the colors and takes away from the watercolor textures.) I email the photo to myself, open it up and save it on my tablet. From my tablet, I open it in Adobe Photoshop.

Photoshop is where I make the perfectly white backgrounds, add detail, and tweak color if I need to.

I use a Surface Pro 4 as my laptop and my drawing tablet. I LOVE it. Absolutely 10/10 would recommend. It’s outdated now, but I bought it in 2016 and it has served me well every day since. When it calls it quits, I’ll be buying whatever latest Surface Pro tablet Windows has out. I use a pen to paint digitally, a Windows offbrand (it was cheaper and does the same thing).

A lot of my art style comes from the combination of traditional watercolor textures with digital paint patterns on top. I experimented for a long time with the brush strokes, handdrawn patterns, and details (or lack of) that I wanted in my illustrations. I still use the default round hard brush on Photoshop. I love it. Maybe in the future that will change, but for now it’s the main brush I use. 

After many layers of digital paint, I take another break, then revise. 

When it’s finished, I export my file as a PNG with CMYK color settings, and it’s ready to become a print. 

TAKE YOUR TIME

This whole creative process, depending on the piece, can take me days to complete. Waiting on paint to dry, looking again with fresh eyes and really trying to make it perfect often stretches minutes into hours. I love my routine though, so it feels enjoyable the whole time and it never drags. When you love your process, you will love your art — even if it doesn’t turn out exactly like you hoped. The journey is half of the painting. 

Be patient with yourself on trying to craft your routine and your own creative process.

Here are some questions to ask yourself if you’re unsure:

— What time of the day do I work best?

— What helps me focus? Coffee? Exercise? Quiet? Public places?

— Which pieces am I most proud of and why?

— What textures make me the happiest?

— Which colors do I want to make up my palette?

— What vibe do I want my artwork to have?

— Do I want a simple process or a unique one?

— Where do I want to make my art? At home? In a class? Outside?

— Is this something I would enjoy doing every day if it were my full time job?

Knowing how you like to work is important if you plan on working for yourself. So get to know the creative chef in you! Discover your own secret ingredients. 

If you’ve got your creative process down already, comment and let me know what you do!! I’d love to hear from you. If you’ve got questions, leave that below as well. 

I hope peeking into my personal creative process was helpful for you 🙂

Stay strange!

Carolyn Whittico