How to: an inspirational walk

Hi! I'm Eva, Ellis's intern :)

I think all creative people recognize it: creative block! You have no ideas, no motivation, and you feel like you'll never come up with a good one again. When I'm feeling uninspired for a while, it works for me to get out and about. I've actually been doing this for years, and it works incredibly well! In this blog post, I'll show you how to draw inspiration from everything you see and create something fun with it. Literally walking towards inspiration—that's the plan for today, and I'll take you along for the ride!

First things first: What do you need?

- A notebook and your favorite pen/marker/pencil

- A nice warm drink (or cold when the sun comes out again ;)

- Something to take pictures with

- An open mind :)

chai thee, handschoenen en mijn notitieboekje

Step 1: Let's walk!

Choose a place you like; it doesn't really matter where. I'm going for my walk through Utrecht's city center. It's my favorite city, and there's so much to see! A stroll through the woods or along the beach can also be wonderful.

I often take photos of things I encounter, or draw or sketch them in my notebook. It just depends on what I'm in the mood for at the moment, but ultimately, the goal is to collect as many images (and sounds, we'll get to that shortly) as possible. This part of the walk is really about looking, looking, looking. Look up, down, between things, and especially at places you'd never normally see. You'll see that a lot of things will stand out, because you're now consciously choosing to truly see your surroundings.

I liked the silhouette of the pillars and the houses behind them

A hand reaching for something

The typo and the colors :)

Ugly discount signs printed on A4, I love them. And the letters in the reflection with "the hope"

Tip: Try not to have too much of an idea of what you're going to make yet. Just let yourself be inspired. Thinking can happen later! And you can also delete things, so more is better.

You can choose to listen to your favorite playlist to get in the right mood. But you can also listen to the sounds around you: a barrel organ bringing back childhood memories, a car honking at a cyclist, or an interesting conversation you overhear. All inspiring :)

The walk can be as long as you like, so you can do it more often than you think. Even if you only have 10 minutes, go for it! My walk took about an hour and a half, and by then I felt I'd gathered enough.

These eyes at the Lijnmarkt. I've been walking down this street for years, but I'd never seen this before!

Typoo

The colors and patterns that come together here <3

Interesting map of the cycle

Tip: go thrifting! The variety of items you'll find there is enormous. I always find joy in the older items and draw a lot of inspiration from the typography and color.

As you can see, it's a combination of many different things, but all images I liked/found beautiful/funny. If you think you have enough photos/drawings, you can move on to step 2.

Step 2: Looking back

nog een tip: doe niet je nieuwe dr martens aan tijdens je wandeling

After returning from the walk, I took a moment to reflect on everything I'd seen. What stood out? What really stuck with me, and what did I think of it all?

Ask yourself those questions and then make a selection of the images you want to do something with.

Again, you don't necessarily need to know exactly what you want to create, but choose what makes you happy. I didn't end up drawing during my walk because it was simply too cold to sit still outside. When it warms up, it will be a really nice addition!

Step 3: Create!

The moment we've literally been working towards is here: we're getting started :) You've selected the images and are now ready to create something with them. If you already have an idea in mind: fantastic, go for it! If not: no worries, I'll help you!

Tip: Having trouble getting started? Try these things:

Choose three random images and create a story around them. What do these images have in common? Make it as crazy as you like and base your creation on the story you've imagined.

Keep it simple ; recreate an image in your own style.

- Print out all the photos you took and make a collage

- Make a zine about the place you've been

- Set a timer for 5 minutes and make quick sketches or ideas, repeat this a few times and see what comes out

Fancy an extra challenge? Choose a material you're not familiar with (or even comfortable working with) and explore it further.

I found a book at the thrift store with 150 dog breeds and knew immediately I wanted to do something with it. I also flipped through another book I'd picked up and saw the phrase "never sleep again." The Doberman I saw in the dog book caught my eye, and I combined the two.

The idea for the poster came to me quite quickly, but I made a quick sketch in my notebook.

Then came the next choice: what materials would I use? I was at Kapitaal for this challenge and decided to use three colors of paper, scissors, glue, and black chalk. I chose simple materials to keep things simple. I based the colors on a Vincent de Boer exhibition I happened to walk by. Black, red, and white aren't colors I use very often, but that's precisely why I enjoyed experimenting with them.

I started by cutting out the letters, and then made the dog. I wasn't entirely happy with the dog, but I also realized that wasn't the goal of this assignment at all. It was really about getting back into the swing of creating, and I succeeded! So don't be too critical of yourself, especially if you haven't made anything in a while. The whole process leading up to this point, and the creative process itself, is already very rewarding!

ger!

Tada! The final poster. Besides the dog and the text, I added some drawings inspired by a poster I saw, and named the dog Ger, also inspired by something I saw on my walk :)

Conclusion: Are you feeling a bit creatively depressed? Or are you looking for a way to find some inspiration? Go on an inspirational walk! It really helps to be mindful of your surroundings, and it's a fun challenge to create your own story based on everything you've seen.

This assignment isn't really about the end result, but (okay, cliché) the journey to get there. You can go as crazy as you like, but I'm sure a ten-minute walk will also provide tons of inspiration. So give it a try and let me know how it went :)