“Depending on its persistence, depending on its importance, depending on what role it is playing, an idea will keep intruding in little bursts and either crash through or be wiped out.”
Sidney Lumet, American film director, producer and screenwriter

Keep Your Ideas To Yourself

I get my best ideas for paintings while I am painting. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, which I promptly record on a 3x5 card I keep on my nightstand. If I don’t write it down right then and there it will be gone by morning.

But usually my ideas come while I am in the process of painting. While I am standing at my easel, in my studio, actively engaged in creating.

I don’t know about you, but for me, ideas are fleeting. I can receive an idea one minute, only to have it disappear the next minute.

Several years ago I decided to start keeping a journal right next to where I am working. If and when I get an idea for a potential future painting, a concept or theme, or even an idea for an entire series, I stop what I am doing (even if it is mid brush stroke) and jot down the idea in my journal.

When I started my first journal, I hated the idea of potentially losing my momentum in order to record an idea. But I knew how important it would be to start writing down my thoughts and ideas. Now, stopping my painting to write down an idea has become part of my rhythm of of creating. Just like stopping to step back and contemplate the painting in progress. Actually, stopping to write down an idea gives me a chance to also contemplate my painting. A win-win.

Stoping to write down ideas is totally worth it to me. I never regret the 30 seconds it usually takes to add another idea to my journal.

And here’s the kicker. Because I have been doing this for several years now, I have a stack of journals filled with ideas. Some of the ideas are great, some good and many are not worth pursuing. But I have more ideas for paintings than I will ever to be able to paint in my lifetime left on this earth.

What a great feeling knowing that I do not ever have to worry about what to paint.

I suppose some might say, “Yeah, but you have to decide which of your many ideas to work on next”.

While that is true, I have so many ideas to choose from that I find it exciting to flip through my journals only to discover a great idea that I forgot I had. This discovery often becomes my next painting. However, I usually know what to do next, because even though the ideas are in my journal, they are also in my heart and soul waiting to be realized.

Keep your ideas. It’s worth it.

Best,

David

Recently heard from the Create Anyway Collective:

Thank you for a great meeting today.

Right now I’m sitting in my studio making notes for each of my paintings-in-progress so that I can easily jump into them in my next painting session.

TG, Los Angeles
CAC Artist

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Keep Your Ideas To Yourself