The Book Nook & Co.

On this page you will find a few previous monthly book selection as well as web articles and videos in order to further elaborate on the book's topic.

Happy Reading!

SEPTEMBER "Resistance Art in South Africa &

Art in South Africa - The Future Present"

I am sentimental, and let’s face it who doesn’t love a touch of nostalgia?

That sentiment and nostalgia mean that I still have a large ring binder of all of my art history notes from high school...photo copies of hand written notes from my art teacher.

While looking through them so as to find topic for this months book nook, my eyes landed on a note she made in the margin. “Approach books on South African Art with great care: plenty of critical praise was given to white artists until recently, while writing on black art tended to focus on traditional work and was often patronising in tone, portraying non-Western approaches as quaint and not comparable with the work of white artists.” (B.Innes)

That information sat with me. As a result, my choice of topic for my final matric art essay was South African Resistance Art. In my search for information on this topic I came across a book by local artist Sue Williamson called, “Resistance Art in South Africa.” It had first been released in 1989, but had just been reissued in my matric year, 2004.

In her preface in the later edition she says in part, “By the time the book was ready for publication, it was November 1989. Two months later Nelson Mandela was released from jail. The timing of the book was fortuitous : the single minded thrust of the book was to show the diversity of political thought and action as interpreted by a broad swathe of artists and to act as an agent of empowerment and change in its own way.” “It is my hope that the reissue of Resistance Art will continue to act as a resource for all those around the world who have become fascinated with the art and mechanics of change in South Africa, and give pleasure and insight to those looking at these images for the first time.” (S.Williamson - 2004)

This book along with “Art in South Africa -The Future Present” are the featured books for this month. “Art in South Africa” is the successor volume” to Resistance Art. It "documents the most innovative and exciting developments in contemporary art in South Africa since 1900, set against the background of the changes in the country and within an international art context.”

These books are an investigation into South African Resistance Art and establish the importance and value of it in South Africa’s turbulent history. It is thanks to the strong and dedicated artists, whether widely known or obscure, that some of the most important issues were brought to attention at a time of mass censorship.

Resistance or Protest Art in South Africa - Background

Read the motivation behind Resistance Art and notable artists of the time
https://nladesignvisual.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/resistance-or-protest-art-in-south-africa-background/

Willie Bester

Learn what inspired Willie Bester and what continues to do so
https://zeitzmocaa.museum/artists/willie-bester/

Add to your art history knowledge by reading up on these other South African Resistance Artists:

* Jane Alexander *Kendell Geers *Sfiso Ka Mkame *William Kentridge *Noria Mabasa *Helen Sebidi

*Gerard Sekoto *Penny Siopis *Cecil Skotnes *Pippa Skotnes *Sue Williamson *Manfred Zylla

Manfred Zylla - "The Military Generals: Before & After

AUGUST "365 Days of Creativity"

"Creativity is not just about making your mark on the paper. It's about looking at the world a little differently and opening up your imagination to what it could be." (Lorna Scobie)

Being creative and making art is important to a lot of us - not just because it's enjoyable. Rather, in doing so we get to express a very important part of ourselves that otherwise doesn't get let out of it's cage very much.

If your life is anything like mine, finding a balance between what you have to do and actually want to do, tends to tip that see-saw very much to the side of "have-to". If "have-to" was an animal, it would be that hefty hippo undulating over the sides of that see-saw, eating watermelons and winking at you...

What then can help us to keep inspired, motivated and indeed able to carve out time - with whatever we can get out hands on, even if it just a blunt picnic knife? Starting with bite size pieces may be a good place to begin.

510HKptSO8L._SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_FMwebp_.webp

Lorna Scobie's brilliant book, "365 Days of Creativity - Inspire your imagination with art every day", is one such bite. This beautifully produced, full colour "exercise" book is designed to keep you making something everyday. Some pages are blank with a prompt such as #131 - "A great way to encourage yourself is to think creatively is to focus on the things that inspire you. Fill this page with drawings of items, ideas, or even places that you love."

#48 recommends - "Draw a sea. You could start with watercolour paint, and allow the

colours to blend into each other. Or perhaps use oil pastels, which can be blended

together with your finger. Suggest movement by making energetic marks, or using torn

pieces of paper."

#225 proposes you "Mix watercolour paint and water in a palette, dip your finger or

thumb and create fingerprints on the page. Create abstract shapes, objects or even characters from the

marks you make." While these exercises may seem infantile to the seasoned artist, they are actually an amazing

way to get out of your head, and just be. They completely remove the pressure to make some master

piece and allow you to purely enjoy being creative. It was Picasso that so famously said, “It took me four years to

paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

Young children have a an ability to simply relish the process and not be judgmental of what they are making.

Perhaps it is time to get our of our rut and remember what it is like to play. (Images copyright L.Scrobie, 2019)

IMG_20230816_093026_resized_20230819_105

10 Artists on Breaking Out of a Creative Rut
(Copyright. skillshare.com, 2020)

Read how other artists have "found creative ways to stay inspired".
https://www.skillshare.com/en/blog/10-artists-on-breaking-out-of-a-creative-rut/

10 Ways to Stop Artist's Block
(Copyright. C. Hill, 2016 - creativeresources.threadless.com)

Learn some tips to get the creative juices flowing.
https://creativeresources.threadless.com/stop-artists-block/

10 Fool Proof Ways Artist's can Stay Motivated
(Copyright. artmakespeople.com, 2021)

"How do you wake up each morning, focused on creating, bounding out of bed to dive into your work – and then more importantly – actually do the work and maintain the drive to do it again and again?"
https://artmakespeople.com/ways-artists-can-stay-motivated/

JULY "Anatomy for the Artist"

"The human body is the best picture of the human soul." (Ludwig Wittgenstein)

There is something about the human body that has always fascinated and indeed if one

looks at the works of Rodin - titillates. While the likes of Rodin veer toward the erotic,

sensual and at times even blatantly indecorous - for most artists drawing the human body

is more of an academic exercise. Elizabeth Larson Koehler states on her website, Art

Studio Life; "When you understand how the body moves and functions, you are able to

design and draw the figure without reference. It helps you to be able to draw the body to

feel natural and alive."

"For millennia, the human body has been celebrated as nature’s finest masterpiece. This

superb drawing guide helps you unravel its complexity and capture its aesthetic on paper.

Packed with instructive illustrations and specially-commissioned photographs of male

and female models, Anatomy for the Artist unveils the extraordinary construction of the human body and celebrates its continuing prominence in Western Art today. Through her detailed sketches, acclaimed artist Sarah Simblet shows you how to look inside the human frame to map its muscle groups, skeletal strength, balance, poise, and grace. Selected drawings superimposed over photographs reveal fascinating relationships between external appearance and internal structure.

Six drawing classes guide you through human anatomy afresh, offering techniques for observing and drawing the skeleton, including the head, ribcage, pelvis, hands, and feet. By investigating a series of masterworks juxtaposed against photographs of real-life models, Dr. Simblet also traces the visions of different artists across time, from Holbein's Christ Entombed to Edward Hopper's Hotel Room.

For any artist, learning about the human body is always a palpable delight. This imaginative reference guide will enhance your anatomical drawing and painting techniques at every level." (amazon.com)

I highly recommend this as a staple in your art book collection. Simblet also has other fantastic books - "Botany for the Artist", "The Drawing Book", "Drawing for the Artist", and "Sketchbook for the Artist".

"Beware of the body snatchers..."

"Resurrectionists" as they were commonly called, were enterprising people who realised the value of the dead to 18th century anatomists, medical educators and doctors. Of particular infamy were William Burke and William Hare; they resorted to murder and not just grave robbing as was generally the case. So intertwined was the study of anatomy to medicine, that breaking the law seemed like a small inconvenience. This, however, was not a new phenomenon exclusive to the age.

Leonardo da Vinci has by his own admission dissected at least 30 corpses in his lifetime. His motive was not some perverse macabre exercise. Rather, "his study of anatomy, originally pursued for his training as an artist, had grown by the 1490s into an independent area of research. As his sharp eye uncovered the structure of the human body, Leonardo became fascinated by the figura istrumentale dell’ omo “man’s instrumental figure”, and he sought to comprehend its physical working as a creation of nature." (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci/Anatomical-studies-and-drawings).

His background in the arts aided him in many technically challenging dissections. When wanting to understand the actual shape of the "ventricles of the brain", he made "wax casts of them by injection then removing the surrounding brain tissue." (Kenneth D. Keele, 1977 - Lenoardo Da Vinci, the Anatomist - Leonardo Da Vinci, Anatomical Drawings from the Royal Collection) The beauty of his drawings was twofold. To the artist's eye, his skill in realism and perspective translated into a deep understanding of dimension. That same dimension to the scientific eye helped give accurate insight into the mechanics of the human body.

688b66_b0c36763ff4148008b9a8f548870c785~mv2.jpg

688b66_07e93d85588b4200b4a4b83c2fb4493e~mv2.jpg

To his contemporaries, his anatomical studies were too avant-garde to be valued. "Medical knowledge at that time was based on texts rather than empirical observations. The foundations for the practice of medicine were still the writings of a Roman physician, Galen (129 to c 230), whose views had dominated it for over 1300 years". (Marek H Dominiczak - Clinical Chemistry, Volume 59, Issue 11, 1 November 2013, Pages 1687–1689) It was only 24 years after da Vinci's death in 1543, To his contemporaries, his anatomical studies were too avant-garde to be valued. "Medical knowledge at that time was based on texts rather than empirical observations. The foundations for the practice of medicine were still the writings of a Roman physician, Galen (129 to c 230), whose views had dominated it for over 1300 years". (Marek H Dominiczak - Clinical Chemistry, Volume 59, Issue 11, 1 November 2013, Pages 1687–1689) It was only 24 years after da Vinci's death in

1543, with the publication of Belgian anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius' book - "De Humani Corporis Fabrica", that medical understanding of anatomy changed. His work opened the floodgates of accurate anatomical workings. It was only after this event that da Vinci's work was reinvestigated. To this day, "De Humani Corporis Fabrica is regarded as one of the most influential books ever published." (M.H Dominiczak)

The correlation between the art of anatomical drawing and the medical field is tremendous. This helps us appreciate that while science has indeed had a huge impact on how we live in the world around us, without the skill of dedicated artists, the very medical knowledge that daily saves lives would not be what it is. Too often in the schooling system, maths and science are viewed as the "hallmark of education." The arts are commonly viewed as lesser pursuits. This is reflected in the fact that when funds are limited, subjects related to the arts are generally the first to be dropped by schools. That view continues into the working world. There is a reason the phrase "starving artist" exists. In most lands, the arts are given the least funding. Rather, seeing the "benefits of collaboration between science and the arts", creates an environment for a rounded and inclusive view of education to develop. We need the arts just as much as we need the sciences and language. There are, though, some forward thinking individuals who are recognising the value in artistic and medical blending.

Dr. Lawrence Bell of the Department of Surgery at the Cheltenham General Hospital in Gloucestershire, stated in an article for the National Library of Medicine - "Studies have suggested that art can be utilized to teach observational skills in medical students, a skill that is integral to patient examination but seldom taught directly within medical curricula. An "Art in Medicine" 8-week course was delivered to first year medical students at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. The use of art to improve observational skills was a core theme throughout. Feedback from the students suggests that they believe a strong association between art and medicine exists." (2014, Art, anatomy, and medicine: Is there a place for art in medical education?)

At the risk of getting on a soap box...education that combines both parts of our brains, the logical left and the creative right, seems like the most beneficial approach. Our brains have been designed to function this way. How satisfying the world will be when that finally is possible!

"Those lying eyes..."

Most will recognise Vermeer's, "Girl with a Pearl Earring", but is there actually a pearl earring there? Despite what your eyes tell you, there isn't. What is there, is a very cleverly placed small teardrop of white paint, not nearly big enough to make that large pearl earring. Why then, do we "see" an earring? The simple answer is that your brain is lying to you, but for a very important reason. It doesn't waste energy on information that it doesn't view as important, thereby making visual shortcuts. (There is a fantastic TEDEd video - "How optical illusions trick your brain", that explains how this works; the link is at the end of the blog). It is this "lying" that your brain does, that allows artists to manipulate a 2D image into what appears to be a 3D image, and sometimes even make you believe something is moving, when really it isn't.

"Optical illusion art, or Op Art for short, is an aesthetic style that intentionally exploits that oddity of human perception that gives the human eye the ability to deceive the human brain. By manipulating patterns, shapes, colors, materials and forms, Op Artists strive to create phenomena that fool the eye, confusing viewers into seeing more than

what is actually there. And since belief can be as influential as fact, Op Art asks the question of what matters more: perception or truth." (Phillip Barcio - www.ideelart.com) While a painter like Vermeer was not being an 'op artist' in the 17th century, he was making use of light and shade to trick the eye into "seeing" what wasn't there. Before we get to the 1960s, when Op Art was at its height, there were a few things that paved the way for art that tricks the eyes. A lovely example of this is the 1874 painting "Escaping Criticism", (how about that for a title! - Image 3) by Pere Borrell dell Caso. In this case, hyper-realism tricks the eye. The next step towards Op Art, was "Pointillism".

George Seurat, in the late 1800s, was the progenitor of Pointillism - or optical mixing, "painting separate dots of pure colour on the canvas which mix and vibrate in the eye and are intended to give the sensation of light itself." (R.Cumming) This technique allowed the image to "emerge" when viewed from a distance. Tragically, although becoming a master of this method, he died at 31 from meningitis. This new idea of how the eyes perceive, inspired other movements in art - Divisionism, a similar concept to Pointillism, where the eye "mixes" pure colours alongside each other, and 4D planes Cubism, (I must admit, the maths behind 4D gets lost on me) - which is the idea of "showing all of the possible viewpoints of a person or an object all at once." (simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubism)

Like most concepts in life, an idea is like the branches of a tree, connected but moving slightly away from a central point. Thus, with diverging from ideas in the past, we finally get to Op Art - building on all these previous notions, that the eye can be fooled, and that the perception of something can be more powerful than what is actually there. In the 1940s, Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely began devoting himself to the concept of Op Art. In fact, you see one of his works every day on the road, the logo for Renault. "In 1972, Renault commissioned Vasarely to design a new logo, a project the artist undertook with his son Yvaral. The transformed logo kept the diamond shape, but with clean, dynamic, angular lines. This logo remained in use until 1992 and is still considered as a source of inspiration for the brand logo today." (group.renault.com) He looked intently at colour theory, perception and illusion. Initially, black and white worked best to apply these abstract principles. The results are quite remarkable - the perception of movement and dimension. However by the 1960s "his colour burst out with variety and brilliance unparalleled in his career." (H.H Arnason - A History of Modern Art)

Art is not just there to be something pretty to hang on our walls. It is also about evoking emotion, or challenging the way we perceive or think about the world around us. Op Art is a great vehicle for both the artist and the viewer to have their perception turned on it's head. Some have criticised the flagrant commercialism of Op Art. During the 60s, many of Vasarely's and Riley's works found their way onto mugs, t-shirts and the like. However, to these artists, that perhaps was part of the point of their work, "that there should be no barrier between people and art, and that whatever barriers seem to exist only exist in our perception." (P.Barcio)

Whether you love it, hate it or are just indifferent, something has still taken place - your lying eyes have proved that indeed much of life, is nothing but perception.

Find out more:

Watch

How optical illusions trick your brain - https://youtu.be/rfdJyDfIHIc
Victor Vasarely's optical art - https://youtu.be/UrfYC_ieI3k
Bridget Riley: The Art of Perception - https://youtu.be/tTv1biPq4Cc

Read

Bridget Riley interview with Vogue - https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/bridget-riley-interview

Picture Credits:

Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1660-61 - Jan Vermeer
Close up of Pearl Earring - Jan Vermeer
Escaping Criticism, 1874 - Pere Borrell dell Caso
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of la Grande Jatte, 1884-6 - George Seurat
Close up of Sunday Afternoon - George Seurat
Zebra, 1950 - Victor Vasarely
OND-DVA, ? - Victor Vasarely
Renault logo, 1972 - Victor Vasarely
Pause, 1961 - Bridget Riley
Late Morning, 1967-8 - Bridget Riley

MAY "Chromaphilia- The Story of Colour in Art"

"We must pardon the mad desire for purple", so stated Pliny the Elder.(AD 23-79) He certainly was on to something there. - Indeed Monet was quite the prophet when he said, "I have finally discovered the true colour of the atmosphere. It's violet. Fresh air is violet. Three years from now everyone will work in violet." The Impressionists loved the colour purple so much that critics "accused them of violetto mania".(P.Simpson, 2021)

According to Greek legend, it was Hercules dog that discovered Tyrian purple. While en route to see a nymph, the demigod's dog chewed on a sea snail and ended up with a purple mouth. "Purple dye from the sea was coveted, legislated and imitated; at various times worth

more than gold. It was produced by means of a technologically complex industry that fuelled economies for hundreds if not thousands of years, an industry developed by the Phoenicians, whose very name comes from the Greek word for purple." (S.Paul,2017)

Yet, it was an 18 year old that would forever change the modern world of purple. That young man was William Perkin, a chemistry student endeavouring to find a cure for malaria. In a moment of true serendipity, he created mauvine. "By 21, he was a very wealthy man with his own dye manufacturing facility. (windsornewton.com)

The "discovery" of mauve forever changed the world. Oscar Wilde wrote cuttingly in The Picture of Dorian Gray, ‘Never trust a woman who wears mauve. It always means they have a history.’ (windsornewton.com)

If colour excites you, then "Chromaphilia - The Story of Colour in Art" by Stella Paul, is a must read. "Chromaphilia unlocks the secrets of colour, exploring the history and meaning of this most fundamental element of art. Fascinating tales of artistic passion and scientific discovery reveal the language of colour, in a unique story of the ongoing history". (S.Paul,2017)

Jackson Pollock and the Ferrari...

What may sound like the beginning of a bad joke, is in fact based on a

strong belief in a connection between the famous abstract expressionist,

Jackson Pollock and Ferraris of the 1990s. The connection?

Pigment Red - 254

"Colour is central to human art making right from the start." So stated the

modern colour keeper, Narayan Khandekar. He is a scientist in the field of

conservation and colour working with The Forbes Pigment Collection at

the Harvard Art Museums. Their collection of pigments is currently more

than 2,500.

While colours and pigments are so vital to the art world, they are in fact

central to our everyday lives as well. They have more impact on our lives

than we often appreciate. Most of us will not get to see a 90s Ferrari

up-close, nor a Jackson Pollack artwork to appreciate that impassioned

tone of red. We do, however, use washing powder...

Ultramarine, a vivid deep blue, made from semiprecious stone, Lapis

Lazuli, at one time cost more than gold. Its expense was due to it being mined in the Afghan region and having an arduous journey to Europe. The name Ultramarine, came from the Latin meaning "beyond the seas" when it was imported into Europe mostly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Eventually, a synthetic version was invented after a competition in Paris.

By 1828 it was sold commercially and extremely cost

effective. In Victorian times, the laborious task of

washing had at least a glint of technology on its side

to "whiten" laundered items synthetic ultramarine.

Despite it mildly dyeing the whites blue, to the naked

eye the blue cancelled out the yellowing and thus

made the washing appear whiter and brighter.

This method of "whitening" our clothes has not changed; we have just built on the idea. Next time you do a load of "whites", ponder for a moment on the rich heritage, which we have whittled down to a 30 - minute cycle.

Green is prized for its calming effects and beauty; nature is generally variants of green. Yet, no green has ever had such a hypnotic and deadly influence as did Emerald Green. "Scheele's Green" or "Paris Green" was unlike any tone of green before it. Its vibrancy and hue captivated the Victorian consciousness as well as artists like Vincent Van Gogh. Developed by Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1775, it was made from copper arsenite. Yes, you read correctly, what we use to kill bugs - arsenic, was the main ingredient. This colour became so popular in the Victoria era that they used it in almost everything coloured green around them - books, children's toys, fabrics and even food! It was also widely used in wallpapers, a particular favourite for William Morris, a textile designer associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement, and "the director of the biggest arsenic-producing mines in the world, Devon Great Consols." (Absolute History-Hidden Killers)

The tragedy was, that in a room with a surface area

of about 100 square metres, there could be up to

2.5 kg of arsenic present. Illness to varying degrees

was common. In severe cases, death was a relief

from the suffering arsenic caused. As symptoms

were not unlike those of cholera, (prevalent at the

time), it took some time for the connection to be made between these deadly green products and arsenic poisoning. However, even after the discovery of the dangers, many manufacturers denied the connection and countless suffered the consequences.

Perhaps our human fascination with colour - even when it is deadly, is summed up by artist Georgia O' Keeffe, the "mother of American Modernism - "I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."

Let's face it, who doesn't like a rainbow?

Explore further...it is SO worth it!

A few notable mentions:

Indian yellow - Made from the dried urine of mango leaf fed cows.
Mauve - Serendipity and an 18 year old. In his attempt to create a cure for malaria using coal tar hydrocarbons, he accidently made mauve. This later lead to Magenta and Fuchsia. I am eternally grateful...two my favourite colours!

Videos to round off your colour excavation:

"Library of rare colors" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rApTzWboLrA
"Why oil paint is so expensive" - https://youtu.be/iib_imkZ5fk
"How Green Paint Poisoned So many Victorians" - https://youtu.be/MvxnXOoFl20
"What is color?" - https://youtu.be/UZ5UGnU7oOI
"How we see color?" - https://youtu.be/l8_fZPHasdo
"The surprising pattern behind color names around the world" - https://youtu.be/gMqZR3pqMjg

Picture Credits:

Red Composition, 1946 - Jackson Pollock
Ferrari 512 TR, 1991 - Ferrari.com
The Pigments - Caitlin Cunningham Photography
Girl with a pearl earring, c1665 - Johannes Vermeer
Lapis Lazuli - atperrys.com/products/lapislazuli
Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin," 1888 - Vincent Van Gogh
(Paint Can) Chris Goulet - English Wikipedia /(Green Dress) Breyer Van Bomel Foundation Fund, 1980/Wikimedia Commons

688b66_76f7d6eb31b24074b0c66e9800c3bf89~mv2.jpg

"Mauve - How One Man Invented a Colour that Changed the World" by Simon Garfield

"1856. Eighteen-year-old chemistry student William Perkin's experiment has gone horribly wrong. but the deep brown sludge his botched project has produced has an unexpected power: the power to dye everything it touches a brilliant purple. Perkin has discovered mauve, the world's first synthetic dye, bridging a gap between pure chemistry and industry which will change the world forever. From the fetching ribbons tying back the hair of every fashionable head in London to the laboratories in which scientists developed modern vaccines against cancer and malaria, Simon Garfield tells the story of how the colour purple become a sensation." (S.Garfield,2008)

"Tyrian Purple - The Colour that Changed the World"

"Though the stories vary, all agree that it began with a dog. The Greek version is that the demigod Heracles and his dog were walking along a beach to visit a nymph. The dog gnawed on a snail and ended up with a purple mouth. When the nymph saw the colour she begged for a garment of the same colour.

In the Phoenician version, the dog belonged to Tyro, the mistress of the god Melqart who, on seeing the colour, requested a shawl of that colour.

Whoever it was who noticed the colour – and the dog on the beach story seems plausible – boiled a bucket of the snails and ended up with the finest dye the world had ever seen. In it, cloth turned an astonishing colour that didn’t fade but deepened in sunlight. It would lay the foundations of the world we now live in." (D.Pinnock, 2022)

Read the rest of the article at the link below:

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-12-tyrian-purple-the-colour-that-changed-the-world/

The Book Nook & Co.

Resistance or Protest Art in South Africa - Background Read the motivation behind Resistance Art and notable artists of the time https://nladesignvisual.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/resistance-or-protest-art-in-south-africa-background/

Willie Bester Learn what inspired Willie Bester and what continues to do so https://zeitzmocaa.museum/artists/willie-bester/

10 Artists on Breaking Out of a Creative Rut (Copyright. skillshare.com, 2020) Read how other artists have "found creative ways to stay inspired". https://www.skillshare.com/en/blog/10-artists-on-breaking-out-of-a-creative-rut/

10 Ways to Stop Artist's Block (Copyright. C. Hill, 2016 - creativeresources.threadless.com) Learn some tips to get the creative juices flowing. https://creativeresources.threadless.com/stop-artists-block/