Earlier this month I talked about the power of the 100 day project, and how it can be a great way to incorporate creativity in your life when you don’t know how or where to begin. It gives you a very specific goal and is endlessly customizable.
A natural follow-up is a subsequent roadblock that many creatives face shortly after they find ways to be creative: gear.
Now let me be frank: I love gear. I live for gift guides at the holidays. I have specific pens and journals that I use, and of course I have a full fleet of Apple products. I can’t help but buy stuff when I go into an arts supply store. I love the thrill of purchasing new things, especially when they’re related to my craft.
I think seeing what our favorite creatives use to create their art can be really inspiring, exciting and helpful. But I also know tools can be a distraction. They can hinder us from actually doing the creative work. And not to mention once you do get the coveted tools in your hands, there’s an unspoken pressure for the work created to be excellent with no mistakes.
Why Gear Can Be a Roadblock
Here are 3 reasons gear can be a roadblock to creativity.
It’s not accessible to everyone
It should come as no surprise that your creative tools cost money. And when art and creativity require a fancy gadget (like an iPad for example), it’s automatically shutting certain folks out due to price.
Waiting < Creating
There’s nothing wrong with saving your money to buy nicer tools, but a lot of times, the high-end tools have a cheaper counterpart that will do the job just as well.
Additionally, a less-nice version can help you get started now, rather than feeling the need to wait for the gadget to start creating.
It puts undue pressure on us
Especially when the gear comes recommended by some of our favorite artists/creatives, having the tools they use can sometimes make us feel like we should be able to immediately make perfect work, just like theirs.
It can be difficult to recognize that you:
(a) are not that artist, and therefore your creations may not look just like theirs, and(b) may not be at the same point on your creative journey as they are.
When you do start creating, it’s crucial to not compare your beginning to someone else’s 1, 5-or-10-years-down-the-road.
Ways to Get Around the Roadblocks
Now that we’ve talked about potential roadblocks, let’s talk about how to get around them.
Inventory your current supplies
I want to do a quick exercise with you. Stop reading. Pause and take a look around your workspace or living space. What can you see or find that you can use right now to start creating? Expand your thinking from where you’re standing now into places you find yourself on a regular basis!
Some examples:
Index cards
Unused or half-used notebooks
Old art that didn’t turn out the way I wanted
The dried up paintbrushes you thought were unusable
the margins of your school notebooks
the blank inside cover of a journal
the school or public library’s computer lab with Adobe Creative Cloud already downloaded
junk mail and catalogs you just pulled out of the mailbox
your iPhone
Old receipts
In addition to the supplies you have around you, also start with the time you have. Time is just an important of a resource as your physical gear. If you’re a full-time parent, student or worker, or simply have other big life priorities, you won’t have as much time as the full-time artist you follow on TikTok. It may only be 10-15 minutes a day. Don’t compare your productivity with theirs.
Additionally, think creatively about where you can find time to fit in making art. The wait in the doctor’s office, or during your kids’ sports practice?
How I Started
My own creative journey (the one that didn’t involve structured art classes) began with the index cards and pens I had at my desk in high school. I would get distracted while studying, and start doodling favorite quotes or verses onto the index cards I was supposed to be using for flashcards.
I posted some of them on Instagram (for fun), continued to create them, and this eventually turned into my first “product”: a set of stationery with hand-lettered Bible verses and quotes.
And if you’re wondering, the Instagram account I posted these to is the same one I use today - so you can literally scroll back and see those posts around 2012-2014.
Validate your current practice
Or insert any other creative endeavor (the photos/videos you’re taking during your daily walk on your phone, the phone note of poetry or margin of hand-lettering).
My college English professor Henry once interrupted class when he noticed me doodling in the margins of my notebook. He asked if he could hold them up to the class, and he looked at me and said, Lucy, you’re an artist. It’s hard to convey the tone, but this was said in all seriousness.
And I tell that story because it’s how I think everyone should speak to themselves about their own creativity! Don’t wait for the external validation. What you’re creating - however you’re creating it - is worthy of being claimed as art.
Upgrade your gear when it makes sense, and don’t feel pressure to do so.
I got an iPad my senior year of college using birthday money and some savings, only after watching my boss at my internship use his iPad all semester to create graphics for the school’s sports teams.
Take time to research and observe whether this feels like a necessary purchase or not. And maybe even ask to borrow the tool from a shop or a friend to give it a test drive before buying.
Remember that the gear you use now becomes part of your cool, creative journey story!
It’s like JK Rowling writing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on cafe napkins. She literally used what was around and available to her to create. And we all know this because it’s a part of her origin story!
Final Tips and Tricks
Look around for free versions/trials/alternatives of the fancier tools you do want to be using
Be mindful: ask yourself if you really need this particular pen if you’re actually just feeling bored, frustrated or insecure about your current spot along on the creative path (I’ve been all three, trust me)
Equipment rentals? (I know you can do it with instruments and I bet you can do it with a lot of other creative gear as well)