Writing
Whether it be in the form of a journal, or an article like this one, any writing on a regular basis is remarkably beneficial to the creative process. When I was in college all the art students were required to keep a journal. The journal was not just for sketches or project ideas, but also for writing anything at any time. It is true that a journal is an excellent way to scribe thoughts and ideas that may be used in a future artwork, but the function of writing in helping the creative process is more than that.
When a person, whether an artist or not, writes for at least 30 minutes a day about ANYTHING, the time spent and the emotions unleashed help remove sedentary "garbage" that might be inhibiting the creative process. Especially if you consistently write something everyday, it is almost as if the creative process peels away dead skin like an onion until the ripe flesh is exposed. Whether you write about strong emotions, worries or troubles, or even everyday tasks, whatever is on your mind should spill out into the pages of your writing. It'll create a good habit of keeping your creative process fresh and ready to go.
Sketching
Similar to writing, sketching is also an outlet for little things that may be suffocating your creative process. Its very helpful to establish the same kind of dialogue with frequent sketches, regardless of whether the sketch is a doodle or winds up to be a masterpiece. Furthermore, since sketching also taps into your talents and technique as an artist, sketching will help keep those fine-tuned as well.
It may be a little more difficult to face a blank page to sketch on, then it is to face one you're about to write on. We all have thoughts in our heads all the time, so no matter what you can almost always fill a page with words even if it winds up to be a bunch of nonsense. As artists we bring with ourselves a sense of dignity when it comes to our talents, so that often we find ourselves unwilling to take the chance that our sketches too will wind up to be a bunch of *ugly* nonsense. Let's face it though, you don't have to show anyone your sketches. You can keep them to yourself, or even destroy them if you want. The key is to get the sketches flowing, and enable in yourself the confidence to let your creativity go wild, regardless of the consequences. More than likely, you'll find yourself appreciative of the raw quality of unleashed sketches. Some of your sketches could even be the starting point of an oil painting one day.
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