I was walking down the street, carrying linen seeds, choco and rosemary tea, along with three lemons in a gray tote bag. I was talking on the phone with my mum. The evening was cold; the wind stopped, and I wasn't sad anymore that I hadn't brought my gloves. In the middle of our conversation (she had a new recipe for bread that she was telling me about), I stopped. I was surrounded by a glow, so I turned on the camera, waved to my mum, switched it, and just like that, my screen was filled with a giant bright yellow texture on a dark blue background—a ginkgo tree. It made us happy. We were mesmerized together 1764km apart.
I hung up after a couple of minutes and noticed an orange, almost golden hue above the forest I was passing next to (opposite the ginkgo tree). I was in awe. It was evening, and colors should have faded into the dark panel behind them. But the forest was excited about getting old; all this autumnal hue around it looked like it was celebrating the new season of life. Ochre and gold, samples of dark green, a lot of crimson red, and a couple of light brown details. "Getting old is a privilege," my new Australian friend, a cancer survivor, echoed in my head. Well, I certainly want to celebrate each new year of my life with the exact amount of golden hue that nature is celebrating hers with.
How did it go with last fortnight’s prompt?
Today I have an easy one! I usually do it alone but you can also do it with your friends or your kids if you are up for a creative prompt ensemble.
If you want to have an art rendez-vous with yourself, block 10-15 minutes, start with a little spaghetti drawing, and then move to this week’s task.
Materials:
Paper or an old sketchbook—don't be precious; perfection kills creativity.
Pen, pencil, marker—whatever you find around you.
If you prefer, use any kind of color palette—watercolor, gouache, oil, pastels, oil pastels.
How does it go?
Reflect on a Pleasurable Experience: Think of a mundane but pleasurable experience from this week. It could be a bus ride, a walk, or a hearty dinner—something small but worth celebrating. I often take bus rides just to look at the city (instead of the metro).
Identify Colors from the Experience: Write down the colors associated with that experience. For example, if it's an evening walk, your colors might include "Happy ginkgo tree yellow," "No-midlife crisis forest gold," "What’s this tree orange," "Thick blue jacket," "Pink hand-knitted beanie," "Rye bread brown," "Concrete gray," and "Neon vest of the bicycle rider." Mine do.
Your Turn: Now, it's your turn! Write down the colors that come to your mind and are connected to your chosen experience.
Painting Option: If you wish to paint, you can either write down the colors first or go ahead and use the colors directly on the paper while inventing color names.
This week, we enjoyed an excellent boeuf bourguignon. It felt like a hug with the arrival of the first real cold days. We took our time eating it, discussing the news, and just savoring the meal. This is how that color palette looks like.
Color is often the first thing that we notice in an experience. This is, of course, if the experience left an impression on us. When I am making the maps, these kinds of color lists often determine the tone of the map: joyful, serious, somber, elegant… as well as the color scheme. In the workshops I am teaching, I do this exercise to connect people better to the experiences that they are presenting on their map.
At home, I make these lists not to be afraid of “the beginning”. Sometimes, very often, together with the spaghetti drawing, it is just a warm-up exercise for an artist's exploration that I am about to embark on—an easy preparation of my brain. And it is a great one!
If you do it with a friend, you will see how the same experience had a totally different color scheme to you and to them.
It’s simple and not scary because you have an option to write as well as to draw. But do play with color - this is your invitation! My favorite part, if you haven’t noticed yet, is color naming.
Try this mini prompt and share it here, clicking reply or on Instagram tagging me @sonjabajicstudio. I cannot wait to see your colors!
Mapping your life starts by letting yourself notice the life around you more than usual. Welcome to your small creativity journey; I hope that you enjoy it.
Have a great day and thank you for being here!