I always need a source of creativity in my life, but I often get bored after doing the same thing for more than a month or two. In order to keep my creative juices flowing, and to keep myself busy, I've tried more than a few different artsy hobbies - including all of these on this list. Most of these come from a couple of classes that I took my senior year of high school, Drawing and Painting I and II. I made sure to write about things I've actually tried myself, so I know they're easy, fun, and cost-friendly. If you're like me and looking for something to try this summer, you've come to the right place. Enjoy!
1. Embroidery
I've only recently begun to pick this up, but I'm already in love with it. Embroidery is basically sewing, with needle and thread, and you stitch little designs onto a piece of fabric. The designs don't have to be very elaborate (take the small cactus and Tardis as examples). There are also quite a few kits, that can be found online, that are good places to start. For instance, here are some kits that were recommended to me by a fellow Odyssey writer:
2. Painting
A self portrait by my brother, Dane Ervin.
3. Watercolor
Watercolor on an old book page, titled "Squidword" and done by me during my senior year of high school.
Watercolor painting was my favorite thing to do my senior year. It's easy, the texture and colors are fun to experiment with, and the final product is (usually) worth the trouble. If you're looking for a decent watercolor set, I would recommend the one that my art teacher told us to get: Prang Watercolor Set. Don't forget to only do watercolor on paper made for it, otherwise regular paper won't cooperate with the moisture.
4. Drawing
Easy, Easy, easy. Even if you think you can't draw, there's bound to be a technique out there for you to try. For example, try drawing something simple without lifting your pen/pencil off the paper. It makes for a unique piece of art at the end, and it's pretty fun to do! There's also a type of scratch-art that you can do like in the picture above; just print the picture you want to scratch, trace it with a pencil onto the scratch-off paper, and scratch off to get the image you want!
5. Wood Burning
Wood burning is a little more complicated than the rest of the items on this list in terms of finding the right materials and supplies. To pick up this hobby, you would need spare or scrap wood and a wood burning tool. When I searched for a kit on Google, I found one at Walmart for only $12 that has all the different tool tips and everything you should need supply-wise.
Here's a link for it online: Wood Burning Kit Walmart
6. Collages
Another art class favorite, collages don't take much effort at all. It only takes some pictures or text, glue, scissors, and the motivation to create a new image. After collaging the pictures together, try drawing what you just made!
7. Writing
Writing is the most basic creative creative outlet I could think of. Even if you're not artsy, try writing down a short story, keeping a journal for a few months, or writing down your dreams from the night before.
8. Adult Coloring Books
You can find coloring books anywhere; what's getting pretty popular, however, are detailed coloring books made for adults. If you stop by Barnes N Noble, for instance, they always have at least one detailed coloring book centered around a specific fandom. I've also found several that are themed around parts of nature or something like fairy tales.
9. Knitting
This one sounds uninteresting at first, and like something only older women tend to do, but it's actually pretty easy and fun! I tried knitting when I was about twelve, when my mom decided to try it as well, and I got about halfway done with a scarf. The best part about knitting is the repetition, and it's something you can do while watching a movie or a TV show!
10. Puzzles
Puzzles have never really been extremely entertaining for me, but I thought I would add it to the list because of how much some people like them. You can find many different kinds of puzzles in almost any store, in whatever image you want. If you're really ambitious, you can even make a puzzle of your own picture if you send it in and order it.
I hope you enjoy whichever craft you picked; I know I'll be picking some of these back up throughout the summer as well! Right now I'm stuck on embroidery, mostly because it's still very new to me, but watercolor and drawing have always been my favorites because of how simple and easy they are. I highly recommend trying these first, but if you're looking for something more like puzzles or knitting, that's just as great. Stay creative!
