Creatively Blocked After a Long Break

Hello new followers! It's so lovely to have you here on my little blog of painting and stuff. I hope you've all had a nice summer. :)

So the new term has started and I've actually started painting again for the first time in ages!
If any of you have ever had a long break from doing something, you might know how very difficult it is to get going again. My mind has been whirring with ideas over the summer but my problem is not remembering what ideas I had and not finding time to try them out. Yes I should have written them down at the time but I didn't.  By the time I sat down to paint yesterday I didn't know what I should be painting. I think it was Julia Cameron who said to just "turn up at the page" when you're feeling creatively blocked, so I did. She also said something along the lines of "creativity is surrender not control."
With these things in mind I started painting a face over a collaged board that I'd made before the summer holidays. (See pic above.) After a few minutes, (yes really!) I reached a point where I was getting stuck again so I got my sketchbook out, chose a nice dark navy blue watercolour pencil and drew whatever came onto the paper.

And here it is...

Because it was a pencil I was using, and it was in a tatty sketchbook, it felt like doodling so I could quickly make the image without thinking too much.

I didn't plan the boat, it just appeared. I'm guessing my mind is still at the sea-side don't you? ;)

I have decided that my motto from henceforth shall be:

"When in doubt,  DOODLE!"

What do you think? :)