What happens when you have been working in a particular illustration for so long that you start feeling like you are loosing perspective and you can’t tell anymore what’s wrong and what’s right? I guess this is what they call “not seeing the forest from the trees”. It happens to me very often, especially whenever I stay staring at the same work for too long. Then I know it’s time for a change of perspective, something that is useful for so many situations in life.

Here are some tricks that I use when I want to change the perspective in my work. I haven’t learned these techniques from other artists, but I have talked to other people who also use these or other similar tricks. It is funny to see all the silly looking things we end up doing in order to be successful, but they do work!

1- LOOKING AT OTHER ARTISTS WORK using the same concept, while doing the brainstorming. Sometimes we can keep using the same images and ideas just because they are stereotypes in our culture so it’s easy to use them in a default manner.

As an illustrator, I don’t especially find inspiration in other artists’ paintings. Personally, I prefer getting inspired by other kinds of art rather than the same kind I’m working in. For instance: photography, movies, music, poetry, dance, and even decoration or fashion. This will always bring you new ideas that you may feel identified with so you can incorporate it to your work instead of getting stuck into the same thing.

If is possible to get inspired from real life, such as visiting places and subjects, going out with the camera and taking shots, looking at or talking to people; I can’t think of anything better than that. Especially for an illustrator. Wouldn’t be great that we could go to to do sketches to Hawaii whenever we need to do an illustration of a nice beach, everything paid for?

2- HAVE FUN! Whenever I’m stuck with a particular work, then it’s time to play a little and have fun; recover the joy for the work. I can just experiment with my work and be as extreme as I want. This is especially easy when I work digitally. If not, it’s always possible to take a shot of the painting and then play with it at the computer with any painting program.

I may do versions of my work as a collage using anything you have around, and even with plasticine. Whatever makes me have fun. Taking my work to a different dimension, such as sculpting, can be also a wonderful way to understand the concept better. If you have children you can share the experience with them, but be honest and don’t steal the best ideas from them!

2- TURNING THE PAINTING UPSIDE DOWN. During the first steps of the work this may be especially helpful. This will bring a different perspective that will always help to spot where the balance is off in terms of space and weight. In the case of digital paintings this is especially easy. In case of working on a large canvas, you can always try to get upside down yourself, but if someone enters the room they will think you’ve definitively lost it.

3-SEEING THE PAINTING IN BLACK AND WHITE. This will make the balance between the contrast and lights more evident in order to correct the saturation in colors and contrast in shades. Also it will help to be more aware of the general balance between shadows and lights. If the painting is digital this is easy to do but if not you can always try to capture an image of your work in black and white with a digital camera. Obviously this won’t work if your work is already in black and white!

Another interesting thing to try is changing the contrast. If you can’t do it digitally you can also try changing the lighting of the room, using candles or different bulbs. This can be very revealing in terms of shades and contrast. As a teenager, I once decided to paint a canvas in the manner of Francisco de Goya to get a different result, so I got a top hat, stack a dozen of burning candles on it and painted in the dark. You can’t imagine my sister’s face when she opened the door of my room!

4- BLURING THE IMAGE. This is the best way to check out the balance between colors and will help to point out the colors that are a little off or which color nuances may be missing. If you don’t work digitally the easiest way to do this is by closing your eyes a little.

5- LOOKING AT THE WORK FROM A DISTANCE, in order to see it smaller. If you work digitally it will be easier because you just need to change the view size. Looking at the work from afar will help decide which shapes could be better, get more balance in general, and even spot when the adding of small details may give something unwanted.

For web design and book pages this won’t be a problem because people will always see the image at the same size that I’m regularly working. But in the case of posters and book covers is different. When people may see your poster from afar or see the cover of your book at the back of the shop, you will want them recognize it in a glance. If you painted a children´s book cover featuring the desert sands with a dromedary on it you won’t want the people look from the distance and think it’s a sexy girl on the beach with a camel toe!

6- LOOKING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL SKETCHES and notes every once in a while and try to relive the original vibe I had when I first drew them. Sometimes we can go so far from the original concept that we loose it’s original spirit. I don’t particularly like this, but I admit sometimes is good to experiment with unexpected things that come along the path. If the new ideas take me somewhere completely different I would rather keep them and use them in a different project. But I think is always important to focus on your aim and find a way to achieve it. If you are working professionally you will need to learn how to compromise and you won’t be able to change your mind every time you find something amusing in the way.

So, looking back to the original sketches always helps me remember the original concept of the work and compare, it helps me decide which things are really working and which are completely unnecessary. I believe that in art it’s always better to express your ideas with less elements and I always try to avoid solving problems by adding things. I always try to watch out from adding things that may not really say anything interesting to the concept. Most of these “extra” elements end up doing nothing but adding “noise” to the work and breaking the balance of the original idea.

On the same track, I think it’s always a good habit to check out your work every once in a while to see which elements are not really necessary. In my experience, subtracting elements from the work is always more successful than adding them. Warning: this practice may be addictive and you may end up with nothing on your canvas so get sure to keep a backup of the original!

7- AVOID THINKING WHAT THEY WOULD SAY. If I want to change the perspective of my work, I always avoid imagining what someone I know would say. In fact, I think this can become a very unhealthy habit, which brings nothing but insecurities and disappointments.

If you are an artist and you know which is your goal you should be the one who knows what you expect from your work better than anybody else. Making stories in your mind about what this person or the other would say is not realistic and a waste of time. If you really want to know the opinion of someone who can bring inspiration to your work, you better ask directly.

If you are working with someone else on the project, such as an editor, this may be very helpful as it’s always interesting to listen to other people’s views. But you should avoid recreating fantasies in your head of people you know telling you this or that. I say so because I used to have this problem until I decided it was just a matter of lack of confidence and a waste of time. Whatever it takes, be brave, stand for your art, and let it be. There’s nothing so bad about someone you know disliking your work but it can be a hell to have the ideas of this person judging you along the way. You be better off asking for an opinion from your kids. I think children are usually the best critics you will ever find, but don’t let them scratch on your work!

9- TAKE BREAKS. Sometimes this is one of the most important factors when it comes to keep the perspective on my work. Whenever I feel I’m stuck and I feel frustrated the best I can do is to get away from work and relax. Sometimes 20 minutes of peace of mind will save hours of work and struggle. Getting out of the room and doing whatever gets more relaxing for you, but managing to disconnect completely from work. You may go out and have a nice walk, do exercise, take a bath, have sex, cook, or watch some funny cartoons. Whatever works best for you.

I mostly get most of my daily issues solved and find the best ideas whenever I am in a different state of conscience, especially when I first wake up and when I’m falling sleep. Is better to rest well and then let the intuitive part of you to do the brainstorming work for you instead of spending hours struggling so hard. If you switch your state of mind and redirect your energy you will come back to work as a brand new artist. Then, when you are back in front of your work, be aware of the first impression you get because that may well be the key to solving your problem.

10- LET IT SEAT. When the work is finally done, I try to keep the work hidden for one day and then come back to do the final corrections, if I’m ahead of the deadline and I can afford it. Just like a good stew, sometimes the works get better after sitting for one day. In this case, the painting will be just the same but I will see it with different eyes after a little hiatus. It takes a little patience because we all want to show our work when we think is finished, but it’s really worthwhile. But… don’t let it sit there for more than a month or you will want to change the whole thing!

I hope these tips are useful for you. If you have any other ideas please share them here, I’d love to hear about them and get some new funny working habits.