Photo credit: (1) Julie Liger-Belair (2) Sarah Jarrett (3) Art By Rachel Grant (4) Sarah Papworth (5) Amy Schimler-Safford
I’m terrible at gratitude lists and journals. I start them but poop out after only a few days. So I thought I’d try a different approach by creating a “10 things I love about…” list, then detail 10 things I love about that thing. Today’s love? Pinterest!
(1) Pinterest is visual!
I am a very visual person and I love using Pinterest as a search engine. Take a look at my Pinterest boards.
(2) Find unexpected treasures
I love making discoveries, finding hidden gems and finding artists, techniques, art and illustrations I would never have found by using Google’s search engine. To make use of this feature, use the “More Ideas” and “More Like This” feature on boards and individual pins.
(3) Organize Pins via boards & sections
I love compiling pins for inspiration based on an artist, subject matter, art technique, theme, whatever! It allows you see all your related pins on one page. Here is one of my boards with many sections.
(4) Collect the artists that inspire you
Using boards and sections, I can collect the works of artists and illustrators all in one place. When I’m browsing Pinterest and I find a piece of artwork that inspires me, I can quickly create a new board or section and then immediately find other works by that artist, and add them to the board. You can see an example of one such board here.
(5) Collect themes, emotions, etc.
You can collect anything on Pinterest and then organize and curate those images to help you create your own work. Collect and curate images of flowers, gardens, portraits, dancers, emotions, etc. Here is one example.
(6) “Save for later”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been browsing the web and found a blog article or image that inspired me, but could never find it again because I didn’t save it or bookmark the website.
Using the Pinterest browser button you can quickly save a pin or article for future reference. I’ve even created a “Secret Board” as a catchall if I don’t have the time to decide exactly WHERE to pin it at first. I can always go back later to that secret board and move it to a more meaningful board for future use.
(7) Visual References
What exactly does an echinacea flower look like? I kinda sorta have an idea but a visual reference makes it much easier to draw. 10 images of echinacea flowers makes it easier still. I don’t recommend copying the work of other artists or photographers. That’s why Pinterest is so awesome. You can collect dozens of images of a topic, then use them as INSPIRATION in your own work. Here is an example of one such board.
(8) Color Palettes Galore
Pinterest is a great resource for finding color combinations and color palettes. If you can’t find one you actually love, you can find a photo you love on Pinterest then use a service like Coolors to generate a custom color palette. Click here to see my color boards and sections.
(9) Create vision boards, dream boards and mood boards
Once upon a time this might have been something I did using magazines. But who the heck has actual magazines anymore? I guess you could copy and paste images into a Photoshop document. But why go to so much trouble when you can just create a new Pinterest board (public or private) and start pinning inspirational images for your next piece of artwork.
Here is an example of a moodboard I created when I was a web designer. I liked the board so much I saved it (even though I’m no longer a web designer.)
(10) Get inspired to learn new techniques
I can’t believe I’m already at #10. But a great way to use Pinterest is research, inspiration and information on new art techniques you’d like to try. Here is board I created for just such inspiration.
I’ve been using Pinterest in some capacity since it was very created – back when you had to be invited in order to use the service. I don’t think a week goes by that I don’t visit the site at least once.
I’ve covered the reasons to use Pinterest as an artist or creative. I haven’t even touched on why and how to use as a creative business owner and to promote your own work. I’ll save that for a future post.
