Completely FREE Artist Date Ideas
When you’re doing the Artist’s Way on a very tight budget, googling “Free Artist Date Ideas” only to find lists full of “drive to…”, “head out to…”, “grab a coffee at…” will have you throwing your phone out the window. What part of “I’ve got no money” do you not understand?
It’s not that you don’t want to enjoy an outing, but these suggestions often include hidden costs—bus fare, fuel, or at the very least, the pressure to buy something.
So, here’s a list of free Artist Date ideas—
no bus fare, no fuel costs, no entry fees, no purchases required.
If you have pens or pencils, and paper.
· Design a book cover—either for something you’ve written or for something you enjoyed reading.
· Draw the view out of the window.
· Have a go at origami.
· Write a letter to you future self, or your past self.
· Doodle some relaxing patterns.
· Just freewrite. No pressure, no deadline, just give yourself permission to write.
· Draw a map of somewhere you know well, or make something up!
· Pick your favourite quote, write it in the middle of the page, and then illustrate it.
· Write a 100-word story
· Create a mind map for all the things you’d like to try making. Don’t block any ideas. Whatever comes to mind.
· Write a poem and draw an illustration to go with it.
These dates don’t have to be fancy, expensive, or showy in any way. They aren’t less valid if they don’t include shelling out for workshops or long trips.
If you have any children’s crayons, paints, leftover art supplies.
· Draw or paint a self portrait in as many colours as possible.
· Recapture your inner child—do some finger painting!
· Make a story book.
· Make a Zine!
· Play around with colours without worrying what the final product ends up looking like.
· Design a birthday card for a loved one.
If you have old photos and postcards.
· Make a collage of memories from a particular time or place in your life.
· Pull together a photo album or scrapbook. Take your time with this to go through old memories.
· If you stumble across some unknown faces in these photos, make up a story for them.
· Write out some of the memories that are stirred up while rummaging through. What details come to mind? Use all your sense.
· Build a puppet version of yourself, a friend, or your favourite character. Egg cartons and corks are great for this!
· Make some personalised plant pots out of old tin cans.
· Weave strips of colourful cardboard into wall art or coasters.
· Build a mini theatre space or doll’s house out of old cardboard boxes.
· Create a collage out of images and lettering you find on packages.
If you have any recyclables.
If you have a garden or live near green spaces.
· Go for a walk. Get some fresh air.
· Do some writing or drawing in a calm spot in the park.
· If you have a smartphone, take nature photos.
· Write some nature inspired poetry.
· Do some bird watching. Draw what you see.
· Watch the sunrise. Watch the sunset.
If you do have some money to spend and want even more ideas, check out these:
Low Cost Artist Date Ideas.
· Many museums around the world offer virtual tours online for free. Check out the Louvre’s here.
· Watch an old documentary about the life of an artist you admire. There will be many available on free platforms like Youtube. If using the like of Youtube in your Artist Date, stay intentional. Avoid falling down a Youtube rabbit hole.
· Take a free trial class on something you’ve always wanted to try. Many sites like Skillshare offer free trials. You never know what you might find.
· Listen to a new podcast.
· Listen to music without scrolling through your phone.
· Do a Youtube dance class.
· Research something completely new to you. Again, stay on topic, stay intentional.
· Check out what’s going on in your neighbourhood. Eventbrite is great for finding free events that might be local.
If you have access to the internet.
I hope you’ve found something for your next artist date that doesn’t break the bank. This is by no means an exhaustive list—in fact, you may have even had some ideas of your own as you’ve been reading. Write these down and keep a bank of ideas for when you feel stuck.