45 Artist Date Ideas for Fall
Seasons can be the perfect muse for your creativity, ever cycling through new ideas and sights and smells and adventures that are somehow both excitingly fresh and achingly nostalgic.
Autumn might just be my favorite season for hunkering down and getting creative. After a summer of long, busy days filled to the brim with places to be and people to see and lakes to dive in and trips to remember, nothing could be more soothing to the soul than a rainy day and a perfect excuse to stay in and just let yourself give into your creative whims and fancies at last.
I’ve also found that it’s a great season to return to one of my absolute favorite books for boosting creativity: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Now, if you’re here, you’re probably familiar with the Artist’s Way and thus the concept of an artist date. But for those of you who aren’t, a brief overview:
The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore
something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly
“artistic” — think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the
imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play. Since art is about the
play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well
of images and inspiration. When choosing an Artist Date, it is good to ask
yourself, “what sounds fun?” — and then allow yourself to try it.
The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
So brew your steaming cup of tea, put on your chillest of chill playlists, and let’s dream up some perfect autumn artist dates to add to your schedule.
45 Artist Date Ideas for Fall
1. Find the dreamiest neighborhood street near you, filled with trees in burning colors. Brew a cup of coffee or tea, put on a cozy sweater and a podcast and go for a stroll just to enjoy the scenery. I find that this helps me appreciate the place I’m living in now - even if it’s not the dream location I would imagine, there is still so much beauty to be admired.
2. Grab your camera or phone and head out to take pictures. Walk or drive through your town and don’t be afraid to stop and pull over wherever you see something that catches your eye. There is no destination here - just go exploring.
3. On a crisp, dry day, grab a book, a blanket, and perhaps stop for a treat at your favorite bakery. Head to a pretty park and find a bench to sit and read and enjoy your treat.
4. Head to the beach, a lake, or a river, and explore the shore, collecting stones, twigs, and flowers as you go.
5. Hang up fairy lights in your living room or favorite reading nook, and read by them at dusk.
6. Put on an audiobook and bake cookies.
7. Do your best fall makeup and have a fall themed photo session. You can post them, or not. Just have fun and let yourself lean into the creativity of it. I love the neutral palette from Zerra & Co. for the perfect orange, shimmery tones.
8. Have a movie date with yourself on a rainy day. Make a collection of your favorite snacks, light a few candles, get cozied up and watch your favorite fall movies.
9. Go on a hike, big or small. Check the weather beforehand and head out on a crisp, fall day. Make sure to bring layers and check what time the sun will set!
10. Go for a lunch date with yourself and get a hot soup or warm sandwich to warm you up. You can bring a book if you feel awkward dining alone.
Bring a book, a treat from your favorite bakery, and a blanket to a beautiful park and cozy up on a crisp fall day.
11. Spend an afternoon making a fall themed pinterest board, full of recipes, crafts, aesthetic images, and outfit ideas for this season.
12. Go on a thrifting mission to find cozy, whimsical sweaters that give you all the fall feelings.
13. Go outside and collect leaves, twigs, berries, and flowers to do a craft with or to use as props for pictures.
14. Collect leaves and flowers and press them to use for crafts later.
15. Collect rocks to paint on. You can give them with gifts, put them in the garden, or leave them around town for others to find and collect.
16. Put on your best frolicking outfit and go to an apple orchard. Explore, take pictures, pick apples, or buy hot apple cider to walk around with.
17. Walk around a pumpkin patch or corn maze. I know this is usually a family outing, but it can be so relaxing to just walk around like you would a park, observe, and take in all the autumn vibes.
18. On a rainy day, put on a favorite album or maybe a new album you haven’t heard before and go for a drive to nowhere.
19. Go through a local shop that you love. Find one that inspires you and let yourself just browse with nowhere to be and nothing to buy.
20. Have a cozy bonfire all to yourself and read a book or listen to an audiobook in the firelight.
21. If you have a fireplace in your house, light a fire and paint or draw in the firelight.
22. Sit by the window on a cloudy day and read poetry with a hot drink and classical music playing gently in the background.
23. Give yourself a few hours to browse a local bookstore. Don’t be afraid to sit in the aisles or in a little corner and leaf through the books.
24. Pick up a few miniature pumpkins and paint on them. You can paint flowers, vines, little ghosts, quotes - whatever your heart desires!
25. Have a day or two of redecorating for fall. Bring out your seasonal decorations, or head to a thrift store to pick up fun trinkets, quilts, fall themed mugs, or whatever catches your fancy.
26. Head to your favorite coffee shop and treat yourself to a fancy drink and a pastry.
27. Cozy up in bed, light some candles or incense, turn on ambient lighting (I love fairy lights or salt lamps) and watch a favorite show. I love watching Gilmore Girls in the fall.
28. Let your inner child play and build a blanket fort in the living room with twinkle lights and cozy blankets and pillows, and watch your movie or read a book in it.
29. Go for a day trip to a dreamy small town near you, and let yourself peruse the little boutiques, take pictures, get a coffee, and stroll through local parks.
30. Make an autumn themed wreath for your front door.
Have a day or two of redecorating for fall. Bring out your seasonal decorations, or head to a thrift store to pick up fun trinkets, quilts, fall themed mugs, or whatever catches your fancy.
31. Take a candlelit bubble bath to warm you up. Bonus points for a fall themed bath bomb!
32. Spend an afternoon indulging in autumn and dark academia themed youtube videos.
33. Pick up a bullet journal and do a fall themed spread, with quotes, recipe snippets, doodles, magazine cutouts, pressed leaves and flowers, and/or polaroid photos.
34. Find a beautiful spot where you can see the bright oranges and reds of the trees, whether that be beside your window, at a park, or in your backyard. Bring a journal and write about whatever comes to mind. It could be poem, a short story, or a list of things you love about fall, for example.
35. Create a bucket list for autumn and cross one thing off your list today.
36. Alter a favorite recipe to include pumpkin somehow. This can be a fun challenge!
37. Take part in a fall themed instagram or tik tok challenge/trend and see how you can make it your own.
38. Reset your phone, laptop, and computer screen to fall themed photos. I usually find mine on pinterest. You could also personalize your apps and widgets to fall colors!
39. Go to the craft store without a plan and see what fall themed craft you can come up with. Go home, pop on a movie, and do your crafts.
40. Make your own Halloween costume this year.
41. Walk through a neighborhood with beautiful buildings, and snap pictures of the architecture and lovely homes.
42. Go out early on a foggy morning and take photos.
43. Have a picnic on a sunny autumn day.
44. Grab an umbrella or your raincoat and boots on a rainy day and go for a walk.
45. Go to the library and head to the nonfiction section. Spend some time researching a topic that catches your attention.
Which fall artist date ideas are you most excited to try?
You might also want to check out:
36 Artist Date Ideas You Can Have In Quarantine
6 Creativity Podcasts to Listen to When You're In a Slump
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