Inspiration! Where Does it Come From....?

Well, there's a question! Where do I get my inspiration from? I'm fortunate to be able to say that I don't seem to ever suffer from artist's block! However, I can say that I often feel like I've hit a wall with particular projects, when I feel that a piece I am working on isn't working out right, or just not going in the direction that I want it to. What do I do when this happens?

I take inspiration for my art from literally EVERYWHERE. Whether I am walking down the street, doing some shopping or just watching the telly, inspiration can be sought anywhere and everywhere and it's not just there to tap into at the start of a project. I seek inspiration from a variety of sources during my creative process. If like me, you are inspired by Nature and wish to show this with your art, whether it's oil painting for wall art or creating patterns for surface design or book illustration, if Nature's your thing, inspiration is everywhere. I'm always looking into people' gardens when I'm out and about to see their flowers, without being too overly nosey of course! I'm looking at what people are wearing, what paintings are hanging on walls, anywhere and when I'm watching a film or TV, I'm looking at their home décor and artwork in the backgrounds!

But if you don't do any of those things, where else can inspiration be found? Magazines, books, gallery visits, interior design are all good, as well as websites. One of the most useful tools for inspiration for me is of course Pinterest. There is a whole world of art, design, illustration and creativity out there and a lot of it is on Pinterest. It's important to remember however, that a lot of it is artwork and original content created by others and it's never cool to copy directly other people's art!

Pinterest is a really good tool to collect ideas and create digital mood boards. I also like to have a few physical pin boards for my own work, that I change at regular intervals based on the speed of how much work I am creating. I like to be able to see what I have created and any ongoing ideas that are inspirational. I use my own work as a tool and look at my past pieces regularly. This helps me to assess how my ideas are developing and there are always ideas I have worked with in the past that can be refreshed and reinterpreted.

I also use my Instagram in the same way! It's not only useful for seeing what everyone else is up to, but it's also good for scrolling through my past posts to see how my ideas are developing. Some of the artwork on the board above has been finalised and created into pattern repeats and you can see them via my Illustrations page.

When working on a piece, I always take a step back and view my work from a distance. Stepping back from my work to view it in this way throughout the process of making it, allows me to see the work on a whole, as opposed to being so close up to it. I also like to view all of my works as a photo on my phone or tablet, as it allows for a kind of distance, to be able to assess whether it is working or not. If I have concluded that it is not going well at all, I step away from it for a few days to ponder it. This is where I start to look at other approaches, what I can do with the piece, can it be changed, re-worked or just abandoned.

I think it's important to realise that it's not the end of the world if a painting doesn't work out, even if a lot of time has been spent on it. I always feel that the more we apply our energy to creating more pieces, rather than apply all of our energy into one main piece we insist upon perfecting, the more we will learn. Experimentation and exploration are the key to our art and ideas evolving.

I hope that this has been helpful to you one way or another, even if it simply gives you insight into one other artist's process. Thanks for looking!

#inspiration #art #illustration #natureinspired