10 Tips for Finding Inspiration

Have you recently been wanting to sketch or paint but can’t think of anything worth picking up your pencil for? I have felt this similar feeling plenty of times. Finding inspiration to draw is sometimes even more difficult than doing the actual drawing. As artist we are seen as these people who are constantly creative, but being creative all the time is such hard work.  Having to come up with something that fills the blank canvas of the void inside you can be quite a challenge.

Where do you find the inspiration to start your journey of monochrome or color? How do you make your senses explode right onto your canvas and make something that not only you will love but others admire as well? Here are a few tips that you can tackle to start overflowing your creative senses with

1.       Take pictures.

We all have this mobile device that can do basically everything for us. So when you’re stepping out into the world, take pictures and tons of them. If a scene give you goosebumps or is pretty in the simplest way, take a photo. Put all of them in a folder and when you need to, browse through them. A picture is worth a thousand words and your canvas be too.

2.       Draw everyday

Practice makes perfect and that’s exactly what it’s about when it comes to art. You were born with an artistic talent to reimagine every day into something other than just the ordinary. So take your time to draw whenever you can. Simple doodles or detailed sketches can fill the blank pages of your mind and give you plenty of inspiration when paging through them. Check out my gallery to see what I love to draw.

3.       Keep a journal

Have you ever had the brightest dream with the most complimentary colors you could’ve ever thought of? Write it down and explain it in the deepest detail in a journal. Write down not only your dreams but all your goals and what you would want to achieve as an artist. Had a lightbulb of genius, pen it down so you can remember it for the time your creativity is going through a crisis.

4.       Organize your workspace

Nothing feels as great when coming home to a clean house right? Keep your workplace in order so when you start off clean and fresh on your blank canvas so you won’t feel demotivated by first cleaning up all the paint stains off of your desk and rearranging those pencils in a color code. Not having stress about the mess before the progress is a perfect way to drive your creative juices crazy.

5.       Educate yourself

Make yourself available to educate your creative mind on more of the art world. Read magazines with plenty of pictures and inspiring stories to put your mind into overdrive over all of the work you CAN make. Watch videos on DIY YouTube videos and blogs of other artists and even film makers to help you find inspiration. Keeping a Pinterest account and saving all the pins you love can be a book to browse through when much needed inspiration is wanted. Follow me on Pinterest and Facebook for more daily inspiration.

6.       Recycle

You don’t always need to make something new to make something. How about recycling one of your old ideas into something that shows progress. Seeing how artists evolve overtime through their work is something inspiring on its own. Seeing how they can create something extraordinary in a short amount of time makes other artist like me want to be just like them. Being able to track how far you’ve come through recreation of your old ideas is a perfect way to showcase how your talent has developed over time. It will even inspire you to make it different and see how your perspective of an artist has changed.

7.       Engage in other hobbies

Have you always wanted to do something other than drawing? Ok maybe not but just try something else that is also considered art? Like dancing or listening to music? The way your body moves to the rhythm is something that needs to be perfected. Just the way some songs raise your neck hairs is an art that took time to be molded into something nothing more than breathless. Doing something different might just exercise your brain enough into thinking differently and out of the box. That’s exactly what you need and want as an artist other than looking into four walls. But even that could be your blank canvas that needs some color.

8.       Meet new people

Don’t just step out of your comfort zone, stay out of it. Most don’t like meeting new people but what it can do for your creativity is unbelievable. Hearing their stories and seeing their perspective of the world can give your creativity that little nudge in the right direction. Having a fresh new look from someone else point of view is always a good idea. This can help your mind to think clearer for that next opportunity that comes by.

9.       Find your favorite

Having a favorite artist whom you follow on Instagram or Facebook will help you to have plenty of ideas for your next creation. Even a favorite medium (like coloured pencil) or style of art (like portraits, fantasy, photoshop) you enjoy to make is a great idea to keep updated with as there are so many to choose from. Don’t just find your favorite but experiment with different mediums if you haven’t found yours yet. Don’t just have a favorite have favorites. The more the merrier!

10.   Try something new.

This is such a cliche but really it helps. Like I said if you don’t have a favorite medium yet experiment to find it. You might find painting in with different shades of mud is much more fun than mixing blue and red to get purple. Ok maybe not so extreme but even taking some piano lessons or Spanish speaking classes can be benefited from. You will never know unless you try so take a chance it might just change everything you know about art and make you a better artist in the process.

Check out my website for ideas or ask me any questions art related.

Art Maven