9 Ways to Inspire Yourself as an Artist…

April 8th, 2009 by jules

Staring at a blank canvas/page/space can be terrifying.  If you have been staring for longer than you would like to, try one of these ideas for .  These ideas can be the start of your creation, part of it or the whole thing.  Use one, use many…use this rooster!

Inspiration from my Kitchen

1. Look to your last piece. In every piece that you do, there are decision points that led you in a specific direction.  Try going back to one of those points and take another direction…

2.  Analyse your body of work. Is it holistic, does it have a signature?  If there seems to be different styles or little cohesion, you may have an opportunity to tie them together in a new work or series(!) of works…

3.  Fish out an older piece in your collection that you love or hate. Try to remember what your thoughts were when you created it.  From there you could go on a similar tangent or do the complete opposite…

4.  Reproduce one of your works in a different way. Whether it be in different colours, or black & white, maybe a totally different style…

5.  Browse through personal photographs. Often inspiration comes from an event that is important to you in a positive or negative way, and if it was important, you probably took some photos.  Looking through your photographs will remind you of a time when you…and you felt…

6.  Refer to something you have written. Whether its your sketchbook, a dream journal, a daily diary, or simply your calendar, these musings can spark your imagination…

7.  Do a self portrait.  Have you ever done one?  Its original because its you, and there are so many styles to chose from, try a style  that is unfamiliar or better yet, do it in your signature style…

8. Start painting something in your current view. Sometimes you just need to get started to allow your creativity to flow-you can always paint over the vase/coffee cup/sandwich/rooster…

9. Just start painting. Lay down some pigment for a layer of your background.  Play with colour-get that perfect greenish-gray.  Use a different size brush, paint with your eyes closed, paint with your other hand…

What do you do if you need inspiration?  How do you get started?  Please share in the comments!

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6 Responses to “9 Ways to Inspire Yourself as an Artist…”

  1. smashill says:

    Can’t leave this without a comment :) I like your list, but from my point of view art comes from art itself. But I’m more of a concept artist anyways :) 33 strategies to Creative Capital.
    Have a nice day & while you are at it check out my post ;)

  2. Ant says:

    Insperation comes from life experiences. You need to expand your mind, go on a three day payotecl trip in the desert. All this bullshit described above is for pussy artist that won’t amount to shit. Get some balls, create art that has deep meaning into your life an into theires of the masses. Quit being puppets trying to follow these coocki cutter proccesses. You end up with lame shifty work. Be original. Work from the heart and stay away from these idiot writters that show you how to create shifty work, and talk you into think it is good, when it is just anther copy of a shifty piece. Wake up people and create real art that comes from you heart and is influenced by your innerspirit, not some asshe web writter.

    • Jules says:

      Thanks for your comment. These ideas above are all meant to stir up your own personal experiences. I agree that works come from the heart and soul, the lack of inspiration comes when its difficult to narrow down what you have inside of you to come out. I’m not a writer at all, I’m an Artist who has been blocked before and am simply sharing what helped me, hoping it can help others. Jules.

  3. Andrea says:

    Thanks for this post. I’ve actually been stuck in the MIDDLE of a piece for a bit now, but you gave me some new ways to think about it and now I’m moving in a new direction.

    Andrea

    • jules says:

      Perfect! That is exactly what I was hoping the post would do, good luck with your piece, I’d love it if you could share it with us when you get a chance! Jules.