Hello there!
Today I’d like to talk about inspiration and where it can come from.
As a creative, I continuously run into walls and blocks where my mind just gets stuck and won’t work, but as someone who depends on their creativity to generate an income I have no choice but to do my best to overcome them.
So I’ve made a short list, with details, of some of my methods of sparking imagination, I hope this’ll be useful not just for artists but for other creatives too.
1.Getting outside the box
We all have our comfort zones, we all know what we’re good at and what we’re not good at but it’s when we take a little jump out of these zones that we can sometimes find other things we’re good at.
I don’t necessarily mean try totally different things, I think it’s more important to experiment with different approaches to what you’re already doing, for example In an artistic context it’s good to try or mix mediums you wouldn’t usually use, subjects you’ve never studied before and colours you wouldn’t normally think of using.
A little trick I sometimes try is drawing something with my left hand, which gives a little wake up call to right side of my brain which often goes into auto pilot after a while.
2. Research the competition
It’s a well known rule of life that there’s always going to be someone better than you, doing what you want to do just that little bit better. Of course this isn’t a bad thing, it’s good to know the competition and it also can be inspiring whilst giving you a good sense of direction.
This is something I quite often do, be it buying magazines and books, keeping tabs on my favourite artists, checking blogs or even just googling ‘robot painting’ to see Eric Joyner pop up and place a firm boot to my back side.
3. Carry a sketchbook/note taking
Some of our best ideas are forgotten about, this was what my last exhibition was solely based on.
Keeping a sketchbook, pad or note taking device is essential for creatives because lets face it, do you remember every idea you had today?
Even if you are 100% sure that you’ll remember a certain idea by the time you get home or wake up the next day make sure you take note anyways. sometimes when I’m having a block I’ll look into old sketchbooks and find great ideas that I’d totally forgotten about, after a while they turn into little idea banks!
On another note I always get ideas just as I’m falling asleep so keep a pad and pencil next to my bed just incase, although most of the time I wake up to find random babbling.
4. Go for a walk
Sounds simple enough? personally most of my blocks occur in the house, getting out and getting a bit of air and space to think is sometimes all you need, that said it also pays to not whap in the headphones and listen to your head for a while instead of drowning it out.
5. Write and reflect
If like me, your work is inspired by life and its events this can be a really helpful practice. Basically it involves writing loosely about anything, your day, you’re weekend, you’re relationship with someone, (it doesn’t have to be incredibly important) and in most cases you’ll come across something you’ve forgotten about that’s worth making something of.
It can sometimes even be as simple as having a little reminisce of past events until something pops.
Well Thats all I have to offer, I hope you enjoyed my little tips and hope that one or two comes in handy one day.
If you have any of your own please let me know!
nx
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Also in the works is an exhibition at the end of the year and an epic zombie comic which should hopefully be done around then, here’s another sneaky peak!
Right that’s all for now pals!
I think its a great wee place just for asking little things you normally wouldnt, I got a lot of great arty advice from
That last one is my good mate Gary(Your High Frequency) who was actually on London Ink not too long ago getting a much cooler robot tattooed by Dan Gold! Osm!
Neil Slorance 