What are your principal sources of inspiration, how do you do new things ?

~marie-paul Aug 30, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Hello everybody ! I am back with a new question for you guys !

For those of you out there who don't really do fan art or draw with heavy references, I would like to ask you where your inspiration comes from. What kind of process do you go through before doing a complete picture ?

I might do a compilation of your answers to write a journal later on, so don't be shy ! Tell me all about it~

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Devious Comments

~Villekat Sep 2, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

My inspiration comes from everywhere and any idea I ever have I write in my "idea journal" that way i never lose a good idea. My inspiration comes from my dreams a lot. One time i went to the park with a friend and we just goofed off and and that gave me inspiration. And I usually use refrences, mainly for people, or for movement.

*opiumtraum Aug 31, 2012

The big ritual I go through before making a "complete" picture (I usually call it finished) is I clean up my drawing space & pull my references together (sketches, copies, whatever I feel I need). Then I procrastinate until I am so uncomfortable not doing the artwork that I leap in, just to stay sane.

Inspiration usually comes from other art (sort acts like a trigger like whack-a-mole- I see the thing in front of me, an idea pops up kind of laterally). Music is a big inspiration- moody stuff for inspiration, stuff that rocks for energy. But, inspiration can pop up from anywhere, so I try to just be open & not dismiss something as irrelevant (I noticed a cloud formation over tree tops the other day...might be useful for one of my ideas...I really liked the composition...)
Doing mundane stuff while not directly inspiring is kind of like an everyman's way of meditating. Washing dishes, having a shower, shaving, swimming...you do it everyday (well, maybe not the swimming bit) so while it occupies a part of your mind, another part of your mind is free to work & possibly deliver.

~Narrenzauber Aug 31, 2012

I get my inspiration from everywhere: comics, books, mythology, music, films, computer games, paintings, drawings, history, life in general. But sometimes ideas seem to come out of the blue.

What do I do before being able to make a complete picture? Well, I am sketching. Sometimes I don't need the sketch phase for a particular illustration, but there is always something I have to figure out before, like let's say a character design. For more complicated illustrations I started to make thumbnails. For my current illustration I am working on, I made quite some different thumbnails. Small and fast paintings of what I want to draw and adding possible colours. I made three of them. I could see how the idea developed and I got a general idea. After the sketching and planing phase I jumped into the painting itself. Here and there I had to change some details, because it didn't worked as planned. I am still working on it and I am also using references. I am not sure if you mistakíng referencing for mere copying. It's not. You only are able to look for good references, when you know what you want to draw or paint before hand. The idea always comes first. Then you can look for references to get the best out of your idea, because no one is able to know every singe detail of something and there aren't many people, who makes so many studies, that you have everything in your head.

~marie-paul Aug 31, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

A lot of inspiration sources ! ^^

Don't worry I'm not mistaking referencing and mere copying.

Thank you for your input

I like the general thumbnail work ! How big do you usually make your thumbnails ?

~Narrenzauber Aug 31, 2012

Not big. On paper they are just some centimeter. On the PC A6, but it zoom out, so it's getting smaller. I am just to lazy to tipe the pixels. So I just click a bit around, that's why I use A6.

I am reliefed that you don't mistaking referencing for copying. A lot of people do.

=KrisseyMage Aug 31, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

Music and mythology are my two biggest muses; I love creating fantasy stories, and music helps my creativity flow.

~marie-paul Aug 31, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Music ! XD
It tends to break my concentration because I sing along...

=KrisseyMage Sep 1, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

Ah I see

I tend to listen to a lot of instrumental music to avoid that

otherwise I do it too!

~marie-paul Sep 1, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

I sing along instrumentals too xD

=KrisseyMage Sep 1, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

haha nice!

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