Sometimes a really amazing, unique and conceptual idea for a project will just come to you. Other times, however, you may be left waiting for inspiration to strike or trying in vain to hear what the muse is saying (see Writing Wednesday: Which Grecian Muse is the Right One to Inspire You?). If you’re sitting firmly in the latter camp and suffering from a bad case of “artist’s block,” then maybe you needn’t look any further than what’s right in front of you.
Here are four everyday sources of inspiration that you may not have thought to turn to when looking to begin your next project.
Unusual Colours
Look around you. Do you see any unusual colours that you don’t already have on your palette or in your pencil collection? If so, try playing around and see if you are able to reproduce them. Mixing things up like this may challenge your to get out of your usual mindset and, along the way, lead to a new idea of how to use this new shade!
Photographs
Look through a photo album or coffee table book for an image that really stands out. Try to reproduce the scene, either in its entirety or simply one element that particularly speaks to you, and see where this initial spark leads.
The Urban Jungle
We all know the stereotype of the artist sitting at an outdoor cafe, wearing a beret and sketching the world around. But this has become a standard archetype for good reason – interesting shapes, colours and interactions are all around us. If you don’t have the luxury of sitting back and watching a scene unfold, try snapping some photos on your phone throughout the day so you can save a snapshot of inspiration for later (see above).
Off the Page
Art really is all around us, and sometimes the best way to celebrate that is not to reproduce it in your own medium but to get right into the field to make your mark. Check out these amazing doodles by Kristián Mensa to see the potential of this sort of “out of the box” project.
