Art Inspiration - Unlock your own Inspiration

Inspiration pools

People always ask, what inspires you as an Artist? My answer, is always, as an Artist, everything inspires me.

Creative souls view the world in a very different way. For us, everything is a stimuli; the scent of a flower, the particular blue of an evening sky, even the touch of a leaf of an unusual plant. Every sensory experience resonates as a form of inspiration for a new piece of Art.

My Inspiration is deeply rooted in sensation; in a specific mental reaction to a particular input. This could be one of joy, comfort, sadness, anger; really anything.

Your inspiration pool should be a safe haven for raw emotive response to a wide range of inputs. It should be perceptive to you, highly subjective to your ideas about the world and above all, completely honest to yourself.

Inspiration pools are meant to be yours and yours alone.

Think about a recent moment or input you’ve encountered that seemed to linger with you. What did you feel when you first discovered it?

Hold onto that answer; this is how inspiration is born.

Photography in mind

Many Artists use other forms of creative expression to house their inspiration. Artists will create “vignettes” of their experience. These evocative recounts can then be revisited for future projects.

Vignettes can take the form of photography, essay writing, sketch drawings or even abstracted material markings. I enjoy using photography as my main method of Vignette making.

Macro photography and landscapes are some of my favorites. I love photographing the sky, large trees, awkwardly shaped flora and emerging plant life.

These vignettes describe tranquility, growth, life and reality in a very unbridled way.

Pro Tip:

I use Photography as a method of capturing a sliver of a moment in time. In that instant, the way I felt when I took that photo is preserved.

I can recall the memory of when I took it, what I was doing just as I came upon that moment and why I thought it was worth capturing.

If you want to see more of my photo diaries, you can visit the SRA Instagram.

From raw to useful

You must be thinking, Saabira’s artwork looks nothing like those images. Well, to be honest, my inspiration rarely takes the same form as my Artwork.

I use photographs to inspire my colour palettes, line design and sometimes even narrative composition. This is how inspiration should be used. Inspiration should not be replicated.

Try using your emotive response as a spring board for your Art, rather than the reason for your Art.

I use landscapes to inspire my colour palettes and other imagery for cultivating nostalgia. I translate how I felt when I took my photo into what I want my viewer to feel when they see my work.

Pro Tip:

I choose colours that are not common to figure paintings. For me, unconventional colours remove one’s preconceptions about the subject matter.

It allows the viewer to focus of shape and line first, enjoying the turns of the body, before deciding what the subject is trying to say.

I want my bodies to feel surreal, with emotion or expression enveloping them, showing you only what they want you to see.

Method to expression

As Artists, there are certain questions we ask ourselves, time and time again. What do I want to say with my Art? and How am I going to say it?

What we say is answered by our inspiration pools and How we choose to create our Art is answered by our knowledge of different materials and surfaces.

Pro Tip:

Depending on my preliminary sketches, I can tell what sort of surface or material my end product will be created on.

Once I clarify the placement of all elements in the Artwork, I can then choose how best to represent my work.

Don’t limit yourself to just a drawing with graphite or a painting on canvas. Think about what your material choice says to your viewer.

If I want to showcase my intricate brushwork and colour skills, I may choose to work on wood with oil paint.

If my design skills and line work is what I choose to showcase, then digital drawing may be the option.

Overall, I want the materials and surface I choose to reveal even more details about my subject to the viewer.

Voice of the Artist

Inspiration is unique to every person. Your Inspiration comes from any input that forces you to think twice and ponder why something resonated with you.

The next time you are perusing your stash of Artsy images, think about a commonality that resonates with most of the images.

This is a great place to start your Inspiration pool. Maybe there is a certain colour or a particular subject matter or theme that recurs.

No matter where you are along your Artistic Journey, your inspiration pool should always be filled. Without it, your artistic voice will soften.

Your Art should always reflect a part of yourself on the canvas. Art is about sharing our expression with someone else.

If you are feeling lost for expression and want to inspire yourself, check out my other blog post The Mystery of the Colour Palette.

Thank you again for showing up today and sharing in my joy of all things Art. If you enjoyed this post, you can now sign up to our mailing list to be notified of any upcoming posts.

I write blog posts all about Art and how you can learn directly from a working Artist.

As Always, Good luck and Happy Painting!