Artistic Inspiration

Finding inspiration for artworks comes easily for some. But for most of us, it doesn’t. In fact, finding inspiration for artworks can be downright frustrating. Much like “writer’s block”, the absence of ideas or much worse-motivation, can be almost a disease that eats away at our artistic souls.

It may be a little comforting to know that all of us have felt this frustration before. The yearning to be creative is there, but the inspiration isn’t. The search for ideas just adds to the fire, making the angst to create that much stronger.

But I suggest that it’s not the absence of ideas that is the problem. Instead, it is the harnessing of ideas when they hit at those weird times, in those weird circumstances.

Inspiration for Artworks

Inspiration is a curious thing. It hits at strange times and in strange places (shower, etc.) For most of us, inspiration finds us at times when we can’t act on it. Unfortunately, our brilliant ideas float away from us, never to return, only haunting us knowing that we had a brilliant idea that was lost. Then, when it’s time to be creative, the ideas and inspiration dare not show themselves to us, instead leaving us staring at a blank canvas or sheet of paper in humiliation.

Now, mind you, I may be speaking of my own experiences here, but I’m sure others have felt the same.

So, how do we, as artists combat this phenomenon? How do we lay claim to our brilliant ideas before they leave us? How can we be prepared to create when the time comes and have our inspiration at our finger tips?

Well, the answer is really simple.

Make a List of Your Ideas

We make a list. And more importantly, we keep our list with us everywhere we go. This seems like such a simple solution to a seemingly complex conundrum, but it works.

I keep my list on my smart phone. My phone allows me to quickly vocalize my idea. So on my long commute into work, I can simply pull out my phone and tell it my idea. The idea is then stored in a list, that I can recall when I’m ready to be creative. It’s worked pretty well for me. I now don’t loose ideas (as frequently) as I did before, and I can spend more time creating and producing instead of staring at a blank sheet of paper, or thinking of ideas.

Don’t have a smart phone? Why not pick up a small sketchbook and make notes when ideas come to you? Carry it around with you so you’re prepared when inspiration hits.

Sometimes a simple solution is right under our noses.