Where I Find Inspiration

A few of you requested this article on Instagram, and it just happens to be one of my favorite topics!

A lack of inspiration is what holds most artists back from creating. We all know the feeling of staring at a blank piece of paper and having ZERO ideas. I know it’s why I usually walk away from my paints and move onto something else.

I’m proud to say at this point I’ve been illustrating for a solid six years. I paint most days, and I usually don’t have trouble finding inspiration anymore. I like to think of it as a muscle I’ve developed over time. By now, I’ve figured out what works for me and I know where to go when I need ideas.

My advice for any artist struggling with this is to give yourself time to actually find inspiration, instead of rushing towards the finish line of a final piece. This is an essential part of the process. It’s about giving yourself space to let your mind wander. Pour yourself a glass of wine and look through some old books for a few hours. Waste a morning on Pinterest. In our culture of constant motion, it’s hard to be idle, but this is the only way you’re going to find ideas. To me, time spent finding inspiration is just as important as time spent painting. They are just different phases of the process.

I like to think of inspiration as a water well. You need to fill up your well, in order to get beautiful work out. You fill up your well by allowing your mind to wander - and to absorb the beauty around you.

This is why I never see a vacation as wasted time. While I don’t always paint on vacation, I spend the entire time wandering and gathering ideas for when I get home. For more on how I find ideas while traveling, you can check out this post.

Now let’s get to how I find my inspiration. My favorite place to pull inspiration is from the past - whether it be vintage photography, art, objects, fashion, or home decor. This always works for me without fail. I do this for two reasons.

The first is that it ensures my work is timeless. If I’m pulling inspiration from the past, it’s things I still find beautiful today. Therefore, I can be sure that my final work isn’t too trendy or modern, but something that will be beautiful for generations to come. This is important to me as an artist, because it’s why I create my work in the first place.

The second reason I like pulling inspiration from the past is that the archive is endless. We have so many years to pull from, versus seeking inspiration from the present day - a relatively short timeline. This ensures my ideas are fresh, and that my art doesn’t look too much like someone else’s. What are the chances that someone else is looking at the same vintage objects that I am? There are just so many out there!

My second favorite place to pull inspiration is from nature. That’s because nature is always beautiful, and completely unique to the person seeing it. Nature is timeless, and you can never go wrong by painting what you see around you.

Now that we’ve talked about my two favorite sources of inspiration, I’ve listed my favorite ways to tap into these sources below:

• Pinterest: I have so many vintage boards on Pinterest. I love browsing on there if I’m bored, and looking for ideas. I’m usually searching for vintage photography, illustrations, patterns, and home decor.

• Art Museums: I never leave an art museum feeling uninspired. I don’t typically go to modern art museums as much as the traditional art museums, for the same reasons I listed above. If I’m able to, I’ll take a picture on my iPhone of my favorite pieces. If not, jot down the name of the piece and google it.

• Antiquing: This is one of my favorite hobbies because not only am I finding really cool stuff for my house, but I’m also finding art inspiration. I’m always keeping an eye out for cool details, patterns, and textures. Also amazing colors. Again, I’ll take a picture if I see something cool that I don’t necessarily want to buy.

• Music: Listening to vintage music really inspires me. I love artists like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, and Ray Charles. I listen to their stations on Pandora, and it helps me identify the feelings I want to capture with my work.

• Books: I love looking at vintage children’s books and old illustrated text books. I also love books with vintage architecture and scenery. I love the Smithsonian Books as a reference on how to paint anything (even though they aren’t vintage). I have this one, which has almost every rock, plant and animal on earth in it. If I find a very inspiring book, I’ll add it to my studio collection to reference any time I want.

• Buildings: I’m always looking up when I’m in cities, because I find old architecture so inspiring - inside and out. I love doing tours of old houses when we travel, because I leave with so many ideas. I’m always looking at ornate details, flooring, lighting, and wall coverings. If I see something cool, I’ll take a picture.

• Walks: I love going on long walks, especially while traveling. I’m a big observer, always taking in my surroundings. Again, I usually bring my phone with me (always on airplane mode, so I can walk in peace) in case I want a picture. I also love walking through zoos and aquariums to see more exotic plants and animals.

As you may have gathered above, a big part of the inspiration process is documentation. If you don’t take a picture or save it to a file, it’s completely worthless to you. You will definitely forget about it. Every time I see something beautiful, I think of it as a little gem I need to take into my care and bring home to my collection. Thanks to our smartphones, saving inspiration has never been easier. Don’t be afraid to take out your iPhone camera and snap a picture of something you love. And I definitely recommend saving it to a folder on your desktop when you get home.

Here are examples of photos I’ve taken while traveling:

Vintage Buoys in Portland, Maine

A Claude Monet Painting at The Met in NYC

A Sea Anemone at the Seattle Aquarium

All of the sources I listed above are enough to keep my inspiration well full most of the time. Maybe once a year, I’ll get in a bad rut where I don’t feel like making anything for a few weeks. This is usually when it’s time to take a step back from my work and take a trip. It’s when my well is completely dry, and needs a huge influx of water. Because vacations get me out of my routine, they seem be the fastest way to get out of a rut.

For more on this topic, you can check out these other articles I’ve written on finding inspiration:

Gathering Inspiration While Traveling

How to Pull Inspiration from Fellow Artists (The Right Way)

My “Aha” Moment for Finding Fresh Art Print Ideas

How to Find Things to Paint

Getting Out of a Creative Rut