Uninspired? We can fix that!

3 quick ways to get your inspiration

Oooooh, my friend. I get it. It happens to all artists, and more so at the beginning of our journey. We think we can’t make anything because we are not feeling inspired. More often than not it is actually overwhelm or fear that is stopping us in our tracks, but we think it is because we don’t know what to work on.

While I think it is a good idea to get in the weeds here and figure out what the root cause actually is, sometimes we also just want a fairly quick fix, a spark of inspiration to get us started. And to ensure that spark is always there, ready for, well, sparking, it is also good to have some ideas prepared.

We like planning around here.

Especially if it means we can keep showing up to the important and rebellious act of loving kindness, connection and reciprocity that being a curious and compassionate creative is.

The first thing I want you to remember, always, is that making art is for you. Even if you are making something to sell or give away, the actual practice of making art is for you. I don’t think I am talking to any full time professional artists here (and if I am, hi! Come tell me if this still resonates with you, or if you have systems in place to prevent lack of inspiration different to what I will talk about here!), because yes, sometimes making art is also your job, and there can be days where the showing up is a little challenging, but ultimately, if it is the practice and process that you value more than the outcome, then it becomes a little easier to get through the moments of feeling uninspired.

Choose a theme, a genre, a subject, a medium.

It is easy to think that creating with wild abandon is easier when there are no boundaries, but in truth, creativity enjoys some constraints. Having a theme, subject, and medium on hand to help you get into the process is definitely more beneficial for sparking inspiration than being overwhelmed by endless possibility.

For me, that is easy. Wildlife. To be honest there is no time for me to be uninspired because I surround myself with all the things I love most about making art, and that is wildlife. I have wildlife paintings and prints on my walls. There are innumerable books about wildlife artists all through my house. And I have folders and folders - digital and printed - of subject matter and reference photos. The sheer magic of the intricacy and wonder that is the wild world leaves me endlessly inspired. Sometimes I might think I can’t find anything to start work on, but a review of my reference folders has me fired up in seconds, and I realise the lack of inspiration may have been fatigue or perhaps lack of motivation. And let’s face it, sometimes a little nap fixes both of those.

But if you don’t already have a specific subject that will always light you up, think about having a number of buckets you like to pull from regularly, that you want to keep trying out for size, and that you can then turn to if you want inspiration. It might be wildlife, florals, landscapes, portraits, fantasy, architecture. It might be working abstractly, expressionistically, digitally. It might be working with a specific medium - dry, wet, all of the above! Get yourself a few topics and a few themes or genres and mediums that you like to use for comfort, and keep some inspiration sparks on hand.

Photos or real life

It depends on the sort of art you like to make, but can I make a suggestion and say both? Again, I will relate to wildlife art here - I have a stupid number of saved folders on reference photo sites, and that I have printed off over the years.

BUT, I also have wild birds in my backyard, and a park at the end of the street, and National Geographic videos on YouTube. Between all of this, there is a lot of inspiration just waiting for me to pick up.

Build a folder of photos on your phone when you are out and about. The sky looking particularly wild and beautiful. A flower or bush or tree that caught your attention. The light glinting off water. The stray kitty that you connected eye to eye with.

These are all great sources of inspiration for when you are struggling to find some. ORRRRRR, you could take your sketchbook out for a date - sketch what you see in front of you, even if it is not your usual topic. You will find yourself inspired in no time!

Let another artist inspire you

I say this with a caveat not to go down a rabbit hole in Instagram. It is easy, particularly if you are not feeling confident in your work yet, to be overwhelmed by comparison on apps like Instagram - they may start out inspiring, and quickly become another means to be horrble to ourselves and think we will never “do that”. Or feel like we have to do exactly what they are doing to be seen, or validated. 

I actually think you can get better inspiration from a book. 

It doesn’t have the same dopamine wrenching effect, and there are no comments and likes to try and not be sucked into. 

Get yourself some books on artists you like (a good excuse to go to your local library and second hand book store!), or print out some images of their works. Do master copies (for yourself, as a learning tool) and then see how you can replicate the process with different references or scenes or subjects. I will talk more about master copies in another post, but they truly are such a wonderful way to learn, if you do them with intention. What do I mean by that? Well, you want to figure out how they did it, how they may have held their hand, what it is they saw, how they made their marks. It is an act of analysis (and that can be an act of inspiration in itself!) where you are intentionally learning mindfully, not just setting out to copy mindlessly.

There is about eleventy-seven other things I can think of to give you inspiration, but listing them all could feel overwhelming and like a job you have to tick off. So, let’s keep it simple.

Simple helps us get through hard. 

To sum it all up: Lacking inspiration? Get prepared now so that you are not left lingering in the lost. Choose a theme or a medium that you know is comforting to come back to. Get yourself a bevy of reference photos or take your sketchbook on an outdoor adventure - even if that is just to your back door or balcony. Check out some other artists and get that spark of excitement - but do it in books rather than on social media.

Does that help? Let me know in the comments! And of course, if you are ever stuck for something to do, you can draw along with me in one of the sketch adventures up in the 7 Day Sketch Challenges tab! They’re always there for you free and fun.

And with that, I am off to pour over my latest second hand book acquisition, the works of Ray Harris-Ching, one of my favourite wildlife artists!

Go create my friend. We need your art.

And hey, if you want me to pop into your inbox each week with a NEW tutorial, under an hour long, every week for a whole year (A WHOLE YEAR!) then think about joining Drawn to Wild. Last week I shared the lessons already in there, and honestly, with me cheering you on each week you won’t be uninspired again!

Come on over and enroll