As an artist, do you ever feel like you ran out of sources of inspiration? Do you ever feel like you’ll never find your muse again, like the castle where the princess hides is miles away?
Welt, that’s harsh… Here are some tips to help you find the North. The castle’s right around the corner, young knight!
Trusty paths:
The first source of inspiration and references of every artist is always good old Pinterest. You can never go wrong with it. Especially if you use it enough, the app will know about your taste and recommend you something worth at least a sketch. For me, it’s really useful to find models for my portraits. My trusted keywords are “photography” and “reference”. Sometimes even “makeup”! You’d be surpirsed at how well makeup artist pose and take pictures. Even if you don’t do realism or semi realism, you can also find references of other work like anime-style or cartoon. Howeve, let’s be honest, one can really lose oneself in search for the perfect picture, and the app is slowly getting floded with tiktok images which quality isn’t the best.
looking at the sky while camping
On your way to the princess, you’ll probably take some breaks in which you’ll do other stuff. Lately, I found myself watching lots of movies, which have been great for inspiration. Events like the UEFA 2024 where some football players were especially famous or even events with friends have also been great.
Recently, while watching the movie “Five Feet Apart”, I decided that drawing Cole Sprouse might be a fun little experience. And I was right! I think the fact that I hadn’t spent much time looking for inspo and just drew is the reason this portrait is so great!
In the end, it always comes down to your other hobbies and what you pay attention to. In fact, you can find inspiration in anything, look at my fruit series. If a lemon, gave me inspiration, anything can.
Just ask passersby
Lastly, remember that there are also great artists amongst the community that post their art for you to see, so use it! I follow a lot of artists on instagram whose art inpires me. Sometimes, you might even like the style so much that you’d wnat to try it out. There is nothing wrong in studying the art of your fellow artists. You might even learn something new about your own practice!
Don’t forget either that the community always creates some challenges like Inktoper or DTIYs for you to get inspired, push your limits and participate. It’s a great way to practice, learn new things for your art and connect with the rest of the community. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with other artists, we’re here to help each other out! 🙂
