Inspirational Ideas for the Everyday Artist

Some ideas for inspiration!

We.
Have.
All.
Been.
There.

...

Artists often hit that block- the one where you pace around your studio, looking at your table or desk, trying to figure out what the hell you're going to do next- Well, I have decided to scour the depths of the deepest caves in my brain, so that I may compile this list of things to do when you are working on art in any media.

My best advice is to write some of these down on sticky notes, and then put them into a jar. This jar becomes your "Inspiration" jar. Simply draw a sticky note from the jar, and have whatever is written there be your theme for the next work you do.


The list: 25 Ideas to jog the brain

1. A favorite nursery rhyme
2. An item which describes you
3. An animal, but not in a conventional way
4. A play on words
5. Two things you would never associate together
6. Article of clothing
7. A word, any word
8. Two words that sound the same but are spelled differently
9. A letter of the alphabet
10. A number (Arabic)
11. Something you see every day, but in a different way (color, shape, size)
12. Two things, one big and one small
13. A historic place
14. A landscape
15. A surreal landscape
16. A portrait of a person made exclusively out of objects
17. A sound
18. An abstract painting
19. An emotion
20. Any subject, but only using ONE tool
21. Any subject, but only using ONE color
22. Any subject, but using AT LEAST 2 different media
23. Any subject, but done blindly (without looking at your work as you progress)
24. Any subject, but viewed backwards (through a mirror)
25. Any image, but upside down


Alright, I guess I'll post a picture of something I've been working on in the studio.

"Sun Sail" is 18x24, Acrylic on canvas- My challenge was twofold in this work: 1. Only using 1 brush, and 2. No blending of lines. I think it may be a style I adopt...