How do you fuel your creativity?

[madis_art]

This is a question for all artists about where everyone finds their inspiration and creativity! I derive inspiration from other great artwork or comics, and I keep a file of great pieces to inspire myself to draw more. Sometimes hearing about other's forms of inspiration can even inspire me, haha.

My comic was inspired by my overwhelming love for plants and flowers, and was sparked by a summer trip to a small town covered in flowers and flower shops.

Where do you guys get your inspiration or motivation from?

[shazzbaa]

To be honest, I don't usually get inspired to make original work by other pieces of art that are good!

Not directly, anyway. But if something is like.... CLOSE to being good, or falls frustratingly short of being what I wanted, or was fun but didn't explore the part of the story that's interesting to me, that's what makes me want to start creating myself. A well-told story won't usually inspire me, but a great idea that no one is telling well is incredibly motivating. I want to figure out why it didn't work, and how to make it work!!

I also find people inspiring, in general. The ways that people interact with, learn from, misuse, grow with, manipulate, or connect with each other, and the ways that people fail to understand themselves, are extremely interesting to me; it's something that feels worth trying to understand and capture.

[Michelle]

Like @shazzbaa, a lot of my inspiration comes from my interactions with and stories about real people! I find a lot of inspiration in examining what makes people tick and how they respond to the world around them.

Media-wise, I get a lot of inspiration from movies and video games. I'm inspired by comics, too, but more often with comics I find inspiration in surface-level stuff-- drawing style, layouts, etc. I get writing inspiration too, but in general I think it's good to look for inspiration outside of your medium.

And a lot of inspiration can be found by just... going out and living new experiences, like what you mention about visiting a town covered in flowers/flower shops. :> Inspiration often comes when you're not looking for it!

[Birdwrong]

I find a lot of inspiration in unexpected life events! I think since my first big project that spanned 3 - 4 years was a diary comic, this has made it so that it's instinctual now for me to draw inspiration from my own life.

When I finished writing the original run of Birdwrong, I found that I suddenly lacked a creative outlet for FEELINGS. So when I began writing a whimsical fantasy adventure - intended to be entirely fictional - I soon realised just how difficult it is to separate the "self" from this kind of thing. Every main character and every significant event is an abstracted expression of something significant in my own life. It's a pretty interesting process to look back upon, as it's more a case of this imagined world shifting and growing in response to my own, rather than myself actively trying to create.

In the end, 90% of my creative drive really does just come from life experience! The other 10% is probably just surrounding myself with works I admire, especially when it comes to watercolour painting. When certain works (the watercolours of Miyazaki, for example) conjure up certain emotions in me - I get excited about exploring ways of creating similar emotions myself.

[Heck]

Good music, decent coffee, and a few cigarette breaks usually do it for me. For some reason I get most "new" ideas when doing things that have nothing to do with creativity, but I know I'm not the only one this happens to, so if I'm in a pinch and need some inspiration, I go do some fun math games or walk the dog or something until it comes to me.

[punkarsenic]

I'm always inspired by other works of art - be that books, comics, films, music... plot wise, music especially. ive had great story ideas spring from a good song, and then turn to music a lot of the time when filling out details. constantly discovering new music with new narratives is a big fuel to my creativity.

TWAW was influenced by a lot of Radical Face's music, however, that's not where the idea came from. My biggest inspiration there is obviously Gaelic mythology, but I'm also inspired largely by the Song of Achilles and the the Dark Wife, as well as the comics Goliath and WicDiv. its also inspired by the island of Iona in Scotland, where my family go often in the summer.

[Vanesalisa]

watch crime scene channels and walk through mysteries , also Harry Potter things and drinking tea and listen to music

[madis_art]

That's really interesting, i've never heard of anyone finding inspiration through that type of artwork before!

[madis_art]

I agree, finding inspiration from various places can really benefit your artistic growth c: Hearing about artists being inspired by the people around them is really nice because I find motivation from the same thing!

[madis_art]

@Birdwrong that's really cool that you have worked in real life experiences into your stories! It's funny how content we make can be such a great mix of other things in our lives.

@Heck coffee and music definitely fuel a lot of motivation for me too haha

@punkarsenic it's really neat how you find inspiration from mythology c: sometimes I have some painting ideas come from song lyrics as well and I usually end up incorporating it into the piece lol

@Vanesalisa I love Harry Potter!

[Blobsyoowhan]

Various things get me inspired. Daily life (although usually not my own because I'm boring like that), media in different forms, comments, conversations, shower thoughts... Most times I'm not even aware where my inspiration comes from. They're just one random thought followed by another. I guess that's why my own comic is quite random like that too.

And I'm glad to have a little notebook with me where I can write down those random ideas for later use. That way it's also harder for me to run out of creativity fuel I think?

[R.n.P]

All I do is read tons of shonen manga and listen to rock music when brainstorming ideas then try to form new characters or use inspirations to make a much better more unique version
THE LAST SAMURAI

[timinabox]

it's just... there.. I guess?
good part of my comics are really put together out of recycled songs tho

[beefgnawpolis]

Comfy chair + beverage (sometimes caffeinated or adult, usually water with flavor stuff) + something that smells good in the oil diffuser + instrumental music or a scene-appropriate myNoise generator.

[Shanny8]

I get inspiration from people, certain concepts/articles that I may stumble across and like, other art, and movies/TV.

[angelojose0930]

Take a good look around, a nice walk, looking out of the window. even looking at a person you care about could to the trick, another way, cartoons, memes, and movies

[dojo]

The majority of my inspiration are just shower thoughts and dreams I happened to write down. Also when my mind wanders when I'm driving or sitting in quiet with a lot of time to just think. Secondary inspiration is typically frustrations I have about life or something I didn't care for in another piece of work I enjoyed. Then thirdly I do get some inspiration about things I actually enjoy but it's far less frequent and I usually have to be going into it with intent of being inspired. If I get inspired without intent from a thing I enjoy it's usually because I had a dream about it.

[niinasalmelin]

I get mostly inspired either of my own works, the eagerness to improve and amazing art by other people.

[HalloStar]

Almost every character or story I have that are yet to turn into comics and my actual comic are inspired by my dreams. I dream a lot of good plots actually xD
But the dreams only give me a plot, the development are inspired by many things. Real life situations, songs, other stories from various medias, artworks, conversations with friends... There are many things, but I think the most conscious for me are the songs, I listen to them, think about their story and try to connect with a character or situation. It works for stories and for artworks in general.

[thomasfallaeriksen]

One thing is to look at other artists that I think are insanely good. Another thing is to also be interested in other things. All my other interests influence the drawings in one way or another. Music also helps very much. Both listening to it, going to concerts, playing it myself and try to make my own.
I also like to listen to various things when I draw. Like documentaries and people talking about things I find interesting.