Inspiration Stimulation

Urgh I know how you feel. Creativity always comes in bursts for me... sometimes the burst doesn't come for months

I still think you need to be disciplined though. Set aside some time weekly to concentrate on making art. I do this for my writing and it's a gentle kick in the ass to make an effort...even if I only end up researching stuff.

I know it sounds really corny but trying new things, i.e. a new walk, watching a new tv series, or visiting somewhere you've never been, can help you to form new experiences and create new material.

Good luck.

For me, I've found certain places to get inspiration: gas stations, rest stops, the houses of people I don't know that well, dingy areas of town, including the old neighbourhood in my city where I grew up. All in all, though, the most inspiring thing for me is nostalgia. Anything with some sort of nostalgic element to it is what I tend to find inspiring.

My real suggestion would be to start slow. Go out, go places, with friends or alone, just anywhere. You could spend hours trying to force yourself to paint something, but that just gets frustrating after a while. You've got your colours to start with. Keep them in your mind. Just put your mind in "collector mode". Compile stuff, memories, music, pictures, places.

I take a while to write my stories this way. Usually I get an idea that I'll tuck away for a while...sometimes months even, before something else inspires me to add characters, a plot, background details. It sure makes the process of creating a lot more enjoyable.

Sunsets inspire me.

That picture is wonderful!

go into the forest. it's beautiful and sometimes it scares the shit out of you. all the inspiration i need.

Thanks for the input guys and gals. I guess I've been stuck in organization and cleaning mode that I've been losing sight of my ideas and plans for all the canvases i have right now.n Hopefully tomorrow I have more time to myself to be creative and alone with my thoughts.

Have you been stimulated?

I find my inspiration mostly in music and by walking alone late at night in the city I live in.

Storm's also inspire me.

I think it's just skylines and weather and other natural things that inspire me.

I'm drawing blanks. I was considering asking for writing prompts to write short stories to inspire some imagery. Also more pictures lots of pictures.

I have no idea why but this week has been stressful for me and totally cock blocking my creative inspiration.

I'll pretty much get a short burst of creativity one day and get in like 5 or more pages added to a script, then it'll slow to a crawl to where I'll only be able to get a couple lines in a day at the most. Then maybe a week later I'll get another burst and start the cycle over.

And then at some point near page 30 I'll look back on what I write, usually after having just read a real screenplay or a book/article on script writing, and say "Oh god this is shit, absolute shit" and delete it and start over.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

So I've been milling through different ideas for a series of paintings. I'm still undecided but here are some of the themes I've been considering.

-summer nights at the carnival. A friend took retro looking pictures at a carnival at night and since then I've been wanting to paint similar scenes.

-sunsets and silhouetted landscapes. This idea is something I really want to pull off one day but it also seems overdone.

-empty bottles of booze. This idea is more personal and since I would be displaying these paintings in a wine shop or bar I'm not sure it would be appropriate.

-detective/noir scenes. Do I even need to say what inspired this idea? Well TSMG is the most recent thing that has had me visually stimulated. I doubt I will paint anything directly from the book but I definitely want to use the color palette I took out from reading that book, and the whole back alley, smoking a cigarette, drinking a whiskey, romance of noir with a pop of color here and there. This is my most recent idea and probably the one that would be most fun that I know others would enjoy also.

Any suggestions on your favorite noir scenes would be a great help to sketch down ideas for this collection.

I think you should combine your first and last choices: a noire clown detective (make-up, big red hair/nose, trench coat and fedora, cigarette, .45) scowling the back alleyways of the carnival(in the shadow of the ferris wheel, between the ring toss and the fortune teller...) on some sort of caper/sleuth. Maybe someone killed the Geek...

All of those sound really cool, especially the carnival one. Clint's idea of combining them would work with the whole lot, really. Noire clown detective at the abandoned summer carnival in the early hours of the morning, surrounded by broken bottles.

Just kidding. I'm glad you're doing those though. You'll have to show us when you're finished how they turned out.

Well those are mere ideas right now... who knows what I'll actually end up putting on canvas though.

Thanks for the suggestion Clint haha I don't know how I feel about clowns though. I never even thought to associate clowns with the carnival. I was thinking more the lights and rides from the carnivals.

Oh Jes haha

Sometimes it's pictures of diseases, sometimes it's lists of bizarre things found on Cracked or Bizarro Central, sometimes it's bowling...

One time I watched a piece of uncooked beef roast rot in the sunlight, taking a picture each day. Maybe watching a process and taking pictures would help?

inspiration: there seems to be two types of people who write in coffee shops: those who want to be seen writing and those who want to feel completely alone and strangely enough find solace in the company of strangers.

when im at home, alone, and everything is quiet, there are just too many voices in the house. turning my head slightly left screams "Get that door frame repainted!" "i need to mow that lawn, it's gonna rain tomorrow." my stupid brain thinks about laundry, finishing the base trim in the kitchen, sand tha floora !!

but if im at a busy place, something i dont care about, the sounds of the voices i dont know kinda just drones out the voices in my head and i can focus better. coffee shops can do that, because i could care just about as much about the base trim there as if it caught fire: nay. libraries are too quiet. bars, you feel a constant obligation to keep up with a tab, and i tend to drink more alcohol there than a place that slings coffee bean. i do like going to a cafeteria, but it seems people use that as a social outlet. yuck, but people are generally nice. it's easy to assume that if someone is eating, they might likely be chatty.

so: find a busy place where you can sit and collect your thoughts, maybe hammer out a few ideas, meted constructive remarks with pen and paper that you may be able to utilize on a project down the road.

thanks jakomos I used to love going to the coffee shop to just sit and draw in between classes. Since I'm not in school anymore I haven't really had that opportunity. Maybe I'll check out the starbucks here by the house next week to see if I can't get a spark of inspiration.

I started working on some paintings last night they're still a work in progress

I especially love that first one! Your use of color is always great.

Thanks imke

Okay so I just finished another painting. You guys have to keep this one a secret though because I'm trying to make it a surprise. I painted this for Frank

I promised him a collage ohh soo long ago so I made him a painting instead. I hope he likes it.

That is so awesome, he's gonna fall to the floor crying.

That is.

I hope he doesn't lurk here. I'd hate for you to ruin your own surprise.

I'm sure he'll love it, well done!

I really really like the moon.

And I love Frank but I hope he cries. With joy. This should now be your goal.

It's very good. How big is it ?

And it's 11x14 inches Ludwig

I started a drawing for a former cultie I just have to add some details.

Been working on some new paintings
This one is still in progress.

This one is completed and I'm pretty happy with it.

I know I'm kind of stuck in this dripping layer phase but once I'm finished with these last few canvases I'm moving onto trying to paint on wood. I'm a little nervous about painting on the wood. I don't want to fuck up.

I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it.

Those are super gorgeous Jazzy.

Thanks you two

Lovely Jaz, it almost looks like marbling.

I guess they're ok.

Success.

I also meant to say "sneaky cult"! You knew and didn't tell me. Hehe.

The one on the top looks like a dragon.

They're both really good!

Jaz your pieces are Beautiful. I love your colors!! The Frank piece is Great and the dripping layers thing is wonderful!!

Thank you Winnie