How to gain inspiration?

[DarklordKyo]

People say that inspiration can help motivate you to get better at stuff. I've dabbled in sketching for a little while now, but a combination between my crappy "art", seeing examples of actually good peoples' art, and the fact that I've spent the last twenty plus years doing no better than stick figures has been lowering my motivation to try (not helping is that dood that drew an entire skyline after a single glance).

Since this can also help me with the actually important stuff, like getting through college classes, finding a job, and exercising, can anyone give me any advice on gaining proper inspiration in the things I do?

P.S. No D&D jokes, I don't think inspiration is legal in Adventurer's League.

 

[Saelune]

Take a shower. Works for me. Sadly, it usually dies out by the time I get dry. Plus somethings that work for some, work against others. I just watched Bob Ross's son paint an amazing landscape in 20 minutes (at 2x speed, so 10 minutes) and part of me was inspired, that if I had a paint set ready, I'd probably try it out, but also intimidated cause of how easy even his son makes amazing art look, that I bet its probably not.

 

[twistedmic]

I'd imagine that it's different for just about everyone.
I've gotten ideas for fantasy-based stories while stocking freight at work, while watching TV and while walking up to a movie theater.
Though I will say that inspiration tends to strike when I'm not trying to be inspired and my mind is wandering a bit. If you are actively trying to find inspiration you will most likely get yourself to stressed to be inspired.

 

[DarklordKyo]

I'd imagine that it's different for just about everyone.
I've gotten ideas for fantasy-based stories while stocking freight at work, while watching TV and while walking up to a movie theater.
Though I will say that inspiration tends to strike when I'm not trying to be inspired and my mind is wandering a bit. If you are actively trying to find inspiration you will most likely get yourself to stressed to be inspired.

I guess that makes sense, it tends to be harder to find something you actively search for (it tends to be easier for actively-sought things to become hidden in plain sight). Then again, I spent a few days away from my sketchpad, yet nothing gripped me with anything I'd consider inspirationy.

 

[Kolby Jack]

Chuck Jones, greatest animator of all time, said to always be reading. I'd probably upgrade that to always be consuming. Consume media of all kinds, not on a shallow level, but deeply. Think about what you're watching/reading/hearing. Extrapolate ideas from the ideas around you. You'll never create something wholly original, but you can certainly create something wholly creative. Take Jones' most famous work, "What's Opera, Doc?" That cartoon could only come from someone who had some understanding of opera.

Outside of art, though, I got nothing. Self-motivation is my Achilles' heel.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

There are various techniques that are more effective than others depending on who you are and how you implement them. Inspiration kinda comes out of nowhere, usually when the mind is taking in new, fresh information in a multitude of ways.
I heard of an old trick that poets used to leave meat till it was just slightly turning, before they cooked and ate it, which would often give them more bizarre dreams. But am hesitant to advise that, along with other ideas that may or may not be legal to try, depending on your country's current legal system.

In no particular order, off the top of my head;

Reading. Anything. Well, other than gossip magazines unless you dabble in celebrity satire I guess.

Walk outside, anywhere. Nature helps.

Cleaning, showering, menial tasks.

Travel.

Talk to strangers about anything

Listening to music you'd never listened to before.

Cooking.

Dancing.

Find a muse. But no stalking please. Or intense bothering them.

Mingle with animals. Not necessarily dangerous ones, but I can't stop you.

Browse through other works of any medium, doesn't matter what, where, who or how, as long as it's new to you.

Doing anything outside your comfort zone. Push boundaries and your mind can do weird things along the way.

I find inspiration is entirely accidental. Like the brain momentarily doesn't work as an effective logic machine and instead decides to entwine mistakes together, then commit to it for funsies instead of throwing it away as useless. Am thinking if people want to find a way of inviting creativity within an AI, they would need to not only embrace quantum computing, but also allow them margins of error for imperfections in the connection of different data/thoughts.

 

[sageoftruth]

There's a book I've read called "Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction". It has a whole section on how to foster creativity and inspiration.

 

[Frezzato]

I doubt there's any helpful hints when it comes to inspiration. I knew a woman at an old job who quit smoking after several decades. Her inspiration was she went to her doctor about a cough and they saw a single black dot in an x-ray of her lungs.

As far as drawing goes, buy a nice compact sketchbook; something that you can easily tote about. A hard cover would be nice for support. And take a single drawing implement, either a mechanical pencil or even a pen. They're not the best for sketching or anything other than taking notes, but if you have something reliable you can use to doodle, it's better than nothing.

Then go outside. Taking mass transportation is helpful because you don't have to drive and your hands will be free

 

[somonels]

People say that inspiration can help motivate you to get better at stuff.

I was told creativity comes when you get proficient in what you do and you can let your mind wander while doing it.

Here's something to get you started.

 

[BarkBarker]

I push my body to a physical extreme and just sit on a bench while my chest kinda hurts from running a couple of miles. During this time a lot runs through my head as I wait for my body to normalize and it brings a lot of thoughts and ideas to the forefront.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Well, I can speak for exercise at least-

I lift weights 5-6 days a week and most of the time my motivation is high but occasionally I'm just really dragging my ass and disinterested. In those cases I really like to put on my favorite metal and blast it to get into the kind of lone-warrior, aggressive mindset I like to be in when picking up heavy things. Also, on the more nerdy side, I'll often put on some of my favorite Batman scenes to get psyched up. His fight with the Mutant Leader in TDKR, the Two Face and Superman sections from the same, as well as his end fight with Bane in Rises. It's not particularly well choreographed, but there is one part where Bane catches his fist and Batman just starts yelling in his face in defiance- then the drums kick in and I'm ready to start throwing weights around for sure. In Begins when he crashes through the window of the train and just stares at Ra's with that cold glare of pure hate it gives me tingles.

TLDR- find things that get you psyched up and put you in the right head space for the activity you want to do. If it's drawing, try to remember a personal experience related to your subject. If you're drawing a character, watch or read some of your favorite moments they feature in. Inspiration/motivation are a tricky thing and differ for everyone. I'm sure a lot of people would laugh if they knew Batman distributing justice could bring a manly tear to my eye out of pure reverence for the character, but that's what works for me and I don't see anything wrong with that. Plus, enough practice will make you good at anything. Part of the process of getting good at something is pushing through that initial period of sucking without giving up. Don't be discouraged, just push forward.

 

[Asita]

Well if you want to practice on it, I recommend that you get your friends to humor you with an improv game best summed up by the word "Change". You need 3 people to do this, and it can be done in as simple a context as a conversation. Two people will talk, one will moderate. You take a scene, and the moderator will occasionally demand that you "change" what you just said or did. To illustrate we'll take three people Steve, Sarah, and Moderator (whose parents obviously had a buried sadistic streak, based on her name).

Steve: I was walking down to the grocery store today and you'll never guess who I saw!
Sarah: Who was it? Was it Alex?
Steve: No, it was Frank! You know, the guy from Lowes!
Moderator: Change.
Steve: You know, the guy from the Bowling Alley!
Moderator: Change.
Steve: You know, the minotaur!

Sarah: Frank's back? I thought he was in California!
Moderator: Change.
Sarah: I thought he was in jail!
Moderator: Change.
Sarah: I thought he was abducted by aliens!

Steve: He was! He's got this little brainslug on him now.
Sarah: Oh my! Is it dangerous?
Steve: I dunno.
Moderator: Change.
Steve: Nah, I'm sure it's harmless.
Moderator: Change.
Steve: I thought it was, but the brainslug convinced me otherwise. (vacantly) It is very persuasive.

It's a silly game where you have to be willing to be ridiculous. You aren't necessarily going to get any usable inspiration from the game, but the point is that you're learning to think on your feet and explore new possibilities. And what is inspiration but that?

 

[Cowabungaa]

I expose myself to media I don't know yet. Read, watch, play, listen, etc whatever new and give it your full attention. It doesn't have to do much to whatever you're trying to work on, or be in the same genre/artform as you're working with. New info leads to new neural connections, and one of those new sparks can unravel your creative knots.

P.S. No D&D jokes, I don't think inspiration is legal in Adventurer's League.

Man, as if I needed more reason to dislike the Adventurer's League system...

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Maybe I'm different but inspiration comes to me by looking at what other people do, and then wanting to do it myself. I see a fantastic Death Guard plague chaplain conversion? Great idea! Lets see how I can improve it!

 

[Catnip1024]

I'd have thought that inspiration was less the issue if you are drawing stick men, and it's more a question of motivation to stick at the repetitive practicing techniques stage until you get better. Inspiration gives you ideas of what to draw, it can't make you magically good at drawing it.

But anyway, for inspiration mindless tasks are good. Walking / running, gardening, washing pots / cars. Exercise is a good starting point, because it makes you more full of energy to do the other stuff. AVOID YOUTUBE. Youtube sucks away the time you should be practicing and makes you feel bad when you do because the guy on the video was better. Use it for limited stuff like tutorials, maybe, but not to watch people better than you for the sake of it.

For motivation, I find spending money helps. If I want to cook more, I buy a decent pan. If I want to keep up running, I buy better shoes / gizmos. They make me feel guilty if I stop. Alternatively, give yourself targets. Aim for the moon, be happy if you hit a pigeon.

 

[Souplex]

Well when you do something particularly ballsy or roleplay exceptionally well...

P.S. No D&D jokes, I don't think inspiration is legal in Adventurer's League.

...Nevermind.

 

[loa]

Challenge yourself.

You can sit there looking at other peoples art and feel bad about why it's so much better than yours or deconstruct it, copy it, really take a look at it and understand how it actually works.
You can sit there, going through the motions of your never changing workflow or try something else, incorporate the sketch into the final picture, use a different medium.
You used to use watercolor, charcoal, crayons, whatever and remember sucking with it.
Can you do better now?
You always sketch lightly first but what if I just gave you a pen and went "no erasing, go", what would you do?
What can you do in 30 minutes? 5 minutes? 1?

What do you draw? Anime people? Fantasy creatures?
Can you even draw bruce lee in a recognizable fashion? Can you draw a cat? Do you even know what a bicycle looks like?
You probably don't even draw backgrounds. Can you even do that?
You probably don't even tell a story with your art. Can you?

 

[happyninja42]

People say that inspiration can help motivate you to get better at stuff. I've dabbled in sketching for a little while now, but a combination between my crappy "art", seeing examples of actually good peoples' art, and the fact that I've spent the last twenty plus years doing no better than stick figures has been lowering my motivation to try (not helping is that dood that drew an entire skyline after a single glance).

Since this can also help me with the actually important stuff, like getting through college classes, finding a job, and exercising, can anyone give me any advice on gaining proper inspiration in the things I do?

P.S. No D&D jokes, I don't think inspiration is legal in Adventurer's League.

Are you sure you're not talking about Motivation? Because it sounds like you are suffering more from "I can't be arsed to actually do the stuff I want to do", which is different from inspiration. Inspiration is more "I can't think of anything that I feel passionate about to go and do." The former, you can have all kinds of ideas, but can't get your ass off the couch to do them. The latter, that's a little more nebulous. As others have said above, inspiration is different for everyone. I've had inspiration come from some entirely weird sources, given what the thing I thought of turned out to be.

 

[geniusmind]

i go on deviantart or pinterest to see other's artworks, then take a shower to clear my mind.
After that i use my notebook and pencil to do some sketch, then do it on Ps or Ai.
Hope this work with you.