PainterFactory.com

Thanks for getting this discussion going. 

Its a subject that always fascinates me, as there are so many ways to get inspired.  One of my favorite ones is creating a texture or pattern background, then playing with different effects and brushes, just being totally spontaneous, with no attachment to the outcome.  The results of such a process will usually be abstract, but sometimes a form will emerge or I will get an idea for another painting, and I go on from there. 

Sometimes I will scan a leaf or a flat flower and start with that form or color.   

I also have a lot of graphite and pen & ink drawings from my analog days that can be scanned, then colored, or altered in some way digitally.  I've really enjoyed simulating graphite and pen & ink effects with painter.

Often music will start the creative energies flowing, and once a work is started, will help keep me at the computer.  For instance, two of my dragon paintings were inspired by the Vangelis piece titled, simply, "Dragon" from his China album.  For some reason, electronic music is more effective for me than classical or rock, perhaps because it is technologically created.  

I have a growing art book library, but try not to go to other artist's work for my ideas.  However, my wife gave me the ultimate art book for Christmas, titled "30,000 Years of Art", published by Phaidon.  It has proved very stimulating and endlessly fascinating.  I love to create "ancient" mythological art with modern technology.

I like to get inspired by work of others. It makes me all enthousiastic.
Also a nice looking photo. Sometimes I just 'see' a picture in my head inspired by other artists, photos, nature, tv, anything.

When i don't know what to draw, I regress to my childhood.

I go and I stare at clouds.  Or rorshak cards.  Or my favorite,  tile sample (for walls / flooors)

They all have random patterns that your mind can involuntarily create images from.

I also Enjoy listening to music while painting, I find that if I listen to a certain band or album it effects

my brush strokes and adds a 'mood' to the painting.

Dreams.

 My RSS Feed every morning.. it seems to prime the pump pretty good.

(Whoa! That sure looks like a blatant advertisement.   LOL  Oh well, not my problem.)

I'm inspired by almost everything I see, as I drive, as I sit, as I do almost anything, however, for a very long time I've yet to translate that into anything I find pleasing to my eye.  I was much more artistic as a child. I'm left with a good eye, but not enough time to develop enough talent or works.  I have all the tools (can't think of any I'm missing), but need more training.  WooooWooooo! (train whistle)  Oh to have been born wealthy instead of so lovely!  (Can  you gafaw?) 

(My smiles are still turned on, but when I open the smiles window, there's nothing in it.)

SOMETHING WONDERFUL IS GOING TO HAPPEN TODAY!

I love this question.

If I could Paint - and believe me, I try - I would capture all the memories of my childhood.  My Grandparent's raised me and those early days of my childhood will FOREVER be hard-wired in my memory.  They will always be the best days of my life.  We all have those days that we cherish as we walk the path of life, but none have ever been as special as the days I spent with my Grandparents.  None.

I can still see my Grandfather watering his garden in the early morning sunlight ... his work gloves and kerchief hanging out of this back pocket ... his perpetual fedora shading his face ... the fragrance of the freshly watered earth ...the scent of the blooming lilac's drifting in the cool morning breeze ...  All of this I still see as I peer(ed) out of my bedroom window.  I could write a book on these memories.

My wife has framed many of the photographs that my Grandmother took of me and scattered them around our bungalow.  When I see them, I cannot help but smile.  So, finding inspiration about what to Paint is easy for me.

I also find inspiration in this Painter forum.  Reading what others find inspirational is also inspirational.  Inspiration is everywhere we look: people, nature, life ... but we must first learn to recognize it.  But we already know that.

One last thing ... I oftentimes find inspiration by looking at magazines upside down.  Try it.  You may be surprised at what you see.  Best not to do this in public though.

Phillip,

Thanks for a wonderful post.

It brought back fond memories of living in my grandparents home between the ages of 4 and 8, also watching my grandfather working in his garden.

I hope to one day draw, then paint the view from the entry hall through the large living room and into the dining room in their home. There, I was allowed to listen to the grownups talk and learn of the places they lived and adventures they had during my grandfather's career as a U.S. Army officer, learn their wisdom and values, and witness the quiet, deep love my grandparents had for each other.

How wonderful it is when a child has such a start in life!

I'll have to try the upside down magazine experiment, and if it happens to happen in public, it will tickle me to see people's reactions. ;o)

Jinny

Hello,

my first postin on the Painter Factory, and immerdiately on such an important subject ;-) 

JohnPaulKindig:

Where do you turn for inspiration?

1° Dreams (if I can remember mine, which, unfortunately, is not often the case.)

2° Technical equipment (hardware & software). Call me earth-bound, but I have to admit: every time I get a new toy err piece of equipment,  I am trying to max it out, to test the tool to it's limits. This is the case with Macs, with software, with photo equipment and with musical synthesizers along.

JohnPaulKindig:

Have you ever been tapped out creatively? If so how do you overcome the block and get back to creating?

Yes, this happens to me every now and then. About the ways out of the block, the only one that works for me is to throw away what I was doing lately and try myself in another area. So if imaging doesn't work, I switch on (and dust off) my synthesizer park, and after I cannot hear the noise anymore I've produced, I go around with my photo camera. This cycle has been accompanying me for years, and as I get older, every phase seems to last longer. So it may happen that in a couple of years, someone would ask me why I had abandoned making electronic music, or what was the reason for me to give up writing, etc. etc. Since I know aout these phases/cycles, it helps me to stay sane creative and take it as it comes. It is futile to fight against this.