How do you stay inspired as an Artist?

[Onylex 2,837]

Well heres the thing, lately I seem to be falling in and out of love with art, more specifically drawing. There are times when I feel like drawing anything and everything but, there are also times when I feel like I should just give up completely on art and find something else to put my time and effort into.

 

Its not so much that I dont enjoy doing it, I love it but, it just I feel like Im not improving much at all and sometimes it feels like a wasted effort. People always tell me that if keep on drawing that I'll get better but, for me its kind of hard to believe that just drawing a lot will make you better for it. Really most of time what keeps me going is in hope that one day I will become a grate artist.

 

So, Id like to know where you guys might get your inspiration from. Have you ever felt like you aren't improving or maybe its just that you're just not inspired by anything? And If there are any professional artist out there I'd love to here how long you've been doing what you do and if you really think that skill really does come with time or, if you just have to learn to do specific art in a specific way to become good at it.

[DusK 1,264]

I'm a musician, so the obvious answer is I listen to music. I try to listen to what they're doing in every aspect of their music, ask myself, "How are they doing that?" Hearing great music motivates me to get better.

 

I've actually hit quite a few "plateaus" during my time with my music, where I know I can do better (which is always true for any artist), but can't quite nail down what I gotta do. I found the best way to get past that is to really study up, even if it's on something that I would have never known could make any meaningful impact on my music.

 

Try this approach with your art. Browse deviantART for a bit, looking for really good pieces in the styles that you would like to do. Really try to analyze what they're doing from an objective standpoint, try to really pinpoint how they're doing all of the things you want to do in your own art. Read up on aspects of your art that you've previously neglected, and try those techniques in a few pieces.

 

And post your stuff for the world! Even if you get a miniscule amount of praise, it's still praise, and that's a great motivator to keep going.

[Aaramus 449]

I don't get to draw as much as I like but I'll normally get my inspiration from Deviant Art. I spend a lot of time looking up other peoples art and their live streams. I think watching people actually make art is one of the better ways to learn and be inspired, seeing the finished product is awesome but watching how they get to that is even better for me.

 

If you're losing interest maybe try switching up how or what you draw. If you've been making art related to one topic then maybe you should switch to something else, maybe move into another fictional universe and try and make something related to that. There's loads of inspiration on the internet, or if you feel like visit some art galleries.

[Planty 1,053]

Personally, sometimes i just need to take a break from it for a while .

 

Normally once i have had a little break, i come up with loads of new ideas and I also re kindle my love for whatever i have lost inspiration with (an example would be my blogging and to an extent i have taken month long breaks for the forum/ponies in general)!

 

I also have a piece of music that inspires me (dif ones for diff things) usually, IE live to win for gaming that made me grind longer harder faster on WOW !

[Sickman 205]

That's a good question.
I don't actually go out of my way to make sure I stay inspired.
I do different kinds of things: Visual arts, music, video, writing, et cetera, and if I happen to get an artist's block on one of those areas, I'll just do something else.
And, of course, music is one of the most important sources of inspiration.
Hell, I need music in order to maintain my sanity.