How to find inspiration for drawing (Patreon)

As this was a highly requested theme and as I´m also currently struggling with inspiration for drawing and with my art style let´s talk about this theme in this first month of the new year!

So the theme for this month is:

"How to find inspiration for drawing & what inspires me to draw?"

As we are all artists this is kinda our biggest fear: you can’t find inspiration to draw.

Sometimes it´s just because of stress, or because you haven´t drawn in a long time and now drawing again feels weird. Other times, it’s due to a lack of inspiring ideas or motivation to create anything new.

Then there is also that fear that if you don´t overcome this lack of inspiration you might slide into art block...

So let me share with you my top 3 ways to find inspiration to draw.

1. Your everyday life

I think this is the most common answer you can find when googling about the inspiration for artists 😂. But I still have to include this just in the way I use this for drawing inspiration. 

So what I love to do when it comes to inspiration from my everyday life is imagine that an animal would do the things that I normally do.

This could be something very simple like hanging up laundry. 

So maybe a cute bunny hanging up his laundry.

2. Remembering what you like and what your aesthetic is

The next tip I have is to remember what you personally like and what your aesthetic is.

If you don´t know that then this is the point where to start before you find your artistic inspiration, make a brainstorming list!

These questions might help:

What do I really like?

What do I enjoy drawing?

How do I want my art to come across to others?

What do I want my art to match?

What is my aesthetic?

So I love to draw (besides animals) nature and plants.I really like cottagecore style, vintage things, the forest, old houses.I want others to feel calm and happy when looking at my art. 

And so on... I don't want to fill out everything so that you think about that by yourself :)

So now I have a cute bunny hanging up his laundry and I can make him wear a vintage apron, and draw a vintage basket where the laundry is inside.

3. Reading and watching movies

I get soooo much inspiration from Ghilbi movies! I just LOVE how the backgrounds and the food is drawn. Every time I watch a Ghibli move I just want to grab my Ipad and start drawing!

So funny how I totally forgot about that until writing that article for you! I will definitely watch a Ghibli movie this evening 😂

You can get inspiration from every movie or series you love! Just rewatch it and sketch while doing it!

Then of course reading! Reading books also give me SO much inspiration!I have a list on my Notion where I write down ideas I had for drawing while I read, which book it was, and on which page I got the idea. So if I forget about it (which definitely will happen) I can get back to it and read this part again.

I´m also a big fan of vintage children's books. I don´t have many of them but I have a Pinterest board where I collect vintage children's book illustrations I love.

(My husband bought me 4 Russian children's books with vintage illustrations last weekend in Switzerland and I´m soooo excited to go through them when he is back home! 🥰)

Now I have a cute bunny hanging up his laundry, wearing a vintage apron, besides him is a vintage basket with the laundry. And the background will be drawn with the sketches I made while watching a Ghibli movie. 

What also helps me to find inspiration:

Being in nature

Of course also Pinterest and other artists' art - create boards for art inspiration

Watching my pets

Redecorating my room 😅

If nothing helps for finding inspiration you can do this: 

Use "draw this in your style" challenges 

Redraw an old illustration 

Explore another art style that is out of your comfort zone

My last tip, so that you won´t get into this situation of "no inspiration", is - try to draw as often as you can, or even every day! And with that, I don´t mean a full illustration every day, but sketching and doodling. When you sketch and doodle without pressure every day you will always have something in the future you can get back to and either refine or color it. 

I hope this helps you to find inspiration for your next drawing or at least gives you a bit of an insight into how I find it!

🧡🧡🧡