How Do Artists Get Their Ideas? 5 Tips For Inspiration

How Can I Get Ideas For My Artwork? I’m asked this all the time. In this article, I will outline the process. So, if you want to know how artists get their ideas, here is the answer in brief:

Artists get their ideas by observing and borrowing from the artists they most admire. They are heavily influenced and inspired to achieve the same results. They crawl Instagram, visit galleries, and buy art books and magazines. They get out, take notes, sketch, and take photos. Above all, artists daydream.

How else do artists start their journey? Eventually, our own artistic style emerges and we develop a unique way of seeing. With that in mind, let’s go into more detail.

(I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. However, I only promote products I like and recommend)

1. Start With a Strong Subject, Theme or Genre

There’s no point in trying to be all things to all people. You’ll end up pleasing no one and known for nothing.

People want to know who, and what you are, they need to put you in a box with a label attached.

People love to pigeonhole artists and why not? It’s branding, it’s the reason why people want to own and collect your work. Far from being a limitation, it’s actually the easiest way to succeed.

Focus on one thing and do it well.

Once you have chosen your subject matter, style, and preferred medium you’ll have a clearer sense of direction.

But how do you choose?

Well for a start, what are your interests? What floats your boat beyond art itself? What are your hobbies and passions?

Concentrating on a subject you love is key to succeeding long term. Something that will stand the test of time and not bore you to tears after 5 minutes.

My own choice was simple.

I set out to make wildlife art.

I knew I could draw, I’m interested in wildlife and I like to travel. My mission was, and is, to combine all three.

With that in mind, I focus on popular wildlife subjects and all drawn in my own realistic style.

That only leaves what animals to draw and where to get the references. And that’s what we will discuss next.

If you are into wildlife art this is your shortcut: 12 Wildlife Art Bestsellers (Use These Subjects to Make Money)

2. Source Unique Imagery

It’s all very well knowing what type or genre of work you will do, quite another sitting down with a blank sheet of paper and wondering where to start.

Get Your Ideas From Life

Can you draw and paint from life? In the eyes of many, ‘real artists’ only create from life or from their imagination. That’s for purists.

Few artists have the talent or the time to devote to painting and sketching from life alone. Even with the talent, your time is money, and that’s the bottom line.

A good compromise is to sketch and take your own reference photos.

Ideally, you could sketch from life and use your photos at home for color and light references.

Not sure where to start? Sorie will inspire you on Domestika

Sketching allows you to distill the subject down to the bare minimum. You naturally draw only the most important key lines and features.

That’s a tremendous help when deciding upon the final composition. Knowing what to leave out is as important as knowing what to put in

I said “ideally” because it’s not always possible to sketch in the field. How does a wildlife artist get a wild tiger to sit still for instance?

Take Your Own Photographs For The Best Ideas

It’s a mystery to me why so many artists are happy to use other people’s photographs. 

Why not use your own?

Searching for the material is part of the creative process and sometimes, despite your best efforts, you return home empty-handed, and it sucks! At other times, you see compositions everywhere, opportunities suddenly appear, and you get buzzed with excitement.

Of course, serendipity plays a vital role in making a good image and you have to be ready to take advantage of situations as they occur. My camera phone is a Godsend. You make your own luck.

And don’t think that you need to capture perfect pictures either. Think of your camera as a notebook. You might see an amazing cloud formation, light on a landscape, or an interesting composition. Do as I do and snap it all up.

I like to think about set pieces and staging. I can look at a hole in a tree trunk and imagine an owl looking back. A can imagine a big cat hiding in foliage, or a monkey sitting on a tree branch.

I’ll take plenty of photos and put them in a file, you never know, I might need them one day.

Life in the field is what it’s all about, not being stuck indoors sitting at a computer. Getting out and about refreshes the mind. You don’t have to go far. Your local park or country stroll can be enough to clear away the cobwebs and open your senses up to new possibilities.

3. Borrow, Adapt, and Steal Ideas

The Internet, Books, and Magazines Can Spark Ideas

You recall that I said most artists borrow ideas. Never has it been so easy to find the very best imagery out there. It’s all yours with a scroll through Instagram, Pinterest, and stock images.

I get so many ideas just by flicking through my feed. I’m particularly keen to save the images I find that reminds me of something I’ve already got. Let me explain.

Let’s say I’ve taken a photo of some penguins walking on a beach. It’s ok but uninspiring. Then I see a photo on the web of something similar with fantastic lighting and composed brilliantly. 

Now I can see my own photo in a different way. If I rearranged things slightly and altered the light my dull image could be fantastic. 

And that’s the joy of painting and drawing over photography, I have the artistic license to chop and change everything at will. All I need is the kernel of an idea and I can expand it using the references I found to help me out.

Need a jog in the right direction? 120 Drawing Ideas for Beginners to Enjoy Without Giving Up

I search the net and find new compositions, poses, and lighting that I would never have thought of myself, not in a month of Sundays. All the inspiration is out there somewhere waiting for me to discover and adapt for my own use.

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My mind is so wired to recognize a useful reference I can’t switch it off even if I wanted to.

I might flick through a magazine, a book, or a brochure, and PING something registers and it sparks an idea.

We are bombarded with imagery, it’s everywhere and I’m alert to it. I might pass a shop window and see something, or notice an advert. If it’s useful I’ll record it.

This famous bestseller says it better than I can and in far fewer words.

Permissions and Stock Images

I can’t finish this section without talking about using stock photos, and photos with permission

I’ve used both and I can assure you that using other people’s imagery is a dead end. How are you going to forge your own unique style by copying someone else’s work?

There’s very little satisfaction in it. You’ll never be able to say, hand on heart, that it’s 100% your own creation. A collaboration? yes. Yours? nope.

A piece of art has to be about you and your story or it’s nothing. Who wants to know that you copied someone else’s photograph, where’s the story in that? 

I asked an artist online why her wildlife references were not her own and she replied that she hadn’t the money to go abroad. A lame response that neatly side-stepped the obvious, like visiting a zoo.

These are my tips for Where to Find Wildlife Subjects to Draw, Paint, and Photograph

To grow and reach your full potential, you should stick to your own work and use your own references.

Can You Ever Use Outsourced Photos?

Absolutely. Obviously, there are times when someone wants to commission you and supplies you with the photos themselves. In my case, it’s usually a poor snap of a dead pet!

There are also friends and well-wishers who offer you their own photos. I always politely decline, but many artists take up the offer. They’re free, right? I understand.

I use other people’s photographs to judge the correct scale of one object next to another. I may, for instance, have a photo of a Barn owl and a separate picture of an old fence post covered in ivy. The owl would look great perched on the post.

The problem is scale. How big should the owl be in relation to the post and the ivy leaves? I’ll find out by using an image search.

Likewise I can place a zoo animal in a wild setting by searching online and finding out what the landscape and foliage would look like.

If you’re stuck, this post will show you: How to Plan and Compose Your Art

I’ll even use references to help me change a pose. You can see how I’ve changed the eyes of the baby orangutan below. The eyes in my own reference photo were looking away and I wanted eye contact, so I scoured the web and found the photo I needed to make accurate changes.

Sometimes, I frame a shot badly, set the wrong exposure, or get the focus all wrong. Rather than abandon a potentially great image, a web search will eventually reveal a close match. I can use the online reference to add the missing details.

I end up doing this all the time. It’s part of my work process. I copy missing details but nothing more.

A word of caution: Copyright Is Not to Be Taken Lightly

Don’t be tempted to use a great image for free without permission. You’ll be found out.

I saw one of my images on a T-shirt once. It was my lion portrait but with a crown added. Presumably, the thief assumed that by tweaking the image he had somehow made it ‘his own’.

It’s not enough to slightly alter an image. If it’s recognizably and substantially the same, it is a copyright infringement.

For more information, look up the relevant U.S. and U.K. copyright laws…

…and read this: Can You Copy Art and Sell a Painting of a Painting? I Found Out

4. Gain Inspiration From Other Artists

We all have our favorite artists and occasionally I will remind myself of their work and get re-enthused by their talents.

I find it important to look at better work than mine and strive to reach that standard. I may never get there but the inspiration remains.

There are 3 artists who have influenced me the most, and all for different reasons,

• Raymond Harris-Ching. I admire his amazing draftsmanship, use of light, and extraordinary painting skills.
• Robert Bateman. I admire his mastery of composition and atmosphere.
• Gary Hodges. He gets my vote for proving (to me at least) that pencilwork can be popular.

There are more of course, but these three wildlife artists stand out.

Now let’s move on to the last and perhaps the most important way to get new ideas.

Stephen Bauman is a more recent discovery. I love his technique, it’s inspiring. A premium lesson but he’s one of the best.

5. Daydream To Get Great Ideas

There is nothing unproductive about dreaming. It’s an essential component of creativity.

Take the moment to look into space.

I get my best ideas when I have nothing much else to do. My mind is free when I have a shower, or when I’m riding my bike, or sitting on a bus or train.

Sometimes I just stop wherever I am and follow a line of thought. I can be lost in another world entirely. I know life is good when my worries are less important than my daydreams.

First I have the dream, then the plan, and finally put it into action. It can be a long time between the start and finish but where do you go at all without a dream?

When I dreamed of leaving the factory and traveling the world with my art, people scoffed, but I did it anyway. The dream of something better was so powerful.

How Artists Get Their ideas: Final Thoughts

In my experience ideas come in waves. At points in life, you are on a crest of a wave, and ideas and challenges are bouncing off everything around you. At other times you dip to the bottom and your ideas dry up.

Most artists have their ups and downs. That’s life really. Artists are no different from anyone else.

Experience lets you know that everything is a phase and temporary. If you experience ‘artists block’ step back. Do other things for a while. It will all return in time and after a good break your art will be better than ever.

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If you like the way I draw and want to try things for yourself, this is my basic kit:

• Pentel Mechanical Pencils 0.3mm
• Derwent Graphic Drawing Pencils
• Daler-Rowney Heavyweight Cartridge Paper
• Jakar Battery Eraser
• Tombo Mono Eraser Pen
• Faber Castell Putty Eraser
• Blu Tack
• French Box Easel

If you want an alternative to Amazon, check out ARTEZA art supplies or BLICK

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If you dream of selling your art and traveling I can show you how to do it. All you have to do is copy what I do. It’s all here, take a look and see!

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If you found this article useful you may like these too:

• How to Find Your Own Art Style. It’s Easier Than You Think
• How to Trace a Drawing: 12 Ways to Get Results – Fast!
• Tracing Art – Is It Good or Bad? When Is Tracing Cheating and Is It Ever OK?
• Is Drawing From Reference Photos Bad? Are You Cheating?
• How Do You Price Your Art? (And Increase Your Profits)
• Drawing Prompts: 55 Useful Ideas, Techniques, and Exercises
• How to Motivate Yourself to Make Art: 11 Kickass Ways to Get Going
• Best Easel For Drawing and Painting: How to Choose

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