This year has been odd so far. I have been absolutely uninspired to do much of anything. I have only drawn 2 things since January 1. One was a drawing as payment to Tom Gehrke for his participation in a 20 Questions Interview.
It is a lovely sketch of Rocket and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. The other was a Hulk I drew for a 3 or 4 yr old kid watching his sister at the swim meet my boy was in over the weekend. He liked it, but his mom loved it. I did not get a pic of it, so in many ways it is a kind of “Good-bye Art.” Good-bye Art is a great thing to get into. It removes some of the roadblocks to creating because the end product does not exist for long.
Anyway… These past couple of weeks I have been uninspired and don’t know why. Therefore this week’s topic is “Inspiration.” Thanks this week go to Lsig, pfmdesigner, Chris Ring, and some other guy. On to the questions:
1. "You're the Inspiration" was my wedding dance song. What was yours? (I was there but I don't remember).
"Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong… We both thought about "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell, but ultimately went against it though.
2. The first definition of inspiration that I just found was about breathing in. Do you think being inspired is like breathing, or something else?
Being inspired is very much like taking in a breath of creativity. It is like oxygen hitting your creative centers.
3. How is inspiration related to motivation?
Inspiration should be closely tied to motivation, it should be the impetus to continue creating. However inspiration without motivation leads to pretty much flights of fancy that amount to nothing, and motivation without inspiration leads to repetition and lots of it.
4. What inspires your best ideas?
That is an interesting question. Usually I am inspired by looking at other people’s work. In all seriousness.. Looking at Ten Ton people’s art is usually very inspiring. Some of the people there know that I stand in awe of them and find their work very inspirational.
5. Under what conditions do you find yourself most inspired?
It is late-ish at night (not as late as it used to be, for I am aging less than gracefully) and relatively darkish in the house (not all the lights will be on). I will be listening to to either a podcast that I find hilarious, or listening to some music.
6. When are you most usually inconveniently inspired?
... continued from question 5...OR… I am in the bathroom at work and cannot do anything about the inspiration until I get home hours later… at which time I have lost the inspiration.
7. Which of your five senses (leaving your amazing psychic senses to the side for now) provides you most often with inspiration?
Sense of direction, sense of common decency, sense of humor, sense of place?... I am usually visually inspired.
8. When you’re given an assignment, how do you decide where to look for inspiration to complete that project?
The work I do is rather uninspirational. The assignments I get do not necessitate any inspiration, ergo the needing a different job. To complete the projects here, I am not required to look anywhere for inspiration, for the jobs here, I have to find ways to numb my brain so I can just put my head down and plod through… I need out of this place.
9. It’s snowing. What does that inspire you to do?
Take a nap?
10. What is the difference between being highly inspired, and just plain driven?
Driven tends to be, um.. well, driven by motivation and dogmaticness, while inspired is more about of a state of mind concerning where the ideas for creating are coming from.
11. Which artist inspired you the most to get back into drawing?
Hmmm.. there are a few… and I am a bit reluctant to name them because I interact with some of them in some digital spaces, but here it goes. The people who got me back into drawing are Francesco Fancavilla, Jason Baroody, and Steve Willhite… there are some others that I no longer remember the names of because I felt I could be better than and that it was a travesty that they were paid artists.
12. Which writer inspires you the most to be creative?
Patrick Rothfuss, his usage of language is simply sublime
Andrew Mayne he is a talented writer, but his special skill is his plot and story.
The short Santa Claus stories of Justin Robert Young because he has a really imaginative take on some very familiar characters.
13. What song inspires you into action?
Forty six and two by Tool…
14. Best snack for thwarting inspiration block?
Hmmm… Baked Cheetos dipped in BBQ sauce. Actually it would be Krispy Kreme doughnuts but I cannot have those anymore
15. Favorite inspirational movie?
Hmmm… I cannot think of a movie that stirs inspiration in me. I love me some movies though, but none of them make me want to create… Ryan Connolly’s Film Riot however… that is a different story. I watch some episodes of that and think, “I could make a movie.”
16. What are your thoughts on Inspirational posters?
Inspirational posters are not worth the ink or the paper that is used to produce them. If you are inspired by a pretty picture and a simple quote, inspiration isn’t your issue, your issue is deeper than that and your production could most likely be automated. (thought stolen by this demotivational poster).
17. Do you have a muse?
Closest thing I have to a muse is my wife. She thinks I am incredibly more creative than I am, and that is useful. I imagine that my true level of creativity lies between her relatively high opinion and my depressed/self-critical idea.
18. How much of that “inspirational” stuff is pure clap-trap and hog-wash?
I would say, most of it is horrid clap-trap and boon-doggly bullshit. Probably a good 84.5% of the ‘inspirational” shit out there is the equivalent of snake-oil. That section of the bookstores are crappy.
19. What is the opposite of “inspiration?”
I would imagine it would be to remove ideas from others… To become a gravity well of ideation.. or expiration… one of the two.
20. What inspires you to do these 20 Question Tuesdays?
Not a damn thing.
To recap:
It is getting late
And I am getting tired
It really isn’t that late
It is late enough, that is true
Who am I having this conversation with?
Crap, I’m not even talking to myself
I am typing to myself
That’s a bad sign, isn’t it?
Sure is
Crap, I just answered myself
Beyond here lies madness
Oh, my last semester of school has started up
5 more months
Have a great week everyone