How does the saying go? Different strokes for different folks? Whatever floats your boat? To each their own? These are just other ways of saying that people react to and are affected by things differently which leads to what I want to talk about in this post: inspiration.
What do you do to get inspired? Do you have a little routine or ritual before you start working? Do you have something to look at and surround yourself with while you work? Is there a particular type of music or sounds you listen to? What or where do you go to when you need it?
Inspiration is an amazing thing. The equivalent of inspiration suddenly hitting an artist is like a bolt of lightning striking; it's that instantaneous and shocking. In the blink of an eye, out of nowhere, you get this urge, this need to create something and you can see it as clear as day. There are certain things that I have around me whenever I'm working. Surrounding both my desks at work and at home are: toys ranging from action figures, to die cast metal figurines, to vinyl toys, to stuffed toys, and even dolls (the manly kind, ehem), books about film, animation, drawing, art books, and comic books, and I always listen to music but the type of music I listen to really depends on how I feel at the moment. Those three things are often times way more than enough to keep me going while I work. I especially find that having books out and open while animating or drawing really inspire me, help me, and really take my work to that next level noticeably. I don't know how to explain it, but it just works. I feel like my work is better when I do that. It's almost like how the food that you're eating tastes better when you watch the Food Network (or is that just me?). Whatever things or methods get you inspired, take the time to do them, practice them, engage in them, surround yourself with them, it will work wonders. I saw this TED talk by John Cleese on creativity a while back and I think it's quite appropriate about the topic of inspiration. Check out it out, and keep that ball bouncin'!
Stephen
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