How to find inspiration to paint

Soma Datta Author

Tips for the beginner artist to find inspiration and unleash your creativity

Are you struggling with a creative block? Are you a beginner who's unsure how to get started with painting? Then the following tips and methods will help you progress into a creative headspace.

Finding sources of inspiration is an act we often engage in without realizing it. We could be looking for inspiration to create a recipe or a redesign your favorite room.

In creative practices, the need to go searching for your muse could be due to creative blocks or it might be because we may have never painted before and we might need to search for inspiration to voice our creative self.

The key to finding inspiration with ease is to first find our unique preferences and sensibilities …and then use that as a source of inspiration.

Identify what colours, patterns, textures and even aromas inspire you?

• Use your senses to recognize all pleasurable factors that you can then tap into for inspiration.
  
• Explore books, images from the web or visits to local places of interest to see how other artists have expressed their perspective on your favorite subjects or muse.
  

You see…It is so much easier to find inspiration from a place of comfort which is where you have recognized all things ‘you’ and are now ready to create paintings that reflect your uniqueness.

Activity 1: Discover how to find inspiration to paint by learning to see beauty in all things

Start with conscious intent and then you’ll find inspiration everywhere. Finding inspiration is a skill that you’ll need for as long as you love to create. Let’s look at finding inspiration from our environments.

• Take a deep breath and close your eyes.
  

Breathe as many times you need till you feel relaxed. Open your eyes and choose in that moment to let go and look for beauty in your environment.

• Make a conscious choice to view your environment with fresh eyes.
  

See something you like then make a mental note of what you love about it…is it the colour or pattern on your favorite cushion, is it the way sunlight gets in through the blinds and leaves patterns on your wall…is the smell of flowers outside your window.

Does the change in weather reminds you of hot chocolate and muffins? Can you smell the wet rain outside?

Make a mental note. Allow these impressions to inspire your creativity.

• Awaken your senses to the beauty in our environment and you’ll never fall short of inspiration to get started into painting. And nature offers limitless inspiration. Tap into it whenever you are able to.
  

Our senses can offer us inspiration by getting us into the creative headspace…Allow it to awaken to the infinite beauty surrounding us…sometimes that’s the easiest and best way to not only trigger our creative process but also silence the chatter of the mind.

• Then go ahead and take a picture of these objects if possible …or write notes on POST_ITS and stick them onto somewhere you can see to inspire your next painting project. You could mix up the colours you’ve just noted and use them in your paintings.
•  Or replicate and trace patterns from perhaps a cushion or table cloth you like. Again the possibilities are endless and only limited by your imagination.

Activity 2: Create from the inspiration within you

For this activity let’s have a go at finding inspiration within you.

1. Keep some drawing tools such as oil pastels or sharpies in front of you and an art paper?
2. Take a deep breath and close your eyes. Breathe as many times you need till you feel relaxed. Then Open your eyes and choose in that moment to let go and connect with how you are feeling in that moment in time.

1. Pick a sharpie and without over-thinking write just one word that you love about yourself in free fluid hand strokes. See how you feel now. Then write another word and another word that you love about yourself. If it’s just the one word then write it in different ways till you fill up the paper.
   
2. Now tape it to the wall. What do you see? You created a script that affirms your strengths. You can photocopy this and use this to collage onto your mixed media journal, scrapbooks or paintings on canvas.
   
3. You could also colour it or use stamps on it…the possibilities are endless!

I generally use this when I experience creative blocks and store it in my art journal…then when I paint I use parts of this script to collage onto my paintings so they’re part of my story as painted on canvas.

This is the key step to get into a creative headspace. I hope these tips inspire you to get your art stash out and have a go and connecting with your intuitive creative self and start painting.

Warm regards

Soma