Finding Inspiration from Art and Artists

By: Katie Hearns

Good morning everyone! Midterms are coming in fast and that can be a bit overwhelming. This week we are talking about ways to find inspiration and how to keep evolving your style. We all have favorite artists, TV shows, movies, and comics and its no surprise that these things end up subconsciously influencing our art. However, its a good idea to start consciously taking note of what things you like and finding ways to incorporate it into your work. Specifically we are going to talk about color, story, and overall style

Color is something we as artist notice and appreciate often more so than everyone else.

For me especially I pay attention for the ways colors look in comics, movies and television. Paying attention to color in things you read or watch can be helpful because you can use these to make color pallets for your own work. For example, the CW show Riverale often uses a lot of intense saturated neon colors to play with its dark and dramatic plot. From a screen capture from an episode you can generate a palette. Adobe has an app and website that you can upload photos to make color palettes as well.

Story is also something you can take inspiration from. Think about all the books you’ve loved and movies you’ve watched on Netflix; theres a treasure trove of ideas you can use by writing a story in the genre you love. Personally, I love comedy, time travel, and superhero stories so DC’s Legends of Tomorrow , specifically their way of writing comedy, has inspired how I write more comedic stories. In order to keep ideas fresh it’s smart to mix and match things in order to create a fresh idea. What are some of your favorite stories and how could you mash them together?

Lastly overall style is something to consider as well. You probably have a long list of artists who inspire you and their style might be different from your own. Taking the time to do “master studies” of your favorite artists might give you ideas on how to incorporate aspects you like into your own work. For example, I’m a big fan of Carmine Di Giandomenico’s art, specifically the energy and movement he creates and his electricity effects. Te best way for me to replicate that style and energy is by trying to recreate and study the way he draws. You might realize there are parts of an artists style that you don’t particularly like but its something you figure out through practice and

experimentation. A good way to take a look at an artist’s body of work is by reading art of books! These massive collections of process work that make up the visuals of a story can be a big help at understanding how an artist draws!

Each month the HoneyDripper will select one artist who contributed during the month to win a free art book so this is a good way to grow your collection!

These are a few ideas to get you started on your search for inspiration but be sure to take it further! Good luck with midterms everyone!

#process