The Creative Process - Where Do I Get My Inspiration?
Anyone else feel like they blinked and February just passed?! A month since I first started this blog and thank you to all of those that have sent me lovely feedback about it.
So, kicking off March discussing all things inspiration and the creative process.
What inspires me and where do I get it from?
Traveling! Really is my answer. Pre-COVID, exploring and jetting off was a huge part of my life. A lot of the characters you see, are usually one way or another based off of my own interactions I’ve had with animals on my travels and I always try and use my own reference imagery when drawing. Or I’ll see something pop up on an advert or in a film and think I need to create this animal in my own style.
Inspiration also often pops up on walks or in nature. I think it’s such a big part of the creative process to be able to have time out in nature (or just generally away from your desk or home) to clear your mind. I feel that being outside, being mindful and acknowledging the day to day chatter whilst not allowing it to take over(!), allows for the free flowing of creative ideas. Also because all my work is based around nature, seeing a bird fly past for example will give me the thought of ‘that would be great on a card, I haven’t done that yet’ and so on - you get the gist.
If you’re a fellow creative, I’m sure you’ll also get what I mean when I say inspiration always comes late at night or even in the middle of the night. The importance of keeping a journal next to the bed! Always, always write it down. Whether that be in a notebook or have it written somewhere in your phone. You can always come back to the idea but better to write it out rather than keeping it in your head and then forgetting about it! I still have lists and lists of products I want to create that I wrote down years ago.
With specific products, I really like to get my customers involved, so will often put a question out to them and see what kind of things they’d like as they are the buying customer at the end of the day. Just needs one little seed to be planted and I’m off with the design process!
Don't underestimate the process!
You can have an idea, but that one idea can take months of back and forth. I must create about 10 drawings if not more, before I’m finally happy with it. Then there’s deciding on colours, then the painting. Then all of the tweaks and the ‘tidying’ up once digitilised. Then there’s deciding on layouts and fonts (if applicable). I had no idea how long it would take to find the right font and get that right. Sometimes, I’ll also start a product then leave it for a few months and come back to it.
I think a usual turnaround of a new design and/or product from the initial idea to the end result is at least a month. Don’t forget your sampling time, finding the right supplier, deciding on packaging and then more often than not, more tweaks.
Do you have an idea yourself? Start putting it out there. Start your social media, start posting. It may take time but it will organically grow in the right direction (if you allow it!). During a recent workshop I did, one of the speakers said something that really stayed with me. A simple mindset shift from the usual saying, ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ to simply ‘what is the best thing that could happen?’
Lex x
I saw this great image found here and it just about sums it up. Don’t give up!