Finding Inspiration

(I’m cheating at this a bit)

Side note/disclaimer before I begin: I feel like I’m cheating at this a bit because I’ve (on purpose) created a work/business life where I don’t need to rely on feeling inspired. In the same way that when I worked at a shop, I didn’t need to feel inspired to show up. I had to show up because it was my job!

I think being in the creative industry, this inspiration thing can get romanticised like you must sit down, full of wonder and excitement every day, ready to draw.

Nope.

Sometimes you will drag yourself to your desk, plonk yourself down on your chair, do a big sigh, and get on with whatever you’re working on.

In my live illustration work I have to show up on time and draw or people won’t be happy, and they definitely won’t pay their invoice. A live event begins at a certain time and I need to be there OR ELSE. It’s very motivating 👀

That being said, there *are* times when there is no fear-factor. Often I’ll need to drum up some inspiration for writing, or creating new things with The Good Ship Illustration, or the odd occasion where I do some not-live illustration work, or I just want to draw for fun.

Here are my top tips for getting inspired RIGHT NOW, YESSS:

☀️ Fill up your eyeballs with good things ☀️

Go to galleries and museums, go for walks, indulge your weird obsessions, read magazines and old books and notice stuff around you. Pinterest is great but getting out of your own bubble and looking at real-life stuff feels really nice (and you’re less likely to accidentally start impersonating somebody else’s work you’ve seen).

☀️ Look after yourself very well like you’re a special horse ☀️

Sleep enough, eat properly, move about, see real-life human friends, and do whatever you need to do to keep your body and brain in a good way. If you’re running yourself into the ground, inspiration will be one of the first things to go. Can’t pour from an empty cup an’ all that.

You’re a fancy racehorse now, ok? 🐴

Ok.

☀️ Take a day off ☀️

Sometimes, when you are trying sooooo hard to squeeze out a project, the best thing you can do is take a day off. Or if you’re on a tight deadline, an hour of proper break time can work wonders. Unplugging from your phone, deleting your social media apps for a weekend or a day? It’s all magic. Try it and see!

☀️ Try a Change of Scene ☀️

Always work at the same desk? Move to a different room in the house! Go to a cafe! Sit outside! **Warning** this one works so well that sometimes you will SHOCK yourself.

☀️ JFDI ☀️

JFDI stands for Just Effin’ Do It. If the whole taking-a-break thing didn’t work, and you really need to create something RIGHT NOW, it might be time to sit yourself down, set a timer and get tae bloody work.

☀️ Get Help! ☀️

At The Good Ship Illustration, we made a podcast episode called ‘Creative Inspiration and Where to Find It’ (just search Good Ship Illustration podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and it’ll be there!)

We also run Art Club almost every Friday. It’s one hour of timed drawings and it’s great for bustin’ through creative blocks and getting rid of perfectionism. All the art club info is on our Good Ship Instagram account @thegoodshipillustration.

(Art Club is free! And open to everyone. Even you! And we upload the replay so you can do it in your own time if you’re in a different time zone / have a life on Friday evenings.)

At the moment we do Art Club on special occasions, and the best way to hear about it is to make sure you’re on our email list here.