artisitc inspiration?

T'wasn't me.

I always find that inspiration comes only after I start working. I keep a notebook with lots of ideas and partial sketches for all sorts of projects . i wander through it periodically and even that stirs up some juice.

I bought a whole set of about 40 sable flats at a yard sale in Ellsworth last weekend (I only paid 25 bucks and theyre all that Polack sable), and Ive been painting scenes of board fences and buildings all week, nothing for keeping or showing just practice. Im going off today for a two day painting trip up near the woods at Katahdin. See yas

fman, jpin is looking for you - there's a thread with your name on it - something about hops.

Frankly, Osso, I can't imagine having inspiration when painting for "a client". Inspiration can only be for myself and by myself. I hope that doesn't sound the way I fear it does.

Frankly, Osso, I can't imagine having inspiration when painting for "a client". Inspiration can only be for myself and by myself. I hope that doesn't sound the way I fear it does.

Frankly, Osso, I can't imagine having inspiration when painting for "a client". Inspiration can only be for myself and by myself. I hope that doesn't sound the way I fear it does.

Now how do I post this reply? A2K was so easy before.

You're doing fine, kid.

Well, JL, I've never painted for a client, that would turn me off, I think. Off like a light bulb - I wouldn't want what they wanted to interfere with my play.

But on landscape design, one has a site (usually) to solve some issues about and come up with a design to do that. Issues vary, and take into consideration the position of any buildings relative to the sun, the surroundings to be appreciated, the surroundings to be deplored, the noise to block out, and about a thousand other things.. the client's wishes, which often change once they have something to deal with and think about besides vaporous words, learning about options. When you, or, excuse me, I, start out, there is a lot of play involved. What if, and what if? well, suppose... and so on. Play. There are near endless solutions to design, even yet to be discovered solutions (look up Arup the engineering firm and their main guy, starts with a B).. and one hones down.

Oh, wait -- you're not doing quite fine. Only press the reply button once, then wait.

i think i need to get out into nature, ugh las vegas is the ugliest city ever.
or just see something pretty.

i suck at drawing trees, how do u draw them? LOL stupid leaves...

i blame the pencil, yeah, the penicil....

I've started saving paintings (etc) of trees in a file. Drawing or painting a representational or even photorealistic version of a tree is not the easiest thing in the world, but drawing or painting a conceptual tree, or abstracted tree, or windblown tree and its movement, oy vey.

I know an artist who does complicated ink drawings of nature with dots. It takes her hundreds of hours per drawing. In that case, any given dot hasn't the importance of, say, one beautiful line. I can slightly understand it since before I ever took a drawing class I tried to do a copy of a two page ink drawing of vegetables in the los angeles times magazine - with a quill pen that kept catching wee bits of the paper I was using and needed to be wiped off at every single use of the pen. Talk about nuts, but it was engrossing at the time. Never did that again.

Best way to learn to draw or paint trees.. look at them, again and again, for form and gesture of the tree, look at the details, then forget the details except the important ones (which important ones?, well, that's part of the decision making, or play). Trees have 'personalities', or represent something, or have a certain posture, or...
some trees are tortured, or tortuous. Some streak for the sky..

anyway, have fun.

To answer your question about drawing in general, the book I used was Nicolaides' The Natural Way to Draw. I still think that's a good way to learn hand eye coordination, gesture, and so on, though I'd never follow his rigid prescriptions for number of times to do any one kind of drawing.

On drawing trees, there are lots of books on how to do that. I'd not just copy from those books. Better to learn to look at trees.

i think i should just outline the shape at first, keep doin that... just one line.

However you want to go about it.. it all helps you really see the tree.

I just ran across this quote about Santiago Calatrava, the creative architect and engineer, in a New Yorker article by Rebecca Mead -

"Though he does not like to describe his work as having been inspired by nature - he is fond of quoting Rodin, who said that inspiration does not exist - the connection has been made by the developers marketing his buildings."

The article, "Winged Victories the soaring ambition of Santiago Calatrava, is here:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/01/080901fa_fact_mead

I often go about starting a drawing by considering a problem. The drawing is the solution. Take a problem...any problem...draw the problem, then draw a solution. Refine the drawing.

Another fun way to get things going is to take an older drawing of yours or even a picture that isn't yours and trace it on tracing vellum. Once you have the "clean" version, trace it again but simplify and abstract it...or change it in whatever way you like. These iterations are important for good design development, (I think), and a lot of fun.

I take a look at artwork that I like that is similar in genre that I am trying to work on. Feel like drawing some dragons? Break out the fantasy art books. Want to work on my comic book characters? Pull out old issues of the X-Men. Faeries and Elves? Watch Lord of the Rings or flip through my Luis Royo books.

If there is a deadline looming for a customer then I always found that last minute panic was a great motivator.

I'm not an artist, as far as painting, photography and stuff, but I can come up with very creative ideas.

I've learned for myself I have to be NOT thinking about it.

I'll know I want some type of end result, a garden, a room, a spreadsheet, but it's best if I just let it quietly sit by itself, and that when the appropriate moment comes, it just naturally starts working. I find if I don't do as well when there's a group of people all working on the same idea. I get too caught up in trying to understand where they are coming from, than to just let it flow.

Once that flow starts, I can go to work and have fun with it.

i completely lost any inspiration, determination or motivation to do art.

lame. failed two resolutions this year.

GOOD GAME

After thinking about it more, I conclude that the only thing that "inspires" me to work is to have something on the canvas. As someone just said here, work is its inspiration.

For ME, the best thing is just to get started creating. The process itself is inspirational.