The 3 Most Effective Inspiration Developing Activities - How To Get Inspired For Drawing

There are some days where you just don't know what you should draw, right? In this article, I want to give you some ideas of what to do to get new inspiration. These tips have helped me a lot so far.

"How do I get inspiration to draw? Where can I get drawing inspiration?" Let's answer these questions.

There are multiple ways to get inspiration for your next drawings. The best options are to take a walk outside through a forest, for example, getting many new impressions. Looking at other people's art or challenging yourself with a series of days on which you force yourself to draw something can inspire you, too.

Obviously, this is not every single option there is to get new inspiration. In the following paragraphs and sections of this article, I'm going to present to you my absolute favorite methods when it comes to finding new inspiration.

Overview:

I. Go Outside For A Walk

II. Challenge Yourself

III. Look At Art

IV. Related Questions

I. Go Outside For A Walk

Going outside for a walk is probably the best thing you can do for your mind and your body. It is also the most inspiring thing to do when you're working on something you need your creativity for.

I have talked about this already a few times before on that Blog and in my emails I send to subscribers of my mailing list. I am talking a lot about this for a reason.

Every time I take a walk through a park or through the forest that is fortunately located only a few hundred meters from my home I feel like my head suddenly has way more space in it. I suddenly feel like I am able to think more freely.

This goes along with a huge load of new inspiration which is why I'm talking about it again right now. You can get a ton of inspiration if you just walk through the forest or literally anywhere where it's very green.

Everything around you is a possible subject to draw in your next drawing session. You don't even have to think a lot or force yourself to come up with new ideas.

A forest is literally filled with millions of ideas and you could probably draw things from it until you die. You may think now that there is not much more than bushes, trees, branches and maybe a few animals and that's it.

A forest basically consists of all of these things, yes, but even one tree alone offers a lot of different opportunities to draw. You can even use the same spot on tree drawing it with different techniques. You could use the one-liner method, for example, which is one of the beginner exercises I've talked about in this article (click).

You could also just use different drawing media. Various graphite pencils are available in every artist's equipment and different types of charcoal are also great options to draw from nature.

If you want to learn more about the different types of charcoal and how these vary in your drawings, you can check out this article where I'm talking about my favorite drawing tools for Beginners and Intermediates.

Even if you think drawing nature is boring, you still get to think more clearly. This can help you calm down after a stressful day if you had one, which again leads to new thoughts and by that to new ideas.

Step back from your creative work and go outside. This is always a great recommendation for everyone working in a creative field or having a creative hobby, such as drawing ort painting.

II. Challenge Yourself

You can also somehow force yourself to draw by coming up with a challenge or whatever you want to call it.

I have seen a video, in which a drawing artist talks about how he kept being motivated by forcing himself to draw every single day for an entire year. See what his experience was with that kind of improvement method.

If you don't feel like watching a video right now, that's completely fine. Right now you are probably wondering what on earth a challenge could possibly have to do with getting inspiration for your drawings.

I was confused at first as well, but I totally get what he is saying and the message he wants to deliver to his audience is that in order to succeed with anything and to figure out what you actually want to do...

You just have to start!

So, he took a piece of advice from this other artist who is known for creating animal sculptures with his wife. He was the one, who told him to draw the same thing every single day for a year and so he did.

After a few weeks, he became really bored of drawing the subject he has chosen to draw. He started to make something more interesting out of this bird he was drawing every day for weeks now.

He started to have fun adding little stories to his drawings which made them look like some kind of cartoon. He figured out what it was that he liked to do. Would he have found out if he hadn't started to seriously commit to this challenge?

No, of course, he wouldn't have.

Many people and also artists say, that forcing yourself to creative ideas is an absolute no-go for every aspiring artist or creative worker. I think this is partly true but in terms of committing yourself to some type of simple challenge, you can really get a huge amount of inspiration from it.

"Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations".

A quote, I really admire the author for, whoever this man or woman is. This quote literally says that you have to force yourself to go through uncomfortable phases and unpleasant situations to achieve something that you're proud of in the end.

By choosing to go down the path with many obstacles and curves over the easy one that straight forward leads to a simple goal, you are more likely to achieve something better.

In order to really achieve a high goal you have to be really clear about that very goal. You can't just do something for a long time without really knowing where you want this to lead you in the end.

What is the beautiful destination you want to reach one day?

Be clear about that and nothing stands in your way of working on reaching that destination sooner or later, depending on how hard you work on it.

III. Look At Art

Looking at other people's art is something I regularly do before I start working on something new or while working on something. No matter what creative niche you're in, you can always look at what your "competition" is doing to get inspiration.

This also helps you to learn something new, you maybe haven't thought of yet yourself.

Let me use film making as an example. If you struggle with filming a dark, suspenseful scene and you cannot figure out how the light would look best. What camera positions are best for communicating a certain atmosphere to the viewer?

Watching horror movies from other directors or big studios could give you more ideas of what would be reasonable settings, positions, looks or whatever it is you need to get more inspiration for.

In terms of drawing you have a ton of opportunities today thanks to our blessing called the Internet. Pinterest, Instagram, and even Facebook groups are great options to get inspired and find new ideas or learn something.

Pinterest and Instagram are fantastic options to look at various different great artworks that people are uploading from all around the world. Especially Pinterest is really filled with a large number of drawing enthusiasts.

I know Facebook is not being used that much anymore, especially not from the younger generations. Nevertheless, I think that Facebook groups are a very underestimated source for inspiration although I am also still very young.

You are not only able to merely look at other people's artworks but it also offers a very personal and direct way of communication. This enables you to quickly connect to other like-minded people who you can learn from or people who are on the exact same level as you.

This is why I have created the Mac H. - Creative Facebook Group where everybody is welcome to join who is interested in drawing, sharing his or her own works or getting to know other people who feel that way, too.

If you feel like joining our community could help you in the future don't hesitate to join right here.

IV. Related Questions

1. What Is It Called When You Don't Know What To Draw?

A phase in which you don't know what to draw or to create in any creative niche doesn't have a specific name. The most common term used to describe one's inability to be creative is called a creative block.

2. What Should I Sketch Every Day?

Come up with a very simple idea. Think of one particular object, for example, a rabbit and then you need to set yourself a challenge or a deadline. Either way, you want to draw this rabbit as much as possible and in different ways. Repeat that process when you've finished the challenge or met the deadline.