So, this may sound stupid, but where do you get yours?

(I bet a lot of people are going to say music, but - that doesn't work for me!) I'm running low on creative ideas lately. Especially poses and facial expressions, I'm sick of drawing characters just kind of standing there, smiling quietly.

I think I might compile a list, so like, this thread can be a springing-off point for bored artists.

v.v From artists on sites like these and deviant art i desperatly want to be like them >.>

*streaks* >3>;; er I mean, ilu <333.

8D...inspirations = all teh AMAZING aritst on dA INCLUDING YOU! But also outside of dA like Amano, Yi Lee, Craig Mullins, etc 8D <33. Also inspired by pretty photos, looking through jrock magazines, and going to museums.

Usually it's emotions, what im feeling. What i see, what i imagine, sometimes music. Somtimes stuff i see on magazines, books, or other artists.
Sometimes i just can't draw, i don't have inspiration, so i can't force myself to draw.

• My main inspirations for pixel art anymore are the first two dollers I ever found: AngyChan and Shouri.
  As for characters 'n stuff, I just pull costumes out of my head for things that I'd like to wear, and I also get costume inspiration from video games and anime. -looks over to stack of NewType magazines- >___>

hummm... well Ming for poses and such lately.. flipping through womens fashion magazines always inspires me (not that i can actually get the pose down.. but hell i try) or looking at your favorite manga artist. so are the people on DA that take pictures of themselves in all kinds of outift and poses so you can use it as a ref. those inspire me tons.

aside from that Books always helped me thing of ideas. i have this really spiffen book called "Manga Matrix Create Unique Characters Using the Japanese Matrix System" by Hiroyohi Tsukamoto that helps me tons. just sitting there picking a few random things and making it into a doodle is always fun. or talking to other artists ^o^ or good friends.

I actually look at photographs I find them on sites like this - http://www.sxc.hu/ I just look for random poses and then I find something I want to draw usually getting the inspiration from deviant art xD

Inspirations... well, other artists, their art, watching anime or tv shows in general, boobies (are a great inspiration for me :'D) Sometimes I set some restrictions on a picture and see what comes out (for example, use mainly 1 or 2 colors, draw a specific kind of picture.)

Music isn't actually a big inspiration for me, I usually start my playlist when I'm halfway through the sketch. xD

heh music never works for me either xD;;
when i cant think of nice poses to draw i usually just start drawing those 'stickfigures' in my sketchbook and dont stop until i got like 20 or so, at least one of them usually is worth working out then x3 (if not keep sketching lol )
for facial expressions i mostly write down a list with all emotions i can think of and then draw them all lol.
and when i cant think of clothes or anything i usually try to think up a theme and keep the same design on the overall costume, like the figure got a flower pendant on a striped necklace i draw the same patten in some way on the shoes etc etc x_x

Does anyone work off of stories they create? If so, how do they do that? I'm in such a writer's block - and i feel that if I get rid of that, I can get rid of some of my art block.

*nods* all my chars are from a story ^^;; granted i havent typed it out yet, but its where they are from.

• I stealthily draw real people. Don't get many frontal head shots that way though xD

Don't often draw from a story, mainly because I've kind of stopped RPing (or at least haven't RPed in a very long time now) so I don't have any good stories in my head. All the literature I have time to read nowadays is biology related too, so no inspiration for fantasy drawings there.

My main inspiration is random pieces on different art sites that suddenly just strike me. They might contain some element I find especially fascinating, some technique they've used that I really want to see if I can do or simply some kind of pretty object in the image that I like. Womens fashion magazines, like Vogue (not magazines like Cosmopolitan), which contains a ton of high fashion images, also inspire me loads. The haute couture shots can be very different and original, the clothes can even be completely unwearable xD Often when I'm in an art block I do commissions, just to keep myself drawing.

many of my characters are - yep. its unusual, isn't it XD - from my RPGs.. So the scenario fo the games are my inspiration.

I also like drawing with music in the background, but this rarely inspirates me - and,, most of my works are based only on moment, a short feeling "I have to draw something!" These are usually pictures on veeery bad paper, (with lines for example, in school notebook XD) and I hate myself for drawing on it, as many of the pictures made like that are wonderful, in my opinion, even a few days later, when I usually hate all my works XD

XD my inspiration comes from other artists. i see their technique and im like 'omfg how do they do it!' and try to incorporate that to my own drawings. of course.. not good to copy the whole thing, but the challenge is to make it different and make it mine. i have a folderful of awesome art that inspires me to do things different from what i do now.

also.. stories! if you read a particular book.. maybe the setting inspires you.. or the characters, or something. i think anne rice is pretty gothic and inspiring if youre into those things. i have books and books of fairytales cos i love drawing princesses and shit like that 8D

i find dolls very inspiring too. its amazing how peple can transform a normal hunk of plastic into a lifelike creation, especially the makeup details.

I'm going to agree with others and say that I get a lot of inspiration from DA. But outside of that, leaf through magazines and look at the adds, that helps with poses, expressions, etc. There's also a great expressions book I found at Borders for ~$20 that is very handy. Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura is huge inspiration for me. ^^

Originally Posted by Mou

Don't often draw from a story, mainly because I've kind of stopped RPing (or at least haven't RPed in a very long time now) so I don't have any good stories in my head. All the literature I have time to read nowadays is biology related too, so no inspiration for fantasy drawings there.

Ironically, I've been before inspired by biology, chemistry, and European History.

...

God, i'm a NERD.

My inspiration is my mood. I always draw differently when I'm in a certain mood. But when I've figured out what I'm drawing, I do reference anything and everything related to it: anime, video games, history, movies, mythology, etc.

I have about 100 links saved to sites that inspire me xP

Music doesn't directly inspire me either, but it -can- uninspire me.
My dad loves rock and roll and salsa. It DESTROYS my inspiration.
Not that I don't like the music, but it's horrible when I'm trying to draw or write.

Usually when commissioned, they tell you what they want...so I don't have to think too much..

But left on my own, yeah I'm at the same bump you're at. =/ I dunno. I'm bored outa my friggin mind...and can't figure out what to do much either.

Hum... I'm getting most of my inspiration form my dreams. Sometimes, during them, a strange scene would occure and I would want to redraw it later >.<
Others artist are also a good inspiration source but sometimes, they also black me. Looking through DA can be great but I avoid it when I want to draw. Most of the time, it'll ruin my inspiration.

*chortles* lately i've been really inspired by the RP im in ^^;; i love seeing how people can write a story together and have SUCH HUGE differences in writing style.. caus eit sorta reflect their personality as well and makes their character even more unique (does that make any sense at all.. or am i just being a freak again?). hummm and commercials that make me laugh inspire me as well >.<; i.. i dont know why >.<

Ooou, wait I take it back I agree with Jitsumi on this. XD Sometimes if I read a very very very good book, I find one of the characters very interesting and then sometimes I will paint that character.

It's really interesting, for me, though, to see other people's fan-art of characters from books..because they look so different sometimes, yet they fit the description exactly too. ^_^'

Well, music is honestly one of my biggest inspirations though it's certainly not the only thing I find inspiration in.

I often look around around at other artist's pieces, books, other people's characters, and life in general. At the moment comic books are of a great inspiration to me.

Originally Posted by Sethirius

Well, music is honestly one of my biggest inspirations though it's certainly not the only thing I find inspiration in.

I often look around around at other artist's pieces, books, other people's characters, and life in general. At the moment comic books are of a great inspiration to me.

I really love your siggy. :)