Blink and Miss It

I need some inspiration. Because that sounds like a good idea. I'm usually not a "wait around for inspiration" kind of artist. I like to make art regularly and waiting around doesn't help me make it. Sometimes I get inspired but mostly I don't. The work itself is the inspiration. Doing work every day is much more helpful than inspiration.

But still I want some inspiration because it sounds like fun. It sounds like you get some of it and then, bam, you have a piece of great artwork. The art makes itself. I know it doesn't really work that way but I want it to.

Inspiration is really another word for excitement. You get excited about making something. Strangely enough the excitement can actually get in the way of things and be frustrating. Nothing will bring you down faster than getting all inspired by someone or something, trying to make a piece of art, and it coming out horribly. Man, that hurts. All that inspiration crashes down on you. Ouch. Still, I'll take the risk.

I think I want to start some large drawings. I've made large paintings but I don't think I've made any large drawings since college. I have plenty of twenty by thirty inch paper and thought I would use some of that. I'll need a bigger drawing board though.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what to draw. I usually draw no bigger than around 11x18 inches. I would then blow the drawings up for paintings but to make a finished drawing at a large size would be another thing entirely. I'm not sure what direction to go in.

I basically draw two different ways. The first way is influenced by surrealist automatic drawing. I try to pull images out of my head that are odd and unlike anything I've seen. It's drawing without a preconceived idea of what I'm going to draw. That's the way I create characters and worlds that are far out. I like drawing that way and think it suits me.

My second way of drawing is the traditional "think of something and then draw it" kind of drawing. Come up with an idea and then execute it. Often that type of drawing involves referencing things with photos and real life. The results can be as far out as my other drawing but the starting point is different. And it's usually a little more grounded in the "real" human figure. I'm not sure which way will work best for me with a large drawing. That's why I need some inspiration.

I've been doing a lot of pointless drawing lately. By pointless I mean that I have had no end in mind for it. Usually a drawing is a preliminary work. It's a step towards getting to a finished painting, print, photograph, or whatever. That's why drawing doesn't always get the respect of the others and also why it can be the most interesting. Especially to other artists. Drawings are often called the "guts" of a piece of art.

I've been making drawings with no idea if they were going to be finished works. I've been doing them because I've been in a period uncertainty about I want to do. Since I can't decide I may as well draw. That beats sitting around being frustrated.

It's that uncertainty that breeds the desire for inspiration. Uncertainty is in no way exciting and excitement blocks out uncertainty. That's why I want some of it. Now where do I find it?