To generate new ideas for your artworks, you will need paper, a pencil, your imagination, and this article.
Almost every time I make a new painting, people ask me online how I got the idea to do it and why it caught my attention enough to make a painting out of it. And while the process of generating ideas differs a lot from one person to another, I have made a little roadmap that I was using during my art blocks in order to fall into action and get my creativity flowing.
Let’s get started!
1- Find one subject of interest
It could be anything if you want to keep it random and spontaneous! This website generates random words for you that you can use as inspiration for your next artwork or art project.
You just click the button “Generate random nouns” and follow along with the steps I am listing down.
2- Do some Mind mapping
Now that you have a word, you are going to start exploring it and writing related words next to it. Here’s a mind map of my own, using the words “angel” and “futuristic” from a recent painting.
3- Start a visual exploration of the idea
With the mind map, you have a set of words that you can use as elements of your artwork. Draw different ideas in different compositions and layouts.
Explore the idea in small loose sketches, you should focus on quantity rather than adding details and perfecting your sketch.
Once you’re done exploring the idea, pick your favorite visual representation of it and refine it until you’re happy.
These visual representations or sketches are called thumbnails in art.
I ended up choosing a simplified version for a little painting on a clay block and the futuristic city with an immersion for the actual oil painting (look at the picture in part 4).
4- Move to your art medium
Now that you pretty much have a finalized version of an artwork idea, you can move to your canvas, iPad, clay, or whatever medium you choose to work with to create your final artwork.
Keep in mind that many ideas and additions will keep popping up during this final process as well. Give it all a try! Don’t be afraid of exploring. However, don’t let it stress you, once it gets overwhelming, work on the previous thumbnail you made and keep new ideas for newer artwork.
Following this method to generate ideas for your artworks is going to be a sure way to success and you will be impressing yourself every time.
If you wanna see the finished version of these artworks, head over to my Instagram and don’t forget to follow for more.
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