Drawing Inspiration
Inspiration is literally everywhere…
…Although, I admit, it can sometimes be clouded by other…things.
I’ve got a lot going on these days. Not just work, but home as well. So, as usual, I’ve had to get my inspiration on-the-go with me.
When I say inspiration, it’s a little different than just finding a quote to letter. There are lettering tools for that. I mean finding driving inspiration behind working in the first place.
Last week, while I used the vintage-inspired lettering piece I had done for my desk, the assignment was actually from a lettering class I’m taking. My inspiration for that piece came from this sweet tea label (see below) and a lettering artist that specializes in vintage styles named Tobias Saul.
The objective was to create a piece of lettering based on other things that we’ve seen or, as I interpreted it, maybe those we admire…But, to use the inspiration without copying it.
I could be wrong, but I believe much of the underlying inspiration for pieces like these come from architectural structures and patterns. If you’ve ever looked at an ornate gate, an awning, or metalwork, then the influence may be readily seen. I wonder if lettering signage was once thought of as a natural extension of the architecture so that the letters of a sign just retained the influence of the building it was made for. I may never know the answer to that. But, it’s an intriguing thought, nonetheless.
For these particular influences, I have always loved how an experienced lettering artist can make a piece with a rise that still achieves overall balance and harmony. I am also constantly amazed by and simultaneously frustrated by flourishes-the pesky, beautiful monsters that they are. I can’t help but try to wrangle them into something sensible sometimes.
The class itself is a driver of inspiration and I’ve loved it when I’ve gotten to participate. But, being able to include influences that actually spark my interest is a driver of inspiration for me too.
At other times, my muse is just whatever’s going on around me. I’m an art teacher that is supposed to inspire others…so I can’t always wait for inspiration to strike me in the way that a lightning bolt might strike a tree.
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
~Jack London
So often, I have to just reach out and grab inspiration from the atmosphere in a sense.
In fact, one of my latest assignments for my own students came from the walls of our local Children’s Hospital where I’ve been spending a lot fo time with my daughter. Now, seizures suck. Entirely. And I’m even finding out that caregiver burnout is a very real thing. But, at the very least, the view is nice…
After briefly reviewing the color wheel, I start the students on this project with painted paper. Everybody gets to paint their sheet with abandon. No subject, no judgment, no critique. The only restriction is primary colors. So, if they want a color that is not one of the primaries, they just need to know how to mix it. The only rule is there should be no white left on the paper once they are done painting it…because everybody needs a little freedom, and slopping some paint around sometimes, leaving it all on the paper can help with that.
Once we have a collection of painted paper sheets, we share them all, depending on the colors we need. The students can choose a few pieces from the various painted sheets every class period that they work this project. But they are only allowed to take what they can use for that day. Once they’ve made their selections, they get to rip up, tear or cut the pieces they have and build the pieces into something beautiful from the scraps.
Not a bad inspirational prompt from some hospital visits, if I do say so myself.
Last, but not least, inspiration can be birth from need. You just need an idea, period.
The inspiration for this pumpkin came from all over our school. We have an annual pumpkin contest every year where every class creates pumpkins based on a theme they are studying in class. So, we have math pumpkins, social studies pumpkins, science pumpkins, all kinds of pumpkins…etc. The art class gets a pumpkin too. But, this year, since I foresaw how busy I’d be given all I have had going on the past year or so, I thought I’d head it off at the pass with some handlettered pumpkins of my own.
Meh. It didn’t work.
When we got our annual donation of pumpkins, I got one too lol.
As I scrambled to come up with a new idea, I quickly gathered that every idea I came up with was already being done by another class! In my defense, original thought was running kind of thin by the end of this work week…So, at the 11th hour, I just decided to record all of the topics every class was covering on the one pumpkin. I painted the pumpkin in chalkboard paint. Then, I hollowed it out. Since our school flower has turned out to be the sunflower, I even used that idea, making the pumpkin itself into a flower pot to hold a single sunflower of hope and positivity. If I had had more time, I might have even put a speaker inside of it to play some songs by the musical artist of the month, Selena. Since, I didn’t, I just added her name on the pumpkin…and all was well that ended well. It’s probably the equivalent of inspirational vomit. But, it works!
Catch a little of the inspiration bug in my process from my IG Stories below.
Tell me. Where do you find inspiration?
