Inspiration Sketches!

FIDM answered my question... and I didn't even realize it!

My homework for my "Creative Design Theory and Elements" class was to find 22 images that "inspire" me. 11 of the images had to be on things found in nature and 11 had to be of man made things. Then after we had found those 22 images we were to pick our favorite Nature image and our favorite man made image. Here are the images I ended up with:




Then we were to trace over these images with pencil and ink. There were no rules to this specific assignment. Tracing the images was just a suggestion, but we had to come out with sketches inspired by our two images.

From My Nature Image:




From My Man Made Image:




The next step was to use color with our Pencil/ Ink sketches:

Nature:



Man Made:




This Exercise REALLY got my imagination working. It was amazing! At first I was like, "This is stupid... I hate this. Why am I tracing a photo?!" But then it just started flowing and I realized why we had this assignment. I was asking how to get out of my rut? The answer was right under my nose the entire time! I'm going to use this idea of brainstorming creativity for the rest of my life. It's such a simple idea, but it really works...

I mean, I think this assignment is supposed to eventually turn into a garment since I am in Fashion Design. But still, this idea can be applied to all aspects of art or anything that requires creativity. Just find images that REALLY inspire you. Images that EXCITE YOU! Then really look at the photo. Ask yourself, "Why do I like this image? What attracts me to this?" Then do as I was instructed to do. Trace over the image and let your imagination go wild. Don't be afraid to make stupid things. You can see that some of those sketches were completely random and I ended up not liking them. But it lead me to one idea that lead me to another. Of course, these were just 2 steps in a... 8 step process I think? We're going to be expanding on these images for the rest of the quarter so I will take the color pictures and make something from them, then something from that etc etc. And when I do, I will be sure to post them all here!

Chip