This post will be much more visually appealing then the last two. Painting was a lot more fun too! I completed the large time-lapse sky, and while I waited for the wash to dry remembered my small raven painting. The raven is based on a photo I took in the mountains, I put the camera of my phone against our binoculars and to my astonishment the picture worked out!What is inspiring me today:
I read a great little book last night called "Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon. It was a fun quick read, chock full of insight on where inspiration comes from. I loved the idea of learning your craft by studying one of your favourite artists then, choosing a couple of that artist's influences to study and so on. The goal is to discover your creative family tree. A fun exercise the author recommended was to take two very different artists in that tree and imagine what a hybrid of their creations would look like. He also recommended imagining what artist from the past would create if they were alive today. Lots of gems in this tiny book, I highly recommend it.
Since reading the book, Ive been trying to pinpoint exactly which artists have influenced my painting and I'm hard pressed to come up with names. In watercolour, I love two very distant extremes, one is the meticulous, detailed renderings of botanical and zoological recordings and the latter is the wild and splashy painting that seems to have some roots in the asian watercolour tradition. I now feel a bit, driven to unearth my creative heritage and be a bit more conscious of the artists I draw inspiration from.
Can you pinpoint any creatives that have had a major influence on your work? Can reimagine their creations in a new context?
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