With summer finally being here, I was excited to have more free time to create some of my own art again. Fun-Fact about me, before this school year, I rarely did any art. Before college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I always found myself pretty creative, and knew that I gravitated towards it, but I never thought of it as a career. In my junior year of high school, I joined the yearbook committee. This was the middle of COVID, so I had a lot of time on my hands. I found myself often spending lots of time on this outside of scheduled class time (which was rare for me because I did NOT like school before this year!) I would create layouts for plenty of the sections, took photos for the yearbook, and helped generate ideas for pages and the next years yearbook. This class is what I can say really lead me into pursuing a career in graphic design. The following year, my senior year, I took a web design class. Basically, we created about 5 projects through the semester using Adobe Illustrator. This is where I really fell in love. This is when I truly decided art was for me. With this being said, after deciding to pursue art about a year ago, I have never really created art in my free time before. After this year, I can officially say I am tired and exhausted. These two semesters really kicked me (in a good way!). I grew so much as an artist and learned so much about myself. But, I cannot bring myself to create more art again. I am not inspired, and simply cannot create.

I fell guilty to the stereotypical college kid bank account. I have barely any money to my name, so I have been working every day practically since we got out of school, and have 2 more jobs lined up for the rest of the summer. So, there’s not much free time. But, when there is free time, I do find myself upset per say that I am not creating art. I had so much fun really discovering more about myself these semesters and creating and working with different mediums that I had never worked with before. I am challenging myself to continue to create art for myself through the summer. Whether it’s a bunch of projects, or only a few, I want to continue to create through the semester.

I’ve decided that I need to find more inspiration, so, I curated a list of things that I find inspiration from, that keep me active in creating art, and might be able to help you as well.

Resorting to “easy”/”mindless” art activities

I have always loved photography. I got my first camera (and current camera still, lol) when I was 10 years old, A Nikon D3400. It’s not the best, but gets the job done. While photography is definitely not easy, I find it very relaxing at times, and something easy that I can make myself do when I am not feeling inspired. Below, I have included some photos I took at my brother’s soccer game. I was leaving my house and told myself to grab my camera. There was no obligation to take photos, so if I didn’t want to take the photos, or do anything with them, I didn’t have to. I knew it was a mindless enough task that I could try and do. I am VERY happy with how they turned out. The lighting was beautiful, and I had a wonderful spot on the field to take photos! From this alone, I have already felt more inspired to go and take more photos in my free time. If you enjoy these photos, check out my Instagram for more works! 😉

Where do I find art inspiration?

All of us have phones. Most of us also probably have TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram downloaded. This is where I find most of my inspiration. While aimlessly scrolling on these platforms, I find myself going on rabbit holes of saving different art works from various different artists. I actually keep a note in my notes app on my phone of different art pieces I want to make. These usually stem from things I see on social media. One post can stem tens of different ideas for me. While obviously, it isn’t okay to copy an artists style or work, it’s okay to look for others for inspiration! Often time, finding inspiration in someone else’s work can lead to a completely different medium. Facebook might be one of my favorite ways to find inspiration. I find myself scrolling on their reels multiple times a day. I also have joined multiple graphic design and procreate groups that often post tutorials. It is really easy to find inspiration through these apps, and it is a great place to start.

Thank you for reading! I have two 3-hour flights coming up, so hopefully I’ll have work to share with you! I am bring my iPad on the plane, so I am hoping I just draw, and draw!! I am excited to see what the summer has in store for me. I hope this post helped you realize it’s okay to not always know what you want to do, and that it’s okay to relax. You don’t always have to be creating, you come first and it’s important to take care of yourself! I will write to you guys again soon! 🙂

Featured Image: https://unsplash.com/photos/f6Xv0xs9JWg mikepetrucci