Fearless Friday, Art Inspiration Ideas
Sometimes the biggest challenge of art
is deciding what to draw or paint
I get a lot of ideas from viewing the work of other artists
Studying the styles of other artists is a great way to get inspired
This painting by Nancy Standlee caught my attention
with the bright colors and simplified shapes
This pillow from Pen and Paint
wears one of my favorite sayings by Kobi Yamada
I made a collage with these photos and 6 other art photos
with elements I wanted to use for a painting
A chef {my painting}, apples, bicycle, lemons
and a colorful pattern
I combined these inspirations into a large acrylic painting
Another way I get painting ideas
is to browse around Pinterest
I keep Pinterest boards with photos of ideas for painting
I have a board that has photos of flower arrangements
that I refer to when I want to paint flowers
This photo from my flower ideas board
was one I chose for a watercolor
I liked the color and texture variations
and the play of lights and darks in the stems and water
I also get inspired by pretty photos I see on other blogs
Pam from Everyday Living is always sharing photos
of her beautiful garden that I want to paint ~
Mary from Home is Where the Boat is
often shares photos of beautiful flower arrangements and vignettes
that make my paint brush itch to get painting
I also look at photos on Unsplash and Pixabay
when I know what I want to paint but need a reference photo
When I created Arizona Landscape
I wanted to try out a marker technique I saw on Pinterest
and needed a photo for reference
Both Unsplash and Pixabay
provide photos you can download for free
photo source Unsplash
Itās sort of an abstract/modern/funky style
Botanical books often have detailed line drawings
of various plants and flowers
They are great to use to practice drawing
and then you can color the images
Sometimes a powerful reflection will catch my eye
and I want to see if I can capture it like this bottle of Red Wine
Fresh fruit and vegetables can inspire a painting,
I love to paint tomatoes
“Tomatoes in a Black and White Bowl” 18″ x 24″acrylic on canvas
Sometimes I participate in art challenges like
World Watercolor Month {July} and Doodlewash {monthly}
These challenges provide a daily prompt word to paint
Right now Inktober is in full swing
and I have submitted 8 paintings so far,
combining the daily prompts from both Inktober
and Doodlewash into one drawing
“cake/dessert” “spiders/web”
“path/woods” “dodge/ball” {the candy corn was trying to “dodge” the spider}
“map/pirate” “drip/faucet”
“toad/prince” “bounce/kangaroo”
I hope I’ve given you some ideas to find inspiration
and jump start your sketch book or paintings~
Be Fearless!
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs
Sundays on Silverado/ Happiness is Homemade
Whatās for Dinner / Love Your Creativity
Between Naps on the Porch /Turn About Tuesday
Wednesday Linky Party / Karinās Cottage Linky Party / Creative Crafts
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I love seeing your riffs on the inspiration pieces — taking the essence but making it entirely your own. These are all lovely, Jenna (as always, I might add!) and very inspiring!
Thank you Jeanie, Happy Painting!
Lovely images, and I love the quote “She turned her can’ts into cans…”
Thank you Dorothy, good words to live by…
Whoa! So colorful! From the paintings, quotes, and still life arrangements – it would take a month to work through all the beautiful things you’ve tossed this way. It’s like having a visual confetti bomb explode at a party. So much fun! Happy Weekend – I’ll be in Orange Beach this weekend – working on my audiobook!
Thank you Leslie Anne and that is exciting about your audiobook! I won’t be back to Orange Beach until Thanksgiving, I sure miss being there in beautiful October~
So pretty and fun. you are so talented. Love the cake! Happy weekend.
Thank you Linda, and the cake has no calories š
Jenna, I so enjoyed this post. You are so creative and super talented. Thanks for the shout out and my limelight hydrangeas. Happy Weekend!
Thank you Pam, your beautiful photos and flowers always inspire me šØ
Thanks for sharing your inspiration ideas. It’s fun to see how an artist thinks.š
Thank you Linda š
Oh Jenna, I love your splashes of creativeness in this post!
Thank you Mary š
Lovely inspiration! You always amaze me!
I enjoy when you paint blogging friendās pictures! I also enjoy the cactus and desert paintings! They are so bright and colorful!
Thank you Nancy, you know I love seeing your Arizona cacti šµ
Wow Jenna, just wow! I love seeing how things inspire you and Jeanie’s comment about making it all your own. The collage is lovely and the botanicals are beautiful. They are all gorgeous. Happy Monday to you!
You are too kind, thank you Kim š