It’s bound to happen sometime. You might be the most prolific artist ever; you might have the best creative brief ever authored. But you simply can’t seem to get a start on your illustration, piece of art or the first frame of your animation storyboard.

First, you’re not alone. Creative blocks are common for creative people. If and when one strikes, the first thing to do is reassure yourself that you’ll get around it.

Sources of Inspiration for Artists and Animators

Back in the day, like the last century, artists and illustrators kept physical ‘idea’ files. These were stuffed with magazine clippings, the work of other artists, brochures from gallery openings, photographs, and more.

Idea files were a place for artists to store anything they found inspiring. Then, when they sat down to put pencil to paper and drew a blank, they could look into their idea file for inspiration.

Of course, today everyone can have access to the largest idea file ever, the internet. But the internet is so vast with so much inspiration, you may not find all the places where your particular inspiration lurks.

Here are just a few of the different places you can find inspiration for your work, beyond doing a straight google search.

1. Blogs

Sure, you probably follow a few blogs you like, but if you look more closely, you find inspirational blogs in some unexpected places. In addition to artists’ blogs, and those from design agencies, Adobe offers a graphic design blog that highlights artists, trends and news.

2. Podcasts

It might seem counter intuitive to get graphic inspiration from an aural medium but podcasts, like The Bancroft Brothers Animation Podcast, can help point you in directions you might not have thought of before for inspiration.

3. Other Artists

Websites, YouTube videos and social media are great places to display your art and that makes them great places to find inspiration. And, again, in ways you may not have thought. Can you pick up any pointers for concept art and/or illustration from graffiti artist Omen514’s Instagram feed?

Here’s one more. You can always visit Max the Mutt’s Alumni Portfolio page!