art inspiration

[Amylou]

Well now that i have handed in my dissertation i am now free! Between trying to find a job and looking after the house i have bought some paints/paper and an easel and really want to get started painting again. But i have painters block

Where can i get pictures to paint from? I seem unable to use my imagination

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Amylou

Well now that i have handed in my dissertation i am now free! Between trying to find a job and looking after the house i have bought some paints/paper and an easel and really want to get started painting again. But i have painters block

Where can i get pictures to paint from? I seem unable to use my imagination

Try the gallery

[wildmanofthewoods]

Good question! It's a real pain when you really wish to paint something and get the Block....With me it's a case of getting everything in my life in order so i have no other distractions, then i may go on a long walk somewhere beautiful. There, i may see something that sets the artistic pulses twitching or helps recall a memory of a wildlife moment, i just must paint....Failing that i go through books or watch a wildlife DVD or 2...It is hard to understand how it is so hard to find inspiration sometimes, with so much inspiration around us but in the end you'll find something, good luck & don't forget to share with us your efforts

[Meta menardi]

Just handed in your dissertation and now feel free?

Give it some time before you try to force something else out of your brain, it could come tomorrow or it could take a few days, you are moving from a very deadlined, intense way of working to something a little more nebulous.

Take a few deep breaths and go for a walk or two.

[annmaria]

Well Amylou at first i thought bit silly really , no body can give someone inspiration ........then I thought some more , a fair bit more
I got a real kick out of producing my first bird sculpture ( and it was no oil painting, pardon the pun ) it was knowing I had created something that did not exist before . So I guess its motivation that drives me personally to create i.e leave something behind or capture a memory or just the challenge.......all this fires the inspiration .
FAILING THAT LOOK IN THE GALLERY LIKE MY FRIEND KAYLEIGH SAID
Goodluck
Annmaria

[galanthus]

Congrats on your new-found freedom Amylou

I found I couldn't so much as pick up a newspaper for a few months after my first degree. Second batch of uni I finished over 4 years ago and only started my photography hobby a year and a half ago You may need a little time to unwind and get used to having brain space, then it'll hit you

[Amylou]

My brain is fried, so much more so because i desperatly need a job but doubt il find something remotley related to my degree. So i will try and find some sort of outside job type thingy to bring the mortgage money in

In the mean time i will enjoy that i have some free time. Its been ages since i have painted anything so the first few attempts wont be worth showing! With the student loan dried up i dont want to waste the good paper i just bought so i will be using some rubbish stuff until i feel brave enough to put paint to more expensive paper.

The gallery is a great place for inspiration actually!

[annmaria]

Originally Posted by Amylou

My brain is fried, so much more so because i desperatly need a job but doubt il find something remotley related to my degree. So i will try and find some sort of outside job type thingy to bring the mortgage money in



In the mean time i will enjoy that i have some free time. Its been ages since i have painted anything so the first few attempts wont be worth showing! With the student loan dried up i dont want to waste the good paper i just bought so i will be using some rubbish stuff until i feel brave enough to put paint to more expensive paper.

The gallery is a great place for inspiration actually!

Yes of course the gallery is wonderful , I have used it my self for ideas.........not having got a degree I guess I do not suffer from any mental blocks !!
I am sure Kayleigh understood I was only teasing.....
Annmaria

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by annmaria

Yes of course the gallery is wonderful , I have used it my self for ideas.........not having got a degree I guess I do not suffer from any mental blocks !!
I am sure Kayleigh understood I was only teasing.....
Annmaria

Yes Ann, I forgive you.

I am not at all artistic, but looking through the gallery there are some fantastic pics of all sorts of wonderful things from landscapes to insects.
This is where I would start if I was looking for something to inspire me.

[Anyanka]

How about starting by looking at some wildlife art to inspire you? If you want to go super-realistic, you could check out Helen Brown. I'm not usually into that level of realism, but her work is just WOW.

This is not spam or a sales plug by the way, just admiration. I'm a practising artist and art teacher (not wildlife though), and I know Helen personally as our husbands work together.

[Amylou]

That link doesnt work Anyanka.

I have to admit that i am a fan of the more impressionist type thing. I love oils because of this. However i am trying to go for the more realistic type so am delving more into acrylics.

[Anyanka]

Oops, I somehow duplicated the http bit. Try again:

Helen Brown

Do you have some of your paintings on display here (or elsewhere), Amylou? And what subject have you just been studying, if I may ask?

[Amylou]

There is one painting in the gallery that i did of butterflies.



I havnt painted in a while though. That was the last thing i did.

I did Animal Biology Well i did 1st and 2nd year vet nursing then changed degree to animal biology.

ETA - wow shes great! Hard to pick a favourite but its probably the Fox!

[Anyanka]

Animal biology, excellent! What's your next aim with that? I'm asking because my daughter is off to do Animal Management at Merrist Wood in September, so I'm always curious what animal-related jobs there are. I know yours is quite a different degree, but still...

Thanks for showing me the butterfly painting. Is that oil or acrylics? I've only 'discovered' oils fairly recently and am totally bowled over by the colours and the handling. I've not done any animals in oils yet, but will do a greyhound soon - as a raffle prize for the Retired Greyhound Trust. Last year I made a pencil portrait for the winner. I hope it's not going to be a brindle one again this time, all those stripes made my eyes go funny.

My favourite of Helen's paintings was an Otter, it's not on her site! I saw it at an exhibition in Marwell zoo; the water around the Otter's head was just... a bit like the hippo on her gallery. I actually don't know how she does that.

[Amylou]

Il be honest and say im not 100% where im heading. Ideally i would mix the vet nursing with the animal biology and work with injured wildlife. But those jobs are few and far between! Im applying for anything animal related at the moment.

Its acrylics. Its copied from a picture that i randomly found. I do love oils as i like to get my fingers stuck in lol. I did a painting yonks ago of a falcon of some kind and the back ground was trees all done with my fingers! It looked very cool. I havnt a clue where it is though