What Inspires You to Produce the Particular Types of Images You Do?

[AnnaKirsten]

I thought this would be a really interesting topic for discussion!

I happened to mention in a comment about wondering what was in someone's mind when they produced certain types of art, and the response was also very intriguing and in-depth.

So.. I just wondered....

Here's some questions to prompt some responses:

Do you get an emotion or feeling about something you want to express?

Do you express things that give you pleasure, or that give you a feeling of upset and disarray?

Do you do art just for the fun of it?

Are you trying to make a statement with your art?

Do you do art just for yourself, or to impress others?

How do you start a picture - for example, do you see a scene and then set out to reproduce it on a blank page, or do you start off with something on your screen (or paper) and then get working from that?

Do you have in your mind beforehand the very thing you are going to produce, or does the image evolve as you are creating it?

What motivates YOU?

[bigH]

It just Happens . Like falling of a log .:beerchug:
I surprise myself ever day .

H

[Farore]

I mostly do art for the fun of it. I like to experiment, or just (in my case) tweak around a bit and see what happends. See if i get something i like.

like bigH said...it just happends :)

But emotions do play a part...it depends on my mood what shapes and colors i use, what i like...if that makes a little sense lol

But as said it's for fun and if someone happens to like it it makes me happy :boogie:

[Lady of the Lake]

I very seldom start out with a specific thing in mind. Usually just plop an object in a blank Bryce screen and go from there. Nine times out of ten, that original object will not be in the final render. It will have gotten zapped along the way.

My mood does influence what I do .....I may not think so at the time, but in retrospect I can see that it did.

Mostly I create for myself, but if someone else likes it, I am elated!!!

As far as what inspires me.......everything!!!! LOL

Lyla

[tdierikx]

Well... I work in Apophysis - which by it's very nature is somewhat random in what is offered up when it opens up for you to play with...

I go through the random batch and see what happens when I do certain tweaks, run certain scripts, etc... then, depending on my mood, something may or may not start evolving from one of those random flames.

I like the randomness of what can come out of Apophysis. I find that is what inspires me the most... that I'm not 100% sure of what I'm going to end up with until I really start playing with it.

T.

[shadowwalker]

Well since I collect dragons and medieval pieces, most everything I produce comes from my own desire to see it, and to have fun. 95% of my images comes from viewing a prop (building, armor ect..) and playing with the camera angle till the rest of the image comes into view. Alot of times I see a prop and see the image I want at the same time,so most of it is planned but of course variables arise as I go. The other 5 % derive from posing. I like to see what my figures can really do and try to push them abit. I treat my dragons as I would the humans and try and give them their own personality and moods, and get them to interact in the scene as much as possible.

[Engel47]

I open Poser and then stare at the blank workspace for hours on end *LOL* - normally that is more or less what happens - I then opt for a figure - V3, M3 or whatever - then I opt for an outfit, and sort of build around it as it were, it just grows :D Only time I have a definite idea of what to do before starting is if it is for a challenge with a defined theme. :work:

[ppetersen]

Interesting question... :)

Lets' see, what inspires me, sometimes the sky I see as I drive along (while attempting to navigate traffic at a horrific speed) occasionally a picture in a magazine ( I've done several fairies and merfolk based on the image they sent my mind while looking at them) Sometimes a student will ask for something specific and before I take pencil to paper I think (occasionally I've been known to do this)

But most often it's what my mood is, which is why I've been doing TG work ... When I did paint all the time, it was the same, my mood dictated what sort of landscape I created... The colors I imbue in it or the lighting etc...

And rarely, very rarely an image or idea pops into my head and I go with it. That's how my mushroom people came to life... :) Now it's become sort of a "You have to do it or it's not a mushroom"...

:)

[Robert_S]

Fine question indeed - I would prefer answering in my own language but than there would be problems for the most to understand it - so I tweak my mind to give me a translation...

There are different ways I get my ideas depending from the program I want to use or I have to use and depending from other circumstances like my mood, the weather, the hour and so on. I started drawing at the age of 12 years, pencil drawing and charcoal. My first motif has been the ocean and the seashores... this is coming up again when I'm using TG.
I wanna settle everything I start with - I can remember times I was sketching my left hand again and again to get the right feeling for the anatomy. Airbrush and oil painting were my last 'normal' artworks - often for some clients...
Than I changed to photoshop and to image editing. The programs were getting better and better and the hardware had to do so too... or vice versa, nevermind. At the end of 2003 I discovered Cinema 4D and now I was sure that nearly everything in my mind can be done using photoshop and 3d-packages.
Inspiration I get from other people using Internet and special magazines. Most of my ideas I get following my dreams and different training dvd/cds were I can improve my skill saying 'whow!' THIS is possible?! :very_firs

[AnnaKirsten]

How interesting to read your responses so far. There's a variety in it, and I think I can relate to many of the ways people have described their approach here.

What I'm hopeless with on the whole, is just staring out with a clean blank page and wondering how to begin what I want to do. That's when I have an "image" in my mind first, and want to express it in art. It's best for me if there's something somewhere on the page/screen for me to work on. This is where, as T says, Apophysis can come in so handy. Sometimes I can manipulate that into something worthwhile in its own right, but more often, before I even get that far, I "see" other images that I could produce out of the pattern that's already emerged.

Same with photography.. Sometimes a photo is brilliant in its own right and shouldn't be tampered with, but at the same time, I get ideas from that picture, and then go on to develop those ideas, changing the original ethos of the photo into something completely different.

Other times, I might just start with a Poser figure I've made into a tube and work from there. On a few, very odd occasions, I have gone to the Public Domain photos site where there are often images for free use with no ties attached, and used one of those as a starter, then built on it, changing it yet again.. This would be only when I want something from a place I have never visited, and never will!

Most often, I don't have the full picture in my mind first by any means, and like many here, something else evolves out of the first thing on my screen. This may even be something like just a textured background! According to my mood, or the type of image ethos I want, that's something I may well go for first off, then develop it. I must say I love patterns, and forming them into recognisable images! I also love vibrant colours, or very little colour, depending on mood, either of myself or of the image I'm producing. Oh and I love eyes!!!

So many different ways!!! It's rather like wordless "speech" or music! Whatever the method, the arts are a wonderful form of expression!

Oh, and finally, I very often end up producing something that isn't even in accordance with my personal belief system! Now that's wierd! I think it reveals something in me that isn't in line with what I think I believe, and is a form of expression of maybe something I'd prefer to believe, or of my doubt about what I say I believe or have been taught to believe. Does that make sense?

[Snow_Angel]

What inspires me a lot of the times is my emotions. Most of what I make is out of my desire to express what I am feeling or needing to feel. Like Terragen for instance..gives me a feeling of peace when I look at the terrains,water and sky. It brings a harmony to my emotions. Fractals are when I am feeling inventive, and Poser is when I want to create a Fantasy, like Faeries and such! But most of my images are 98% inspired to make them. I don't like to copy a style or someone elses picture, I just want to do what I feel to be my own styles. Thanks for this great question Nicky! :clap:

[minos_6]

This is a cool subject to discuss :) Some interesting answers so far too...

Before I adopted my current style, I simply opened Bryce or Poser and started experimenting - with objects, with placement, with textures, ideas - was never really happy with any of the older stuff though - it seemed pointless to me, although it was good practice.

Years ago I used to teach creative writing. I always taught that you should write about what you know. This gives your work truth, honesty, authenticity... and I decided to apply the same philosophies to my pictures, after discovering the work of Kitsch painters. It completely changed the way I work.

All of my work displayed here so far is based on my life experiences, and is totally devoted to the expression of emotions, negative or positive. Sometimes it's my emotions, sometimes I view things from someone else's point of view.

I do my work primarily for the individual. I hope that each person that views can identify with the piece. It's not so important to me if something I did attracts universal dislike, but of course it's nice to receive positive feedback, and to know that people appreciate or can identify with something you did :)

Usually it's the darker side of life that gets expressed - it's also my intention to provoke thought - to introduce subject matter that to some might be slightly uncomfortable, but with which the viewer can identify. However it is never my intention to shock or offend!

Nowadays, every item is planned. I can get inspired by a memory, a conversation, another piece of art ... personally I don't care about originality, I care about realism. I try to present what is pathetic and fragile about the human race, in a sympathetic and compassionate light.

Most of my pictures these days include verse - sometimes the picture comes before the verse, and vice-versa...

In a future posting, you'll see my first attempt at a self portrait using DAZ Studio, Bryce, Photoshop and Fireworks! :disbelief

Finally, in line with the Kitsch style of painting, I try to present at least one of the following in each image:

1. The open, trustful face (especially in "Blood & Tears" and "Man Sleeping"),
2. The sensual skin (especially in "God and Devil", "Man Sleeping" and "Back"),
3. Golden sunsets (especially in "Drowned Man", "Forsaken" and "Second Sin" - a future posting), and
4. The longing for eternity (especially in "Men Waiting", "Man on Beach" "The Stone Prophet" and "Butterfly").

My work now does have a definite style, and I'm always careful to be faithful to that style, and not to step outside its limits, which makes each piece an increasing challenge :)

Dzanetos :artist:

[vos]

For Terragen it is most the theme of the challenge for Fractals the same.

Playing with Bryce is fun,when I start with a new work,I always think now I create a realistic landscape,but the abstracts jump out my computer,most times

[wile1]

Inspiration comes from all over the place. Sometimes in dreams. Or watching TV. And sometimes like Angie I open poser and sit and stare at it! But generally I just take a figure, make it, put it in several poses til I like the pose then work from there. Put the figure on several bgs. play with them til something hits me and then go from there.

Sometimes I have something specific in mind. And I go to it. Sometimes I just make a lot of things and throw them all together.

No matter how I do it when it comes to the final product I always like what I do. If I don't you won't see it here.

I think too my imagination a lot of it came from my father. He was a great story teller and had a great imagination. He taught me to imagine things especially fantasy things. He could take the simplist thing and make it seem real. So I've always taken that aspect off him and used it. In real life and in art and in whatever I've done. I gave my children that gift to, to use that imagination in whatever you decide to do in life. My son.. LOL he is a card really, takes after me cept for the art part, but it shows in his photography. My daughter is funny and has a great sense of humor.

My inspiration.... My family .. yep thats it my family .. from my late parents and grandparents, to my husband to my kids to my cats.. everything in my life comes from them, what they taught me, what they teach me, and their belief in me.

[Robo]

I rarely start out with anything in mind although sometimes I see a picture or a sky and it gives me an idea, most of the time I open a blank sheet and drag a terrain in, play around with it and end up with something totally different !! and then play around with lighting and atmospheres and if it works it works and if it doesn't I discard it and start all over again. My mood does affect what I produce and I have to be in the right frame of mind. However I do love landscapes and therefore I produce those by choice hence my use of Vue mostly as it gives me a lot more control over what I do, just wish I was more capable. I started by playing around with Bryce a year ago which was my first dabble into art (photography excepted) and was amazed at what it could produce and then migrated to Vue as it gave more opportunity to create more natural landscapes and still allow some abstract work, although Bryce is still the best choice for that ! More than anything else I find it relaxing to do (ok frustrating sometimes !!) but I do find it a good way to relax at the end of a day !

Rob

[classylady]

Gosh I must say I have not received any messages for this thread

mmmm What inspires me

Well I would have to say what ever kind of mood I'm in normally depends on what program I work in at that moment. For me Fractals are a way to relax a way to be creative without any stress... same with Terragen I don't work with Terragen daily I normally wait till I'm really in tune with making landscapes,then make a ton of them all day long..
Actually same with poser. Each program for me I work in to relax guess it is my form of getting away from reality...

So mood for me would depend on what program I use and when I do I like to push my poor old imagination to the limits. Entering challenges also helps push the imagination to be creative.

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it :ta-da:

[ron0946]

Really I never know what I'm going to do. I open say Poser click on a figure add some clothes and see what props or scenes go with it and go from there. Or sometimes I just get this hairbrain idea and go with and see what the heck shows up.:froggy: :moon:

[LilianaSapphire]

Usually i try and think of what i want in an image and what message i'm trying to put across. Whether it be political, emotional blah blah blah.....

I'm usually into dark stuff at the moment, because i've always been that way. Surreal, gothic......all that stuff....

I get alot of encouragement from my partner (Miko0) on renderosity as well.


Anna:w00t:

xxx

[Tripper]

For me...the maim criteria is i do art for me. If it pleases me, then i hope it pleases the viewer. Like most here...inspiration comes from many places...a song lyric...words in a book...something i see....other peoples art. Also moods play a big part..i am bi-polar...so that can play a huge part in how my works evolves. I seem to have an abstract sort of mind LOL, so even my abstracts are seen in my mind before anywhere else. I nearly allways have the image in my mind.
Then again...i can jus sit and play around and an image evolves.
I said earlier that my art has to please me, only then will i post...if others like what i have done...well...thats the biggest buzz...allways blows me away.
This is a great thread and very very interesting, for me..sharing thoughts like this is also art.
This truly is a home from home.
Graham

[Q.R.]

I wish I knew what inspires me. Sometimes It's a manic kind of thing that just pops into my head and it won't let go until I bring it to life. Other times I sit down and have to think about creating something. (these are not usually successful) I'm never really aware of what it is that triggers my urge to create a digital piece. It just happens, and I go with it. I guess my quilts are the same way . (not quilts in the traditional sense, but what my husband calls fabric wall art) I just go with whatever has taken hold of me and needs to be created. I sometimes feel as though I am the tool that these things use to come to life, instead of the other way around.

[SnowDog]

Inspiration comes from many sources, TV , work, life.

I tend to have ideas that pop into my head and sit there like the little angel / devil charaters on my shoulder and nag at me all day in their own way. So I am thinking of them and how would I go about creating them on the computer.

Sometimes with PhotoShop I am trying to develop an interesting technique and I come up with the technique using whatever photos and sometimes this leads to an interesting image overall.

Playing with Fractals caused me to come up with some intersting images aswell and I plan to try some more experimenting with 3D programs aswell in the near future.

Great topic

SnowDog

[Vandal999]

Playing with fractals means that I don't really go out to capture an image.

I do get inspired by things I see, like a dragonfly wing or the iridesence of bugs wings. Or a really nice colour on a car, or a shape that appeals to me. Maybe even something I've smelt or felt, not that happens often. But the thing that inspires me to create the most is Music (http://www.innertraveler.com/messagecenter/showthread.php?p=18205#post18205)

[lior]

I thought this would be a really interesting topic for discussion!

I happened to mention in a comment about wondering what was in someone's mind when they produced certain types of art, and the response was also very intriguing and in-depth.

So.. I just wondered....

Here's some questions to prompt some responses:

Do you get an emotion or feeling about something you want to express?

Do you express things that give you pleasure, or that give you a feeling of upset and disarray?

Do you do art just for the fun of it?

Are you trying to make a statement with your art?

Do you do art just for yourself, or to impress others?

How do you start a picture - for example, do you see a scene and then set out to reproduce it on a blank page, or do you start off with something on your screen (or paper) and then get working from that?

Do you have in your mind beforehand the very thing you are going to produce, or does the image evolve as you are creating it?

What motivates YOU?

I'm using Terragen and now I'm beginning with DazStudio(P6 in the future)

I'm nore more sharing my Terragen artwork 'cause I feel through the comments that only 2 or 3 members were catching my message through my TG artwork.
With TG I expressed the opposite of what's in my brain: I generaly din't create any realistic landscape excepted the last TG artwork I uploaded at this gallery.I realised landscapes with gorgeous atmo, some ones saw my artworks at RS.Now Terragen is my secret garden so instead of feeling deceptions I prefer not to share my TG artwork.
I began creating photomontages with photoshop: I was creating a boat ... a plane...explosing...for expressing the disaster of this life but this kind of artwork was stressing me more and more so I decided to imagin a wonderful world that's only exists in the Garden Of Eden and I used Terragen to express myself fully: I have never shared the best of my TG artworks.

The artwork begins in my brain...after this I use photoshop or Terragen or DazStudio or a fractal software ... to express this GardenOf Eden that's in my brain.
Art is a sort of communication.This real communication doesn't exist .

[judee3d]

Lior, I'm sad that you feel that way, but I do understand. When our art is so very personal to us, it takes courage to put it out there and ler people judge it. I understand your need to keep your most personal images for yourself, because no matter what, no one else will see them in exactly the same way.

Art is subjective - what the painter paints, what the painter sees inn his/her creation is one thing. What the viewer sees is another. The viewer inevitably sees through a filter - a filter of who they are, a filter of their own unique way of perceiving.

So I think, in displaying our art, we have to know and understand that it is likely that few people will even come close to our personal view.

But that's okay. For me, the best art is one that inspires many interpretations, that takes the viewer on an inner trip of feelings and thoughts and inspiration - or even just something lite and fun.

I create my art (for now) mostly in response to challenges - it's my way of practicing and learning the programs I am exploring. So in that case it comes from my mind first - an image, usually vague at first, slowly taking shape.

Fractals, of course are another thing - even for challenges they are more intuitive, more personal.

My favorite expression of art is when i just start with a blank page, no ideas, and simply begin - whether it is a sketch by hand or a landscape or putting a poser figure on the pèage and going from there - no idea of the finished product, just let my muse direct the show and see what happens. I can do that by hand, but I'm not yet at the stage that I feel comfortable doing that in Poser or Daz Studio - or other programs. I'm still learning the techniques, but once i am comfortable with the techniques, I won't be distracted by the "how" and can just let go and create.

That is my ultimate goal in learning these programs - to let go and create. or rather, allow the images to create themselves.

[AnnaKirsten]

WOW! I have really enjoyed reading all the responses in this thread so far! Some are so inspiring, some are similar to my own, some are so very different! It's always really interesting to know how other artists think about and approach their work.

I must admit I rarely do seem to obtain the results I really want to! I often get completely thrown off my original idea by the sight of someone else's image which then gives me a new idea, and so the image might take a turn for the better or the worse as a result.. Maybe as yet I haven't fully formulated my own style, although others may well disagree, and always know when they see certain images that they are created by me! However, I love diversity!

Since I emptied out my gallery and have started uploading new things, the resulting numbers of comments for some of them have been astonishing! For some that I'd not have expected many comments, I have received many more. Others for which I would normally have expected quite a few, have had relatively little response! One image in particular, of which was a re-upload simply because it was the end result of a tutorial without which it was incomplete, there are a mere 5 comments compared with something like 26 or more comments when it was originally uploaded. That looks bad on viewing things as they currently appear, but at the same time, I do find that commenting again and again on images that have been removed and then re-uploaded for whatever reason, very irksome indeed! Yet one aims to please wherever possible.

The apparent inconsistency in commenting is quite a strange phenomena! And one that maybe those who feel hurt by apparent lack of appreciation should take note of. Lack of comments does not mean your artwork is not any good, or not appreciated. Sometimes it can simply mean, yes it's excellent, but we've seen something like it before, whether or not it was originated by you. It can mean, particularly if it's a re-upload, the commenter just hasn't the time to stop and write something all over again. Also, we have to bear in mind that any artist is likely to only upload a single real masterpiece once in a while, whilst all the others are pretty much of a muchness... There are only a very small handful of artists who's high standard of artwork is totally consistent.

And let's not forget also, that as Judee points out, when we produce something that in our eyes is special and in our hearts is meaningful, others will not necessarily appreciate what they see in the same way at all. No insults ever intended, but it could be that something we think we've done exceptionally well, actually is pretty meaningless to the majority of onlookers.

As an aside, I started doing TG work a while back. Was beginning to get some really good results (IMO) but then people started using World Machine also, and some people really worked hard with both these programs until they began to perfect the art. Meanwhile, my computer had to have some repairs done to it, and TG has never rendered anything since then. Neither is it a program I want to specifically specialise in, and therefore I have decided for now at least to give it a miss, although I do miss the interesting terrains from it as a basis for other input. Instead I now try landscaping by hand, or by using elements from photos or whatever.

For me, then, artwork is ever-changing, ever-evolving.. Digital hand-drawn art, for instance, has been something I've enjoyed having a go at, but again, the comment ratings would imply that either those images are not good, or they aren't the sort of images people find to be aesthetically pleasing to them personally (apparently the majority)! One just has to accept this and keep going.. One day, maybe a real masterpiece will emerge out of constant practice!

[wile1]

Do you get an emotion or feeling about something you want to express?

Do you express things that give you pleasure, or that give you a feeling of upset and disarray?

Do you do art just for the fun of it? Mostly its for fun. I just love art and working with different things and learning new things. Art to me is an extention of what a person is. But mostly I just do it cause its fun.
Are you trying to make a statement with your art?

Do you do art just for yourself, or to impress others? Strictly just for myself.. if it impress's someone else then I think I've done a good job.

How do you start a picture - for example, do you see a scene and then set out to reproduce it on a blank page, or do you start off with something on your screen (or paper) and then get working from that?I usually start with a figure in poser.. then work with her or him or it on several bgs til I find something that shouts at me. For instance the two angels I posted recently.. They were the same angel but each one came out different. And I liked both so I did both.. Sometimes I start with a background though And try to come up with something for it. At other times its pure dumb luck a picture just happens to show up.

Do you have in your mind beforehand the very thing you are going to produce, or does the image evolve as you are creating it? Sometimes I get an image in my mind but mostly it just comes out while Im working on it.

What motivates YOU? Lots of things.. TV, magazines, real life, friends, even other art work... And my family allowing me the time to play on the puter. And the love of art.

[Rumour]

Do you get an emotion or feeling about something you want to express?
Most often I do. sometimes the emotion comes before the image, sometimes the emotions comes as I am creating it, sometimes the emotion starts as one thing and then turns into another becuase I am feeling better (or worse) than when I started it.

Do you express things that give you pleasure, or that give you a feeling of upset and disarray?
Both. Typically I like joy because that is the best kind of mood to be in and positive emotions are the more creative ones for me, but most often you can't escape anger or sadness and fell the need to express it. Sometimes I can't create at all when in this mood, but when I can't do art, I can usually write, and that's creative too. I've had some interesting characterisations develop that way.

Do you do art just for the fun of it?
Is there any other way? Yeah sure, I could be doing it JUST because I'm paid to, but then it becomes work and less enjoyable unless you enjoyed it to begin with. If you don't like it, you tend to do bad art. If you like it, then great, and if you get paid for it, even better!

Are you trying to make a statement with your art?
Nope. Unless it's: :moon:

Do you do art just for yourself, or to impress others?
I was going to say no here, but then I thought about it... is sewing art? Is spending hours creating a pattern from scratch of a medieval dress, selecting fabric and braid, sewing it up, sewing on dozens on beads and couching (a kind of embroidery stitch) for hours and hours a kind of art? Do I do all this just so I can look great and take pride in what I can do, or do I just like people to get that wide-eyed boggly kind of look, kinda like :eyepoppin and :jawdrop: when I tell them how many hours of sewing and hand stitching I spent, how many beads there are, how many yards or metres of fabrics there are etc. and tell me I am insane for taking on such a project and putting so much effort into it? So to answer: I do art just for myself because I like it, and want to improve my skills and be able to share what I know with others. I do sewing to impress the pants off everyone else.

How do you start a picture - for example, do you see a scene and then set out to reproduce it on a blank page, or do you start off with something on your screen (or paper) and then get working from that?
I usually start with an image in my head or a photo of what I want to draw (most often with an image or feeling of something I wanted it to convey. I do portraits from a photo of that person - because it's easier to get them to sit still long enough that way. On the other hand, I have an image in progress that started out with several photos I took and wanted to composite together.

Do you have in your mind beforehand the very thing you are going to produce, or does the image evolve as you are creating it?
Image in mind, always. Most often what I create doesn't end up looking like what I had in mind, but gets somewhat close to approximating it. Hence why I want to keep going, to better produce the images I can see. I don't think I've ever had something start as one thing and evolve into something else as it got created, but it cold still happen. :D

What motivates YOU?
This is too big a questions to answer briefly, but I'll try. What inspires me can be anything. Motivation is the trickier thing, because it's what I lack a lot of. I'm always motivated by new ideas and new projects, but get half way through and the motivation wanes and can easily die. I have several (perhaps several dozen) unfinished projects because of it, and many projects I haven't much started on because I felt I should try to finish others before leaping into something new. This has always been my problem. (Time is also, but that's another issue.) I love for things to start, I hate for them to end. Think of it like a play... the conception, the script writing, auditions, all the rehearsals, adjustments along the way to allow for better ideas - all of it's creativity. Once the curtain rises on opening night, all the hard work and effort finally gets to be seen, but from then on, there isn't anything else to create, no new ideas can be introduced, you're just going out on stage to entertain and by the closing night, it's all over. No more. But then s new concept comes along and it starts all over again. With me, I get half way through rehearsals, and THEN a new idea comes along, so getting to opening night is a struggle, because the motivation and inspiration by then is hard to find.

[wile1]

Drat forgot some!! :D sorry thats my life lately forgetfulness!

Do you get an emotion or feeling about something you want to express? Sometimes.. But I think I work more out of confusion. I do my best work by just taking an object or a figure and working around it.

Do you express things that give you pleasure, or that give you a feeling of upset and disarray? Not usually.. Well at least not the upset part but the pleasure part yes. Im not much for negative. I've always been more of an out there happy go lucky person so I tend to do art with a colorful happy feel. The dark side of it isn't me. But on occasion something just clicks and dark comes out.

Are you trying to make a statement with your art? Nope! Just do it for enjoyment and hopefully to bring a smile to the face of my friends! :)

[AnnaKirsten]

Drat forgot some!! sorry thats my life lately forgetfulness!

Aww never mind Lou-Ann, I understand! :nod:

Half the time I can't even find the images I want to develop, let alone remember where to look for half my filters, or what filters I used to do that "special effect" with last time etc.. :blahblah:

I'm always motivated by new ideas and new projects, but get half way through and the motivation wanes and can easily die. I have several (perhaps several dozen) unfinished projects because of it, and many projects I haven't much started on because I felt I should try to finish others before leaping into something new.

I so can relate to this too!

Ever gone out and spent lots of money on all the things you need to do a project, then suddenly run dry of ideas before you even got started? That happened to me just recently! Bought all these Aquarelle pencils (like I used to have years ago) thinking I would do some new trad. artworks.. Got the special drawing/sketching pads etc., etc., and then when it came to it, I looked at that the blank paper and couldn't even think of what I wanted to put on it!!!!!! That's roughly £100 or around $156 all for nothing unless I can make a breakthrough! And what makes it worse is the pressure to justify spending all that money! Ummmm.... :jawdrop:

[Altered_Ego]

I'm an artist and writer. That is a function of my spirituality, and emotions.

Much of my art deals with an attempt to portray my life and experiences.

I invented several characters to aid in this pursuit. The first was Marlin Fingle, who is kind of an Alter Ego for me.

But Marlin Fingle doesn't look very close to my actual appearance. I'm much larger, have a beard, longer hair, and wear glasses. So I invented Rick Klick.

Now I have a huge cast of characters. No one has seem all of them since they keep multiplying.

Right now my direction is to create more cartoons, or maybe work on my illustrated "novel" or short story entitled "Machines That Madden."