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John Opie was once known to have said,”Art is more godlike than science. Science discovers but art Creates.” This quote tries to answer the question that most artists are asked. What is it that gives them their inspiration? Sometimes we can easily see what the inspiration is. Sometimes the answer is as simple as the people and situations that surround the artist become his inspiration.  But other times we don’t really know how the artist got his idea.

Most artists use people, surroundings, and areas they are familiar with, even for works that are abstract, or ar fantasy art. Sometimes the people in an art work are even a composite of many different people. Some artists are inspired by their dreams and even their life goals, that’s why I say that each piece is a part of the soul of the artist. So to really understand what inspires the artist, you need to know about the artist, his history and what interests him as a person.

It is really difficult to understand what inspires creativity, and that may be what makes it so interesting. Artists use many things to inspire the, a conversation, another piece of art, nature, and many different things.

Photo: Courtesy of Stephenpoff

Widely regarded to be one of the leading influences in the world of Pop Art, Roy Lichtenstein was a famous artist who helped to usher in the Pop Art period of the Modern Art movement.  His works were often incredibly stylistic, based on different panels, which he took from comic books and adapted into his paintings.  Lichtenstein felt that his work was not representative of American art, however, but was of a more industrial nature.  One of his aims was to find art where it already existed in the world and if the piece was particularly striking to him, to reproduce it through his own eyes, giving it his own interpretation and vision.  There are many critics out there who feel that Lichtenstein merely copied works of other artists, but this is simply not true.  By representing the image through his own eyes, with his own interpretation, Roy Lichtenstein makes a commentary on what exactly it is in art that speaks to us.

Born in New York City in 1923, Lichtenstein was exposed to art during his school years, at an early phase.  He took a quick interest and studied art all through his early school years.  He went to Ohio State University for its studio courses in fine arts, pausing partway through his studies to serve in the Army during World War II and after.  Later, upon graduation, he was granted an MFA and began teaching off and on, while working as a painter experimenting in Cubism, Expressionism, and Abstract Expressionism.

In 1960, he began to teach at Rutgers University and a fellow professor ignited his interest in Pop Art.  Lichtenstein began to make his paintings, using images that he derived from cartoons and commercial advertising.  His artworks as well as his technique are very expressive, as Lichtenstein often used Benday Dots to express color.  His paintings have since become highly recognizable, as they make bold statements about Pop Culture, often presenting their ideas through the image of pulp comic art.

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John Opie was once known to have said,

“Art is more godlike than science. Science discovers but art creates.”

This quote tries to answer the question that most artists are asked. What is it that gives them their inspiration? Sometimes we can easily see what the inspiration is. Sometimes the answer is as simple as the people and situations that surround the artist become his inspiration. But other times we don’t really know how the artist got his idea. Did Jesus and his disciples just appear to Da Vinci? Of course, not! So how did he come up with the idea?

Most artists use people, surroundings, and areas they are familiar with, even for works that are abstract or fantasy art. Sometimes the people in an art work are even a composite of many different people. Some artists are inspired by their dreams and even their life goals, that’s why I say that each piece is a part of the soul of the artist. So to really understand what inspires the artist, you need to know about the artist, his history and what interests him as a person.

It is really difficult to understand what inspires creativity, and that may be what makes it so interesting. Artists use many things to inspire the, a conversation, another piece of art, nature, and many different things.

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Mathemetician and Scientist, George Louis Leclerc de Buffon, was not afraid to explore and discover and argue all that he studied. He lived during the 1700’s, an age when no one questioned the idea of the earth being older than 6,000 years; yet de Buffon declared that it was over 75,000 years old.

He also had ideas about the human mind and creativity. He said,

“The human mind cannot create anything. It produces nothing until after having been fertilized by experience and meditation; its acquisitions are the germs of its production.”

Our ideas come from thoughts that must come from somewhere. But they do not come full grown. They begin as seedlings and develop until they burst forth with fruit or flowers. The more we know and begin to understand, the more we feed the ideas within us. That nurturing process begins to produce creativity until suddenly, a full-blown idea seems to come from nowhere and it surprises us with its shape, imagination, and even wit.

Each person carries these seedlings within. Nourish your mind and nourish the minds of others around you. Creativity is life-giving and self-perpetuating and you can have a part in it.

Ptoto: Courtesy of Tinsell

American artist and writer, Scott Raymond Adams, was born in June of 1957. Although his most famous creation, the Dilbert comic strip, can be seen daily in the local paper, he also stays busy as the author of various books of satire, business commentaries, and philosophy, usually seen through the eyes of the ever vigilant Dilbert.

In his book, The Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams makes a rather profound statement.

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

Where does the artist start? How long does it take to get from idea to canvas or instrument or poem? How many mistakes are made before the poet gets it ‘just right’?

There are two phrases that struggle with each other in daily life. We tell the child to color inside the lines and yet we tell the adult to think outside the box. We can not have it both ways. How many mistakes were called to M C Escher’s attention before they stopped calling them mistakes and started calling them art? The child who colors in the lines, or outside of them, and the adult who thinks outside the box, or maybe inside of it, are both expressing creativity. The mistakes that are made sometimes lead to amazing results becoming a rare work of art, a beautiful motif in a piece of music, or a refrain in a moving poem. Be creative; color outside the lines; think outside the box; look for the art that moves full blown into consciousness as a result of the mistake gone right.

When we refer to artists and their work we always think of creativity, but what is creativity? The mystics define creativity as “being attune” with God. The job of the artist, painter, musician or writer then is to attune with the source of all creation, listen, and tell the story. It sort of goes with the old saying of “Shut up and listen.”

This in essence means that everyone has the ability to be creative, they just need to listen to the voice from within, and for an artist to be able to attune to that inner voice he may need a special place to work, a special time of day, a certain place, or experience, something that makes them want to paint and express the feelings and the creativity they feel from within. The next time you look at an artist work try not to think about it, but feel the creativity that emanated from his soul when he created it.

Humanity is defined by its ability to perceive, feel, create and respond. Without these abilities we would not be considered humans. We understand, and analyze information and then respond to what we see.

Because most art forms are visual, it creates responses within society that either inspire an emotion or provoke a change. So in essence we are changed by what we see, and this is how a good artist can provoke emotions within us, by creating something that will inspire us to change, to feel, or to aspire to something greater than ourselves.

Art which is created to transmit a feeling or a point of view can change the way we see our life and those that surround us. Art no matter what its form, whether it be visual, musical or dramatically inspires our memories.

Artists themselves are inspired by everyday events, sights, or images and because of their abilities can transmit these feelings to others through their art, and in this profoundly affect all of us as a society. Art teaches us to appreciate beauty or to question our values! As Edward de Bono put it so well, “There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.”

An artist’s creativity and inspiration begins with his own envision. It is the individual’s unique perception that forms his view and how he gets inspired. Each artist’s creativity will be fanned in different ways. Inspiration and creativity go side by side in artistically inclined persons and there is no definite situation that will ignite this surge suddenly.

This also depends largely on the type of art that the artist is inclined to. If he is a landscape artist, the outdoors will inspire him, but if he is a portrait or still life painter he will get stirred with different objects. There is a mindset involved in the painters thoughts which gives motivation to what attracts him.

Dull days for creativity

Every artist will have dull days when he is not inspired to do or start a new work of art or even to work on one that he has already started. This is a burn out of his energy and he would have to reenergise himself before commencing his painting once more.

Distant lands and spots of scenic beauty which it may not be possible to visit are brought within easy access. Creativity conveys much more than what meets the eye to the viewer and brings alive hidden splendour and mysticism. Rocks and stones and twigs and branches come alive under the artists deft strokes and are transformed into a beautiful landscape.

To a lay person what he sees before him may not inspire him to create something wonderful which he could present to the world as a work of art. The sunset or sunrise, a moon behind dark cloud, water rippling down a cliff or a barren stretch of land is transmitted with a mesmerising effect by a landscape artist in his paintings. The landscape artist brings beauty and a mesmerising effect into the most unassuming and dull scenery. What could not be perceived by the onlooker is drawn to the fore by the artists’ viewpoint and submitted in its fascinating form to the viewer.

The creative mind of an artist is an expression of his soul which the artist puts into action and displays his creativity. There is a bit of art in every human being. Some create beautiful visual effects while others pour their expressions out in poetry and prose.

In today’s technical World, even a computerised form of art is an invention of sorts. It is something that the artist has visualised and manifested in his work. A florist creates an arrangement with flowers, placing them in a beautiful array of colours and blending them into a pretty picture, this is also creativity and a work of art.

As creativity soars on the wings of imagination an artist creates what is hidden in his mind, for the rest of the World to see and admire.