Be Inspired: Use imitation as a path to your authentic voice

So ~ you open your journal you’re faced with a very daunting white page. You want to put something on it, but you’re not sure what. You don’t know where to begin, not sure how to proceed, not sure what your art should look like when its done (and what does “done” mean, anyway?).

These days, if you google images of “art journal pages”, you’ll find an astonishing array of art journaling created by many people. The range of materials, skills, themes and ideas is truly mind-boggling.

There was a time back when I started that I was overwhelmed by all the possibilities of art. I felt creativity flowing through me, but when it reached my hands, it seemed to fizzle out to nothing. I couldn't seem to get what I wanted on the page, leaving me sad and frustrated.

One day I was examining the artwork of an artist whose work I admired and I suddenly began to see all its component parts ~ the layers of colour, the composition, the rich detail. I wanted *so much* to make art like this, but feared I never would.

Even if I did succeed, I feared my artwork would be nothing but a pale comparison of the original and not a real work of art at all. Then one day it struck me that if the artist himself gave me a kit of his materials, when I sat down to work with it, the finished work of art couldn’t help but be an original of my own making.

And this is because I already have my own vision, which is different from his vision and different from anyone else in the world. I knew I had the vision inside me, all I really lacked was the skill to bring it out.

To bridge the final gap between what I saw in my mind’s eye and my hands that didn’t know how to do the work, I just needed to learn the skills to get the juice of my creativity out beyond my fingertips and onto the page.

In the end, all I lacked was skill and I’ve been learning new skills all my life ~ walking, talking, reading, cooking ~ there was a time when I didn’t know how to do any of those things, but I learned how, didn't I? Of course I did. And you can, too.

It’s time to figure out who your art “muses” are. Lean in and figure out what you love about their work, and then figure out what skills you need to learn.

Here's a summary of some wisdom from Adam Kutz I found years ago over at Design Sponge. You can also find out more about his approach to life in his book Things Are What You Make of Them: Life Advice for Creatives.

Inspired by Adam Kurtz's instruction that "Inspiration can come from unexpected places", I chose an image from a magazine to copy (shown in top left corner of the page). I used my favourite medium: Caran D'ache's Neo Color II water-soluble crayons. This time I used them just as crayons (no water), but I did smudge them with my fingers. I'm showing you this not because of how good it is, but exactly because it's *not good* ~ I'm learning and playing and forgiving myself for the parts that failed. That, my dears, is what it's all about!

Here are three stages I noticed myself going through in the process of turning imitation into inspiration:

Intimidation

• I’ll never be good enough to create anything as good as what this artist makes.
• I don’t even know why I’m looking at this. It’s so far beyond me.
• I get so depressed looking at this. Why did I even think I was an artist?

Imitation

• I’m getting close, but it still doesn't look exactly the same as the original in front of me.
• Finally! Now mine looks *exactly* like this piece by this artist I love.
• Well, I like how this turned out, but I don’t see myself in this at all.

Inspiration

• I love all these layers and colours. How can I can create something like this?
• Hm … that interesting… I think I’m starting to understand how these materials work.
• I still see hints of what inspired me, but I love how this has so much “me” in it.