Start with your heart and brainstorm your inspirations

Ever have a good idea and find out that not only has someone else got there first but done it better? I had what I thought was an "original" idea to create a “family tree” of things I love and how they affect the art I make and the way I live my life. After toying with several different approaches ~ each one more complicated than the last ~ I fell back to the easiest route: start with a heart in the middle and draw lines radiating out of all the things I love and felt inspired to include in my art on a regular basis. It turned out something like this:

Now it's your turn!

Put a heart in the center of one of your journal pages and start connecting all the things you love that keep turning up in your art (and life).Here are some topics and ideas to think about including:

• Favourite colours
• A book (or books) you loved as a child that’s stayed with you all your life
• A movie you could watch over and over
• An unexplainable attraction to something
• Things you’ve collected, especially if the collection seemed to “start” itself organically
• Themes or images that pop up in your artwork all the time without you planning them
• Things you’re drawn to in stores, even if you don’t buy them
• Places you’d go at the drop of a hat
• Something you have too many books about, but still want to know more
• Ideas you’ve had for art you’d like to make ~ if only you had more time
• Random stuff you love

But in my research for other ways to map ideas like this, I discovered something called "Influence Mapping" that's apparently a thing graphic artists are doing at the moment to explore artists who inspire them. Because they're all computer savvy and image-based, they take screenshots of artists who inspire them, create a digital collage and then examine the resulting collage for common links to what inspires their work in general.

Based on a very helpful layout I found at Might-Could Studios, here's the visual "Influence Map" I created for myself using all the same artists I used for my "Today I Am Inspired By" project:

Even if you don't have the tech skills to create a digital version of your own Influence Map, I'd encourage you to have a look at the full 4-page version of the Influence Map document over at Might-Could Studios. You could even do a cut and paste version over two facing pages in your journal, or if very inspired, start a whole journal of artists who inspire you. And if you want to feel really unlimited, you could even start a Pinterest board, like the one I have called "artists who inspire ..."

Speaking of Might-Could Studios, Christine Nishiyama also has a wonderful collection of short, friendly art-related essays to have a peek at. They should keep you busy through the month of March while I'm away from teaching.

The other thing I want to show you is a wonderful piece by Ira Glass (of This American Life) on what he wishes all creatives knew about your tastes (which may be excellent) and your skills (which are still developing). I've done up a printable version here:

If you want to really hear and see it in a way you'll remember, I highly recommend this video version.