This photo is not one of my paintings. It is a representation of inspiration for a future painting. In this article I want to talk about what inspires me to airbrush art. In this era of my career, my thoughts drift to painting things for my own pleasure. Recently I have picked up the fun habit of incorporating aspects of Zen into my process.
The Zen approach is mind opening. I truly believe this is a balm for the worries of the world as it allows me to achieve a new level of peace in my art practice. But one of the side effects of practicing presence in my art process is a sense of clarity in the rest my life. I see random things that bring pleasure to my eyes.
Those things are inspirational for me as an artist. I see these little gems everywhere. Including sites like Unsplash and other copyright free image sites. I often see inspiration on Pinterest, but I am very careful to keep my inspiration as loose as possible when using that site as many times the original artist is not credited and even when they are, you shouldn’t copy their work. I like to look at the art on my Pinterest board and then when I’m ready I try to do the painting without any reference to the original. (It’s okay to take a peek but try not to have it a a 1:1 reference.
Take this photo for instance. It’s a photo I found on Unsplash which means it’s free to use under the license of Unsplash. I love carousel horses but I love the creepy liminal vibe about these horses. So the inspiration is a vibe. An “aesthetic I’m after as well as a study of color and a roadmap for color theory while planning a future piece.
This is also the stage when I begin sketching things out for a stencil so my session is much faster. I try to completely pre-plan my pieces long before I begin. This way I’m able to have a choreographed session that takes a fraction of the time to complete.
That is SO rewarding. It’s one of the little things I am happy to share on this blog. There is so much more to being an artist than the painting part. For me it’s just as much about the pre-planning process as it is about the actual application.
Remember, in life as it is in art creation, it’s about the journey not the destination. Happy airbrushing!
