Art Inspiration: What It Is, Where Artists Find It, and 10 Ideas to Get You Painting Today

How to Find Inspiration as an Artist 1:06:47

Art inspiration is the pull that makes you want to paint something. It might be a color on a wet street, a song, a memory or another artist’s painting. The artists who never seem to run out of ideas build places to find it, and they paint before they feel ready.

That’s good news, because it means inspiration is something you can grow. Below you’ll find what art inspiration is, where artists look for it, four habits that keep it coming, and ten ideas for the days it won’t. If you’re facing a full-blown wall rather than a dry spell, our guide to how to overcome creative block goes further, and how to get out of an art block covers the fast resets.

What is art inspiration?

Art inspiration is whatever gives you the urge to make a particular piece of art, and a first idea of what it could be. It can come through your eyes, but it doesn’t have to. A smell, a piece of music or the feel of the wind can start a painting just as easily as a photo.

You’ll also see it called “art inspo,” which is just the short version. People use it for the images and ideas they save to spark their own art.

Where do artists get their inspiration?

Artists get most of their inspiration from a handful of sources they come back to again and again:

• Nature. Light through leaves, a stormy sky, the ocean, a garden in its last week of bloom.
• Other artists’ paintings. Notice what stops you in a museum or on Pinterest, then ask why. Is it the color, the brushwork, the mood?
• Music. Fast, upbeat music can push you to paint loose and quick. Slower music suits the careful finishing stage.
• Your other senses. Smell and taste carry memories. Cinnamon can put you back in a winter kitchen, and that scene can become a painting.
• The seasons. Each season changes the color and feel of everything around you. Most of us have one we love, and it shows in our art.
• Memories and your own story. Places you lived, people you love, moments you want to keep.

What inspires you depends on your own life. Someone who grew up in the desert might find a gray, rainy morning the most exciting weather there is. Pay attention to what moves you in particular, and you’ll find a source no one else has.

Does inspiration come before you start painting, or after?

For most working artists, inspiration comes after you start. We tell our students that you meet inspiration while you’re working. Waiting until you feel like painting means painting a lot less.

Most days a professional artist doesn’t wake up itching to paint. You’d rather stay in your pajamas and answer email. You go to the studio anyway, and within five or ten minutes of starting, it’s the best part of your day.

The painter Chuck Close put it bluntly in an interview with artist Joe Fig, collected in the book Inside the Painter’s Studio: “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” His point, as The Marginalian’s write-up of that interview explains, is that the best ideas come out of the process itself. You start one thing, it suggests another, and the painting you reject points you somewhere new.

There’s a kindness in this too. If you went to the studio and the painting didn’t work, you still did your job. There’ll be other days when everything flows.

How do you build a stockpile of art inspiration?

Build a stockpile by saving images that move you long before you need them. Photos that stop you, color combinations you love, compositions you want to study, scenes you mean to paint someday. When the well feels empty, you don’t have to pull an idea out of thin air. You open the file and let something in it pull you back to the easel.

Organize it so it helps you. Sort images by subject, by mood or by color, then mix across them: a palette from one photo, a composition from another, a subject from a third. For a practical system on gathering and using your own references, see reference photos for painting.

How does a painting schedule create inspiration?

A painting schedule creates inspiration because regular painting produces more ideas than waiting does. Set a time each week, put it on the calendar, and keep it like an appointment.

It works for two reasons. First, it builds a habit, and once painting is part of your routine it stops taking willpower. Second, momentum builds. You sit down meaning to paint for fifteen minutes and look up an hour later, because starting was the only hard part.

If you want the schedule to point somewhere, pair it with SMART goals for artists and creatives.

Why does keeping your studio ready matter so much?

A ready studio matters because every bit of setup between you and the canvas makes it easier to skip the session. On a day you don’t feel like painting, the thought of dragging out an easel and hunting for brushes is often enough to end the idea.

So take the friction away in advance. Leave the easel standing, the palette in reach, a canvas ready and your favorite colors where your hand expects them. For more on building a space that keeps you coming back, see our guide to studio practices.

How do you refill the well when inspiration runs dry?

Refill the well by making time for painting that doesn’t have to be good. Artists who only ever paint assignments and commissions often lose the spark. They still love art, but having to make something wears the fun off it.

So schedule play on purpose. Try an art challenge, a new set of supplies, an art journal with no rules, or fan art of a movie you love. Nothing is riding on these, which is exactly why they work.

What are some art inspiration ideas when you’re stuck?

Here are ten ideas that work on a slow day. Pick one and start within the hour.

1. Paint the same view in a new season. Your street in autumn, then again after the first frost.
2. Paint what a song feels like. Put on music you’ve never heard and paint for twenty minutes with no plan.
3. Paint a smell or a taste. Coffee, cinnamon, rain on hot pavement. What colors are they?
4. Copy a painting you love. Study how the artist handled color and edges, then paint your own version.
5. Paint a memory. A kitchen from childhood, a beach, a face you miss.
6. Limit your palette. Three colors plus white, and see what they can do.
7. Try a medium you’ve never used. Oil pastels, gouache, collage.
8. Join an art challenge. A daily prompt takes the “what should I paint?” question off your plate.
9. Paint something small. A 6x6 canvas finishes in one sitting and gets you moving again.
10. Go back to your inspiration file. Pull three images at random and combine them into one painting.

If you want more prompts, winter drawing ideas is full of simple subjects to start with.

What if the block is bigger than a dry spell?

Sometimes missing inspiration is something deeper. A short lull responds well to the habits above. If you’ve been stuck for weeks, dread the easel or feel you’ve lost your reason to make art, that deserves a different answer. Our writing on creative block and identity goes into that fuller territory.

For everyday dry spells, trust the habits: the file you keep, the schedule you protect, the studio you leave ready and the play you let yourself have.

If you want a reason to be at the easel every day with a clear thing to make, our Two Week Challenge gives you exactly that, which is inspiration’s favorite condition. Start today, and let the next idea find you with a brush in your hand.

Frequently asked questions

What does art inspiration mean?

Art inspiration is whatever makes you want to make a particular piece of art: a color you saw, a place, a song, a memory, another painting, a feeling you want to hold onto. It's the spark that tells you what to paint and gives you the energy to start.

What does art inspo mean?

Art inspo is short for art inspiration. People use it for images and ideas they save to spark their own art, like a Pinterest board of color palettes or a folder of photos they'd love to paint.

Where do artists get their inspiration?

Artists find inspiration in nature, other artists' paintings, music, the seasons, travel and their own memories. Most of all, they find it by painting regularly, because ideas tend to show up once the brush is moving.

How do I find inspiration to paint when I feel stuck?

Start before you feel inspired. Open your file of saved images, pick one that pulls at you, and make one small mark. Most dry spells loosen within the first fifteen minutes of painting, because momentum carries a session more than mood does.

What are some good art inspiration ideas?

Paint the same view in a new season, paint what a song feels like, copy a painting you love to learn from it, paint a memory from childhood, try a new medium, or take part in an art challenge. Low-pressure projects refill the well faster than commissions.

Why do I lose my artistic inspiration?

Inspiration usually fades when every project becomes an obligation. Class assignments, commissions and paintings made to impress people can drain the joy that drew you to art. Protect time for fun, unrequired painting, and the pull usually comes back.