While many of you are an inspiration to others on your own creative merits, I wonder if there is anyone else who sets aside little (or big) passages and other quotations from authors, poets, film, or TV whose work gets you in the mood to write or in some other way encourages you into a certain manner of expression.

I keep around a digital notebook of some of my favorite thought-provoking, creativity-motivating, or words that paint an immediately vivid picture. Sometimes they add color to a character or world in an intense way, or they're clever ways to word things I wouldn't have thought to express from that angle. Sometimes they're ways of phrasing or writing a concept or theme that we don't often see in modern fiction but might work for a fantasy setting or elsewhere and I want to keep around that idea as a reference of how I might do something similar, but different.

Please share and feel free to provide some context if necessary, such as a passage from a sci-fi novel that really gets you motivated to write something science-y, or a bit about the person if the passage is from a memoir.

The question is a bit more nuanced than the title suggests, which I kept succinct for clarity’s sake.

Are there any of you living off of their original art? By this I mean works that you create according to your personal vision, and without a “list of requirements“ for you to fulfil. So, if you are a visual artist - you paint/draw/design what you want, how you want, when you want. As a musician, you play the same. Etc.

Why I am interested in this topic: I struggle to call art a hobby, since I am borderline depressed whenever I don’t engage my mind & hands to create something. But from an outside view, that’s how it looks. I work a day job, and make whatever time I can for my art. I don’t earn any money from making it.

I’ve had some experience in the past with creating visual media as a commission, and it is definitely something I am not interested in pursuing.

Therefore, if there’s anyone here who makes a living off of art, without compromising their vision, I am really interested in hearing your story & advice for how someone else can get to the same point.

I've been working on a few artistic endeavors recently, and have found myself grasping for inspiration. Tildes has such a lively group of creators, as we see many put on display every year in November, and I'd love to know where you all draw your inspiration from! I'm leaving this purposely vague, anything is on the table: people, places, objects, ideas, music, whatever!

Oftentimes I find myself feeling overwhelmed when listening to music that speaks to me. I feel vivid imagery cover the landscape in my mind's eye, as if a custom made music video was being created on the spot to accompany the sound.

I encounter a frustrating obstacle when considering how to best translate this surge of inspiration into art. I know exactly what I want to create but feel limited by a lack of experience in animation, modeling, illustration etc. and the time it would take to approximate my vision. Altogether, it becomes discouraging and the idea withers before it has a chance to blossom.

My question to the creatively-minded is this—what strategies are deployed to counteract your self-doubt before it undermines your inspiration?

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Thank you for any wisdom offered. The tildes community is special and dear to my heart ♡

My buddy and I grew up in the 80's and 90's together in a mostly analog world, so we spent a bunch of time outside on bikes and getting dirty. We played board games a lot with each other and our family, but as the turn of the century hit we were more engrossed in technology.

We both ended up in careers around creative design and technology, but still have that nostalgia from our past. We have been hanging out this past year and started streaming on Twitch so we can put our skills to use in a fun hobby.

Since January we had the idea to see how far we could push AI to help us create a board game! It's been a fun time starting from nothing and producing something. While the AI craze and controversy are out there. We realized that going all AI to make a fun game wasn't going to work. We've been using it as a tool but adding a lot of ourselves to it.

We hope to give a free downloadable and 3d printable version out. We are excited to get where we are and have an actual fun game. We figured we'd share our progress of the game. Frostbite: The Curse of Doctor Frost

Does anybody know of communities that would be into downloading, printing, and playing board games?

I'm sure there are multiple comic artists and writers on Tildes, so let's talk process for designing and planning pages! Hopefully this fits here, but if not feel free to move it.

I've only drawn a few comics myself, and I like to make a script first for longer projects. It can be detailed and break it down by panels, or just give an overall summary of the page. For shorter comics though where I can clearly envision it (e.g. 4 pages), I like to kind of wing it. Someone else I know likes to go right into roughs, and then figure out what to cut as he goes along.

How about everyone else? What are your preferred methods and steps?

How do you begin? Do you have rituals or specific places you work? How do you decide it’s done?

I’m interested in hearing from creatives of any kind! Maybe we can draw inspiration and wisdom from someone who isn’t in our creative sphere.

What creative projects have I been working on? It’s almost a labor to answer that one concisely, hence my lack of participation.

My mind is of never ending creative ideas, some great and some not, most not.. but they don’t ever seem to stop. I also like to be creative, and as a result, have ended up with more “started” projects then I’m willing to count.

So my question to fellow traverses of the tilde-verse is, what are some methods you use to sustain productivity in individual projects when creativity itself inspires starting new projects?

I used to work as an artist full-time, and I've learned a few tricks over the years to help me create consistently, even when I don't feel very creative.
I recently read a book called "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield that hit on a lot of what I've discovered and presented a lot more insight on the subject of creating and overcoming blocks.

So I'd love to hear what helps all of you out there stay creative and spark the muse. Are you willing to share your process and approach?

Whether digital or physical, what certain tools do you use and what unique ways do you use them to achieve the best results? Namely, what tips would you be able to share with someone looking to get into making art somewhat similar to yours?

Examples:
oil painting - Are expensive brands of paints worth it? Do you prime your painting surface? Why/why not?
digital painting - Are their tricks to the way you can use some photoshop tools? What bumps your game up from beginner to mid-level?
photography - what can/can't be accomplished in Lightroom? What's worth investing in? And how do you make a photoshop selection to cut out a person or animal with fuzzy or whispy hair?
crafters of all mediums - what adhesives are good? What's the best place for materials?

This is obviously an open-ended conversation as tilde's user base is still growing. What type of art do you do and what personal tips can you share?