Finding Inspiration

In this blog post I wanted to talk a little bit about inspiration. I personally define inspiration as feeling motivated to do something or create something. It's that feeling when you read a great book and immediately want to sketch the main character, or you go somewhere so beautiful that you can't stop taking photos, filming or sketching.
In interviews I often get asked how I stay inspired, which I've always found a really odd question as I'm inspired pretty much 100% of the time. There is never really a moment when I'm not planning new ideas or thinking about things I want to paint in my head. I actually dream about paint, it's a bit odd.

But I think for most people finding inspiration and staying inspired is a bit more of a challenge. I think for a lot of people there number one destination for inspiration is Instagram and Pinterest. I love Instagram and Pinterest, I think they are amazing places to share your work, build a community, find new customers and clients and to get a general idea of what's going on in the creative industry is. However I don't think they're good place to seek inspiration. What normally happens after a Instagram binge is that you end up getting slightly overwhelmed by image after beautiful image. The problem is there is no context to these images, you have no sense of how long they took to create, or even when they were created chronologically, and how many first drafts had to go into creating the final piece. You might have scrolled through two years work in 30 seconds. What I generally find happens is that seeing so much beautiful work by other people in a short space of time makes me doubt myself. It makes me feel that simultaneously my work should be more colourful yet more muted, more complex but more simple, basically less like me and more like everybody else that I admire. And what usually happens is that I don't feel motivated to create at all, I just get stuck in a cycle of endless scrolling. Not that I don't love seeing beautiful work on Instagram and discovering new illustrators, but if you're starting to doubt your own work it's time to put the phone down. Best case scenario and you feel a bit down and wonder why you bother, worst case scenario is is that people actually try to imitate what they are see on Instagram and end up copying the artists that they admire. My work has been copied many times by students and amateur painters. I understand why it happens and how easy it is to do. If you are spending a lot of time looking at the same few artists work it's natural that your work will start to look like their's. The best antidote to this is to seek inspiration from as many different sources as possible, preferably away from a computer screen. 

So where do you find inspiration? 
This will vary for everyone. What inspires me may not inspire you, and that's a good thing. Peoples unique and diverse sources of inspiration are what makes their work unique. 
 

Museums and galleries
I always find walking round a museum with a sketchbook or visiting a beautiful exhibition really inspiring. There is something about seeing great works of art close up, seeing the texture of the paint and the individual brush strokes that makes me want to pick up a paintbrush soon as I get home.

Travel
I find travelling so inspiring, and when I travel I deliberately pick places that I know want to sketch or paint. I love going to the colourful cities like Seville or Marrakech or places with a strong history of folk art like Mexico or Peru.

People watching
People watching is such a great free source of inspiration. If you draw people in your work it's great to spend time observing real people, their body language what they wear et cetera. My favourite well-dressed old people and adorable children.

Old films and documentaries
I love the costumes and sets in old films. Anything with Audrey Hepburn oh Marilyn Monroe is a good start. I also love watching documentaries about inspiring creative women. Iris, and The Eye Has To Travel are two of my favourites. 

Vintage shops and antiques fairs
If you like drawing objects then vintage shops and antiques shops are great places to find inspiration. I don't know why it is but I find old objects have so much more character and are just more drawable than new objects. I would rather draw a typewrite than a MacBook any day.

Colour combinations
Keep an eye out for beautiful, accidental colour combinations in every day life. An iPhone is a great way to record these little moments of colour inspiration that might otherwise be forgotten. 

So basically every time you leave the house or switch on the TV the potential for inspiration is there! These are just a few of the places I find inspiration, hopefully this has encouraged you to try something you and seek out inspiration.

Honeymooning in Tulum

When it came to choosing our honeymoon destination we were looking for beaches, good weather and culture. I saw a picture of Mayan ruins over looking a stunning beach and we were sold. Two flights to Mexico booked.

Tulum is a tale of two halves; a stunning beach with trendy boutique eco hotels, and the town which is more rough around the edges but full of local colour and flavour. We stayed in the town in a lovely Airbnb and cycled down to beach on the purpose built cycle path. I have read a lot of travel pieces on Tulum recently that pretend that the town doesn’t exist and that you should spend your whole time staying in beach hotels in eating in beach restaurants. I think that is a bit of a shame because you miss out so much of the local culture and colour if you never venture into the town.

BEACH

On out first day we made the mistake of heading down to the beach, having a swim then lying down on our towels for a read and sunbathe. Big mistake, we both ended up with very burnt backs, despite slapping on the sun cream. I also fell off my bike, stepped in wet cement and turned green in the swimming pool, so we had a hilarious first day. You really can’t over estimate how strong the Mexican sun is. A few days later when our sun burn had healed we ventured back to the beach and did things the smart way. We went to Papaya Playa Project and rented a sun lounger for the day. The loungers are free if you are eating and drinking at the beach club. The days we spent at Papaya Playa were complete bliss; going for a swim in the incredibly warm, clear sea, coming back to our lounger to read, paint, drink smoothies and eat octopus tacos. Being served delicious Mexican food and cold beers whilst reclining on a lounger on a breathtaking almost empty beach was a new level of luxury for me, and I think Tulum has spoilt me for all other beaches. Also I could stay in the shade 90 percent of the time, which is really the ideal situation when you're as pale as me.

One of the amazing things about Mexico is how full of wild life it is. One of the best things that we did was to swim with wild sea turtles. You can swim with sea turtles for free at Akumel, you just need to hire a life jacket and snorkelling equipment. It’s a good idea to get there as early as possible before the crowds arrive. While in Mexico you should also keep an eye out for iguanas, pelicans, tropical birds and giant butterflies.

CENOTES

Another must do thing in this region of Mexico is to visit some cenotes. Cenotes are natural sink holes filled with fresh water. They are incredibly beautiful and an amazing place to go for a swim. We visited a few and our favourite was the Gran Cenote in Tulum. Large crowds tend to arrive from 11am onwards so I would recommend getting there before 9. Thankfully the jet lag makes it easy to get up super early If you have snorkelling gear bring it with you, and if you scuba-dive you are in for a real treat. Cenotes Dos Ojos is great for divers. 

VALLADOLID

If you love colour and folk art and want to see a less touristy side to Mexico you have to visit Valladolid. It's only a few hours away by coach, but it's a world away from trendy tulum. It's streets are full of colourful colonial buildings, perfect for exploring and taking photos. It's got a great selection of folk art shops and local boutiques. Cenote Zaci is a large cenote in the town that is worth a visit. My biggest regret of the holiday was missing the chance to visit the folk art museum because the infomation on TripAdvisor was wrong. What I saw through the door looked amazing! Coqui Coqui is a gorgeous perfume boutique and tearoom that you have to visit.

RUINS
There there are lots of Mayan ruins around Tulum but the ones at Coba were our favourite. They are in the jungle which thankfully provides some shade and also makes them super cool to explore. Hiring bikes is the best way to get around. Mexico doesn’t do health and safety, which is why seat belts are optional, you can swim in caves and you can climb up really tall Mayan temples. I didn’t know I had a fear of heights until I got to the top and couldn’t look down! The steps are steep and uneven so don’t wear sandals like l did! Whilst you’re in the area you can also check out the local cenotes and zipline across the lake.

Our trip to Mexico was everything that we hoped it would be and more; sunshine, beaches, culture, colour, adventure and a lot of incredible food. There’s not been a day when we haven’t wished we were back in Mexico. It was a truly unforgettable honeymoon.