In this article you'll find some tips that can help you gain inspiration or trigger your imagination. I hope my little article will be helpful to you.

1. Play with words.

I can't even say how much this method helped me to stumble upon fresh ideas. How does it work? Simple. Just relax and try to lead an inner monologue with yourself trying out to distort words, sentences and collocations that you have known you're whole life. For example: you know the meaning of words "to fall in love" but can someone "fall in hate"? And how do you call a drunkard that drinks with another guy for social reasons? An al- co- holic... just like co-pilot. Try to think of a word that sounds alike to the one you're thinking of. I called the cat of my hereo in my novel-to-be "Inquilibrium"... WOmandragora/WOmandrake (no chauvinistic message behind this - honestly!). I also wrote about it in my article about music. You can find the link on the bottom of the article (I hope I won't forget to enclose the links).

2.The more you read books/watch movies, the richer becomes your inner world. New thoughts create more chances to experience a productive clash of thoughts

You wait a long time for a great concept to show up, but it appears in your head in the least expected moment. I have experienced this in case of my novel I mentioned earlier. Suddenly many older concepts came together to build an outstanding mosaic in my head. I know that it wouldn't be possible without some movies I watched like the ingrnious Equilibrium or House of Flying Daggers or books by Philip K. Dick like Ubik and by Robert Howard who wrote the adventures of Conan. The more arrows (concepts) you have in your quiver (mind) the greater the chance that you make a hit. Good luck with hitting bullseye with just one arrow...

3.Deny the obvious

It's one of my favourite methods. It bases on the idea, that people got used to many things and these things are completely obvious: breathing is free, dreams aren't real, we have a freedom of beliefs etc. The key to make a reader/addressee feel disturbed about the vision is denying the obvious: make your characters pay taxes for breathing (P.K. Dick created doors in flats that had to be paid, to let you in and out), let the government decide which gender or name the child of the heroes will have, make the plants at home prohibited etc. The director of Equilibrium created a world without feelings. The inhabitants had to take Prosium to keep their life in an emotionless state... there was a belief that the ability to feel is the source for all evil. Remember, deny the obvious! Be different like almost every other artist that wants to express his individuality.

4.Keep a notepad with you

I regret that I haven't thought about it earlier. I depended on my memory and this way I lost many of precious ideas that appeared out of nowhere: in the classroom, in the street or even in the toilet. No I write every promising idea down. It really makes the life of an artist better. Trust me. Writing in a notepad instead on separate sheets prevents you from losing your ideas under a pile of documents...

5.Set a goal

Many times you don't feel like drawing because you feel it has no point because you won't see the difference between the new and the old works. Set a goal like: I will try for the first time to draw using compassess and a reference photo in case of anatomy or I promise myself that I'll draw something for the first time on dark/black paper. This way you stop concentrate on th problem and start to concentrate on th improvement of your skills. You know the eager that pushes you to try out something new? Try to awake such eager intentionally. It helped me when I had no electricity at home and couldn't improve my deviations digitally. Remember, make out of creating a purpose and not something random.

6.Look at a simple object and think about a thing that you would expect here the least.

If you see a bottle, you would n e v e r expect to find a... e mail message in it (on an electronic display) or when you see a drowning person you would never expect her to have a... road sign in her hand. It may sound weird but it allows to get rid of a way of thinking filled with cliches.

7.Working with your subconcious mind

I am not sure if it works in your case, but it was really the most successfull method I used. You make yourself comfortable right before going to bed, you pray to your God, then to your Guardian Angel for protection (right before sleep and directly after waking up, the logical mind is inactive and the subconcious mind is ready to believe almost anything you say to yourself or... dark powers whisper into your ear)and then try to talk with your subconciousness. Cover your eyes, make yourself comfortable, enjoy the silence and try to let your thoughts flow. Tell your subconciousness "please show me the best concepts basing on combining human bodies with elements you've got" and don't concentrate, don't strain your imagination. Just observe the visions, roll your eyes in circles. At some point something will tell you: "this is original! One of a kind!" and if you like the idea, make a quick sketch in a big notebook lying next to your bed or take notes like "flaming tail. dancing among stars. phoenix hair. fan out of glowing knifes" The worst thing is, I had to take notes in total darkness, so I won't leave the state of mind I entered by turning the lights on. I was able to record 30 - 50 really outstanding ideas. It's a pity that some drawings I copied into the notebook were unreadable. At heck was I mad when my ballpen failed, refused to draw lines and i found out about it too late...
That's it. I wouldn't mention the prayers if not something really disturbing I experienced during this summer break. If it wouldn't be serious I wouldn't mention it. You're doing this without a proper prayer at your own risk... you can never be sure what or who suggested you these ideas. And I assure you, I had 1% of concepts that were really disgusting and I didn't even bother to take notes of it.

8.Mythology, hisoty, ancient beliefs and philosophy is mysterious and leaves plenty of space for own interpretation

History and mythology is something we haven't resarched completely. There is still a lot of questions to answer. And you can try to answer some of them in your novel... did Mayans really have contact with aliens? What do we know about the language of the druids? Where did all these beliefs come from? Are they fake or based on facts misinterpreted by the ancients?

9.Don't stick to the type of art you've been doing forever.

The easiest way to regain artlust is to try something new, Of course, your watchers might not be used to experiments, but this shouldn't prevent you from trying out new techniques and styles. Stagnation is standing at the start line during a race and thinking that you will never ever reach the finish line. Maybe you experience an artist;s block because you are bored deep inside with what you do and think that you're not improving, that all of your deviations look alike.

10.Cheer up. The mind works best when it's open

I don't know if that works in your case this way, but I can't draw when I'm troubled or depressed. I concentrate too much on the problem. Serotonin that chocolate contains works wonders.

I hope this little guide helped you to rearrange your thoughts a bit.

Best wishes and I hope we'll meet again.
Pedigri the Anti-Paladin living in the Anti-Theatre

Previous articles that will never become outdated
When DA is down:interesting websites #1 - postsecret . blogspot . com
Tutorial:ABC of style. Writing for everyone #1
What medias do you use? Music!
When DA is down: Interesting websites #2 - elouai . com (candy bar 3)