Where do artists find ideas? It's something that creative people are often asked by less-creative people, and there's always a temptation to say things like "everywhere!" or "I send away for them -- they're $50 for a pack of 20." However, that's not really very helpful to someone who is sitting in front of a blank piece of paper or staring at a blank computer screen right now, thinking "what am I going to do now?"

The thing is, ideas are like fish in a lake. Sometimes you're hip-deep in a swarm of them, other times you can't find a single one to save your life. Sometimes they're obvious and other times they're camouflaged. And sometimes you fish one out and think "this isn't what I'm looking for at all!" and you throw it back.

Unlike fish, though, you can't fish too many ideas out of the pool. Even when all the obvious or tasty ones seem to be gone, there's always more lurking at the bottom. You just have to get better at finding them.

So first off, if you have trouble coming up with ideas, don't let the ones that you do have get away! Write them down. Keep a notepad with you in your bag and if you have a weird or interesting mental image, or see something that you think looks cool, or have a conversation with your friends that you think is funny, write down a few words about it or sketch it out. You don't have to develop all the ideas that you catch, but you'll be glad you have a list when it's time to sit down in front of that big blank piece of paper.

This is great when you're in the middle of an idea swarm, but sometimes you just can't seem to come up with anything, or everything you do seems like the same old thing. What do you do then?

At this point, you have to work a little harder for your fishies. First, try doing something different. Listen to some new music, go for a walk, sign up for a class or club, visit a museum, research something you've never learned about, try a new medium -- ideas come from experiences, so the more experiences you have to draw on the bigger your breeding pool of ideas is going to be.

Next, try boredom. We're surrounded by distractions all the time, it's easy to waste time texting about nothing in particular or playing on the DS or looking at stuff on the Net. Not that there's anything wrong with unwinding with friends or games. If you want to get things done, though, you have to put distractions aside sometimes. So go someplace where drawing or writing or just thinking about stuff is the most exciting thing you can do there. I get all sorts of weird doodles out of really boring meetings. Go to a coffee shop, don't take your electronic toys to waiting rooms, ride the bus... go somewhere that's boring and make your brain entertain itself.

Also, let ideas give you ideas. Bounce ideas off friends and see what they throw back at you. If you're developing an idea, think about the different directions you can take it. Like if you're doing a picture on the theme of spring, you can have spring as the season, or a toy spring, or a spring in your step... you can do spring from the point of view of a farmer or a city person, or a mouse, or a snowman, or someone living in a different culture... you can think about all the
different things that happen in spring and list those. Somewhere in there you might come up with a bunch of different ideas you might like to take further and if you write them down you now have a few ideas instead of just one.

How about getting ideas from other people's work? Well, we don't live in an artistic vacuum and it's a good idea to learn from other artists. On the other hand, you don't want to get a reputation as a leech or discount copy of a better artist. So it's best to use other people's ideas as a start or launching point and then head off into your own territory. You can't rewrite your favourite novel, but you can analyze what it is that made the novel great to you -- did you like the romance? The atmosphere? The way the characters interacted as friends or enemies? With a picture, did you like the colours? The way certain things popped out at you? The subject? The pose? Take out one or two things that you liked best and put them together with your own ideas or things that attracted you in other books or pictures. That way you're taking things that are special to you and creating something new out of them, instead of just trying to be a copy of someone better.

Look online for projects that are going on. There are always tons of contests, movements, theme-of-the-week pages, theme groups, clubs and random idea generators floating all over the web. All you have to do is find some that interest you. You don't have to join them officially if you don't want to (although having group support or competition can really get people moving!), but if you think a project or contest might be fun then give it a go. Or just let the theme or club inspire you on your own.

Also, make a collection of things that inspire you -- save pictures, bits of writing, colour schemes or bookmarks. Some people like to organize their files, other people like a random grab-bag. Some people like to surround their work area with interesting and inspiring work, other people like to have as few distractions as possible. Figure out how you work best and do what works for you -- not everything works for every artist. And don't feel dumb about how you work -- if it's stupid but it works, then it isn't stupid.

Another thing you can do is set aside some time when you only work on your art. If you do this regularly, your brain will come to understand that when you go into your room or studio and turn the music on (or whatever) that that is "art time". It will make it easier to get into the right mindset for art, and the faster you can get working the less time you'll waste staring at a blank sheet of paper.

Starting to work when you don't feel inspired can be difficult -- suddenly you remember all sorts of things that you could be doing instead, from cleaning the fishtank to watching that Dr. Who marathon. It can be helpful to set your "art time" to be fairly short. Then you can tell yourself "oh, I'll just do art for half an hour or 45 minutes, and if it's not working out then I can go do something
different." Sometimes it just won't be going well, and you'll work on a few sketches and then quit. But at least you did something. Other times you'll start and really get into it and two hours will be up before you know it. Just don't sit there for a half hour, trying to think of things to draw or write. Doodle, draw things around you, write the first thing that comes into your mind, just keep working. You can always make it better later.

Sometimes, you actually have a whole sketchbook full of ideas, but when you look through them you start thinking "oh, this is dumb. I don't want to do this. This is difficult. This is going to take forever." There are times when everyone feels like that, but let it go on for too long and suddenly you've got an art block on your hands. Sometimes the important thing isn't getting the perfect picture or story, sometimes it's just to keep working and honing your skills. If you think about a complicated picture it can get overwhelming. Breaking it down into smaller pieces and doing a little bit at a time is much more manageable. Plan it out. Look for references, do some studies, and then put the smaller pieces together into one whole. If it doesn't turn out right, don't become too discouraged. It wasn't a waste of time, it was *practice*. It will make your next picture just a little bit better. And you can always come back to it in a year or two, when you've learned more, and improve it.

An art or writer's block can be a great creative opportunity -- it can make you try something different, something that turns out to be fun and good, something you might not have otherwise tried. Or it can suck away all your creative energy and leave you out in the middle of the desert with a flat tire. Don't fall prey to the latter. Inspiration isn't always going to come to you, sometimes you have to go to it. So keep moving and keep working and keep thinking, and your pool of ideas is going to get bigger and bigger.