Extensive two-sense from Focal Flare of Stash Vault and Sernak Labs

What is good y’all, itzzFocalFlare.

This is the NIFT version of the document that I've made for Volosk Stash, so some things will be edited.

In this [post], I’ll discuss with you all about inspiration in art and how it differs from stealing, and how you can take inspiration from other artists. This may be a lengthy one, but hopefully, I can clear up some confusion so you guys can still get a good grasp of inspiration, having read all of this through, with if not all confusion either subsided or voided!

Inspiration

So you might wonder, “What the heck is “inspiration” if it’s not stealing?”, and that’s a great question! If I were to put it in my own words, inspiration is the act of taking in a few key factors of one piece of art you’re reading, looking at, or listening to and reinterpreting them in your own way while also adding on your own things to it as you’re making a new piece of art.

When you're making anything as an artist—doesn't matter what kind of art it is as it could be an image, a song, a journal entry, or anything of the sort—and you are lacking a bit of artistic creativity, inspiration comes in clutch to help you create something as it sets that main “base” for your art. Your base comes from whatever art you observe and think to yourself what of the things in that particular medium want you to make something like it, or what of the techniques used for the medium by said artist want you to be somewhat like that artist. This is often mistaken for stealing, which is something completely different from inspiration.

Stealing

Prior given above, stealing is when you remake someone else's medium to a 1:1 ratio and call it yours. Most people have called inspiration “stealing” because of what some people do to take inspiration—which I'll go into a bit—but really, stealing is passing one's media as your own. And this is no different from passing an AI-generated medium of some kind as your own as well. Trust me, with the whole AI backlash, you do NOT want to do anything that warrants you being called out for stealing, or worse, plagiarism!

Taking inspiration

With everything I've mentioned above, there are many different ways people go about taking inspiration. Below are some examples of taking inspiration.

“Stealing without stealing”

I will admit, this sounds extremely confusing, and I understand that! This, however, was a saying from YouTuber and 3D modeling artist Arrimus 3D—where he mentions in one of his videos that this method of inspiration involves taking notes on whatever media you inspect and asking yourself what you like about the media.

If you like certain things about the media, try to incorporate them in your own work, but change them up a bit to make them more unique. If you don't like certain things about the media, you can completely change them!

Recreating in Own Style

This is especially a staple for several music producers, mainly to get inspiration and learn about sound design. However, this doesn't just apply to music production. This can also apply to anything!

Now, this is the only time that copying and the like are all tolerated. For practice, you might want to recreate a particular medium from an artist you like. By doing this, you can get to see what goes on inside the mind of the artist and how they make their art the way it looks. Sometimes the artist may be insane! Maybe sane in the mind, but still making overly complex things?

“Painting” from Non-visual Media

This method comes from a video from YouTuber and artist Imad Awan where he also talks about inspiration. One of the many things to draw inspiration from for making anything that he points out, which I thought stood out to me, is music.

Music can tell a lot of stories as it's a form of art made with natural intelligence, so there's no doubt that you can “paint” that story, or in this case, provide a visual representation of the story. Now, this doesn't just apply to music. This can also apply to anything that doesn't have a visual image. However, as with all things, it's up to you—the viewer or artist—to interpret these stories however you see fit, so let your mind go all out with ideas!

Conclusion

The next time you go and create any kind of human-made art, but you don't know what to create or where to start, remember that inspiration is a thing, and it's an incredibly helpful tool and not an excuse for copying!

Just like all artists, it's normal for you to experience art blocks and feel unmotivated to be able to make art, and that's okay. Inspiration is there to subside that art block and get you back on your feet with the motivation to create something. There are plenty of sources for inspiration, such as Pinterest, DeviantArt, Artfol, and the like.

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