Inspiration, Pinterest and Mugler

Inspiration is the key to most creative pursuits and can be found in many places. I like to use a combination of the outside world and other people's work as points for drawing inspiration.

The world really is a beautiful place, and it's easy to draw inspiration from it. As is well published in places all over the internet, I adore the city of Edinburgh. Despite being home to many people who are important to me, the colours of the city are wonderful. There are shades of stone and brick covered in an ooze of grey and black. The way that the evidence of industrial dust edges the bricks gave me oodles of inspiration toward my own works. Take notice of colours that occur in nature and the world that surrounds you, as they are often the most useful ones to use in collections and projects.

Another way of getting inspiration is studying the work of others in your field. In costumes and fashion, I am spoiled with a wealth of designers and illustrators of different varieties using different media and all getting different looks. This is another good time to mention Pinterest. All right, so it's also full of cookie recipes and a million things to do with empty toilet rolls, but it is also incredible for finding images that you like and storing them all in one place. I am currently a little bit obsessed with pin-up models and Vintage styles, and boy does that become apparent when browsing through my pages on Pinterest.
Looking at the work of others should be done in a critical way, not just an overall like of the piece. For example, a dress is not just a dress. A dress is a bodice and a skirt, it's sleeves or straps, it's thick hems, patterned fabric, plain fabric, odd colours, nice colours, bright, dark, rough, smooth... The list goes on and on forever. You can like a piece of work in so many ways, and identifying why you like it is a large chunk of coming up with your own ideas. For example, whilst looking for fashion illustrations, I stumbled upon a book about Thierry Mugler. It contained working drawings like this:

I fell instantly in love with the images, but for several reasons. I love the idea of distorting the models unrealistically to both shock the audience and display the details of the garment. I also really adore the impossibly tiny waists and massive 80's shoulders and hips. Identifying things like that is the best way to create your own work based on the influence of others. 

Don't think too hard.

Find things that you love and explore them.

Create your own work, don't carbon copy others.