#might draw this into a mini comic after my exams if i have the motivation

[cinnoish]

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

[doodleodramablog-blog]

Inspiration & Motivation - the tale of two ex-lovers.

So after the huge success of my first blog (6 people read it including my own family), here we are with blog number- Two *insert drum roll*.

I did an Instagram story poll thing for this one, asking which blog to write first; inspiration & motivation or pricing (you know by now which of the two emerged as a winner). I will however, write one on pricing soon (too). So thank you to everyone who participated in the poll.

Now that we are done with the awkward intro-session and are all warm & toasty, let’s dive straight into the subject. Let me start with “my” definition or differentiation between the two. According to me, inspiration is ideas and motivation is the energy/zest/zeal/enthusiasm to implement these ideas.

Often, I find it challenging to bring these two people together, under the same roof (hence the title). They are like ex-lovers who went through a bad breakup and therefore cannot see eye to eye. And whenever they are in the same room together, the air is tensed but it helps get work done!

Before I start rambling about them, I think it’s very important to understand and acknowledge what is it that you need help with. Are you lacking motivation or inspiration?

Let’s talk about motivation first. Now these are some pointers that help me personally to get motivated. (Try them at your own risk).

Consume more so you can create more : I religiously follow and sometimes stalk truck loads of artists (illustrators, cartoonists, comedians, vloggers, poets, photographers, etc). Just seeing people put out amazing work, puts me in a good mood. I try to feed off on their energy and it helps me give myself that little push to work harder on my craft/skill.

Note : this might have the opposite effect too. I know creators who look at other people’s work and go “Oh! Everyone’s creating such amazing content and I’m a potato. Woe is me. I’m hopeless”. That brings me to the next pointer…

2. Know what works for you : take a walk, get a cup of coffee, stretch/sketch(or both), music, pet a floof (a real or imaginary pet), etc. Any of these or all of these could work for you. Motivation is all about working your mood to work for you. Even a nap could help! Try a few things and see what works best for you.

3. Take time off : taking a break helps. For me taking a break from my immediate surroundings does even better. So my breaks are as simple as sitting on the couch in my living area instead of sitting on the chair in my studio, just change of scenery can help sometimes. Do something outside of work. I turn to music or books or movies or tending to my dying plants and this can sometimes even spark inspiration (more on that later). I like going shopping for plants (that i will eventually kill), books, and stationery in general.

4. Let lazy takeover : There are only so many battles you can fight in a day and only so many that you can win so it’s totally ok to let lazy take over somedays. Don’t try to fight it everyday, every second (I’ll make a horrible parent!). Somedays you just want to smell bad, look bad, and pretend dead. And that is A-ok.

(Again, these pointers work for me. I’ve been told that I should be banned from giving advice…so…)

I’d also like to add another pointer here. I don’t usually struggle with motivation when it comes to client work. I somehow like being accountable and I hate to admit this, but I do work well under pressure and with deadlines. (As a student, I loved writing exams and that’s one of the things I miss about my student life- exams. Yeah. So now you know). Also, with client work there’s usually a set (agreed upon) brief available so inspiration is already served, you just need to bring your motivation to dinner table.

Moving onto Inspiration, this is harder to achieve than motivation (IMHO). Now inspiration doesn’t come knocking on my forehead every single day as soon as I wake up. So whenever it does come, I try and grab it with both my hands and soak in as much as I can.

Note : Here I’d like to throw in a recommendation- Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. PLEASE read that book if you’d like to explore creativity, inspiration, motivation and all that jazz. READ IT.

Here are a few things that help me get inspired. Again, these work for me but might not work for you so don’t come looking for me with a butcher knife. Don’t.

People : Indians are THE funniest race on planet earth. We just don’t know how to laugh at ourselves. All my comics come from observing people, their action-reactions, us as a society and our approach to life. I love observing people. So I am that creep who sits in coffee shops and pretends like I’m working or eating but I’m actually listening to your conversations, watching your body language, and making layouts for my next comic, featuring YOU. (Learn the art of subtlety before you practice this stunt. We have laws now so be civilised).

Anything but work : Surprisingly, I don’t get ideas when I look at other fellow illustrators/comic artists’ work. I get motivated, sure but not inspired. For that, I need to look outside of my work. I often get my ideas/concepts from books I’m currently reading, maybe a film I recently watched, an incident, circumstances, relatives at family gatherings, Facebook activity of my “Facebook friends”, etc. Yeah, I feel like I have a self awarded degree in human psychology (although I studied journalism, advertising, & film).

Shame your creative block in public : Let EVERYONE know that you are not inspired at the moment by drawing/writing about the creative block. And if this creative block visits often which it will (pesky little rascal), find creative ways to introduce your uninvited guest, the creative block to the world. Sooner or later you will get on its nerves and drive it away (for a while at least).

Go back to where you came from! : (immigrants can sit down. HAHA. OK sorry). What I mean by that is, when you’re stuck in a rut, reach for comfort food (first) and then for something familiar. For me, I love warming up with some rough sketches of faces with varied expressions. I find that relaxing because it’s something I know and enjoy doing. It’s like giving my ego a mini massage session. Don’t tell your brain to create a master piece just let your muscle memory do its job and draw some gibberish. Anything. Once you’re over that block, you can go ahead and poop all over that smooth road now!

So these are some of my cue cards/go-to pointers whenever I am stuck/not in the mood/not feeling it. But then again, they are not foolproof and that explains why I only did client work today. But hey! At least we got this blog done. I hope this was some help to the 3 people who will read it. PLEASE do drop me a note/message here. There’s also the ask me anything section.

There’s also the Doodleodrama Facebook & Instagram & email. If you have questions/opinions/suggestions- let me know!

*takes a bow and doesn’t leave*