#55 II Where to find inspiration - Tutorial

[petite_tomate]

Here's the first tutorial requested for Ask the Maker, kindly asked by the lovely nightbulbs :) For all the images in this tutorial, hover for the source/maker.

In the light of recent events, should we call it this way, I think this « guide » (here again a loose term) was much needed. I wanted to write it for my own personal needs first because I have

Comments

[jsfunction]

Wow, this is a lovely and evocative inspiration guide. Some wonderful ideas/tips/thoughts here

[kitamikeita]

Do you think copying is always intentional, or do you think it can happen subconsciously?

I ask myself the same question! And since unlike you I don't always remember when and where I saw something, when I get some cool ideas, sometimes I end up worrying that maybe not every part of it is my own. Anyway I always try to remember even more when I get this kind of doubts, hoping I don't copy someone else's work by mistake. This also because I understand the feeling, since it happened to me to see some works (not here on livejournal though) with a bunch of elements "too inspired" by my own.

[petite_tomate]

Thank you for such an insightful comment!

especially in inspiration-type communities where we're given a set of inspiration icons and other things.
I think you're totally right about this. Most of newer makers come from tumblr where the "inspired by (x)" is on every post, and the difference between actual inspiration and plain copying is erased. In the iconing word, we're more picky about it because we're smaller and everyone "knows" everyone or almost. It brings us back to what I'm trying to say : we don't talk about this enough. Maybe we're not clear enough about what "inspiration" is in the iconing world. Challenges built upon inspiration posts (that I LOVE) can be confusing. We know how it works because we've been here a long time, but newer makers dont.

Tutorials and PSDs are another interesting thingIt is indeed and I agree with you. PSD and tutorials shouldn't be reproduced, it should be a mean to see the process other makers use which can be very different from our own. We can learn new techniques, new ways of doing this.

[starkwars]

Thanks for taking the time to write this! I skimmed it and it's great! I'm going to go read it in detail now. :D

[petite_tomate]

Thank you for reading :D

[crusading_soul]

I love the sections showcasing how to find inspiration from art and other media - color schemes are the obvious go-to part, but it's very intriguing to think about the composition/crop/pattern in an image as well! :)

(Also, I may be totally clueless because I am from the US, but what does "american shot" mean? I wasn't aware that was a particular style!)

[petite_tomate]

It is! :)

(Oh maybe the world isn't the good one, but I looked for it and apparently you also say American shot in English so IDK? x') Basically, it's a cinema cropping, one that stop at mid-thigh. It's named this way because it's the typical shot of american movies in the 20's. You also have the Italian shot, it was very popular before being replaced by the American one, it stops under the knees. That's it :) )

[crusading_soul]

Oh, now I get what you mean! Cool - thanks for letting me know. :)

[kitamikeita]

Thank you for sharing this guide! I feel inspired to be inspired (I don't know if makes sense) :3

[petite_tomate]

Ahah then mission accomplished :p

[dashberlin]

Ahhh this is a wonderful guide and you wrote it so quickly! Thanks so much sharing your insights with us and I really appreciate the last section of the guide ♥

But I'm also screaming at the fact that you included that fucking Gilgamesh icon, lmao.

[petite_tomate]

I had so many ideas, I needed to do it quickly :'))

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? IF YOU MADE 300 ICONS OF GILGAMESH I WOULD'VE PUT THE 300 IN THIS. Your icons inspire me so much and that golden shit inspires me too so that's a wedding ahahah!