Need Ideas for Pictures to Draw?

Do you record all the ideas for pictures to draw that you have in your head?

You never know when an idea might strike you. You need to be ready at all times to record that awesome idea or thought. You may not even know how to translate it into a piece or what medium to use. It may be just an idea tucked away in a book, on a sheet of paper, or even in a text document on your computer.

The key thing is that you get the idea recorded so that other ideas will flow.

You never know how or when that idea or theme may work its way into another piece. It may be that the idea you had years ago is the missing element in your current piece.

My Methods

1. Keep a notebook close by at all times.

I have a notebook sitting next to my bed full of ideas for pictures to draw. I tend to think better in complete darkness. This does, however, pose a little bit of a problem when trying to write down ideas.

2. Tape Recorder

I used the above method until I finally got a digital tape recorder. I figured I could just say what I was thinking. This can be a very effective way to record ideas of what to draw; however, something else I discovered in doing this is the fact that I think better when my mouth isn't blabbering, and frankly I'm not that big a fan of hearing my voice recorded.

3. Laptop Combo

So now I stick to the notebook and now I also have a laptop with keys that light up in the dark. Now when I have an idea for pictures to draw, I jump up to the laptop on my desk and the keys light up and I rarely even look at the screen. The illuminated keys take the words in my head and put them magically on the computer.

This is the best way that I have found so far, especially since my thoughts are more concise in the dark.

The low-budget lamp and notebook work great as well, and sometimes a quick sketch is more effective than words could ever be to help me remember exactly what I was thinking.

"So I use a combo of the two. One for long ideas and the other for ideas that I just can't put into words at that moment."

While some people carry a little Moleskin sketchbook or notepad around with them all day, the daytime ideas never did seem to come to me as clearly and focused as at night in the dark. So try whichever works for you, but do get them down and out of your head somehow. It's kinda like procrastinating.

If you don't get the ideas out of your head, they will always be back there pestering you to get them out and done. That actually would be the best case, as most of the time you will forget all about them like waking up after a very detailed dream.

Tip: Keep in mind that a very small percentage of all the great works of the great artists were actually good.

So keep your journal, whatever form you choose, full of future plans and ideas for pictures to draw. Just get the ideas down! This will serve as great reference for when you are asking yourself "Now what do I draw?"