For a while, I've been pondering the meaning of "inspiration" for the sole purpose of applying it to my artwork. I've encountered many troubles in arriving to the conclusion of what, to me, the definition of inspiration is.

Over the past few months --actually quite tempted to say years-- obstacles in my thinking have caused me to fall into frequent "art slumps." Instead of attempting to figure out the problem, I would go about struggling to churn out works... with little to no luck. Most of my drawings were the same thing over and over again: the human body, the human face, or some creature or animal or character of mine.

Though these involuntary drawings were of substantial practice for me, I found myself bored of the activity. Why draw if the same thing pops up on my paper as last time? Yet, what goes through my head when the paper and pencil sits in front of me is that if I would stare it down and desire some breakthrough original concept that no other person has thought of, it would randomly appear on the paper...

But you know what? That won't happen by just staring. Ideas are formulated and acquired through other ones no matter what. In fact, you could say that every idea in the world isn't original. No one can come up with something without the help of something else. This can apply to music, art, mathematics... practically anything conceptual. I wouldn't have written this very blog had the definition of inspiration not been realized to me. It's almost as if there's a spectrum of originality... there's the not-so-original, such as a crappy Pikachu drawing on a sign at a flea market with an upside-down tail and pink cheeks, and then there's the very original, such as the final boss on Earthbound being loosely based on a movie rape scene that the creator of the game accidentally walked in on at a theater as a child.

I do not believe it's possible to be purely original (but I suppose it's all how you look at the definition), yet it's possible to have as little influence from other idea showing through as you can. Artists starting out will copy or trace other drawings. Musicians starting out will cover songs. Writers starting out will write fanfictions. As they continue with their pursuit, they will become flexible in the style of their choice, and they will create their own material loosely based on what they see, listen to, or read. This is how arts are, and this is how they always will be.

So after much thinking, I realize that when I look at artwork, I must look inside that piece and see what about it inspires me. Once I grasp that tidbit of inspiration, I will incorporate it in an art piece of my own, either having it show through as a concept or show through as a part of the drawing itself. Inspiration isn't exactly looking inside yourself for something to introduce that is completely new to the world, it's about filling yourself up with other ideas and then looking inside yourself.