Inspiration

Trying to come up with new designs is often a challenge. We are influenced by everything around us. Our "style" is formed by what we know, what we like, what we see. I have often looked at a design of mine and found it to be similar to someone else's.  There was no intentional copying of another style, it just happened.  I try to make my new designs unique, but sometimes those influences bleed into them.

I recently sketched  a new design and then found that it was almost identical to a sketch I had done a year ago. It made me wonder what influenced that design. what was I drawing from in my sub-conscious?

As artists we want our work to be unique, to be recognized as our own.  We don't want people to look at our work and say it looks a lot like some other artist's work, or that we must have copied someone else.

When people look at my work and comment how unique it is, I feel a sense of pride. To me that is the biggest compliment.  That, and of course, that they like it.

So, I am sitting here sketching with my left hand, which is difficult since I am right handed, trying to come up with some new designs that are "mine".