365 illustration challenge. Inspiration tips

Here I gathered just tips for you, nothing else.

1. Add more details. If you can't do anything with what you have, try drawing the rest and adding the core object. Then, make it to play the dual role intentionally!
2. Try to find the beauty in the simplest and the most accessible objects. Take the most trivial ones and color them or give them a new meaning.
3. Mix genres and techniques: watercolor and digital illustration, photos and sewing, beads and herbarium, concrete and lace. Go out of the box!
4. I adore stiletto shoes. When I used to work as an Office & Event Manager, I couldn't allow myself to wear shoes because I had to run back and forth all day long within three floors of our lovely office. It was a great time, though, but I couldn't forget about my love for shoes. So, draw what you love when you can't allow it right here and right now.
5. I love circles, but I wouldn't say I like geometry. It is straightforward to make something extraordinary from geometry pieces, but it is not. You need to slice, cut, separate, color, and do so many things with circles, for instance, to make a bossy lady. But you can try.
6. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. That's how I made three different illustrations from traced and expanded watercolor raindrops. I made fish, I made funny aubergine fellows, and I made tulips. Try to squizz as much as possible from the tiny piece of art you produce!
7. Every season has its top animal or object. Today it is a llama, yesterday a unicorn, tomorrow could be a penguin. Just put this animal into your circumstances and wear it into the right clothes (hat, cape, costume of a Superman), and it could work!
8. Try to look at the object from an unusual perspective. For example, please put it on the glass table and lay it on the floor to see how it looks from below. That's how flat lay worked once and won our hearts. The proper angle rules!
9. Cosmos, stars, and the universe are those topics you can try to apply to anything. And it will work. Choose your type of cosmic landscape and try to interweave it into a pattern or an interface.
10. The idea of this illustration came to me at a meeting in the office. I started to doodle, trying to structure my thoughts. It is like drawing during a phone call. Just try it to boost your imagination.
11. Unusual usage of everyday items can facilitate your inspiration too. For example, try to create a lemon table (we are not talking about the color) or a blueberry women's hat.
12. Try to select significantly different color palettes and apply them to the same illustration to see how different approaches light up your idea.
13. Think of nature. Ecofriendliness is not only about plastic straws or bicycles instead of automobiles. It is about eco attitude to the design as well. Try minimum elements, use mild (natural) colors, make it convenient for digital usage only. See what you'll get.
14. Play with silhouettes, discover the mysterious world of shadows. Give people only a hint, but not find the truth.
15. Trying to grow something with your own hands can also boost your creativity. For example, you can plant a flower or microgreens. In addition, there is an option to grow some spices like thyme or basil. And the result you can transform into photos or illustrations!
16. Ron Hoff once wrote: Even if the power goes off, the slide projector explodes, or the audience refuses to crack a smile at your funniest stories — plow ahead. Keep your poise. Keep your energy level up. Don't throw in the towel. Ovations are often awarded to those who survive. So, do your best and think of failure as a challenge.
17. One of my friends adores whales. She even asked me to copy one for the kid's room of her son. I made it with watercolors, but still, I just copied another person's artwork. That whale wasn't mine. Later, when I hopped on the 365 illustrations challenge and practiced a lot, I managed to make my whale. He is a Mr. Whale. So, it is not a bad thing to copy someone initially. But it is not okay to do it later on.
18. I don't drink coffee; I prefer tea and water. And when I want to take a break, I'd instead brew some black tea (the green one doesn't taste good for me as well). So, to catch the right mood, you can make your favorite drink. Sometimes it could work!
19. Once I wanted to be a wedding blogger. In my country, this market was relatively underdeveloped, so I tried. First, I made a lot of Pinterest boards with cakes, wedding flowers, etc. Then, I started to make posts on different wedding-related topics in my blog, but I understood that I didn't want to make it with time. I don't want to be a wedding blogger; I want to write about anything. So, think of you as a designer or an illustrator. You can create everything!

Check more tips here: https://dribbble.com/al-zhdan

I'm a PMO Community Manager, and my Medium is made of materials about Community and Event Management and partially Marketing.

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