How to Get Started with Illustration (Part 2)

Getting past creative blocks and finding inspiration

Frances To
Modus
Published in
6 min readSep 6, 2019

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Illustration by Frances To

This article is Part 2 of a series on how you can get started with illustration.

NNow that you’ve learned a few tips on how to draw from Part 1, you’re ready to start practicing your illustration skills. But sometimes you can’t start illustrating because you don’t know what to draw. You rack your brain for ideas, but your mind remains a blank canvas. Sound familiar?

Creative blocks happen when we can’t find the inspiration to fuel our creative work. They can happen to anyone — amateurs, professionals, and even illustration enthusiasts like you. While creative blocks may leave you feeling discouraged, there are ways you can overcome this.

In this article, I’ll be sharing some insights on how you, as an aspiring illustrator, can overcome creative blocks and eventually figure out what you’d like to draw.

5. Study works of various artists and designers

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it. They just saw something.

— Steve Jobs

Many tend to think that people who generate groundbreaking ideas out of thin air are naturally creative. In reality, what makes these people creative is that they’ve gathered a ton of inspiration, which allows them to relate one idea to another.

How is this achieved? For illustrators, one of the best ways to gather inspiration is to constantly study works of artists and designers from various time periods, genres, and styles. Don’t limit yourself to studying one field alone; it’s better to find inspiration from multiple fields, such as graphic design, architecture, fine art, and the like.

By being exposed to multiple fields and styles, you gain a broader perspective of how differently people interpret the world or find solutions to problems. Moreover, you compile an inexhaustible list of ideas to use.

Here are three things I’d recommend when studying works of artists and designers:

Read up on both art and design

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