Research and inspiration:

Research and inspiration:

Research:

To me research was a way to back up my work, a justification for all I’ve done. the dictionary cites it as: “diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories, applications, etc.” there are several ways of carrying out research, for example primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are those that have been gained first-hand by the artist, i.e. a questionnaire asking about famous artists work. secondary resources involve information gathering from other sources that other people have obtained, such as books, journals, etc.

Visual research is a very good example of primary research- it relates specifically to creating. Drawing, painting, illustrations, rendering, and diagrams to name but a few. i feel this is to surround yourself with inspiration, to explore through creation, what inspiration do you gain and create? I enjoyed the visual research of Paul Davis explored in the lecture. anyone could easily see that he has laid a basis of things that inspire him, opening further avenues of research. if i were to research in this way...?

 

When i carry out secondary research, it is normally into the life and times of the artist I’m studying and whether it has affected the piece I’m looking at, as well as close analysis into the piece as a work of art. this is normally useful in providing the most justification for any ideas that inspire me.

Inspiration:

Inspiration can be so many different things for so many people, but the idea of inspiration is based around something, anything, that stimulates creativity. in some ways, inspiration is the reason there is no originality. whatever inspires you was thought of, by someone else, which in turn had its own inspiration.  people find inspiration anywhere, be it in books, other artists work and in day to day life.

Mark wigan is an illustrator who has spent time in japan. while there he designed this poster for a radio station. It is quite likely, therefore that his inspiration wouldn’t be pictures as much as radio, music, and media. that would be something unexpected, as it wouldn’t be assumed that an illustrator would have these as inspirations.

“if there’s something i really like, it ends up on the wall” wigan.

this is a direct quote from wigan that i feel sums up the collective, obsessive nature of inspiration, consuming and interpreting sources and ideas to try create original work. in a way inspiration is like another form of research, surrounding ones self in different materials that stimulate a desire to continue investigating into your inspirations.

An issue with inspiration is how much you take from it. for example, this picture that Wigan is working on could be compared to Picasso’s cubism, although there are obvious differences. This again leads to the idea that inspiration can in some ways make it hard to create original works.