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mj00 aka MJ has been a member since January 27, 2007, has scored 18843 submissions, giving an average score of 1.56.

Jul 20 '07 by mj00

11 Comments

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Tricks for the Uninspired

I'm trying to make a list of good ways to start drawing when you feel like you have no ideas. Please add to the list if you think of a good one!

24 Hour Comics. I did one of these last year, after doing a very minimal amount of drawing in the 3-4 years prior to that. The comic itself is poorly drawn, but working on it for 24 hours straight gave me the boost of drawing adrenaline that I needed- I've been drawing a lot more since then. The 24 hour format also caused me to experiment with some styles I hadn't used previously which was definitely a good thing.

Music. When I'm really hard up for some drawing material, I listen to a cd and do a quick thumbnail sketch based on my reaction to each song. Sometimes there's a story, sometimes it's just abstract shapes. I pick the most promising and draw something more in depth.

Two Ideas Combine. Ask two people for ideas on what to draw. Combine the ideas into one concept. It's almost guaranteed to be more interesting than either concept would have been on its own.

Okay, those are my main idea-getting (and motivation-getting) standbys. Does anyone have anything to add to the list?

Verdana on Jul 21 '07 at 2:44pm

I anthropomorphise everything. But in a good way.

beesneak on Jul 21 '07 at 2:51pm

This is strange, but I really need to go outside and experience something new to get my creative juices flowing. Nothing like a vacation to Asia or Europe to get you inspired. Of course this can be scaled down to walking around a big city and taking it all in. *hopefully you live near a nice city*

3 days later

ChaosbyDesign on Jul 25 '07 at 12:30am

I like to draw while listening to music too. Otherwise, I draw alot of inspiration from my dreams and sub-concious. Start a dream log and you'll begin to remember your dreams better. I started drawing a scene from my dreams each morning as soon as I woke up and the results were amazing. Not only did I develop my drawing skills but I feel like I freed up my creativity so much. If the dream thing is working just try putting on some headphones and lying down on your back. Ideas come more freely while your lying down. Lately I've been sitting down to draw having no idea what Im gona do except for a basic theme (ie self portrait) I start by drawing an eye as detailed as possible and work my way out from there. Its actually really fun and again it frees up so much creativity coz there are no rules with such things.

missmeat on Jul 25 '07 at 6:59pm

I wrote a post in response to this. :)

Anglorum on Jul 27 '07 at 1:22am

Hi, I don't have a yahoo email account so I really can't get intouch with you any other way that I can find besides commenting your blog.

I was wondering if you know a good technique to use on photoshop to get the lines in a picture to come out more crisp after resizing?

Thanks-
Will

Anglorum on Jul 27 '07 at 1:22am

12 days later

littledancinlady on Aug 08 '07 at 10:43am

Okay, this isn't what we're talking about here, but I was just wondering. mjoo, every time I look at your icon/user picture thing, I think it looks like a piece of meat. What is it supposed to be?

mj00 on Aug 08 '07 at 1:48pm

It isn't supposed to be anything! It was a section of a doodle I did ages ago with camo-butterflies. The doodle itself is hideous, but I liked the way this section looked. It has the added benefit of being easy to see when I scroll down the comments in a submission, so I can always tell where I left off reading last.

25 days later

tativiana on Sep 03 '07 at 9:39am

Hey, I'm sorry about my design... I didn't know.
But my stamp was finished there.

mj00 on Sep 03 '07 at 1:56pm

Oh, it's no big deal- I'm just trying to make sure that new users here know the rules, so that their work isn't prevented from being printed due to rules they unknowingly broke. Better safe than sorry, right?

12 days later

danielson on Sep 15 '07 at 3:54pm

Pick a word out of the dictionary, no matter how dull it may be and brainstorm some ideas from that. Word association is a good one, as is using a rhyming dictionary on a word. Eventually you should come across a word that inspires you somehow.... but that's just something I do. It's all down to personal choice at the end of the day!

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I haven't submitted any photos. I guess I don't want free money.

→ All of my designs

I run a blog about t-shirt design competitions. It includes information on on-going competitions like threadless and also one-off competitions (such as those done by magazines and clothing manufacturers).

A lot of people enter the same design on many t-shirt competition sites at once. This is a bad idea, both financially and legally. Want to know more?

Feel free to e-mail me if you want me to comment on your work or to elaborate on comments I've already made.

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