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Sources of Inspiration II

© Joe Jeskiewicz

One of the main things I want to do, the main reason I do artexercise, is to provide other people with inspiration to make great art. So many times I was wondering what I could do that would astound the art community and make my name known and I neglected to just DO art. I thought too much abuot what has been done before and what I could do that hadn't been done. I should have instead been thinking, how can I do the stuff I know how to do, better.

There are lots of different kinds of art and art medium out there and finding an outlet of creativity in using those medium can sometimes be a daunting task. Do you paint flowers and be categorized with all the other painters past and present who have done flowers? Or perhaps do you take photographs of animals and be dropped into another group for a time?

Well I think I may have a source of inspiration that can pull you out of those categories and maybe drop you into a broader one. Fantasy Art. When you read those words several things probably cross your mind. You might think of Dragons and scantily clad women, knights on horseback, odd creatures trudging through swamps, or even romance novel covers. I argue that Fantasy art is this and more.

Don't be turned off yet if none of that which I've said is your cup of tea. The Cambridge online dictionary defines fantasy as this : a pleasant situation that you enjoy thinking about, but which is unlikely to happen, or the activity of thinking itself. Fantasy is the activity of thinking itself, is how I read that. Merely thinking engages one in a realm of fantasy. This means simply that if you are looking at your front yard and you imagine what it would be like if you planted a tree, you are fantasizing.

Thinking about what you are doing after work or remembering a dream is engaging in an act of fantasy. Fantasy art doesn't need to be Dragons, Knights, and Princesses. Fantasy art can be much more subtle. Imagine a world in which all the flowers that ever existed were able to cross pollinate. How might a Tiger Lily look if it were crossed with a rose and then with a dandelion. Imagine a world in which your pets could speak with you. I know I try to plea bargain with my dogs now, if they could talk back, I might be in a world of trouble.