What Drives/inspires You To Create?

nature... the beauty of nature inspires me. All the colours, the shapes, it's like nature herself likes painting.

Deadlines and money! LOL!

Okay, those things do drive me, but what inspires me can be anything - a song, a memory, a stroll through a beautiful garden. When I draw or paint, I usually just create things that I think will make other people happy and bring them joy like those things do for me. I love color, so I enjoy picking out my color palette before I start on a project, and that can inspire all sorts of new ideas, too. I'm drawn to certain lines and shapes, and I'm always taking pictures of the most random things to use as references later on. Sometimes I go to Goodwill because you can find the most interesting things there to use as references for not much money. That's where I got my pears for this piece:

My genes?

nothing in particular, creative people have to create. just like smokers have to smoke. thrill seekers have to roller coast, adventurers have to adventure. it's just one of those things. and as long as you created something, you can coast for a while without feeling the need. it's like a chemical build up. after a while it depletes, sort of a chemical high of some kind.

beyond that it's to challenge myself and to sell things.

---Mike Savad

My inspiration are women and love :) and sense of nonentity :D

it's rather spontaneous with me much like my life in general. :)

I paint because it brings me joy, excitement and pleasure. I enjoy the creative, though sometimes arduous process. I see the world in dramatic images which I desire to put on a canvas and share with others.
I enjoy the creative process. I love to play with paint on a canvas. I enjoy experimenting with various techiques. Every painting is an adventure! I donīt care too much about the result. Yet I am blisfully happy when the painting is successful :)

in the real world, my stack of bills.
painting is my profession. it has been my job for over 40 years.
lots of people have jobs they love. I am one of those fortunates.

@PETRA forget it , i can do this things for you" joy, excitement and pleasure."v :D

It's my job, always has been and I like being good at my job. It's what I think about all the time, and when I hit on an idea, I set it in motion. Ironically, very little of what I create arrives here, primarily because my focus is on commercial photography and that is where I feel most comfortable.

I like the challenge of creating. I particularly like the financial reward that comes with it.
I get a real thrill when a sale happens, even after all these years.

-YoPedro

I don't know what drives me to create. If I could figure it out, I'd likely turn it off, because life would probably run a lot smoother if I DIDN'T always have this compulsion to create. (For example, I would no doubt be a lot more interested in mundane things like housekeeping. ;) )

The urge is just THERE. Inside. All the time. I don't think it's driven by any exterior stimuli, although there are things that certainly can cause it all to come gushing out--usually when I have a hundred other things I should be doing besides creating.

No ulterior motives really. Just the urge to create.


--Roz Barron Abellera

I don't create for the money that's for darn sure.
But I have always loved looking at art, reading great literature, listening to great music.

As for my personal work, I do photography because I am a very visual person and see more than the average non artist. Currently I am creating images of the down and out, underbelly of my city. I can relate to them as I grew up in this sub culture.

I find street photography exciting to do even at my age 72.

@Robert Frank Gabriel i apricate your opinion ! like

i cant imagine how can be creative mind if you dont listen music or rading literature

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX5USg8_1gA

cool discussion guys. I like the idea of selecting colors before getting to work. I always do it the other way around, I will have to take that idea into consideration as sometimes I find myself in a color mess.
Mike definitely has a point. It's not long before I start fiending for my next fix haha.
It's also really cool to see artists/photographers on here that make a living or atleast some income off their passion. Very inspiring! :)

Most of all music, Jazz, R&B, Pop, and everything in between.

I often say I'm inspired by anything and everything when it comes to my art. I love nature, as well as big busy cities. I love little details that other people may not notice. I love colour and geometry.

It is hard to say what drives or inspires me. I have a ordinary day job (physiotherapist) that I enjoy, but...I guess that is one of the reasons why I enjoy photography so much. Because it is almost totally different. I have never been successful as in making money from the photos I take, so it is not about money in a way (even though selling art is a way to know more people than yourself appreciate what you do) but I think I have to do something totally different during the days to be creative as well. On the other hand, I think I need to listen to my creative part to be totally satisfied in my profession. My dream is that I one day could work with patients and healthcare half of my time, and be creative with photography the rest of my time.

And I have realized that when I'm holding my camera, standing there being "in the middle of it", trying to find the right spot - that's when I'm happy and totally cleaning away all thoughts. It is strange, because I don't have to actually THINK the thoughts that are troubling me during the weeks, but when I'm finished with the photo session for the day I feel empty. Empty in a way I almost never experience in other situations during the weeks.

Just my two cents :)

I like Colin's short answer...the need to create is imbedded in me. To satisfy that desire most any creative process will do. I can't say where the inspiration comes from...it just does....an idea pops into my head and then something takes over to make me follow through. Believe me when I say there have been some I wish I had not been compelled to follow through on :)

Dear Diary,
Why do I create? This morning, as is my custom, I drove thru my favorite area to take Drive By Candids of the underbelly of society (as Robert Kennedy once so delicately phrased it).
Something new...I took along one of our dogs, a young PitBull that I am training as a protection dog (she would rather play with people but she has to earn her keep).

And as usual, I came back with some very interesting street images of people, god bless them. My tech is unconventional but the results are surprising good. Most photographers of my ilk walk the streets and use lenses from 24 to 50 for their candid intrusions. Because of my old age and some infirmities I am now relegated to my car as I do my drive by shootings (no further meaning attached).

As I was taking pics (from the comfort of our car) of this fantastic old lady....wrinkles, small cigar, long painted nails...a true beauty in her dotage...as I was taking some 5 images in less than a second (Canon EOS 70D...which I highly recommend), a young tough yelled out to me "Don't take my xxxxxxxxxxx picture." Sigh, folks can be so rude at times. lol....

Why do I create? I grew up on the mean streets of Chicago and it seems in my old age I have returned...what goes around comes around.

PS...Our PitBull passed the "in the back of the car" test and will be riding with me most of the time. For her reward, at some point we end up at the lakefront and she gets to run and bark at the seagulls and geese.

Pain