Us creatives know all too well the feeling of impostor syndrome. That feeling that you don’t really know what you’re doing and any minute now someone is going to ask you to leave the party. I think sometimes it comes from comparing ourselves to others, or comparing ourselves now to where we want to be. We haven’t met our goals yet, the self doubt creeps in and we question if we’re good enough.

I went through a bit of a dry spell after my illustration degree and there were definitely struggles getting back into it.

During my dark days when I’d lost my creative mojo I turned to YouTube for inspiration. I then discovered the channels of too amazing women who were sharing their life as illustrators online. Those women were Fran Meneses aka Frannerd, and Holly Exley. I suddenly felt hope that here were some real people talking about their process, their success and their struggles. Even though I was a lurker in those days and didn’t comment I still felt a connection and I think Fran and Holly become like my spirit guides on my own illustration journey.

I’m going to be drawing portraits of my fav YouTubers and sharing what they’ve taught me.

Starting with Fran; one of the things I’ve always loved about her channel is the advice she gives. I love this piece of advice (from her video How to start as an illustrator) because it gave me the permission to call myself an illustrator rather than an aspiring illustrator or wannabe illustrator.

“If you want to be an illustrator and you don’t know where to start. You might just say. Hi. I am an illustrator. And that’s it. You kind of started being one.”

It reminded me that if you make art you’re an artist. If you write you’re a writer. If you play music you’re a musician, if you illustrate, you’re an illustrator.

Fran goes on to give some really helpful practical advice in the video too; but this piece of advice really stuck with me and gives me the confidence to know I do belong and I am good enough.

You can watch Fran’s video below and if you don’t already follow her go check out her YouTube channel here.

Stay tuned for more YouTube portraits coming soon, including my portrait of Holly Exley.

Hey everyone, I really want to commit to my blog more and create useful content for other creatives out there. So my plan is every Monday I'll be posting advice for illustrators and artists. Some of the advice will be for my past self, some for other artists, and some for myself right now!

So first up will be ways that you can generate ideas. These are all the things I use to create ideas when I'm stuck for what to draw or how to push a project forwards. There will be a summary of all these points at the end.

1. Write down your interests

Now if you don't have a project or a brief and you're trying to decide what on earth to draw for a self initiated project I suggest you write down your interests. For example my interests are:

running
yoga
sci-fi
fantasy
board games
rock/indie/folk music

You can then look at your interests in more detail, what specific things do you like about X or Y and why do you like them? For me the thing I like about running is the community. I created these parkrun maps as a self initiated project. I wanted to show how everyone of different abilities is included, and reflect the happy atmosphere that I've felt taking part.

Emma Carpentyer Bexley parkrun smaller.jpg

2. Make a mind map

If you have a general topic but you need to come up with more ideas try mind mapping. This is something I used a lot throughout my art education. It really helped at the beginning of a project; in fact if you look through my old sketchbooks, you will most likely find a mind map on the first page.

Here is a mind map I made for a project I did at University about time (which is a subject that still fascinates me today). As you can see I've explored how we can capture and measure time in different ways; in photographs, through schedules, to our own stages of development in our bodies. I also included a quote that really spoke to me.

I apologise for any spelling mistakes and my bad handwriting, however I usually create mind maps just for myself. The thing I love about mind maps is once you get into them they are a really quick non judgemental way to get ideas down and you can add to them easily and link different points together.

3. Try word association

Similar to mind maps is word association. What other words and feelings come to you when you think about a certain topic. It's best to write all ideas/words down at this stage. That one silly idea you don't want to write down could spark a really amazing idea.

4. Carry a notebook

Carry a notebook around with you everywhere and write down the following:

things that make you laugh
questions that you keep asking yourself
things you find beautiful
overheard conversations
interesting shapes
colour combinations

5. Have an idea swap with your friends

Talk to your friends and have an idea swap. This is one of my favourites, I love hearing about other peoples projects. Sometimes I get so excited by other people's ideas that I can't wait for them to complete their projects! It's also really helpful to see your idea from another point of view and perspective. Make some notes about what you've talked about and think about what ideas you were both really passionate about.

6. Take a break

If after all that your still feeling blocked, have a break! Go for a walk, take a shower, do some housework. These seem to be the times when our brains keep ticking over ideas in the background. Remember to have the notebook close at hand though for that eureka moment.

7. Just start drawing!

If all else fails just start drawing. Sometimes the act of creating can spark other ideas. Maybe the shape of your drawing (or the negative space) reminds you of something else that could add another layer of meaning. Getting stuck into the creative side also allows you to physically move things around, what would elements look like the opposite way round/at a different scale/different colour. Sometimes it can be hard to put an idea into words, and the best way to create ideas is to experiment, and as my old art tutor used to tell us “play!”