Amazing Quotes for Artists’ Inspiration
It’s really hard to find inspiration for artists.
Tell me about it.
Have you ever been low on inspiration as an artist or a creator, and wondered how do the big ones actually make it big? Well, motivation plays a role! Rest comes discipline. But to be disciplined in the first place, you can sometimes make use of these amazing ideas given to us by real masters of the craft who saw the art of creativity as more than just an act, as a complete journey.
Art, or artists, precisely, change the world, by systemically bringing a change in our outlook towards the world. They get motivated, and then motivate others. They enhance people’s lives like they enhance their masterpieces—be it through a pen, a paintbrush or their own hands. This doesn’t mean that they never feel low. This means that they know how to break out of that feeling of restlessness, dullness, indifferent humdrum of everyday life. In times when all attempts seem to be going to waste, it vaguely feels like we need more motivational quotes for artists’ inspiration so that we—even though we might not consider ourselves as artists—would live as they do.
And to enjoy life. To not lose hope, to keep going, to create our masterpiece.
Because it’s kind of really hard sometimes to find inspiration for art, especially when the creative block seems to loom overhead the artists with a sense of urgency, pushing them to do something, not waste the day, do something, anything—JUST DO THE ART!
Here is a compilation of the #13 best motivational quotes for artists’ inspiration, to read when you feel low on motivation, and creativity seems like a distant shore, and you start thinking that maybe you are better off with another career. Trust me, you aren’t.
Quotes for Artists’ Inspiration
Read this full list of best motivational quotes for artists’ inspiration to keep the spark of creativity alive in dire times, and to do their best without any stress sweating down their forehead.
#1 The only art I'll ever study is stuff that I can steal from.
–David Bowie
Everything is stolen, as Austin Kleon discusses in his book Steal Like An Artist (It’s a masterpiece too, by the way.) All art is stolen. Basically, whatever you create, is another take or another opinion on something that has already been created.
There’s nothing new under the sun, right? That brings us to the next quote for inspiration.
#2 There's nothing new under the sun.
–A phrase adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes.
The full version from which this phase has been adapted should be repeated here because I find it oddly comforting and true. “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
Like, that blows my mind.
#3 Telling yourself you have all the time in the world, all the money in the world, all the colors in the palette, anything you want—that just kills creativity.
-Jack White.
Creativity is born from the sense of urgency, of limited resources and the pressure to do justice to yourself and to the artwork you’ve undertaken. You can create a very beautiful piece of art from all the colors of the palette, but what if you only had one chance, one brush, one color, one idea—how would you function in that stance?
This amalgamation will give a newness to the result. Suppose you only had little money to buy all your art supplies. How would you manage? If you only had one day?
All these restrictions bring our art to new heights, spiking up the creativity to unseen levels. And while you don’t have to try this every day, but every once in a while challenging yourself brings phenomenal results.
#4 You're ready. Start making stuff.
-Austin Kleon.
You’re ready. Trust yourself. Trust the process. Even with trembling fingers, shaky breath, insecurity and fear, start doing it. You have the skill, you have the courage, you have the idea.
As they all say, the scariest moment is right before you start.
So, start.
#5 “If something burns your soul with purpose and desire, it’s your duty to be reduced to ashes by it. Any other form of existence will be yet another dull book in the library of life.”
―Charles Bukowski.
When I first read this quote, I immediately thought of my own art—my writing—and how since it burned my soul with fire too, it was only fair that I dedicated my whole existence to it.
Here I am.
To all the artists, if the flames of your passion are big enough to reach your soul, do not let them die. That is your true purpose.
#6 We make art because we like art. We're drawn to certain kinds of work because we're inspired by people doing that work. All fiction, in fact, is fan fiction.
-Austin Kleon.
As an artist, what do you like? Who’s the person you admire, place you love going to, stuff you love doing? Whose fan are you? What’s your fanart for them? What do you like about them, and how are you showcasing it to the world?
#7 "Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to."
-Jim Jarmusch.
The source behind any form of inspiration does not matter as much as the result you make out of it. The best places to steal ideas from are the most unexpected ones.
That’s why artists are supposed to keep a notebook, because they are the most random and weird people and they can find inspiration, or the epic idea even from a passing cloud overhead.
Just imagine what a great way to spend life this is—gazing at nature in daylight and finding ideas, and then under the starlit sky creating the art under the light of a torch, the art that might just change the world.
#8 If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.
–Toni Morrison
This is simple enough.
In fact, all the writers are born through this, metaphorically, of course; they want to read a book, they don’t find it in the shelves, they instead find a plain notebook, they think about creating their own story, they realize they were meant to be an author from the very beginning.
This was how I was born too, metaphorically, of course. If you think the world should have a little bit of more art and creativity in it, congrats, you got yourself a purpose in life.
#9 Take time to mess around. Get lost. Wander. You never know where it's going to lead you.
-Austin Kleon.
Weird new ideas are found in weird new places.
Burton Rascoe presented this idea itself that a writer is working when they’re staring out of the window.
Wanderlust helps in finding inspiration for ideas, places, people. You just never know, it might end up prompting your next big masterpiece.
#10 Complain about the way other people make software by making software.
-Andre Torrez.
This quote won my heart the first time itself. I just feel like it is so true. It also resonates with the saying by Eldridge Cleaver, “If you are not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem.”
If you don’t like the way something is happening, if you genuinely feel that it could be done better, then it simply means that it is you who has to make it better. If someone else is doing art the “bad way”, then instead of calling them out for it, you should do art the “good way”.
#11 I don't believe in art. I believe in artists.
-Marcel Duchamp.
Ditto. I don’t believe in art either. I believe in the artists too.
I believe in the 1 a.m. people, the ones who stay awake all night because their dreams don’t let them sleep, just to scribble down the perfect poem, create the perfect piece of melody, the painting, the dance routine. I believe in the artists holding the power to change the world.
#12 You start out as a phony and become real.
-Glenn O'Brien.
For anyone who’s ever wondered if they’re smart enough to do this, if they have the right knowledge and skill, they do. For anyone who’s wondered if they’re even authentic enough to enter the real competitive world of artists, they are.
We all learn from something. As none among us is actually born with the right skills and capabilities instilled within us, we do everything by just learning and copying others. Somewhere along the way, we become real. We’re no longer copying now.
#13 “I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart.”
— Vincent van Gogh
And that’s what it’s always about, that’s what pays off forever. Being in it. Chasing it with all your heart. Seeking it. Striving for it. Being in love with it.
#14 “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”
— Pablo Picasso
That’s actually what the post should be about. Inspirational stuff can only get you some far. You have to be willing to get up and sit at your desk and yet to work even when you want to do anything but. That’s when inspiration finds you, when you’re unwilling to give up.
#15 “An artist’s job is to be a witness to his time in history.”
— Robert Rauschenberg
That’s why the artists should be fully present, should live life to the very best, to every single moment. I often find myself losing to the mundanity of daily routine, the process of waking up, going to college, being upset with something someone said to me, coming back home, trying to dedicate some time to my project, ending the day wondering how to change this all.
#16 “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”
— Kurt Vonnegut
I like this quote. You’ll never be ready. You have to take that jump now.
#17 “A film is—or should be—more like music than fiction.”
— Stanley Kubrick
It should flow, one tune succeeding the other in the natural order. It should be more like something that’s felt, not just seen or heard.
#18 “A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.”
— Robert Frost
I like this whole idea of writing poetry as an outlet for sad or bitter feelings, as some kind of therapy that reduces our unhappiness and makes us feel a little better and lighter in the chest. It’s a way to fight injustice, to fight the distressing feeling of missing something, missing home or missing a lover.
#19 It isn't necessary that you leave home. Sit at your desk and listen. Don't even listen, just wait. Don't wait, be still and alone. The whole world will offer itself to you.
-Franz Kafka.
Sometimes it’s the quietness and the desertion that leads you to the epic inspiration for artists. Sometimes the answer can be found right at home. Sometimes all we’ve gotta do is listen to whoever’s speaking.
I just felt like it was the right thing to end with Kafka here.
How did you like these quotes for artists (and commoners)? Were you inspired too? Where’s your magnum opus, your life’s work?
These were the thirteen motivational quotes for artists’ inspiration that I found extremely helpful and true.
There come moments in artists’ life when they lose hope and it seems like you’ve lost trust in your art and creativity because nothing seems to come out good enough. For those days, when perfection seems a farfetched dream, and artists beat themselves up for not living up to the mark, here is a helpful post to learn how to forgive yourself for not being perfect.
