How To Inspire Action

One might think that I´m an artist and so I better should draw and put up my sketchbook or latest works here for the world to see, yadda yadda…

If that is your view of what artists should do, then please move on to another artists blog, this space is reserved for my personal growth and interests that I share with those who are genuinely interested in achieving their goals too.

There is a reasonable difference between calling to action and inspiring action.

Website designers build sites around the –popular “call to action”, which might work to get you to download the newest Skype version but to get someone to submit an inquiry to ask for your service as a freelance illustrator, requires a bit more.
That´s where inspiration comes into play. Inspiration has a big advantage that it is free, it feels good and in the best case, it sends chills down your spine, which create an emotional interconnection. This makes the experience unforgettable – that´s when you feel the need to connect with a person on a deeper level and share your views and conceptions to bring them to life, even years later the linkage is still active because its connected with the person, images, whatsoever… which is practically more worth than any big website “call to action”-button.

Simon Sinek had an interesting TED-talk about the power of inspiration which I´d like to recommend:

The justified question which might come up by visitors to this blog, is why I don´t post more tutorials or walk -through´s and images, the answer is simple, there are a lot other artists who show what they have done and how they did it, but that´s not what I want, my ambition is to inspire action to create works that are not yet created.

A few months ago I considered changing my blog. Now and inspired by this TED talk, I contemplated again, critically focused on my purpose. Rather than to go for the “how” and “what” I found that I am just on the right path with my blog, instead of updating just with my recent work(what) or tutorials (how) I rather like to understand why the world works the way it does. People expect from me to paint the things they imagine, but at the same time, they silently expect to get inspired. This is the point where you either deliver just what the client wants, or you act and go a step further by pushing a concept or idea to a higher level. Sure you have to be in a position to do so, I can just speak for myself here and I believe I wouldn´t stand here where I am now, without giving more than I was asked for, every time.

I like to inspire people, with emotional labor and creativity, I feel sense and purpose in finding solutions, that´s my honest reason why I prefer illustration and commercial art over fine art. With international publications, I can inspire far more people in the world than with a gallery reception and works that are only affordable to a few.

The “what factor” is not important to me, because once a work is done and out of my head – its done, it might be great and getting better with every new piece, but the really exciting process is when a concept comes to life – (every author/editor knows or should know how that feels) and that´s why I do what I do and why I chose to do this over and over again, until I´m old and boring.

I really believe in things not yet created and I feel good going a different way as artist. Whilst others misuse the medium blog for their picture-dumps(what) and tutorials(how) I find that it is especially necessary to go the opposite direction to attract the just right clients, people who go for the same value as I do, the confidence, the vision and personality that lead to an extraordinary and successful collaboration.

The personal reason why I chose to be creative for the long run is the driving force that is connected with the happiness that comes when a project launches and leads to new connections, new challenges and most important: satisfied, inspired clients and their happy customers.

Average is everywhere, to stand out you not only need to think different, even outside the box isn´t enough, you need to walk outside the edges of the box to have the perfect view over in-and-outside.

Satchel Paige puts a summary of my credo in just three sentences:

Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.


–


“Get inspired”