Do you ever struggle to find inspiration? Do you need something to jumpstart your creativity? You’re not alone. As concept artists, staying inspired can be challenging at times. We look to various places for inspiration.

We recently made some projects based on a mood board. A mood board illustrates visual direction and conveys a look and feel. We loved the look of this board from http://virrrrrr.blogspot.it. It has soft colors and textures, a spring look and feel—with a fun touch of gold.  Here are the projects that this mood board inspired:

Jen

One of my favorite elements on this board is the tufted suitcase chair. I was inspired by the fun colors and pops of gold. I made this mini pinboard to mimic the tufted chair and added colorful elements to it. I love the color blocking on the eggs and created a color-blocked tag to hang on my mini board. It’s the perfect little piece to keep by my computer.

Chrissy

There’s nothing to get your creative juices flowing like a mood board. If you’re finding yourself in a rut, just looking at one is a great creative exercise. It pushes you out of your comfort zone and inspires you to try new things.

The gold polka dots were the first thing that jumped out at me. I love polka dots, and the fact that they are gold just makes them that much more fantastic!

I began my project by putting together a pretty, bright color scheme, then noticed that most of the mood board was pastel. I thought the overall feel of pastel with a few fun, bright pops was so inspiring. That’s when I decided to make my project pastel with bright pink stitching. It added just enough “pop.” I created more polka dots using circle punches (US/CA), then layered the circles in the corner (as you see on the mood board).

I love the handwritten descriptions next to the macarons. There’s something very charming about something that looks handwritten. The So Very Grateful Stamp Set has some awesome greetings. They look handwritten and are perfect for the look I was going for. I’m in love with the finished project. It’s something I’m not sure I would have done on my own—in a good kind of way. It feels new and different, and I think that’s my favorite part about it.

Arika

When creating my card, I tried to mimic some of the elements from the board. The balloons have the same overlapping colors as the mood board. The colors in the chevron stripes also come from the mood board. And I added just a small bit of gold with the Gold Baker’s Twine.

Melody

I was inspired by the colors and patterns on this mood board. The woodgrain background and the Pool Party Designer Series Paper stripes were inspired by the different hangers. The center circle came from the colored eggs—and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to have some gold dots on my project. The macarons and spoonfuls of ice cream made me think of a celebration, so I picked my “Hooray for today” sentiment from the Geometrical Stamp Set.

Kasia

I was inspired by the bottom row of the mood board. The transparent circles reminded me of the hanging lanterns in the Happy Congratulations Stamp Set. I first embossed the image and the greeting on vellum, then turned it around and stamped the colors on the back. By stamping on the back I was able to create a more subtle look and also reduce smearing of the colors. I stuck with the same color pattern and finished it off with the “scoops of ice cream” colors.

Hope you feel inspired to go create something, too!

Concept Art Team