Boost Your Creative Flow: Music, Radio & Albums That Inspire My Illustration
Musical Influences Whilst Arting
I’m also a musician and in recent years I’ve realised the importance of music when I’m creating. What I listen to has quite a large impact on how productive I am. The right soundtrack can keep me focused, loosen me up, push me forward, or gently clear the mental clutter. I now make sound an essential part of my creative routine in the studio.
My key player here is BBC Radio 6 Music for bringing me Cerys Matthews and Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour. If I’m not arting on a Sunday, I’ll get Cerys or Guy (yeah, we’re first names now, spiritually at least) on catch up on BBC Sounds (you just have to ignore the outdated news segments).
Cerys is my all time go-to broadcaster. Her Sunday morning show is beautifully curated. Each week is full of incredible music from every corner of the planet (most of which I’ve never heard of), fascinating guests and of course her insatiable curiosity and dulcet Welsh tones. It’s the perfect backdrop for creating: immersive without being intrusive so I can easily slip in and out. One moment it’s an absolute banger to crank up or a world-music gem I’ve never heard before; the next it’s a poem, a curious fact, or bizarrely compelling soundscapes - from the plopping of cheese curds to the rumble of underwater alligators.
It’s musically, socially and culturally diverse and such a feast for the ears and brain that I find it the perfect accompaniment when I’m stuck or in mid flow of creating.
Thank you Cerys, I love you.
Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour is also calming yet fascinating which helps to keep creative juices flowing without being too overbearing. The way he broadcasts as if he’s in your living room is delightful and makes me feel like I have company when I’m in fact on my tod in my little studio.
Album Immersion
I quite often plunge myself deep into an album when creating a piece. It sort of becomes a companion for a bit - steady, reliable, familiar. Laura Marling’s stunning masterpiece ‘Patterns in Repeat’ has been a big one. It accompanied me through a lot of children’s poetry illustration and a particularly sprawling family-tree commission. It’s such a journey both lyrically and musically and to have in the background was helpful - I could tune in and out and it helped me not to overthink what I was doing.
Get Crackin Char
Then quite often when I’m on the road with a piece, all the pondering is over and I need to get a wriggle on, I whack on a bit of Fleetwood Mac. Yes, I inevitably get distracted drumming along with paintbrushes (it’s impossible not to with ‘Go Your Own Way’), but their music has catchy melodies and drive which never fails to give me energy.
Failing that, a bit of ‘Glue’ by Bicep gets me going. Instant focus. Instant movement. Zero hesitation.
Sound as Creative Fuel
Music is a brilliant source of inspiration for artwork - a mood-setter, a motivator, a companion and sometimes even a collaborator. This is a very brief round up of some of my current aural companions.
Now here’s a question: what are yours?