As we develop creatively, it is good to have anchors that help to ground us and remind us of our basic inspirations to create. The phrase “Art Parents” has been floating around creative circles in recent years, and this post breaks down how to choose “art parents” and explores this process as an exercise to help us ground ourselves, stay inspired, and develop discipline as artists.
Art parents are fellow artists and creatives (living or deceased) that we adopt and draw inspiration from to inspire our art, to model our work ethic or our creative personas after, or to use in other unique ways. Having art parents is a great tool for artists, because it can help you generate ideas regarding style and technique, they can become a source of constant inspiration, and their experiences can be used as references when developing your skills or routine. For this example we will discuss choosing art parents for stylistic reasons: artists who you wish to echo in your own work and who you can refer back to when feeling lost or unsure. It is important to note that this exercise is not about mimicry. You want to find those individuals who inspire you while also working to create pieces that are unique to you.
How to Choose your art parents
When choosing art parents, you should already have an idea of the things that inspire you, and have a general understanding of the genres you would like to explore. For example, I adore tonalist landscapes, and I know full well that tonalism is my ultimate stylistic goal as a painter. When choosing my art father, I actually selected two (remember, you can be playful with this exercise and choose many “parents”, but try not to go overboard). I chose George Inness for his dark and traditional tonal style, and Isaac Levitan for his moody but powerful landscapes. My chosen art fathers are individuals who capture the fundamental elements of the style and mood that I am hoping to emulate and who I will use as references while developing my art.
My ideal art mother is, again, inspired by two artists. I chose John Singer Sargent for his brush control and tones, and John William Waterhouse for his creative storytelling and figures. When working on paintings that are more dynamic or have an active narrative element, these are the individuals I’ll choose to refer to and hang out with. My selected art parents were chosen based on a combination of the styles and aesthetics that I would like to emulate in my own work, as well as their ability to provide me with a sort of framework to reference back to as I develop my skills.
ways to use this exercise
Your art “mother” and “father” also needn’t be female or male, they should simply exist as references that you, their “art child”, will share kinship with. But the final key to this exercise is incorporating your own uniqueness. Don’t be afraid to deviate from your art parents rules; they may be the foundation that inspires and informs your work, but by combining different styles and putting your unique mark on those styles, you begin to develop an individuated art style that is unique to you, but still abundant with the aesthetics and moods you adore.
It can be great to adopt other family members as well. You can choose an art best friend, someone who inspires you but maybe who you don’t need to emulate in your work; an art teacher who enhances and structures your creative routine or discipline; or even an art sibling, someone who you are similar to or who helps you to play.
Conclusion
Have fun with this exercise, and remember you can use this exercise in a range of ways: to find creative routines you’d like to adopt, like adopting the writing routine of one or two writers; to find artists who have had similar life experiences as you and remind you to keep pushing forward; or to model yourself after artists who are so powerful and impactful that you keep them in your peripheral as a reminder of mans greatest creative feats. Use this exercise to really home in on your style as an artist and to develop a personal encyclopedia of artists (or family tree if you will) that inspires your creative journey.
