Inspiration can come from anywhere for me. I think mostly I go off the base I want to use, like the body color if I don't want to do a FBR. Like for example, I have a light yellow and light pink pony on my desk and I want to do spring/Easter themes. Sometimes it will be a whole color palette. I like using
Color Hunt for palettes. Other times I look through my art supplies and see what I have, maybe I'll find something that way.
I also think about what I want to do. Like if I feel like sculpting wings - what kind? - dragon wings - is it a dark and scary dragon or a light and beautiful dragon? and go from there. I think about customs I've made in the past and usually want to do something different. I go through my hair stash if the pony will have hair to see what colors I already have.
Typically, I keep everything in my head. I can "see" my idea in 3D when I look at the bait, but I can never get it down on paper when I try. I might write down details I'd like to do, like adding jewelry or if I want curly hair or something, but that's mainly so I don't forget. When I start I try to replicate what I see in my head but that doesn't always work out either. If I'm having a hard time making something work, I'll shelve the custom for a while... or a long time. I have WIPs going back like 10 years
Usually I go in with an idea though. Then I look at my baits. Everything starts to come together after that.
So my process is kind of like this:
- I decide I want to make an ocean themed custom.
- What gen?
- Do I want to do a FBR or not?
- If I do, then I look at baits for poses I like or think look "beachy" or whatever
- If not, then I look for body colors that I like and fit the theme, like
Goodie Goodie (of course this depends on what baits I have, I rarely buy baits for specific projects, so I just pick what would work best from my stash)
- What hair colors do I want to use?
- What elements do I want in the design?
- Do I want to sculpt or paint them?
- ...and so on.
I tend to work on one at a time, but I have done several at once. I'll be working on three customs coming up soon.
More places to get inspiration from include Google images (I use that a lot for refs), Pinterest, Mood boards, scrapbooking paper sets... going to an arts & crafts store but be careful because you will buy everything