Three Artists Inspiring Me Right Now (August 2026)
This month I've finally been implementing some of the lessons I've learned from noting and reflecting on artist inspirations through these blog posts! I've been forcing myself to not overwork paintings, to allow brushstrokes to be visible yet carefully placed, and to saturate colours more for a narrative purpose.
I've found it so helpful to make myself write about this artist inspirations each month, as it really solidifies what I want to take away from each art practice I come across, rather than mindlessly thinking 'ooh I like that' which is much easier but doesn't help!
This August I've been loving more watercolour and illustrative work.
This artist might surprise some of you, as they work both in portrait and do much more gory images! However, I have always loved her artwork because it is has a beautiful ability to capture form and a sense of physicality on a 2D surface. The main thing I want to take inspiration from is the artist's ability to merge working from reference and creating a scene from imagination!
As I've been so inspired by illustration recently, and the ways that they work from imagination to convey a message or narrative, I wanted to find a way to take that element and use it in my work. I often worry that I can only copy what I see and not expand on it more with imagination. While I've been working on that recently and have been improving, I find that Siobhan has the perfect balance of illustrative imaginary scenes and painterly realism while keeping a loose brushwork.
I'm also inspired by her ability to have a cohesive design, which I often struggle with as I am always exploring and never landing on one constant (apart from painting food which is my favourite).
Takeaway - works from both reference and imagination, uses a painterly style of realism, bold colours and cohesive style
I recently went to the Photographer's Gallery with a group to look at the exhibition on Japanese women photographers from the 50s to today.
I found Ningawa's artwork standing out to me for the works' intense use of colour and soft blur to create a feeling of memory or unreality.
It occurred to me that perhaps the photos feel nostalgic because the saturation reminded me of the 2000s photographs one might take on digicams. I also found the use of blur quite bold as I am often trying to create art in sharp focus to showcase my ability to capture detail.
This artwork shows me that while detail shows technical ability, the knowledge of what emotion you want to evoke is an entirely different skill that is important for me to develop.
Takeaway - use of blur, intense colurs, feeling of memory
Frida has inspired so many artists across the whole world and I have always enjoyed her work, However this week I was able to visit her exhibition in the Tate Modern gallery in London. Looking at her work physically and in person really reignited a fire in me to consider the inclusion of symbolism and dream-like scenery into my work.
Her way of exploring her own sense of selft through these self portraits and through her representation of identity are what I want to create for myself. I have always believed that by making work that I personally find interesting and good, others who are like me will be drawn in to finding the same things about it that I like.
In this way, but capturing herself in a truly personal way, she was able to connect herself with so many around the world. The vulnerability strength she has is definitely something I want to imbue in myself!
I don't tend to work from imaginatioin and have always wanted to develop my skills in the realm of conjuring up a scene that is not a direct copy of something that already exists.
Takeaway - symbolism, dreamscapes, vulnerable personal exploration