Hi all!  It’s been another week.  If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+, you know that I randomly post inspirational images (like inspiration for stories, not those motivational posters).  Recently, I’ve had some people who were interested in how I find these images, why them and not others, etc.  Today, I guess we’ll talk about art!  Or ekphrastic writing (no, it’s not limited to poetry) at least.

Lately, I’ve found most of the pictures I share (as well as the ones here) on Dark Beauty Magazine’s Facebook page.  One reason I gravitate towards them lately is because of all of the credits they provide (often with links), so if I find a particular artist or model I enjoy, I can follow them.  I like places that give credit where credit is due.  Not to mention that it frustrates me to no end when I want to find a particular artist, but no one seems to know their name.  Other places I find art include DeviantArt, a lot of the pictures of models or bands I like, artist websites (Nene Thomas for example), and random Google searches.  If you had asked me ten years ago where to find art, I could’ve listed at least fifty sites without effort, but I suppose I’ve become more selective as I grew up (or just too lazy to keep track of so many things).

As far as why I choose certain images, I honestly don’t know.  Something about them speaks to me.  The one above, contrary to popular opinion, attracted me because of the blood, not the very lovely man (he’s a bonus).  I enjoy dark themes, so I lean toward creepier artworks.  I tend to prefer night to day, black and white or muted colors to vivid ones, water and fire to earth and wind, things like that.  Granted, there are exceptions, and keep in mind that these preferences refer to images that inspire me to write.

On the other hand, some images simply tell their own stories.  You can’t look at them without formulating a tale leading to that particular moment captured by the camera (or the brush), or what you imagine is going to happen from that point in time on.  You’re story will probably be different from mine, but a story will be conjured nonetheless.

Take the Johann Kopf picture for instance.  My first thought upon seeing it was “what post-apocalyptic hell is this?,” but the more I look at it, the more ideas I get.  Is it post-apocalyptic or is it an alien planet?  What’s with the axe?  Are the doggies going to survive?  And then my brain has to answer all of those questions.  It’s the same thing for less chatty images (ones that intrigue, but don’t give you much of an outright story to work with), like the one below.  The questions just start flowing.  Who is she?  Why is she in an alley?  Is it an alley or is it a portal to another world?  And on and on and on…

I suppose what all this means is that I really don’t know why I pick certain pictures over others.  It’s not that other images don’t speak to me (I can come up with a story for just about anything if I try), they just speak louder than the rest.  I try to post things that my followers might respond to, so I choose from a wide variety of styles in case some of you don’t find something particularly inspirational.  Then again, maybe I’m just weird.