I created this map of Ireland last summer shortly before my annual trip to visit my family in Dublin. When I was a kid we used to travel around Ireland by car and stay at cosy little B&B’s every other night. These are some of my favourite family holidays. Whenever I think of Ireland’s lush green countryside and the rough sea I get really homesick even though I never actually lived there, as I grew up in Germany.
So for this illustrated map I drew a lot of Inspiration from these childhood memories and all the other times that I went to visit my family in Ireland.
Generally I get my Inspiration from all sorts of places, things that I see in my everyday life, conversations with friends or recent films I saw in the cinema. Sometimes a very clear image pops up in my head so I start sketching it and look up possible colour combinations. Sometimes I even make mood boards around this idea.
I often struggle with inspiration myself but then I usually just draw something, it doesn’t have to be super creative or innovative. It’s just better to draw anything than sitting in front of a blank page waiting for inspiration to hit you. And whilst drawing I often get new ideas which I write down and keep as reference for future creative blocks.