Okay, here's a question for you. Excluding commissions and such, how do you choose what themes and what subject matter you want to draw?

Ideas come at random; there's no button to push, at least not for me, that will spit out the perfect idea when I have a piece of paper in front of me. In addition, probably the WORST place to think of ideas is when I'm actually ready to draw. Why? Because my mind's too focused. I usually have to have an idea first, then focus into drawing it. That's why some say to keep a small sketchpad with you at all times - to jot or scribble ideas as they come to you.

It might be a scene from a movie you watch. Something you heard about from a friend. A game you play.

How to choose when it comes down to it? Mood plays a major role. What am I in the mood to draw? It's why you see me draw a lot of GIRLS! :P

I've been trying to diversify lately, and that's an active effort - trying to override the "but I wanna draw this..." thoughts and instead trying something else. I'd say this is a useful thing to do, since it keeps you from falling into a rut.

Themes can come the same way. Take a look at 2008's Further Confusion theme - far east. There's a wealth of ideas inside that box. Crack it open by watching something about that part of the world on the History Channel and see what comes to mind!

Ideas for themes will usually come as a response to something you see, hear, etc. So get out and about. Returning to the far east theme... what if the person trying to decide this year's FC theme *just happened to drive past a chinese restaraunt*? Bingo!

Once you have these ideas, write em down! Make a list of stuff to go back to when you feel in the mood to draw but don't know what. See what you can come up with. And also, research your themes. Doing that will also give you more ideas! ^.^

Did that help? :)

Yes, it did. First off, I don't do art; I write stories. Having said that, it sounds like the creative process is almost the same as what you describe. I already do most of that stuff already, a combination of getting ideas from a variety of sources around you and challenging yourself to find things to give you new ideas.

Aha. Yes, the process IS much the same. I write too, or I did until my Palmpilot died. >.< But yes, you must do it when the mood strikes... I was pretty good at writing what might be described as a game walkthrough in story form - was working on one for the World of Warcraft Burning Crusade game -the Draenei starting area, specifically - when my palmpilot died. :(

Did you have a backup?