A random comment on my deviantArt page made my week

I posted a quick landscape sketch last Tuesday, nothing special, just a sunset over some hills I did in about 45 minutes. Then I got a private message from someone named Jenny who said she used my colors as reference for her own painting that night. She sent me a photo of her finished work and it was completely different from mine but you could see where my palette inspired her. That kind of direct connection with one person feels way better than a bunch of generic likes. Has anyone else had a stranger reach out and show you something they made based on your art?

3 comments

3 Comments

milesbarnes18d agoTop Commenter

@dakota_miller93 you're right, the best part is when someone takes your stuff and runs with it in their own direction. That happened to me once with a photo I took of a rusty old tractor at sunrise, some painter used those exact muddy orange tones for a portrait and it looked nothing like my photo but you could feel the same mood. Getting that kind of personal message just hits different than likes, it's like you actually moved someone enough they had to create something back.

dakota_miller9318d agoMost Upvoted

Actually your colors were the original reference point for her so she didn't really use them as a reference, she used them as a jumping off point. A reference usually means you're directly looking at something and trying to match it, but she clearly took your palette and did her own thing with it which is more like inspiration. I've had people take my character designs and redraw them in their style and yeah it's a totally different feeling than someone just hitting the like button. That sunset sketch probably had a color combo she wouldn't have thought of on her own and that's cool she went out of her way to show you what it sparked.

davidshah18d ago

Yeah "jumping off point" is exactly it. Inspiration hits different than a straight copy.