Design magazines may be inspiring, but I often turn to illustration for inspiration, too. From graffiti to prehistoric cave drawings and colorful Target gift cards, artists and illustrators are doing their part to influence how we see the world. I always look forward to viewing illustrations in magazines like Real Simple and particularly enjoy looking at book covers -- some are just gorgeous.

I find myself inspired by these creative souls so often, I refer to their work whenever I feel like I'm stuck in a creative rut. How?

Illustration by Linda Ketelhut represented by Lilla Rogers Studio.

Usually my creative rut centers around developing new color palettes as I often tend to lean on my favorite combinations whenever I decorate a room. Do you do this too? Currently, I'm decorating a small apartment and I'm looking to use color in a new way -- one that breaks me of my color comfort zone while still being uniquely 'me'. I turn to art and illustration to help me in this respect. I've been tearing illustrations from magazines like a mad woman lately and putting them together in a journal with notes so I know exactly what I like about the palette and the feelings that the colors evoke. It's a fun exercise that you may even want to try.

Illustration by Lisa DeJohn represented by Lilla Rogers Studio.

Book covers, greeting cards, posters, gift cards, wrapping paper, children's books, there are so many places to find beautiful illustrative work -- allow yourself to be inspired by it. You may even want to do a little doodling yourself, it's fun and releases a lot of emotions and ideas - experimenting with color in this way can unlock a new idea or two when it comes to decorating. Here are a few places I turn to for illustrative inspiration.

• Illustration Friday is a website started by illustrator Penelope Dullaghan that draws together artists of all skill levels and asks them to get involved and create together on a weekly basis around a theme, or if one prefers, simply observe the works as I do here on the IF blog.
• 3x3 is a magazine devoted to contemporary illustration that I really like.
• I love to visit Lilla Rogers who represents lots of illustrators and I adore browsing the online portfolios, amazing work.
• Scott Hull Associates - Another rep website with portfolios that I just love to browse, great colors!
• Illustration Mundo is a website with loads of creative eye candy.
• Drawn! is an illustration blog.
• Fecal Face - The user galleries are fun to browse.

Though I find satisfaction in viewing beautiful work, I often challenge myself when I look at pictures so that I'm not mindlessly scanning pretty pictures only for relaxation and pleasure. Though pleasure is part of it, I often study what I see -- I view how colors are combined, their strength, how they relate to the other colors in the drawing, how often they are repeated in the work, etc. I often remove the images I see in magazines and paste them into a journal and make notes. I ask myself Why? What? How? Why do I like it, What grabs my attention? How does it make me feel? I also list the colors used in the piece. I try to group images within a similar color palette in the same section of my journal so I can see how the same palette appears simply by altering how the colors are used (in one composition, pink may be strong but in another, the weakest color in the piece).

So whenever you see a drawing that you like in color, or anything else for that matter (fashion imagery, photography, whatever), start questioning Why? What? How? etc. and put together a little inspiration journal of your very own. Over time you'll start to see a trend in what you like, you'll discover your own style, and you may even find color combinations that you love that you would have never dreamed of putting together on your own -- which can equal inspiration for your next bedroom redesign. That's how I allow all the beautiful illustrative work I see to inspire my decorating choices.

(images from lilla rogers studio)